Curator Stuart Tulloch at Adventureland Golf exhibition at Blackpools Grundy Art Gallery with Hitler and (below) Saddam Hussein. By Katie Upton Published on Friday 10 August 2012 18:00
CRAZY golf just got even crazier.
A new exhibition at Blackpool’s Grundy Art Gallery invites art lovers for a round with a difference.
A miniature course – the Doug Fishbone and Friends Adventureland Golf – has been installed in the gallery with each hole designed by a different artist. And forget your standard windmill or round-the-bend, these holes offer political commentary and even the sight of two of history’s most infamous dictators.
Jake and Dinos Chapman, known for creating challenging works, have made a Heil Hitler hole.
Players skilled enough to get a hole-in-one here will be saluted by a replica fuhrer.
Those behind the controversial installation sought the views of war veterans who thought the idea of firing balls at the man whose tyrannical and murderous regime brought Europe to its knees in the 1930s and 40s was fitting giving it mocked the dictator.
Doug Fishbone’s hole recreates the toppling of Saddam Hussein – the image which came to define the end of the Iraq war.
When the ball goes into the hole the statue of the Iraqi tyrant falls.
Coun Graham Cain, Blackpool Council’s Cabinet Member for Tourism and Culture, said: “This is a really daring piece, and shows art doesn’t always have to take place on a canvas.”
Some of the UK’s top contemporary artists have been involved in the exhibition, led by Fishbone and the Nova Festival of Arts and Music.
The nine holes begins with hand-written well wishes from artist David Shrigley, reading: “You might be stupid and Golf isn’t boring”.
Coun Cain added: “The exhibition includes some of the biggest names in contemporary art and I expect it will bring lots of people into the Grundy. I can’t wait for people to enjoy it. It’s great to have this fantastic exhibition in Blackpool.”
The show opens tomorrow and will be welcoming visitors for a round until October 6 at the Grundy Art Gallery, Queen Street.