The latest issue of the Visual Artists’ News Sheet is a special issue focusing on the infrastructure and supports in place for emerging artists nationwide. A range of specially commissioned extended essays, profiles and case studies offer practical advice across a range of themed sections including: Galleries & Workspaces; Residencies; Graduate Awards & Opportunities; Postgraduate Education; Career Development and a Critique section focused on exhibition featuring emerging artists.

Hugh Mulholland talks about how artists might work with different types of galleries throughout their careers. Mark Garry discusses strategies for sustaining your practice after graduation. In addition, Christopher Steenson outlines some of the main considerations when renting an artist’s studio. Elsewhere, Jonathan Carroll outlines some of the main long-running opportunities for emerging artists north and south, including prominent graduate awards and annual open-calls, while Suzanne Walsh provides an extended overview of residency programmes nationwide. Joanne Laws offers advice on artist statements, CVs and public engagement, and also interviews emerging artists Cecilia Dannell, Marcel Vidal and Bassam Al-Sabah. Pádraic E. Moore also reflects on the realities of working as a freelance curator.

In the critique section, Colin Martin reviews Bren Smyth’s show, ‘Substance of Things’, at Pallas Projects/Studios; Áine Philips reviews ‘Outflow’ at 126 Artist-Run Gallery, featuring Ronnie Hughes and Evgeniya Martirosyan. John Thompson gives his take on Klaudia Olszyńska’s exhibition ‘51.791384, -8.291099’ at Studio 12, Backwater Artists Group in Cork. Colin Darke also reports back with his thoughts on ‘A composition of she’, by Justine McDonnell, at Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast.

Source

JOANNE LAWS INTERVIEWS THREE EARLY-CAREER ARTISTS ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCES OF MAINTAINING A PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE AFTER COLLEGE.

Joanne Laws: What were your priorities and expectations upon leaving art college?

Cecilia Danell: I graduated from GMIT in 2008 with a BA Hons in Fine Art Painting. I was pretty young at the time, having gone straight into college in Ireland after secondary school in Sweden. Despite being awarded GMIT Paint Student of the Year, and feeling committed to pursuing a career as an artist, I have to admit that I knew very little about the realities of life after college. It was terrible timing, as the recession hit Ireland with full force in 2008 and the art market collapsed, meaning that everyone had to rethink what they were doing. A lot of grassroots initiatives began to spring up, so in that sense it was a very creative time, when artists made art without a market in mind, instead spending time developing ideas and collaborating. It’s not possible to live on fresh air though, so it was challenging, but looking back I miss some of the camaraderie and inventiveness, as well as the availability of empty spaces.

Marcel Vidal: I graduated from NCAD in 2009 with a BA in Fine Art Painting. It was always my expectation that being an artist would be a difficult pursuit, but that sustaining an art practice was possible. Upon leaving college my priorities were to have a studio, to continue to make art and to apply for exhibitions. The hope was also to find a job that would afford the time to be in the studio.

Bassam Al-Sabah: I graduated from IADT in 2016 with a BA in Visual Arts Practice. My expectation was either to take a break from producing art and then do an MA in few years, or to get a studio and start producing work straight away. Receiving the RHA Graduate Studio Award during the summer after graduating really gave me a clear direction for the first year out of college. It allowed me to continue to produce work alongside more established artists, whose career advice has been very helpful.

JL: How have real world experiences compared so far, in terms of access to opportunities and infrastructure?

CD: When I graduated, Facebook was relatively new and Instagram didn’t exist, so we didn’t have the same social media platforms for networking and promotion that recent graduates have. I joined VAI as soon as I finished college and subscribed to the eBulletin, which is a great resource for keeping up with opportunities. I applied for an Arts Council bursary two years after college and was successful – that was a huge boost and gave me time to learn about Super 8 film-making. The following year, I became the 2011 recipient of the Wexford Arts Centre Emerging Artist Award, which  progressed my practice immensely, allowing me to realise an ambitious solo show in an arts centre for the first time. I joined Engage Studios in Galway in 2009 and am still there to this day. Being surrounded by more experienced peers helped and inspired me. I got to participate in studio-initiated group exhibitions and curator’s visits. As a professional artist, it’s about having a work ethic and investing the hours into becoming better.

MV: I was fortunate after college to have access to a large and long-term studio. Opportunities to exhibit were not always readily available in the years following college. I also took time away from applications to focus on pushing myself in my studio. I found that access to a workspace has been vital. It allowed me to develop my ideas and exhibition-making strategies, as well as a working methodology that helped sustain my current practice, which has expanded from painting into sculpture. Only recently has it been possible for me to be in the studio full-time; before that I worked part-time.

BA: I think the financial challenges have definitely been the hardest. The first couple of exhibitions I developed after college had no artist fee or funding attached. I happily did those shows because they were in artist-led spaces (run voluntarily without a programming budget). I also needed to build up my CV, experience of exhibiting and I needed some new install shots. It is definitely hard to produce artworks and exhibitions without financial support. It wasn’t until I showed in The LAB Gallery, that I received an artist fee and production budget. With that support I was able to try new things and create artworks with a higher production value. I was lucky in being awarded the RHA Graduate Studio, because I didn’t need to worry about studio rent when I first left college, which, as a graduate in Dublin, would have been very difficult.

JL: What advice would you give final year students, about the realities of maintaining a professional art practice in Ireland?

CD: Graduating is not about becoming an art star overnight; that very rarely happens. It’s about setting up a practice that is sustainable overtime. I would advise graduates to research and apply for opportunities, even if they seem like they’re way out of your league. Don’t be too disheartened by refusals; art is subjective and if your work is strong enough, there will be things out there to suit. Also, learn to speak about your work and write a good artist’s statement. Apply for open-submission exhibitions, group exhibitions, graduate residencies and artist-run spaces and take every opportunity to let curators see your work. Start small, get involved, network and make sure your work is seen. If you are committed to your practice and are strategic about what you apply for, things will happen eventually. Financial challenges are a constant struggle as an artist; any awards or grants help to take that pressure off momentarily. Working full-time and maintaining an art practice is extremely draining. Not having the funds to even buy materials is stressful too, so try to find a balance.

MV: The reality is that being an artist is not an easy pursuit and everyone’s path is different. For me, success has not come from exhibitions but from being able to make art and continuing to push myself. Creating the time and space for ideas has been key to being able to sustain and get the best out of my work. This is why I think it is important to have access to some form of studio space; a place to think, to create opportunities, to plan and devise work. Host as many studio visits as possible and have no expectations – the work should always come first. Apply for everything; every panel is a receptive audience who may not know who you are. Where possible, request feedback. There is always rejection, which just means that your work may not suit what you’ve applied for; there are many deciding factors. Keep working and keep applying.

BA: I think life after art college can be a bit of a shock. You go from being deeply saturated with creative activity – surrounded by other artists as well as all the supports that a college has to offer (studio space and equipment, as well as the lecturers and faculty) – to almost nothing. I think many graduates find themselves lost, wondering what to do or where to begin. My advice is to be as proactive as possible and to set short-term goals that will help you develop a career. For example, if a graduate thinks they need a studio environment to be able to produce work, getting a studio should be their priority. If your focus is on exhibiting work, start applying to open-calls and building up a CV. I think it is really easy to get overwhelmed by insecurity and doubt, so setting these short-term goals can help you focus.

