THE
BRIDGE Volume 1, Issue 2. November 2014 Art, Architecture + Design
LINES OF VISION: CURATOR INTERVIEW HUNT + GATHER PETER BRADLEY INTERVIEW IRISH STAINED GLASS WHAT’S ON IN DUBLIN + MORE
ERNEST PROCTER (1886-1935) ‘THE DEVIL’S DISC’ (C.1928) PHOTO © NATIONAL GALLERY OF IRELAND
Contents
10 3 Douglas Hyde review 4 What’s on 5 Hennessy portrait prize 6 Editor’s picks 8 Interview: Peter Bradley 10 Lines of Vision: curator interview 14 Ai WeiWei 16 Irish Stained Glass 18 Hunt + Gather 20 Museum Building + Berkeley
STAFF: CLARA MURRAY (EDITOR) HAZEL SHAW (CONTEMPORARY EDITOR) RONAN CAREY (ARCHITECTURE EDITOR) JENNIFFER DUFFY (HISTORICAL EDITOR) ERICA GURNEE (DUBLIN EDITOR) SERGEY ALIFANOV (PHOTO EDITOR) IMOGEN FITZGERALD (WEB EDITOR) OLEN BAJARIAS AND TRUDY KILGORE (COPY EDITORS) GRACE NUTALL (PUBLICITY)
DESIGN: CLARA MURRAY AND GRACE NUTTALL COVER IMAGE: ‘WARRIOR’, STEVEN MAYBURY THANK YOU: GREHAN PRINTERS. TRINITY PUBLICATIONS. ALL AT THE NGI AND DOUGLAS HYDE FOR THEIR ENTHUSIASM AND ASSISTANCE FOR A PRINT COPY OF THIS ISSUE CONTACT EDITOR@THEBRIDGETCD.COM
juxtapositions ERICA GURNEE REVIEWS PETER GALLO AND LOIS WEINBERGER’S CURRENT SHOWS AT THE DOUGLAS HYDE GALLERY, TRINITY COLLEGE PHOTOS: SERGEY ALIFANOV
The Douglas Hyde Gallery’s current overarching theme in its exhibitions is the reconfiguration of familiar and everyday objects and actions in art. Their current exhibition, featuring Peter Gallo and Lois Weinberger, seems to perfectly encapsulate this. Walking into the open and minimalist exhibition space of the gallery, I was first confronted by Gallo’s works. The Vermont-based artist has studied and written on art history, leading to his eccentric yet thoroughly relatable style. Materials from everyday life serve as a canvas on which Gallo paints, draws, and writes. Gallo borrows sayings and words from his surrounding life, such as from his favourite musicians and authors. The mixture of these ‘borrowed’ words and materials and the use of classic painterly components, in particular oil paint, creates a confrontational message for the viewer. What are we really looking at, what does the artist mean by these combinations and juxtapositions, and what do these combinations instinctively mean to us, the viewer? While exploring the exhibition, I was struck not only by the overall unity of the exhibition pieces despite their variety in material and the dates they were created, but also by the familiarity of the objects in contrast to the intimacy of the pieces. Je Me Souviens, 2007, is an oil painting created on a book cover found by the artist. The roughness of the piece and the familiar words of ‘I Remember’, made foreign by the artist writing them not only in French, but also by painting the word backwards, creates an air of burden and unease, while at the same time evokes a feeling of honesty and truth within the work. The straightforward nature of Gallo’s works creates a harmony in the exhibition and in a sense the pieces’ simplicity add complexity to the overall show. The works are truly unimposing, in the most thoughtful and curious way. Lois Weinberger’s space, by contrast, is stark and
unexpected; a divergence from Gallo’s warmer, privately reflective exhibition space. Weinberger’s Invasion (2002) is contemplating a bigger picture. It is reflecting on the transience of time, the collapse of life, nature’s continuous adaption and human beings’ place within this natural world. The room itself in which Invasion is held is a sculpture in itself. Forty-five different types of tree fungi are scattered throughout the room, in what looks like naturally occurring clusters. Setting oneself inside the room is an experience alone. It is at once unsettling and intriguing to look at nature set within the space and idea of the ‘white cube’, with only artificial lighting cast on these illusory fungi. The room feels almost like a form of interactive sculpture, as the body plays a key role in the meaning of the piece. Introducing yourself into this space is an unusual experience, especially if done so alone. The Douglas Hyde’s current exhibition is a must-see and will be open to the public, at no cost, running until the third of December.
