The Art of Attraction

On display in Three Park Place, IDA Ireland’s new home, are five exceptional artworks that give a flavour of the exciting creativity to be found on these shores.

VANESSA DONOSO LÓPEZ

In this work, Vanessa depicts how powerful attraction can be.

In her practice, Vanessa Donoso López explores concepts of transitional phenomena relevant to contemporary migrant life. Her work negotiates the tension between crosscultural identities and narratives, reflecting on its instability and complexity. In this work, Vanessa depicts how powerful attraction can be. 70 stones symbolise both the anniversary and the multiplicity of companies with whom the IDA has been involved. She describes each stone as a “manuport”, a natural object so attractive to a human that they carry it with them to somewhere new – an experience that reflects the journey of those who, with the support of IDA Ireland, have found their home here.

PAUL HALLAHAN

His interests are varied but commonly look at how humans interact with nature, both individually and as a society.

Paul Hallahan’s practice takes formalistic ideas from the past and re-imagines them in today’s world. His interests are varied but commonly look at how humans interact with nature, both individually and as a society. These paintings are inspired by the mythical island of Hy-Brasil, thought to have lain off the west coast of Ireland, and only visible once every seven years. They create the idea of a place that comes in and out of focus, existing mostly in the imagination. While history has shown how Irish people have always travelled abroad to find work, IDA Ireland brought them back and, crucially, welcomed new people to Ireland. The works look out to Hy-Brasil, through the fog and to the hope and attraction that an unknown island can offer.

LUCY MC KENNA

In her Plexiglass installation, Lucy uses actual information about IDA Ireland, its community and network.

The work of NCAD graduate Lucy McKenna is concerned with the observation and restructuring of information systems which attempt to explain the universe and our place in it. In her Plexiglass installation, Lucy uses actual information about IDA Ireland, its community and network. This data, in numerical form, represents all the ways that IDA Ireland has attracted business into Ireland, translated into shapes, patterns, colours and opacity, so that it becomes visual. It is a representation of the complex layering and connections within IDA Ireland’s network, emphasising the vibrancy and energy of their achievements.

RUTH E LYONS

Built out of found stones, stainless steel, beeswax and cast sugar, the work plays with notions of endurance within an idea of a sustainable landscape.

Primarily working in large-scale sculpture, Ruth E Lyons is fascinated by the spectrum of human engagement with landscape throughout history. Ruth’s work is a totemic sculpture in honour of bees. Built out of found stones, stainless steel, beeswax and cast sugar, the work plays with notions of endurance within an idea of a sustainable landscape. While the stones speak of legacy, sugar has more bodily and sensual connotations, bringing desire and attraction into the equation.

HELEN Mac MAHON

Her installation “Mealladh” (the Irish for attraction) is inspired by an element of IDA Ireland’s logo, specifically the three hexagon shapes.

Helen Mac Mahon’s interests lie in the phenomena of light, movement, perception and space and the artworks she creates observe and reveal the ecosystem that exists between the viewer and these intangible elements. Her installation “Mealladh” (the Irish for attraction) is inspired by an element of IDA Ireland’s logo, specifically the three hexagon shapes. The hexagon shares symbolic associations with bees and their hives. Helen sees the bees’ industrious work towards a collective good as a powerful reflection of the current and historical endeavours of IDA Ireland on behalf of the nation.