JL: Can you discuss any of your upcoming projects?

CD: Over the past few months, I’ve participated in group shows at Kevin Kavanagh Gallery and the BEEP Painting Biennial, Wales. I am showing in ‘Futures’ at the RHA this November with an upcoming solo show at the RHA Ashford Gallery in 2019.

MV: I have a number of exhibitions coming up: ‘Futures’ at the RHA (2018); a solo exhibition in the RHA Ashford Gallery (2019); and the RHA Hennessy Craig Biannual Award Shortlist exhibition at Tony Ryan Gallery (2019). I will be creating a large-scale immersive environment for ‘Futures’ that creates a dichotomy between the seemingly gentle aesthetic of my paintings and the visceral and brutal aesthetic of my sculptures.

BA: I was recently awarded the Temple Bar Gallery + Studios Graduate Award and I am really looking forward to getting back into the studio and spending the next year exploring new ideas. I have been in a production-focused mindset since graduating, having made new work for two solo shows over the last 18 months; so I’m going to take some time to just go back into experimentation mode and see where that takes me.

Cecilia Danell has been based in Galway since 2004. Her most recent body of work, ‘The Last Wilderness’, was funded through an Arts Council Project Award and was exhibited at Galway Arts Centre and The Dock, Carrick-on-Shannon, in 2017. Marcel Vidal lives and works in Dublin. He is recipient of the Firestation Sculpture Workshop Award & Bursary 2018 and is a current member of Temple Bar Gallery + Studios. Bassam Al-Sabah is an Iraqi artist who moved to Ireland in 2004. Solo exhibitions of his work have been held at Eight (2017) and The LAB (2018). All three artists will exhibit new work as part of the upcoming exhibition ‘Futures, Series 3, Episode 2’ at the RHA (16 November – 21 December).

Image Credits:
Bassam Al-Sabah, slide from ‘Illusions of Love Dyed by Sunset’, 2018; image courtesy of the artist
Marcel Vidal, ‘SILVERFISH’, installation view, The Dock Arts Centre, Leitrim, 2018; photograph by Lee Welch; image courtesy of the artist
Cecilia Dannel, Inside a Shadow, 2018, oil and acrylics on canvas, 188 x 137 cm; image courtesy of the artist

Source

CHRISTOPHER STEENSON DISCUSSES SOME OF THE MAIN CHALLENGES FOR ARTISTS IN SECURING STUDIO SPACES.

The words “artist” and “studio” seem to go hand-in-hand. If you are one, you need one. Workspaces can sometimes be as revered as the artists themselves. Just look at Francis Bacon – his studio was deemed so significant that conservators at Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane painstakingly moved its entire contents from its original location in 7 Reece Mews in London. An extreme example, but, as outlined in other articles featured in this issue, studios are an important – if not essential – part of an artist’s practice.

Studios aren’t just a place for making work. They are also a space for community, networking and learning – important aspects of an artist’s practice after leaving art college. Being part of a studio group means that you can stay connected with your peers, learn from one another and collaborate on projects. Reading groups are a common activity and often studio members will band together to put on group exhibitions and other DIY events. More established studios will often have a website where members’ work is profiled, offering online visibility. Studio spaces can also be valuable for arranging visits with curators, allowing them to view your making processes and understand how your art will work in a space. However, with current and ongoing challenges in the Irish context – such as funding cuts, rising property prices, a volatile rental market and the negative consequences of urban regeneration – you will more-than-likely encounter a range of obstacles in finding a studio, before you ever set foot inside one.

Space/Time Paradox

If you’re a recent graduate, it’s quite likely that you’re living in rental accommodation. With this comes a distinct set of challenges when trying to make art. Rent is expensive and, at present, is continually rising. In Dublin, people spend an average of 55% of their take-home pay on rent. Renting a studio on top of paying for accommodation can be a major additional expense.

‘Option One’ is to try and work from home. If you have the luxury of a spare room (or a bedroom bigger than a shoebox), this might be a perfectly sensible solution – especially if your work is small-scale and doesn’t require too much space. However, if you work in sculpture, ceramics or some other art form that requires the use of tools, machinery or a lot of floor space, you will need to seek out a dedicated studio. So now you’re onto ‘Option Two’ – renting a studio. Unless your parents invested well in shares – or you’ve struck gold selling your work – you will probably need a part-time or full-time job, in order to afford a studio. Herein lies a predicament. Whilst spending all your time working to pay for your studio, you may not have a lot of time to actually use it. In this case, it will be important to have a studio with 24-hour access, so that you can fit studio time around your work schedule.

In order to reduce studio costs, you may also consider sharing your space with another artist. It will be important to find someone who works in a way that is sympathetic to your own practice and work schedule. For example, if you’re a performance artist, you don’t want to suffocate from your studio mate’s oil painting fumes, whilst rehearsing your durational performance. You will also have to consider how sharing your studio will reduce the space you have to work with. This factor will become increasingly important as you make and accumulate artworks. Slowly but surely, your studio will become swamped with works from exhibitions past – material ghosts, if you will.

Now you have another predicament – storage. Do you rent a storage space somewhere (which can cost you an extra around €200 a year, depending on your needs and the location) or bite the bullet and donate/destroy/recycle old artworks? Some artists I’ve talked to have a general rule that unless they can sell an artwork (or reuse it) within a three-year period, they destroy it. Others depend on the generosity of relatives to store older works indefinitely, in spare rooms or garden sheds.

Health and Safety

Beyond the aforementioned issues, it is best practice to find out about the health and safety situation in any prospective studio spaces. A serious problem with artist studios is a lack of central heating or air conditioning. Amidst the unfolding realities of global warming, Ireland’s recent weather patterns have become increasingly volatile, with all-year-round dreary conditions shifting towards blisteringly hot summers and bitingly cold winters. You will want a studio that has proper ventilation and some way of regulating the temperature, otherwise it could be unbearable (and technically unsafe) to work in.

Studios with workshops have an obligation to look after their equipment and to train studio members in how to use the equipment safely to avoid injury. Unfortunately, with the financial challenges facing many studios, this can often be a difficult obligation to fulfill. Fire safety is another important factor to bear in mind when viewing different studio spaces. You should try to find out whether buildings conform to regulations. The risk of fire needs little explication. Glasgow School of Art’s historic Mackintosh building was engulfed in flames for the second time in four years last June. The first fire was caused by gases emitted from a foam canister used in a student’s art project. Closer to home, Outpost Studios in Bray suffered a devastating fire in February, which resulted in the total destruction of their building and the eight studios it housed. A fundraiser for Outpost is planned on 8 September at Mermaid Arts Centre, to help recover the cost of tools and artworks lost in the blaze.

What follows is a brief overview of studio provision in Belfast and Dublin – capital cities facing distinct yet similar problems, in terms of affordable workspaces for artists.

Belfast

Between funding cuts and building insecurity, 2018 has been a tumultuous year for studios in Belfast. The city’s oldest studio group, QSS, had their Arts Council of Northern Ireland funding cut completely, threatening the loss of space for 38 artists. However, after an appeal, QSS reported that their funding has been reinstated. QSS have opened a new satellite space in Norwich Union House, which has eight new studios, priced between £60 to £105 per month. However, the lease on their Bedford Street building is nearly up, meaning their main studio and gallery space needs to find a new home by the end of March 2019.