WH AT ’ S O N I N D U BL I N Listings for November + December 2014 Compiled by Imogen Fitzgerald
Martin Gale: ‘Territory’ The Taylor Gallery is showing several new works by Irish painter Martin Gale, in his 15th solo exhibition. One of the major figures in contemporary Irish figurative painting, Gale’s work meticulously records the minutiae of modern rural life. In total opposition to the likes of Paul Henry, this vision of Ireland is sombre and quite mundane, yet somehow utterly fascinating. Under invariably overcast skies, his landscapes are littered with scraggly trees, wire fencing, combine harvesters and PVC windows, and populated by isolated, ambiguous figures. CLARA MURRAY Taylor Gallery, 16 Kildare Street 21 November - 6 December Artist talk: 27 November, 1pm. Admission free. MARTIN GALE, ‘GUEST’ (2014) COURTESY OF TAYLOR GALLERY
Duncan Campbell The first major exhibition in Dublin from Irish-born artist Duncan Campbell, a nominee for the 2014 Turner Prize. IMMA, Royal Hospital, Kilmainham. Until 8 February 2015 Phoenix Rising Referencing Dublin’s 1914 Civic Exhibition, this exhibition showcases a variety of contemporary artists’ responses to the urban environment. Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane, Parnell Square Until 29 March 2015 Eoin McHugh ‘the skies will be friendlier then’ Complex sculptural and textile works which reference psychoanalysis and Seamus Heaney. Anne’s Lane, South Anne Street, Dublin 2. Until 10 January 2015 Chester Beatty’s A to Z: Amulet to Zodiac Curator’s choice of rarely exhibited works from the
collection. Chester Beatty Library, Dublin Castle. Until 1 February 2015 Peter Gallo American born Artist, Peter Gallo, exhibits his work in Ireland for the first time. His paintings, which often employ unconventional materials such as buttons and toothpicks, derive from personal experiences. Gallery 1, The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College. Until 3 December Lois Weinberger “Invasion” Invasion uses tree fungi to explore the topic of passing time and decay. Gallery 2, The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College. Until 3 December Boyle Civic Collection In preparation for the 25th anniversary in 2015, the RHA are displaying a selection of the 280 works from the Boyle Civic Collection. Royal Hibernian Academy Gallery, Ely Place. Until 19 December
Arthur Fields ‘Man on the Bridge’ A celebration of the work of the legendary Dublin street photographer, showcasing photos taken on O’Connell Bridge from the 1930s -80s. Gallery of Photography, Meeting House Square. Until 7 November Mike Kelley, Jeremy Deller, Conrad Shawcross, Kevin Atherton, Linder, Jesse Jones and Bedwyr Williams ‘Primal Architecture’ Primal Architecture will feature artworks spanning across varied media and decades, including installation, video, sculpture, drawing, performance and photography. IMMA, Royal Hospital, Kilmainham. Until 1 March 2015 Chris Evans “Clerk of Mind” Multidisciplinary solo exhibition from this London resident artist. Project Arts Centre, Temple Bar, Dublin 2. Until 17 January 2015
Selection BOX A selection of physically small works (all c. 20” x 20”) from over 20 individual artists. Talbot Gallery, 51 Talbot St. 4 – 20 December Chris Wilson “Small Islands” Solo exhibition celebrating the idea of ‘place’. Officially opened by our own Dr. Yvonne Scott. The Doorway Gallery, 24 South Fredrick St. Until 4 December Pull Bite Rally A group exhibition of five artists in collaboration with the Black Church Print Studio. NCAD Gallery, 100 Thomas Street, 20 November – 17 December Winter Open Show 2014 Annual winter exhibition, featuring a selection of artists from all over Ireland. RUA RED, South Dublin Arts Centre, Tallaght 15 November - 20 December
