Cloud illusions I recall an exhibition exploring art and cinema 22.06 - 25.07
photo courtesy Cerith Wyn Evans Š the artist
"Cloud illusion i recall" explores the fertile relationship betweeen visual art and cinema. The Irish Museum of Modern Art invited artists Dominique Gonzales-Foerster and Cerith Wyn Evans to exhibit their work and explore concepts of the poetic and imagination that together make up the cinematic experience, thereby investigating the relationship and influence of film. Through a series of conversations, Gonzales-Forester and Wyn Evans explored this influence of the cinematic as a theme for the show, and then expanded the exhibition through selected diverse works from filmmakers, writers and artists. Both artists nuanced selection of installations, video, film, painting, text and events showcases the long-standing legacy of cinema as a source of inspiration for artists since its formation. The exhibition presents a dialogue with cinema that reveals the rich interplay between the two genres. Dominique Gonzales-Forester explores cinematic conventions, temporality and subjective experience; her short films and installations recreate specific moments in which individuals intersect with places – highlighting the individual traces of cultural and social contexts. Her quiet, inimate interrogation of contemporary urban life spills into her conversations and her selection of art works with Cerith Evans for the exhibition. Wyn Evan’s work stems from his interest in language and communication. He uses found fragments from literature, philosophy and film that he distils into a distinct aesthetic. His use of repetition and elliptical meaning in his
work indicates endless possible readings. This is echoed by his choice of (artistic and literary) quatations replict with both classical and personal implications. "Cloud ullusions i recall", which takes its title from Joni Mitchell’s 1969 classic song Both Sides, Now, offers a unique and wide-ranging exploration of the relationship between art, cinema and the world we inhabit. Cinema has the power to affect our state of mind, with the classic themes on offer such as love, suspense and the melancholic, altering how we perceive the world around us. "Cloud illusions I recall" includes some rare works, not seen for decades, and others created especially for the Iris Museum of the Modern Art. "Cloud illusions I recall" features works that span generations and includes some of the most important artists of recent times, such as Marcel Broodthaers, James Coleman, Peter Doig, Allen Ruppersberg, Ed Ruscha, Cindy Shemann and Russian filmaker Andrey Tarkovsky, along with the Victorian photographer Clementina, Lady Hawarden. Film screenings of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's iconic film The Red Shoes (1948) are also included. A specialwork/event was created for the opening night of "Cloud illusions I recall" a choral performance of Samuel Beckett's "Imagination dead imagine", convinced by Cerith Wyn Evans for the Irish Museum of Modern Art. This is, as Wyn Evans explained and coined the phrase, a "constructed occasion".
The fluid approach to the exhibition displays the same playfulness and selfreflective awareness that generated this performance. Gonzales-Foerster will also perform a new work based on her ongoing work, M. 2062, a fragmented opera that started during "The Memory Marathon" (2012) at the Serpentine Gallery, London. This continuing performance stands as a moment within a body of work by Gonzales-Foerster centrally concerned with literature and musical adventures in the spirit of Werner Herzog's epic 1982 film Fitzcarraldo and King Ludwig ii of Bavaria's fascination with Wagner. The events within cloud illusion i recall transform imma into a place with the unique dynamic and character of the "live" situation offered by the artists. Cloud illusions i recall addresses, through the selection by Cerith Wan Evans and Dominique Gonzales-Foerster, a unique and poetic conversation which harnesses the vital power of the wide-ranging themes of the cinematic, and how it can shape and influence our relationship to the imagination.
imma would like to thank the following: →supporters/donors: in partnership with the Irish Film Institute with the support of the French Embassy in Ireland and Institut Fran�ais →galleries/museums/collections: Esther Schipper, Berlin │ White Cube │ 303 Gallery │ Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London │ Galerie Michael Werner, Märkisch Wilmersdorl and Cologne │ Victoria and Albert Museum, London │ Galerie Micheline Szwajcer │ Gagosian Gallery Sprüth Magers Berlin London │ Metro Pictures, New York │ Andrey Tarkovsky Foundation │ White Space Gallery →exhibition team: Rachel Thomas, senior curator, head of exhibitions │ George Thompson, assistant curator, exhibitions Poi Marr, programme assistant exhibitions │ Séamus McCormack, exhibitions/ temporary projects →exhibition projects and publication Leo Chadburn, Tom Cobbe, Pony Lid and Silver Kiles Finally, we would like to thank Dominque Gonzales-Foerster and Cerith Wyn Evans for their unique vision and commitment to the project.
Exhibition co-curated by Dominique GonzalesFoerster, Crith Wyn Evans and Racharl Thomas – senior curator and head of exhibitions, imma. A fully-illustrated artists' book, published by imma, will accompany the exhibition and a specifically created limited edition print by Peter Doig is also available. An extensive programme of talks and events coincides with this exhibition. For further information see www.imma.ie.
5 Andrey Tarkovsky: Myasnoe, 8 September 1980, 2007 Myasnoe, 8 September 1980, 2007 Myasnoe, 8 September 1980, 2007 2 Cerith Wyn Evans: Astro-photography, 2006 3 Cindy Sherman: Untitled 428, 1976/2005 4 Allen Ruppersberg: Charles Baudelaire/Ouvers Posthumes, 1978 5 Lady Clementina Hawarden: Various Photographs, 2006 6 James Coleman: Ligne de Foi, 1991 7 Ed Ruscha: Hurry up schedule, 2002 8 Marcel Broodthaers: M.B., 24 images/seconde, 1970 9 Cerith Wyn Evans: Socle du Monde (park Hyiatt, Berlin), 2008 10 Cerith Wyn Evans: Slow Fade to Black, 2003 11 Samuel Beckett: Imagine Dead Imagine, 1965 A reconstruction by Cerith Wyn Evans, 2013 12 Dominique Gonzales-Foerster: Home Cinema Mars, 2002 13 Cerith Wyn Evans: Prerequisite, 2013 14 Dominique Gonzales-Foerster: r.w.f. (Rainer Werner Fassbinder), 1993 15 Dominique Gonzales-Foerster: M. 2062 (Ludwig), 2013
16 Cerith Wyn Evans: Time here becomes space, space here becomes time, 2004 17 Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger: The Red Shoes, 1948 various locations throughout the gallery: 18 Peter Doig: Film Poster Series, 2008–201118 18 19 1Dominique Gonzales-Foerster: Personal Photographs, 2013
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