Another studio provider to have their ACNI funding cut was Paragon Studios/Project Space (PS²), threatening the loss of seven studios. A significant grant from the Freelands Foundation allowed the group to survive this blow, and PS² have since relocated to Spencer House on Royal Avenue, with studios currently under construction.

Other studios in the area include Platform Arts, who have 12 studios spaces ranging from £75–85 per month, with one larger studio costing £140. Platform do not receive ACNI funding, with revenue from their studios being funneled back into the gallery space and exhibition programme. Their building is also rent-free, but with recent trends towards redevelopment of buildings in the city centre, there is the ongoing threat that their building may be repurposed or sold. Other notable studios in the city centre are Flax Art/Orchid Studios, the fourth-floor studios on Queen’s Street and the artist-run Lombard Studios.

East Belfast is brimming with studios at present. A significant addition to the studio ecosystem is Vault Artist Studios. Formerly known as the Belfast Bankers (previously situated in a disused Ulster Bank building on the Newtonards Road), this studio group has recently acquired the use of the old Belfast Metropolitan College building on Tower Street. The capacity of this new premises means that the studio group has grown from 30 members to 88, providing space for a range of creatives including visual artists, musicians and writers. Membership with Vault Artist Studios is £20 plus the cost of studio, which varies depending on size and how many people are sharing.

Another studio group, Creative Exchange, provides 12 modern studios. Prices are around £30 per month for a desk space. Despite the promising number of new studios, East Belfast has the fastest growing property prices in Northern Ireland, which could potentially lead to many artists being forced out in the future. Property prices are not rising as quickly in the north or west of the city, so more studios (such as Artists at the Mill) are being  established in these areas. However, with the uncertainties surrounding Brexit, there is a chance that UK property prices could plummet in the coming months and years. Outside of the Northern Ireland capital, Clarendon Studios in Derry and Shore Collective in Lurgan are other significant artist-led studios operating regionally.

Dublin

According to a recent survey by the Economist, it’s now more expensive to live in Dublin than it is to live in London. This is attributable to a continuing housing shortage and rising property prices, all of which spells bad news for affordable artist studio in Dublin city centre. Competition is fierce, and you will need to search. MART continues to be the major provider in Dublin, with over 170 studios across the city. Studio rental ranges from €150 to €600 per month, with studio sizes ranging from five to 25 m². Access hours for all of MART’s studios are 7am to 11pm. Even as a relatively successful business, MART are feeling the effects of the property crisis in the city. Their Creative Hub, located on Portobello Harbour, was opened in mid-2017 but will be forced to close in December 2018 because of a planned hotel development in the area. Commenting on the current situation, MART have said that the continuing rise in property prices is making it increasingly difficult for them to maintain a sustainable business model.

Other longstanding studio providers include Pallas Projects/Studios, who have operated studios in 14 premises across the city over the last twenty years, in order to stay one step ahead of the developers. Pallas currently provide studio spaces to 20 artists, with rent starting at €200 per month. Independent Studio Artists Ltd are supported by the Temple Bar Cultural Trust and offer 10 purpose-built studios at €160 a month. Temple Bar Gallery + Studios have 30 spaces. Around 12 new studios are offered each annually. There is also Graduate Studio Award available, with applications in January each year.

In the north of the city, A4 Sounds are another affordable option, offering  ‘modular’ studio memberships. Membership is €75 per month plus options for a private studio desk (€100 per month), private workshop desk (€130 per month) and personal storage (€10–30 per month). Membership also gives access to a discount scheme with a number of businesses in the city, as well as access to studio facilities, including a workshop, darkroom and screen-printing equipment. Ormond Studios, an artist-run studio space on Ormond Quay, currently offers studio membership to eight artists.

As well as the general workspaces mentioned above, there are a few temporary studio spaces that artists can avail of in the city. Since 2012, DIT’s ‘Summer Studio Initiative’ has let artists use their studios from 21 June until 1 September free of charge, along with access to the DIT Library. The only requirement is that artists should be completing a body of work for exhibition, with an open-call usually going out in April each year. Other open calls include Fingal County Council’s Loughshinny Boathouse Artists’ Studio. This restored boathouse space, located at the edge of Loughshinny Harbour, is a subsidised day studio for artists, that is available for three months to one year. Applications are currently open, with a deadline of Friday 28 September at 4pm. Information for applications can be found via the Fingal Arts Office website (fingalarts.ie).

To save on rent for a studio and accommodation, it is also worth applying for residential studios like Fire Station Artists’ Studios. Located on Lower Buckingham Street, FSAS provides access to live/work studios (which cost €411 to €628 per month), sculpture workshops and innovative digital technology such as 3D modelling. Fire Station’s International Curators programme means that residents can meet up to ten curators per year. Other residential artists’ studios include Residential Spaces, which consist of two properties at Albert Cottages, Hampstead Park, and St Patrick’s Lodge, located beside St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin City Centre. Rent for each property is €700, with WiFi, TV and phone included. Other studios of note in Dublin include Block T, Talbot Gallery and Studios, Tara Building and Steambox (the studio group for the Independent Museum of Contemporary Arts).

Christopher Steenson is Production Editor of the Visual Artists’ News Sheet.

Image Credits:
Creative Exchange Studios, Belfast; photograph by Malachy McCrudden
Vault Artist Studios, Belfast;. photograph by Cambell Photography
Tara Building, Dublin; image courtesy of  Zak Milofsky

Source

SUZANNE WALSH PROVIDES A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF PROMINENT IRISH RESIDENCIES.

Ballinglen Arts Foundation
Ballinglen is set in the village of Ballycastle in County Mayo and has been running since 1994. This residency seeks to support artists in an inspiring setting. Artists are encouraged to interact with the local community during their stay by carrying out talks, workshops, exhibitions and school visits. Successful applicants are offered a cottage to live in free of charge as well as a studio. No formal outcomes are specified. Residents are expected to have professional standing in their field, or be an emerging artist of recognised ability. Mayo residents are not eligible. The residency runs for between four and eight weeks, with facilities including printmaking, purpose-built studios and an art library. There is no bursary offered. Applications can be made throughout the year with details on their website.
ballinglenartsfoundation.org/fellowship

Cill Rialaig
Situated in the remote Gaeltacht village of Dungeagan in Ballinskelligs, County Kerry, Cill Rialaig residency is open to artists of ‘national and international repute’. It was built in 1995 and resources include seven studios, a meeting house and library. Residents stay free of charge in a self-catering cottage, paying a minimal utility fee. The residency aims to provide artists with a peaceful retreat to focus on their work in a quiet environment without specified outcomes. Interested artists can apply for an application pack. Note: there is a charge for applying for this residency.
cillrialaigartscentre.com/residencies