Hennessy Portrait Prize Lines of Vision To mark the 150th anniversary of the National Gallery, Irish writers find inspiration in its wonderful collection. [see p. 10] National Gallery of Ireland, Merrion Square 8th Oct – 12th April Damir Ocko “Studies on Shivering” Multidisciplinary exhibition from this Croatian artist, which focuses on the central theme of shivering. Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, 5-9 Temple Bar. 21 November - 24 January 2015 Patrick Redmond “Phantom Limb” Fourth solo exhibition of Redmond’s in the Molesworth Gallery. “Phantom Limb” explores the work of Nietszche through photorealistic pieces. The Molesworth Gallery, 16 Molesworth Street. Until 6 December From the Archives: The Story of the National Gallery of Ireland Last chance to see this display, which focuses on and celebrates the development of the Gallery from 1864 to the present day. The National Gallery of Ireland, Merrion Square. Until 14 December
WORDS: IMOGEN FITZGERALD PHOTO: SERGEY ALIFANOV
In March of this year, Hennessy and the National Gallery of Ireland announced the introduction of the Hennessy Portrait Prize. The competition aims to promote interest in contemporary portraiture and to expand the National Portrait Collection, which has been in existence since 1872. The introduction of this new prize shows how portraiture, often considered a traditional genre, still has an important role to play in the contemporary art sphere. The competition was open to artists of all disciplines, the one condition being that the artist had to be a resident of Ireland or an Irish citizen living abroad. The prize was set at €15,000, alongside a commission worth €5,000 to produce a portrait of an Irish sitter for inclusion in the National Portrait Collection. From its conception, the National Portrait Collection has been described as a “celebration of eminent Irishmen and Irish women” and this award aims to continue that legacy today. By 31st July the competition had received over 400 entries, which was narrowed down to a short-list of just 12 earlier this month. The judges were not given the names of the artists during the decision process to make it as unbiased as possible. The judging panel included Dr. Declan Long (NCAD), Donald Teskey (RHA), Cristin Leach Hughes (The Sunday Times), Janet McLean (NGI) and the director of the National Gallery of Ireland, Sean Rainbird. The twelve short-listed
artists represent a very diverse range of art, and definitely refute any idea of portraiture being dated. There are huge variations in age, background and practice amongst the artists. The group includes some relatively unknown names as well as some more prominent and well-established artists. As the prize was not restricted to traditional media, the works chosen include video installations by John Beattie and Saoirse Wall and photography by Hugh O’Conor, Mandy O’Neill and Erin Quinn. The rest of the entries are, more traditionally, oil paintings but this does not hinder the inventiveness and creativity found in all of the works, which range from figurative to almost completely abstract. Nick Miller was announced as the winner on 11th November. A London born artist who has been based in Ireland for the last 30 years, Miller has experienced considerable artistic success here. He has exhibited his work in IMMA, the RHA, The Huge Lane and Projects Arts Centre, to name but a few. His winning painting, entitled Last Sitting: Portrait of Barrie Cooke, depicts his friend and fellow artist. Cooke sadly passed away earlier this year, just a few months after the portrait was painted. Miller has said of the painting that “there was an awareness during this last sitting that the end of his road was approaching”. Millers winning painting, and the other eleven short-listed works, will be on display in the National Gallery until 8 February 2015.
ED I TOR ’ S PI CK S
The art of Netsuke WORDS AND PICTURE: JENNIFER DUFFY
Five Current International Architecture Projects To Be Excited About RONAN CAREY
Kingdom Tower, Jeddah: Construction is set to begin on the soon-to-be-tallest building in the world. The Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, will stand 3,280 feet, and was designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture of Chicago. It is part of a larger development, Kingdom City, and will be the first structure in the world to reach the one-kilometer-high mark (the original design was to be onemile-high (1.6 km), but the geology of the area was not suitable for that height).
