Nicola Atkinson Artist Beautiful Materials Design Studio
A Solo Exhibition of new works by Nicola Atkinson
Linlithgow Bus Shelter connects the interior with exterior, and extends the boundaries of the Beautiful Materials exhibition.
Date: Thursday 8 May - Sunday 21 September
Location: Main Street Linlithgow
A bus shelter can be a thoughtful place, thinking about the journey ahead, when the bus is coming and beyond. It is a shared space in the world, where a captive audience occurs to experience art. Inspired after Nicola Atkinson recent public art works on three bus shelters in Winchburgh, this work features transparent colourful vinyl and drawings.
There are two significance of this particular bus shelter location, one is that you can see this Linlithgow Bus Shelter from the gallery windows, connecting the interior with exterior, and extending the boundaries of the exhibition. The other one is that this is the site where chloroforms were invented which enable the alleviation of human suffering’ For safe indentation this was housed in blue glass vessels. ©2025
Supported by West Lothian Council
Come celebrate at the artist reception in Linlithgow Burgh Hall's Gallery Space, Beautiful Materials, a Solo Exhibition of new works by Nicola Atkinson.
Date: Friday 22 May 7-9pm
Location: Linlithgow Burgh Halls Gallery Space EH49 7AH
Here in the exhibition the vessel is a container for ideas, and materials, but perhaps we too are also containers in some ways. Nicola puts the visitor front and centre in an active role of questioning art, how we digest what is around us, how we take part and then, what does it mean.
Nicola is an internationally acclaimed multi-disciplinary artist and designer whose career has been influenced by time spent on the West Coast of America, in Sweden and living in Glasgow. ©2025
Free, booking eventbrite essential
Supported by West Lothian Council
In her artist talk Nicola Atkinson will reflect on working as an artist in Scotland and the world.
Date: Wednesday 18 June 6:30-7:30pm
Location: Linlithgow Burgh Halls Gallery Space EH49 7AH
Nicola Atkinson will reflect on working as an artist in Scotland and the world. There are opportunities to make work everywhere and Nicola’s unrestrained approach to site and place and audience inspires people around the world. Her dynamic and beautiful public artwork specialises in place-making, social cohesion and community engagement and is displayed in museums and landscapes around the world including Scotland, the USA and Cuba.
Nicola is an internationally acclaimed multi-disciplinary artist and designer whose career has been influenced by time spent on the West Coast of America, in Sweden and living in Glasgow. She has had numerous exhibitions in international venues including Long Beach Museum of Art, CA, USA, Tramway and The Lighthouse, Glasgow, Scotland, Centro de Desarrollo de las Artes Visuales, Havana, Cuba, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands, The Museum of Modern Art, NY, USA and the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, UK. ©2025
Free, booking eventbrite essential
Supported by West Lothian Council
Linlithgow Burgh Halls, The Cross,
23 May - 21 September 2025 Linlithgow Burgh Hall
The residents of Linlithgow and the surrounding area can borrow one of the Nicola Atkinson Beautiful Materials artworks for their homes.
“As an artist I spend a lot of time living with my own work after I have made it. I hope that this will enhance the experiences of the Beautiful Materials exhibition, by connecting your home to the Linlithgow Burgh Halls Gallery Space”
In a recent survey for museums, it said that a person spends on average 28 seconds looking at a piece of art. This exhibition offers the visitor an opportunity to have a little more time with an artwork, to understand how the relationship to it can grow or change, in the comfort of their own home.
SELECT - 23 May to 18 June - Select the artwork, which is numbered in the scale model of the gallery, located in the Gallery.
PICK UP - 2 and 16 July, 7 - 9pm - Pick up the framed artwork from the artist at the Gallery. The artwork is a choice of a vessel on velvet, in a 25cm x 25cm white box frame and can be hung or sit on a shelf. This is a chance to spend more time with the artwork in your own home.
DROP OFF - 20 September, 12 - 4pm - Drop off to the artist in the Gallery.
LOCATION - Linlithgow Burgh Halls Gallery Space EH49 7AH
Free, booking eventbrite essential
Supported by West Lothian Council
Nicola Atkinson the artist will share her experience on the progress of her artwork and sign copies of the book.
Date: Friday 4 July 12 - 1pm
Location: Far From the Madding Crowd Bookshop 20 High St, Linlithgow EH49 7AE
Beautiful Materials book can be purchased for £10 at:
Far From the Madding Crowd bookshop - 20 High St, Linlithgow May 23 until September 21
Published by Beautiful Materials Publishing, a publishing company founded by Nicola Atkinson, it is a pocket-sized book, with beautiful reproductions of the artwork featured in the exhibition Beautiful Materials at Linlithgow Burgh Halls Gallery Space.
It contains a collection of the vessel's paintings and an insightful interview with the artist by Lynsey Moyes, who is a radio producer who has created audio arts content for BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio 4 and the Glasgow International Festival of Contemporary Art. An essay by the writer Michael Wilson who is the author of How to Read Contemporary Art: Experiencing the Art of the 21st Century and his writing has featured in Artforum, Art Monthly and Frieze.
Nicola is an internationally acclaimed multi-disciplinary artist and designer whose career has been influenced by time spent on the West Coast of America, in Sweden and living in Glasgow.
She has had numerous exhibitions in international venues including Long Beach Museum of Art, CA, USA, Tramway and The Lighthouse, Glasgow, Scotland, Centro de Desarrollo de las Artes Visuales, Havana, Cuba, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands, The Museum of Modern Art, NY, USA and the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, UK. ©2025
Free, booking eventbrite essential
Supported by West Lothian Council & Far From the Madding Crowd Bookshop
Linlithgow Burgh Halls, The Cross,
Bringing extraordinary Beautiful Materials garments & music to Linlithgow. A Music collaboration between Nicola Atkinson & Stevie Jackson.
Date: Saturday 23 August 1 - 3pm
Location: Linlithgow Burgh Halls Gallery Space EH49 7AH
Bringing colour and expression to everyday life, the works in this event by Nicola Atkinson, take art off the wall and into the hands of the participant. Come spend a wonderful afternoon trying on Nicola Atkinson’s scarves and watch models invited from the people of Linlithgow, wearing her individually made extraordinary garments inspired by the vessels in the exhibition. Set to an ambient original soundtrack, the music from a collaboration between the artist and Stevie Jackson, Belle and Sebastian.
You and others can participate by wearing the scarves, experiencing the energy of the rich bold colours, the opulence of velvet, and the movement of the translucent Georgette fabrics. Made with a zero-waste approach to pattern cutting, this is a unique chance to wear the artists’ work.©2025
Free, booking eventbrite essential
Supported by West Lothian Council