Cowhouse studios
Located in the farmlands of County Wexford near Rathnure, Cowhouse Studios are a “progressive artist-run school and residency” running since 2008. Residencies are offered either as one to four week blocks all year round (costing €360 per week) or themed residencies which sometimes offer a stipend. Themed residencies take place once a year, usually in autumn. Accommodation is in a private or shared room, with 24-hour access to facilities which include an open-plan studio, woodworking equipment, darkroom and computer lab. Cowhouse studios also form partnerships which offer opportunities for exhibition and publications, public talks, workshops and facilitated discussions. As the residencies are ever-evolving, it’s best to keep an eye on their website for callouts.
cowhousestudios.com

Digital Artists Studios
This residency in the centre of Belfast concentrates on programmes for digital artists. DAS offers 12 studio residencies to local artists and three to international artists. Residents pay £60 per month for facilities, which include a personal iMac workstation with software (such as Final Cut Pro and Adobe C86). No accommodation is included. Artists have 24-hour access to a shared studio space and digital equipment (DSLRs and recording equipment), as well as technical support and advice. After a four-month residency working on a specific project, artists can apply for the ‘Annual Review’ exhibition and other opportunities.
digitalartsstudios.com

Fire Station Artist Studios
Fire Station Artist Studios offers large residential studios with workshops on Buckingham street in Dublin City Centre. Run by Dublin City council, FSAS has been active since 1993. Facilities include a sculpture workshop, digital media resource centre, project space, a visiting curator programme, as well as skill training programmes. The combined living/working studios are subsidised and let between a period of one year and two years nine months. Residencies are open to professional artists who are non-students only, with call-outs approximately every ten months. Residencies are self-directed, but give access to facilities and support, with applicants proposing a project to work on for the duration of their stay. Non-accommodation residencies include graduate awards, for both sculpture and digital media. These run for three months and offer a stipend as well as mentoring from curators. A similar residential award for more established artists working in sculpture and digital media runs from two to four months and also offers a stipend. Both awards offer access to digital equipment and are mainly opportunities for artists to develop their practice. The application deadline this year is 14 October at 5pm – check the FSAS website for details.
firestation.ie

Guesthouse Project
Situated in the Shandon area of Cork City, this artist-led initiative provides a social hub for eating, meeting, performing and creative production. The Guesthouse Project began offering ‘time and space’ residencies in 2007 free of charge. Accommodation is available for two-month residencies, with artists selected through invitation and regular call-outs. Resident artists are expected to host a lunch and give a presentation, workshop or exhibition during their stay. In return, they have access to a workspace, digital equipment, facilities and opportunities to meet other artists. Project-based residencies (without accommodation) are allocated on an ongoing basis. The next open-call is in late September. Interested applicants are encouraged to sign up to the mailing list.
theguesthouse.ie

Heinrich Böll Residency
This cottage on Achill Island, County Mayo, once belonged to the German writer, Heinrich Böll, and was left as a residence to The Heinrich Böll Foundation. Open to artists and writers, submissions are taken before September each year. The residency has been running since 2003 and offers time and space to those who need quietness and escape. Artists are encouraged to visit schools or community organisations or to give a public talk during their stay. No bursary is provided. During two-week residencies, artists stay in the cottage which comprises two writing rooms and a studio, with a phoneline but no internet. Application details available on the website.
heinrichboellcottage.com

Interface
This residency is set in Recess, County Galway and explores the intersections between science and art. Artists of all disciplines are encouraged to apply in spring or autumn of each year. The residencies are between two and six weeks. Facilities include a private studio, as well as access to a larger studio space, which includes lighting, heat and basic tools. The programme proposes to introduce artists to local community through artist talks. The residency also offers accommodation in a self-contained apartment, but no stipend. Residents are advised to bring their own transport. More information on the Interface website.
interfaceinagh.com

Irish Museum of Modern Art
This residency takes place in the grounds of the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Kilmainham, Dublin, which has extensive gardens as well as galleries, educational programmes and events. The residency has been running since 1994, with various options offered to both national and international artists. Bursaries are offered for IMMA’s themed residencies, the amount offered depending on the duration of stay. Artists are expected to engage with the museum programme through talks and open studios. The length of stay for themed residencies are usually maximum 6 months, with accommodation and studio provided. Residents stay either in one of three self-catering coach houses (which also include studios) or else in the larger Flanker house. Each studio comes with phone-line, internet and basic tool-kits. There are regular open-calls, so it is recommended to sign up to residency mailing list.
imma.ie

Leitrim Sculpture Centre
Leitrim sculpture centre is situated in Manorhamilton, a small town in north County Leitrim. LSC was established in 1997 and currently hosts an extensive residency programme. The centre’s facilities include a 1300-metre industrial premises and a four-storey Georgian building, with equipment for working with stone, glass, metal, ceramics and digital media, amongst others. LSC offers two types of residencies: Exhibition Residencies include accommodation, studio space (with broadband), access to all facilities and an artist’s stipend of €2400. These residencies last eight weeks and conclude with a one-person exhibition in the gallery. LSC also offers Professional Development Residencies that provide time and space for researching new work. These residencies come with a stipend of €1000, a private studio and accommodation for a minimum of four weeks. Call-outs for residencies are usually made in December of each year and interested artists are encouraged to sign up to the LSC mailing list for further information.
leitrimsculpturecentre.ie

Resort Residency
Run by Fingal County Council, ‘Resort Residency’ takes place annually in Portrane, North County Dublin. Invited artists and writers spend a week in a mobile home in Lynders Caravan park gathering, processing and engaging with the local area. A year later, they return to present work as part of ‘Resort Revelations’, which coincides with the Bleeding Pig Festival. Assistance and a stipend are offered and introductions to local groups are also provided. This residency seems to fluctuate between open-calls and invitation only, so it’s worth keeping an eye on website for opportunities.
fingalarts.ie

The Model
The Model was built in Sligo in 1862 as a Model school and was renovated in 2000 and 2010, with additions including the current day studios and one apartment/studio at the very top of the building. The Model also houses expansive gallery spaces, restaurant, bookshop and performance space with a busy programme of events. The day studios residencies have a rental fee of €225 per month and are currently available on a one to two-year basis, supporting both established and emerging local artists who can also avail of open days, events, talks and screenings. The residential studio is currently available by invitation only to Irish artists, for two to four weeks without a stipend. Call-outs are periodically announced on the website.
themodel.ie

Tyrone Guthrie Centre
The Tyrone Guthrie Centre is situated in the house and grounds of an estate in County Monaghan, left to the Irish State as an artist’s retreat by theatre director Sir William Tyrone Guthrie. The residency is dedicated to providing peace and quiet for work in the daytime, with conversational dinners taking place every evening. Facilities in Tyrone Guthrie Centre include eight studio spaces along with a performance/dance space and a print studio. Applications are welcome all year-round from practitioners of any artform with a proven record of success. Artists stay a maximum of one month in the big house (€350 per week for full -board), or two months in one of the self-catering cottages (€200 per week) with no formal outcomes expected. Bursaries are awarded annually to individual artists by local authorities. Interested artists should contact their local arts office for further information.
tyroneguthrie.ie