Although now regarded as art objects, netsuke were originally purely functional, plain and made of wood or stone. Traditional Japanese clothing does not have pockets. Women could store small objects in their wide sleeves, men used sagemono (suspended objects) which were hung from the obi (a wide belt used to secure the kimono). These containers would be attached to a cord, which was hung from the obi using the netsuke as a counterweight. By the eighteenth century netsuke had become decorative. They were status symbols used by merchants to display their wealth, and to subvert the strict sumptuary laws under which certain fab-
The Helsinki Guggenheim Competition: The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation is seeking a visionary design for a proposed Guggenheim museum in the Finnish capital of Helsinki. The shortlist for this open, two-stage competition will be announced on December 2, 2014, with the winner announced in June 2015. A total of 1,715 submissions were received from 77 countries — the largest number of entries recorded for an architectural competition. Ina ddition, they have created a platform which enables people to select favourites, and compile and share shortlists.
rics and ornaments were reserved for the higher echelons of society. The finely carved netsuke were made of ivory or native Japanese woods, most commonly boxwood, with materials such as amber or mother-of-pearl used to add colour. Netsuke display extraordinary artistic skill as artists working in miniature crafted intricate designs. Typically, netsuke are no larger than 5cm. In some of the animal netsuke fine hairs are incised into the ivory. Katabori, or three-dimensional figures, were the most common category. Manju, or rounded forms, were also popular. An example is the netsuke from the British Museum’s collection pictured with this article, which depicts a monkey crawling among flowers, carved from ivory.
Five Internet-Based Art Works CLARA MURRAY
Ping Body, Stelarc (1996): Stelarc’s attempts to overcome the limits of the human body have recently culminated in the surgical attachment of an ear to his arm. One of his earlier artworks, Ping Body, involved hooking up his muscles to electrical simulators controlled by the ebb and flow of global online information transfer. The resulting involuntary movements turned the artist into a literal puppet to the internet’s unpredictable data exchange. Apartment, Martin Wattenberg & Marek Walczak (2000-04): Based on the concept of memory palaces, this interactive website generated a space according to a semantic analysis of user’s words. This structure was then translated into navigable 3D ‘apartments’, which were then clustered into ‘cities’ based on common semantic themes. This work blurred the boundaries between language, space, and information architecture. 1:1, Lisa Jevbratt (1999): The artist devised web crawlers which searched for all possible I.P. addresses across the internet. If they found a website associated with a partic-
ABOVE: STELARC, ‘PING BODY’ BELOW: LISA JEVBRATT, ‘1:1’
The Strange City, Paris: Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, Russianborn artists celebrated for their large-scale and ambitious projects, have constructed an ethereal architectural experience within the Grand Palais of Paris for the sixth edition of the international art competition MONUMENTA. Viewers are invited to lose themselves in the maze of an imaginary town.nspired by the Renaissance, Romanticism, and modern science, the City is a synthesis of a long artistic career. Infused with the artists’ Soviet origins, The Strange City takes visitors on a journey through dream and reality. THE STRANGE CITY, PARIS
Masdar City, Abu Dhabi: Designed by the British architectural firm Foster and Partners, Masdar City is an ongoing architectural project under construction 17 kilometres east-south-east of the city of Abu Dhabi. It is an experiment in long-term industrial planning and sustainability: while it is curently only 6km² in size, it relies solely on solar energy and other renewable energy sources. The city has been largely designed in clustered grid pattern with terracotta walls decorated with arabesque patterns.
ular address, it was assigned a single colour-coded pixel on an enormous grid. This was an example of an early attempt to ‘map’ the world wide web and present it as a single ‘territory’. deepsadness.com, Rafaël Rozendaal (2014): Just one of many single-purpose websites Rozendaal has created since the turn of the millennium, this site plays a series of high-pitched tones alongside an assortment of blindinglycoloured shapes. And that’s it. Rozendaal has created tens of similar websites (flyingfrying.com, muchbetterthanthis.com, and jellotime.com among them). Despite their simplicity, the works often manage to be hypnotic and surprisingly deep. Morse Code Tweets, An Xiao (2009): The first featured artist on the Brooklyn Museum’s @1stfans Twitter account used it to send Tweets written solely in Morse Code. An Xiao writes that she “aimed to explore instant communication’s new direction by recalling its history”, tweeting mundane details such as “Tired. Need coffee” as a contrast to the often-urgent content of early telegrams.