UCD Parity Studios
This studio-only residency takes place in University College Dublin. The university offers year-long residencies to professional artists looking to develop collaborative projects in a university environment. The programme began in 2012 as an Art and Science initiative and has now expanded to include Arts and Humanities, Business, Engineering and Architecture, Social Sciences and Law. The programme offers a stipend and 24-hour access to the artist studios but does not offer accommodation. Resident artists work in close proximity to UCD academics, researchers and students, and can access talks, lectures, symposia and the university’s libraries. Artists are expected to use studio space regularly and to take part in a public engagement programme of talks, exhibition and performances. Applications are made online to individual departments in spring of each year following a call-out on the website.
ucdartinscience.com

Image Credits:
Laura Fitzgerald, Brian Rock, video research still from video Portrait of a Stone, 2018; image courtesy of the artist. Fitzgerald is currently in residence at Fire Station Artists’ Studios.
Siobhan Ferguson, Water Border, 2018; photograph courtesy the artist. Ferguson is currently artist-in-residence at Digital Arts Studios, Belfast.
Laura McMorrow, Sugidama, 2018; image courtesy of the artist. McMorrow is due to undertake a residency at Cill Rialaig in 2019.
Jasmin Märker, My Immortals, silk wall hanging. Märker has recently been awarded a Professional Development Residency 2018 at Leitrim Sculpture Centre.
Lar O’Toole, The Unfurled Ruled Non-Surface, 2018, acrylic paint and monofilament nylon, 244 x 120 x 60 cm; image courtesy of the artist. O’Toole was recipient of the Student Residency Award at IMMA.

Source

JOANNE LAWS PROVIDES SOME PRACTICAL ADVICE ON HOW TO GET YOUR WORK CRITIQUED AND WRITTEN ABOUT.

As Features Editor of VAN, one of the most common requests I receive from artists is: “Can you review my exhibition?” Often these pitches arrive at short-notice and contain sparse information about the exhibition in question. All VAN writing proposals are discussed during bi-monthly editorial meetings and only five exhibitions are reviewed in the Critique section of each issue. We try to cover a range of media, venues and geographical regions, as well as giving coverage to artists at different career stages. Artists, curators and gallery directors are advised to submit details at least two months before an exhibition opens, to have the best chance of being considered for a review. Exhibitions not selected for the Critique section are frequently included in VAN’s Roundup section. Regardless of potential coverage in VAN, it is advisable to list your upcoming exhibition via VAI’s twice-weekly eBulletin service. With a readership of over 15,000, this is the primary way to let Irish arts audiences know that your show is happening.

There is no quick or simple way to get your work reviewed. The most you can do is invite critics, curators and other art professionals to your exhibitions and keep them periodically informed about the development of your practice. As a free-lance writer, I rarely review exhibitions based on direct contact from artists. More often, my pitches to editors are based on my existing knowledge of an artist’s work, my awareness of upcoming shows and consideration of whether particular exhibitions will suit the publication’s remit and editorial calendar. For example, Art Monthly prefer exhibitions to still be on when the review goes to print. Therefore, most exhibitions covered will run for at least another six weeks after the writing submission date. As a result, exhibitions with a short run rarely get coverage. Conversely, the Irish Times and Sunday Times Culture supplement have much more flexible editorial calendars, publishing exhibition reviews on a daily and weekly basis. It is advisable to contact the editors and writers directly, to let them know about upcoming shows – though coverage or even a response is never guaranteed.

In addition, it is worth considering why you actually want your exhibition reviewed. Receiving critical feedback on your work is of huge long-term benefit to your practice; however, you must ask yourself whether you are ready to take the good with the bad. Would a negative review have a detrimental impact on your confidence at this stage in your career? (Note: I find it takes much longer to write a negative review than a glowing appraisal; I have to be doubly sure of my facts, taking care to develop a well-structured critical assessment of the intentions behind the work. Constructive criticism can often be productive for artists and shouldn’t always be perceived as a bad thing). Having your work reviewed in a major publication can certainly help circulate your work to wider audiences, offering a degree of recognition that your work is relevant within current critical discourse. Recent press coverage also proves useful when making funding applications; however, writers dislike their work being used solely to enhance someone else’s CV. For that reason, I personally cover shows that I find challenging and enjoyable to write about. When reviewing exhibitions, I tend to not have any direct contact with the artist or the gallery, which upholds a degree of independence in my writing.

In conclusion, one of the most effective ways of ensuring that your work receives critical attention, is to love what you do and to be committed to your work for the long-haul. Maintaining an artistic practice is highly demanding. Artists are increasingly expected to manage a vast array of technical and administrative tasks that can erode precious studio time. In my view, artists should make work solely for themselves and resist the urge to presuppose its critical reception. In the long-run, the values and obsessions in your work will prove infectious and will provide you with the substance and motivation to keep going.   

Advice for early-career artists on building a critical profile:

Familiarise yourself with the major publications – There are a range of Irish and international newspapers, magazines and journals, both printed and online, that feature reviews of exhibitions taking place in the Irish context.

Research the editorial calendars and submissions procedures – Different publications have specific timeframes, submission procedures and preferences regarding content. For example, VAN is a bi-monthly printed publication with an arts readership of over 5,000. We receive a large number of submissions. We do not accept texts that have previously been published (in print or online). We do not accept finished texts; rather, we work with writers to oversee the development of texts, in keeping with an agreed brief – a process that involves detailed correspondence and several drafts.

Identify independent journalists and arts writers – In Ireland there are only a handful of arts writers and critics who actively contribute to various publications, yet there are hundreds of shows around the country each month.

Compile your own professional mailing list – It is useful to source contact details for a range of arts professionals including writers, critics, editors, curators, peers and other contacts. Send out regular updates, press releases and personalised invitations to upcoming exhibitions.

Develop a website – This should feature good quality documentation of previous work, projects and exhibitions, as well as your bio and contact details. When submitting images with applications, make sure you are familiar with the technical specifications regarding files sizes and make sure the respective image credits are clearly indicated.

Don’t overlook local press coverage – Getting a review in a regional newspaper is a good starting point, so don’t forget to contact local newspapers and journalists.

Develop an events calendar – This might comprise upcoming events and exhibition previews that you are planning to attend. Networking is one of the most effective ways to open up career opportunities in a competitive industry. Subscribing to the mailing lists of various galleries, publications and arts organisations is beneficial. In addition, subscribing to the VAI eBulletin will keep you informed about submission deadlines for funding opportunities, commissions, gallery open-calls, residencies and so on. You can also use the VAI website to keep a track of upcoming deadlines. This will help you organise your time while identifying opportunities that you can submit your work to.

Commission a catalogue text – Beyond exhibition reviews, another way for your work to receive critical appraisal is to directly commission a writer to develop a text, normally to coincide with a solo exhibition of new work. The cost (which can range from approximately €300 to €800, depending on length) can be factored into funding applications or can occasionally be covered by arts organisations as part of an exhibition production budget, particularly when exhibiting with public galleries.

Consider setting up a peer review group – Opportunities to receive critical feedback on your work will diminish after college, unless you continue to work alongside or collaborate with fellow graduates. Your peers bring a fresh perspective to bear and will often be able to point out whether something is clear or not. Their input can be highly motivating. Consider joining a studio group, collaborating with other artists on a group exhibition, or joining one of VAI’s regular peer critique sessions.

Joanne Laws is Features Editor of the Visual Artists’ News Sheet – a bi-monthly printed publication of Visual Artists Ireland. VAI members receive an annual subscription, with six issues of VAN per year posted directly to their door. Issues are also available free of charge in galleries and arts centres nationwide.

Image Credit:
A selection of Irish and international art publications; photograph by Christopher Steenson

Source

PÁDRAIC E. MOORE REFLECTS ON HIS EXPERIENCES OF WORKING AS AN INDEPENDENT CURATOR.

My curatorial career dawned in my early twenties, when I began organising exhibitions and events in various spaces across Dublin. I had just completed a BA in the History of Art at UCD and was about to embark on an MA, eager to apply my knowledge and enthusiasm. I’ve always been a voracious exhibition attendee and from my late teens onwards I had the opportunity to meet numerous artists and curators. These experiences shaped a nascent inkling that I wanted to work with, and alongside, artists in a role that would enable me to inhabit and contribute to the cultural sphere.

In the mid-noughties, I found myself in a milieu of emerging artists who, like me, were at the beginning of their careers. My aspirations were perfectly matched to their needs and I coordinated various exhibitions and events featuring their work. These curatorial ventures were informed by a DIY ethic and provided vital opportunities to learn through trial and error, whilst also establishing my own style. It was in this early phase of my career that I first grasped the importance of writing about the artists with whom I was working and providing them with constructive critical feedback. In the years that have elapsed since then, I’ve participated in several postgraduate programmes and residencies and worked with individuals so much further ahead in their development than I, that they can only best be described as mentors. While these experiences have certainly enriched my knowledge and skills, they have also confirmed that there is no substitute for practical experimentation and collaboration.

Since those first forays into exhibition-making, I’ve curated countless projects, both independently and in collaboration with host institutions and galleries. Each of these endeavours has reaffirmed to me the extent to which the role of the independent curator varies – often dramatically – with every project. Responsibilities and workloads differ according to the context in which one is operating and the resources available. While some projects require one to be inconspicuous, others require one to be at the fore of things, promoting and engaging with a public. There are of course a number of aspects that remain consistent, regardless of the context or content of a project. For example, I believe that one should be devoted to the artists they are working with, while acknowledging that the exhibition is merely one facet in an ongoing process, all of which is equally important. Furthermore, one will inevitably have to willingly engage in all manner of backbreaking donkey work.

To operate as an independent curator is to be engaged in the so-called ‘gig economy’. It is therefore invariably precarious and demands that one actively devises opportunities, rather than waiting for them to emerge. Often one has to develop contingency plans, to ensure projects will proceed in some form when, for whatever reason, the necessary funding falls through. Since I began on this path, one of the most notable developments is how the definition of curator has expanded. The recent proliferation of marketing and social media technologies has also seen the term utilised to describe composing and disseminating content online. Yet, anyone who has commenced a career as an independent curator will know that that the role extends far beyond simply arranging objects d’art for aesthetic delectation. Arguably, those working in this field are required to be more versatile than ever before, also availing of opportunities to write, teach and deliver public lectures which can serve to enrich one’s capabilities and knowledge base.

Realising ambitious and innovative exhibitions and publications in an independent capacity necessitates that one be capable of managing budgets and schedules. It also requires an understanding of the technical and logistical issues that often arise during the installation and fabrication of artworks. The multi-faceted nature of the role was succinctly and elegantly summarised by Harald Szeemann when he stated that “the curator has to be flexible. Sometimes he is the servant, sometimes the assistant, sometimes he gives artists ideas of how to present their work; in group shows, he’s the coordinator, in thematic shows, the inventor. But the most important thing about curating is to do it with enthusiasm and love – with a little obsessiveness.”¹ Every person who enters into this role will find their own methodology and will inevitably also bring a different skillset to the position. In my case, my background in art history has shaped my approach significantly and has also enabled me to contextualise the work of the artists that I am engaging with.

In recent years, several of the exhibitions I have realised were significantly shaped by a range of curatorial strategies. These were conceived for a variety of reasons, to facilitate new forms of artistic collaboration; to explore new methods of display and dissemination, to reveal the possibilities of working within imposed constraints and, in some cases, to interrogate the idea of authorship. This is exemplified in an exhibition I curated in spring of this year, entitled ‘The Width of a Circle’, at the legendary and cavernous W139 project space in Amsterdam. The participants, who predominantly work in sculpture, were invited to take the five archetypal forms (known as the Platonic Solids) as points of departure in developing new work. Stemming from the original postulation that each solid was aligned with one of the ‘classical’ elements, the decision was made to restrict which ‘elements’ the exhibition would include. The four classical elements were transposed onto ubiquitous materials: concrete, metal, plastic and paper. In addition to these commonplace materials, participants were also invited to harness what has been described as a fifth ‘animating’ element. The desire to create an immersive and large-scale installation using only these ascribed elements precipitated the decision to cover the gallery floor with steel plates, creating a ‘ground’ upon which the exhibition was constructed. This intervention is a testament to the possibilities of cooperative production and serves to underscore the systematised character of the entire project.

Over the course of my career thus far, I’ve come to realise that the only way to succeed is to devote oneself entirely to the mission at hand. Inevitably, this process can have its trials and tribulations. I have found myself returning to the reassuring words written by Rainer Maria Rilke (now collectively published as Letters to a Young Poet) as an antidote to those spells of disillusionment. Rilke wrote: “You must not compare yourself to others […] Work from necessity and your compulsion to do it […] Work on what you know and what you are sure you love […] Don’t let yourself be controlled by too much irony […] Live in and love the activity of your work […] Be touched by the beautiful anxiety of life […] Love your solitude and try to sing with its pain.”² These letters – written between 1903 and 1908, when Rilke was himself an emergent, but prominent poet – were addressed to a student who had sent Rilke poetry and requested guidance about becoming a writer. Though offering advice for an aspiring writer, I find these words can also provide succour and encouragement to the curator in those moments when despondency is at the door and enthusiasm, confidence and faith are devoured in the abyss between the conception and the realisation of an exhibition.

Pádraic E. Moore is a writer, curator and art historian currently based in Brussels and Dublin.
padraicmoore.com

Notes
¹ Hans Ulrich Obrist, A Brief History of Curating (Zurich: JRP/Ringier, 2013) p.127.
² Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet (Norton: Reissue, 2004) p.15.

Image Credits:
‘The Width of a Circle’, group exhibition at W139 Amsterdam, March 2018; photograph by Konstantin Guz
‘Letters of Last Resort’, group exhibition at Damien and The Love Guru, Brussels, July 2018; photograph by Alexey Shlyk

Source

Pallas Projects/Studios, Dublin
25 July – 4 August 2018

Bren Smyth’s ‘Substance of Things’ at Pallas Projects/Studios consisted of nine framed works on paper. Curated by Róisín Bohan, this was Smyth’s first solo exhibition, which was funded by Dublin City Council. The Artist-Initiated Programme at Pallas has proved crucial in the Dublin context, where accessible platforms for emerging artists to exhibit their work appear to be diminishing.