Museum of Narrative Art, Chicago: To follow up on their commission for the design of George Lucas’ Museum of Narrative Art, MAD Architects has revealed the first renderings of their mountain-like scheme, to be located along Chicago’s waterfront. The project’s concept builds upon the firm’s repeated interest in blending nature with urbanity, by combining building and landscape forms to create a sloping structure surrounded by green park space. This is an exiting and immense new project for Chicago’s inner city.
Gender Warrior AS PART OF OUR SERIES OF INTERVIEWS WITH EMERGING IRISH ARTISTS, CLARA MURRAY TALKS TO PETER BRADLEY, RECENT GRADUATE OF LSAD AND WINNER OF THE RC LEWIS CROSBY AWARD FOR PAINTING IN 2013.
A great deal of your recent work has been concerned with questions of gender identity. Can you tell me a bit about why this area in particular interests you? The work is autobiographical to a certain extent. For one reason or another growing up I never felt entirely comfortable being myself, which sparked my long running obsession with gender identity and gender appropriation. I can’t say I’m perfectly comfortable even now so my artistic practice has become a way of analysing that and celebrating those who have the courage to express who they are freely, between and beyond the gender binary, and without inhibition. Would you say that there is a political dimension to your work? I would consider the work to be quietly political because I don’t necessarily think people will immediately consider that the work is about gender when they first see it. Gender equality and gender recognition is an extremely important issue and it’s not just about male or female, but also equality and recognition for those who identify as neither, both, or any number of combinations of the two. As an artist I feel I am supposed to provide a platform from which to see things differently so all I hope is that conversations around gender identity may evolve after people view these works, questioning their own perception
of gender. Are there any theorists or writers who have had an influence on your work? Do you think that art needs a theoretical underpinning? My practice has certainly been influenced by feminist and gender theorists including R.W. Connell and Judith Butler through whom I was introduced to queer theory and the concept of gender performativity. Having my mind opened to the fact that everything I have always known to be normal or ‘appropriate’ with respect to gender is nothing but a social construct has been a major development for me both as an artist and a person. I wouldn’t say that art needs theory behind it, art should be made for the love of making it. Having said that, art is always going to be pointing at something beyond itself, so anchoring the work with intellectual context can only strengthen its impact and broaden its audience. A conscious rejection of context can be just as valid a context as any other. I find it interesting that you primarily use such a traditional medium, painting, to explore contemporary issues and questions. What draws you to painting? I get asked this a lot and I was challenged on my choice of painting over photography for example on a number of occasions during my years at college. It wasn’t a conscious decision, I’ve always
painted. It’s what fulfils me artistically so although I tried my hand at lots of different things I always came back to paint. When my love of painting and my interest in gender came together during my time at college it was one of those moments that felt really organic. I do feel the way I work complements the concept well. I see the collage like aesthetic, use of colour, and layered composition as allegorical of the fluid nature of gender. You studied at LSAD - what’s your opinion of the Limerick art scene? Do you think its naming as the 2014 City of Culture has had a positive impact? The Limerick art scene is fantastic and of course LSAD is an outstanding
“AS AN ARTIST I FEEL I AM SUPPOSED TO PROVIDE A PLATFORM FROM WHICH TO SEE THINGS DIFFERENTLY”
college. There is always something happening with art in Limerick and there are so many amazing spaces and organisations showing both national and international work including Ormston House and the Limerick City Gallery of Art. 2014 has been an exceptional year for art in Limerick. Ireland’s biennial EVA International coinciding with City of Culture has brought a lot of positive attention to the city. Has winning the R.C. Lewis Crosby award for painting at the RDS student art awards 2013 has had a positive impact on your career? That painting [The Warrior] symbolises the exploration of alternative gender presentations that had been central to
TOP: ‘THE WARRIOR’ CENTRE: ‘THE MASCULINE POTENTIAL’ RIGHT: ‘STOP BEING A GIRL’ ALL IMAGES COURTESY THE ARTIST
my practice for the previous few years. The fact that an image like that was appreciated not only by a panel of judges at the RDS but by the public was pivotal in my development as an artist and incentive to further research a topic I believe is so important. Do you have any upcoming projects or shows that you’re working on? At the moment I am just enjoying being in the studio making work and getting involved in the art scene in Galway as much as I can. My practice is taking an interesting turn visually so I am excited to see how this new body of work comes together.