The nine works displayed were mostly monochromatic, made using charcoal and gesso. The surface quality of each work has a tension between the chalky dry white gesso and the greasy application of the black charcoal. Most works tend towards grisaille, although there are flashes of red under-painting, referencing ideas of layering in the painting process. Gesso – more commonly used as a ground and surface to work over – is used here as a primary material. The works are gestural, with materials being dragged, rubbed, dripped and mixed. There is a sense that the works are formed in the process of application. The Fabriano paper bears the folds and creases of contraction, often emanating from a central point. There is also a conscious choice in using paper that buckles under moisture, with some surfaces being reminiscent of the hydrophobic bleeds commonly seen in lithography.

There are other formal tensions in the work between abstract gesturalism and suggested figuration or architectural drawing (which have been previously described as ‘Portraits of Cities’). However, these representational possibilities are more hinted at than explicitly shown, and there are discrepancies between drawn and painted application. Titles such as Corinthian or Ban hint at the impetus behind each work. The compositional structures are often dense and active, framed by areas of sparseness where the paper is untouched. Smyth seeks to combine a playful haphazard primitivism with a considered and refined approach. The material application seems to eschew brushwork in favour of a haptic tactility, where gesso is mixed by rubbing or spilling by hand. The surfaces are mutable, provisional and fluid and delight in the viscosity of the medium.

In a written response to the exhibition, Sue Rainsford reflects on the signification of the embodied mark as something that is “immediate and inscriptive or extrapolative and expressive” and leads to ask the question “at what other levels do they function?” Contextually, the work makes reference to the Altamira cave paintings and the eternal essence of painting, with an intuitive free play of materials that has been a constant throughout painting’s history. They also recall the gestural materiality of High Modernism, found in the paintings of artists like Cy Twombly, Jackson Pollack or Philip Guston. Guston’s transition from early gestural abstraction to the late cartoonish representation is often referenced in illustrating a shift away from the purity of High Modernism – an elitist world free from meaning – towards the untidy resolutions and cultural impurity of later work. Indeed, there has been a recent turn in painting towards a materiality that is uninterested in the ideological positions of Modernism and instead uses materials as a thought process, freeing painters to take more individualistic approaches to the language of painting. There is a stated interest in contemporary painting being both the subject and the object.

It is perhaps the in-between-ness of these works – situated between gesture and consideration, accident and deliberation, subject and object – that aims at an open ambiguity and layered enquiry within Smyth’s practice, generating constructive ambiguity and a simultaneous occupation of various positions. This positioning can result in poised tension between binary points or it can fall into a greyness, where neither position has been pulled to a significant degree. Smyth evidently lives in the moment of making these works, tapping into the eternal primacies in painting, where most painters experience the seduction of the material’s tactile qualities. However, a critical conversation with the chronology of gestural painting and how that functions in the contemporary context would deepen the concerns of the artist’s emerging practice, as it continues to unfold.

Colin Martin is a visual artist, lecturer and RHA School Principal.

Image Credits:
Bren Smyth, Hoist, 2018, charcoal, gesso, whiting on Fabriano watercolour, 105 x 70 cm
Bren Smyth, Finn, 2018, charcoal, gesso, whiting on Fabriano watercolour, 105 x 70 cm; photographs by Kate Bowe O’Brien Photography

Source

Studio 12, Backwater Artists Group, Cork
20 July – 17 August 2018

Klaudia Olszyńska’s exhibition at Studio 12 in Backwater Artists Group consists of four mixed-media works that could be best described as ‘expanded paintings’. The exhibition takes its title from the GPS map coordinates of an area revealed via Google maps to be along Fennell’s Bay Road in Myrtleville, County Cork. The resonance of the works is posited (in a paragraph-long contextualisation) as residing in the abandoned buildings present at the places with which they share coordinates.

The colour scheme of the works revolves around blacks, greys, off-white plaster shades and diffused, near mould-coloured greens. All contain the downward drips of watery paint. They also feature areas of exaggeratedly built-up paint, forming porous structures that protrude an inch or two from the board onto which they are applied. Two works are in portrait format, the other two in landscape, with slight variations in size. The general aesthetic scheme quite clearly signals decay, with stains and spills signifying the wearing down of constructions over time.

The paintings’ glazed surfaces are what struck me most, when viewing them up close. Echoing the gloss of ceramic tiles, these varnished surfaces seem caught or fixed in place. Visually, they contrast with the implied movement found in the spill patterns. As things deteriorate, they are said to ‘lose their sheen’. Patently, these works are in a state of ‘constructed deterioration’, rather than being the products of destruction or gradual deconstruction.

However, it is hard to feel upbeat in the presence of these works. They capture a field of aesthetics that is too often presented in a romanticised manner – think of the ruins depicted in a Caspar David Friedrich painting, for example. In traditional Japanese aesthetics, the notion of wabi-sabi centres on a belief that the workings of time should be appreciated. The gloss and sheen of the new are deemed fleeting and trivial, while aging and impermanence – manifested through imperfections, such as a rustic patina – are venerated. There is no sublime persistence of an object in time; there is only its engulfment in the mouldy stains of decay, until these features are all that remain. Time can express itself aesthetically and affectively in many ways, through blossoming, maturing and decaying. Decay continues long after death and is consequently something that is not specific to its object. Olszynska’s paintings, motivated by experience of ruins, transform a natural occurrence into an artwork, thus valorising this process. However, in contrast to wabi-sabi principles, this decay is fixed in a specific configuration and prevented from continued decay.

Interestingly, photographic reproductions of Olszyńska’s paintings seem to aestheticise the works too much. In this digital format – with everything flattened and illuminated onscreen – the works do, in fact, hold a sublime aspect. The hardness of the glaze disappears from view, replaced by ‘pretty’ diffusions, as opposed to stains. However, in reality, these works are more confrontational, as they actively investigate how to properly capture and present decay. We must read these works according to how decay marches forward, becoming harsher and more brute, as opposed to notions about entropy. There is a sapping and slowness to the entropic process – a gradual depletion. By contrast, the aesthetics of decay are built upon a flourish of sorts, evident in the piles of paint and mounds of plaster, their heavy textures veering towards organic sculptural forms.

Decay is an omnipresent phenomenon, yet Olszyńska responds to a concrete instance with a bleak palette, abstract title and sculptural forms, thus bridging the gap between something local and something universal. According to the exhibition text, the artist was moved by the “memories ingrained in the fabric of abandoned buildings”, but as viewers, we are blocked from knowing this place in such a direct manner. However, being tied to a specific place need not foreclose our engagement with the work. We can interpret the title’s coordinates as signifying something beyond the place they refer to, expressing a tension between abstraction and specificity – features that the works themselves embody and rely on.

John Thompson is an artist and co-curator of The Guesthouse Project, Cork.

Image Credits:
Klaudia Olysznska, ‘51.791384, -8.29109’, installation view, Studio 12, Backwater Artist Studios, Cork; photography by Johnny Bulger
Klaudia Olysznska, 51.791384, -8.29109 (4), mixed media on board, 76 x 101 cm

Source

126 Artist-Run Gallery, Galway
16 – 29 July 2018

‘Outflow’, a two-person show at 126 Artist-Run Gallery, was one of the highlights of this year’s contemporary art offerings at the Galway International Arts Festival. It was a thoughtful and considered pairing of two very different artists, curated with sensitivity by Stephan Roche. The intricate, puzzle-like, abstract paintings of Ronnie Hughes were teamed with Evgeniya Martirosyan’s sculptural mechanisms and enigmatic film. The two bodies of work both contrasted and complemented each other, each presenting different interpretations on themes of accumulation, pattern and system theories.

Numerous abstract figures and forms populate Hughes’s intimately-sized paintings, which draw the viewer in close. I was reminded of childhood colouring sessions and the pleasures of mapping geometries and setting colours against one another. The conundrum in his work lies in the viewer’s expectation that these patterns offer a solution to themselves, but like an Escher labyrinth, they end up in contradiction. With humour, Hughes brings our eye on a journey around serpentine paths and linear motifs, but these paths lead nowhere, and his densely-layered designs are confounding. According to Hughes, the “brink of collapse” is the state he hopes to attain in his work. There is a sense of diagrammatic or scientific formulae gone wrong here. In works such as Geolu (2011) and the ‘Refraction’ series (2017), he plays with striations in space and infinite outlines with different degrees of density. The squared, anti-perspective logic of his forms calls to mind the aesthetic of other Irish painters including Gillian Lawlor, though without the dreamlike sense of discomfort that her work often evokes. Hughes’s emphatic calligraphic lines also channel the gestural work of contemporary American painter, Brice Marden.

Working with handmade acrylic co-polymer paints, Hughes generates a milky plasticised veneer over the substrate, which sometimes includes collaged elements. This gives the eerie impression of a surface upon which something lives and obtains its nourishment. Narcissus (2014) exemplifies how his innovative techniques are put to use, with a huge sun-like form floating in condensed three-dimensional space. The viewer is reminded of Icarus, another subject of classical mythology, who perhaps suffered something of Narcissus’s complaint, being sucked close to a dangerous vanity.

Meanwhile on the floor, in front of Hughes’s paintings, a large apparatus uses another form of suction. The Shape of Emptiness by Evgeniya Martirosyan siphons foam into a precisely constructed steel armature. The flow is mesmeric; slowly changing and evolving, collapsing and reforming again like an algorithmic soufflé. The material accumulations of American sculptor Tara Donovan come to mind, in the intricate and ingenuously simple illusions created by the ethereal dispersion and accretion of frothy bubbles. The title of Martirosyan’s piece guides us to understand the enigma at the heart of her work: the material she works with is mutable and unstable; the form is transient; and chaos or transformation is her subject matter. Martirosyan’s sculptures feel like intruders in the gallery, functioning like science experiments using repurposed industrial machinery. Another work, Dream Machine, invites viewers to turn a functional handle and watch a viscous syrup ooze inside a glass tube, projecting randomised patterns on the gallery wall. The result is vertiginous and beautiful, mimicking various atmospheric or climatic phenomena occurring in nature.

Martirosyan also presents a video and sound installation that addresses similar concerns to those of Hughes’s paintings. Chaos Game plays with the subversion and corruption of patterns and energy fields, but with alternative means. The video shows the ever-changing reproduction of multiple organic cells, as they merge and mutate like incessant rain falling on a slant window. The forms onscreen could also be bacteria in a petri dish. They are animated by a repetitive and fluid sound work that fills the gallery space with sensual and hypnotic vibrations. Hughes’s paintings are also bathed in this soundscape, to their advantage. The works of these two distinct artists are juxtaposed to produce a well-composed show. The selection is compatible and complementary, but each artist is thoroughly individual and brings their own mode of reality to the space.

Áine Phillips is a visual artist, writer, curator and academic. 

Image Credits:
Evgeniya Martirosyan, The Shape of Emptiness; image courtesy of 126 Artist-Run Gallery
Ronnie Hughes, Narcissus, 2014, acrylic co-polymer on plywood, 42 x 40 cm; image courtesy the artist

Source

Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast
19 July – 25 August 2018

Bare interior.
Protruding grey stage.
Stage set in darkness.
Curtains drawn.

     Centre left of stage, she stands, faintly lit, from close-up and below
     She is enveloped from head to foot in black.
     Behind She, the Other emerges out of darkness.
     Motionless off stage three Narrators stand, facing directly across from the stage.
     They face front, without deviation, throughout.
     An invisible microphone sits beneath each mouth.
     Their speech is prompted by a pronounced breath.
     Each voice toneless, except where an expression is indicated.
     Tempo varies throughout.

The curtain rises, the stage is almost in complete darkness.
Faint spotlights simultaneously illuminate the three faces.
The three Narrators begin to speak.

Justine McDonnell’s sound installation ‘A composition of she’ is accompanied by three framed texts. The first, in the form of theatre stage directions, describes the environment in which it is contained. We stand on the (clumsily angled) protruding grey stage to read and thus find ourselves intruders in the diegesis around us.

There are, though, inaccuracies and omissions. The ‘physical absence of both She and the Other and the lack of curtain and darkness focus our attention on our own critical presence. This brings to mind Walter Benjamin’s writings on Bertolt Brecht’s epic theatre: “For its public, the stage is no longer ‘the planks which signify the world’, but a convenient public exhibition area. For its stage, the public is no longer a collection of hypnotised test subjects, but an assembly of interested persons whose demands it must satisfy.”

The second written text is a composed arrangement with the appearance of random selection. Devoid of punctuation or capitalisation, it has the breathless pace and incoherence of Molly Bloom’s monologue in Joyce’s Ulysses, but this does not even pretend to be a stream of consciousness, with its clashes of unrelated grammatical forms and denial of narrative weight. And like Molly’s “yes”, the passage has the occasional appearance of the eponymous ‘She’. With its references to drama and negativity, there is a sense of tragedy and oppression about it, an appeal for sympathy through the panicked, disjointed voice of an asthma attack.

Thirdly is curator Manuela Pacella’s written response to the work – an exercise in self-loathing that makes for difficult reading. Expressing her alienation from the external world and her unhappiness with herself, the stage and its central “funnel” are simultaneously the cause of and release from her existential crisis.

Facing the stage, like Luigi Pirandello’s six characters demanding their story be told, are four audio speakers, from which the three narrators make their proclamations. Reminiscent of the second framed text, the tone, in its atonality, is now however accusatory. The three women address the “stage that commands a construction of She”, attempting to communicate with a language that is formulated to conceal her identity. The work is a call to action, to overturn linguistic norms in order to remove their role as patriarchal instrument: “Lips bound. Raw angst. Can’t break. Scattered words unborn. Drained from the mouth. A sense of unease, deliberately constructed for She. A veil of language to be torn apart.” This Beckettian play from a female voice uses disciplined formal structure to demolish the male framework of gendered language (in her text, Pacella refers to the Italian language’s male gendering of all bodies).

The formal qualities of the self-referential dramatisation of her arguments sit uncomfortably in formal theatrical tradition (despite its adoption of long-established Brechtian alienation devices and Pirandello’s extradiegetic interruption), but sits quite happily in an art gallery, where such considerations have become commonplace. The work, though, has a constructive poignancy about it, encouraging its audience into a critical position toward existing power relations: “An unknown conclusion. It’s never forgotten. A structure that will soon collapse. Smacks of the past deliberately constructed for She. A composition of She hides in every corner.”

Colin Darke is an artist, curator and writer based in Belfast.

Image Credits:
Justine McDonnell, A composition of she, 2018, installation view, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast; photographs by Simon Mills

Source