LINES O F V ISIO N
JAMES BARRY (1741-1806) ‘SELF-PORTRAIT AS TIMANTHES’ (C.1780-1803) CHOSEN BY THOMAS MCCARTHY PHOTO © NATIONAL GALLERY OF IRELAND
“You can be slightly repelled by something but find it keeps coming back to you like a really bad pop song. It’s in your brain and you can’t get rid of it”
THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF IRELAND IS CURRENTLY HOSTING THE EXHIBITION LINES OF VISION: IRISH WRITERS ON ART TO MARK THEIR 150TH ANNIVERSARY. FIFTY-SIX IRISH WRITERS HAVE WRITTEN ESSAYS, STORIES OR POEMS INSPIRED BY PIECES FROM THE GALLERY’S COLLECTIONS. ERICA GURNEE SPOKE TO ITS CURATOR, JANET MCLEAN, AND DR. TOM WALKER, FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, TCD, ABOUT THE INSPIRATION FOR THE SHOW AND THEIR PLANS FOR ITS FUTURE.
Where specifically did the idea for this exhibition come from? Janet McLean: It was my idea and it came to me around 2010, about the time that the huge building project that is taking place in the gallery at the moment began. At the time, I realized that more and more gallery space was going to be closed. I suppose in a way the idea was born from my frustration as a curator. Normally, I would have had suites of rooms to hang pictures from my area, which is Modern European art, but I was restricted to one tiny room, so that was quite hard. I then started to think about things to do and I suppose in a sense the idea was also born from the recession. Part of my job is to acquire paintings for the collection from the Modern period. The gallery board realized we needed to buy more modern paintings, but then around that time [2010] the budgets were completely cut. I started to have to look more closely at the things we have in the collection and think of things I could do with them. I was very conscious that the gallery’s 150th anniversary was coming up, so I ran this idea by our previous director and he really liked it due to the gallery’s long history and association with various writers - Oscar Wilde lived across Merrion Square, and W.B. Yeats was one of
our board members. That’s how the idea came about; it was really a way of getting past physical and financial restrictions and looking closely at the collection and remembering the great works that we already have. Originally, my idea started as a book. By the anniversary I thought all the pictures would be back where they originally hung as was planned in 2010, so I imagined the book could then be incorporated into an audio trail around the gallery, allowing people to look at a painting and hear a reading of a poem. However, from the beginning I felt very strongly that the book should really reflect the visitors who come to the gallery. It wasn’t just about art history and the curators saying, ‘this painting is this date, this is important and look at the perspective.’ It really was to turn the art right back at us and see and think about what people associate with it when they look at pictures, and then articulating this idea. I just had this lovely idea of looking at a picture from another time and Victorians looking at it and then people in the 20th century and so on. The idea of the picture being a static object and thinking about what goes on in peoples’ minds when they look at these objects is what really interested me.
What do you want visitors to get out of the exhibition? JMcL: I think for the visitor, I would probably hope they would have fun with the exhibition and not feel intimidated by it. For me, the exhibition is an exercise in getting people to relax amid art and to feel that they don’t have to know art history, or dates, or timelines to get something from a picture. Artists in particular don’t often know art history. They look at pictures and see compositions and motifs that interest them. The idea is to make people feel it’s okay to come to a gallery and know that they don’t need to have the visual language to look at art. I sometimes feel people are intimidated coming into art galleries, whereas if it’s music and people listen to music they don’t need to know when it was composed to feel they enjoyed it. This exhibition is an experiment in that sense. What’s your favourite picture from the collection, if you had to write on one? JMcL: The thing is that I made it clear to the artists that it wasn’t about choosing their favourite pictures, so it’s really good you said it, because I didn’t say to the artists ‘pick your favourite work’! I’m quite opposed to this idea of ‘Ireland’s favourite paintings’ and ‘Irelands favourite poems’. I
PHOTO: SERGEY ALIFANOV THE BOOK: LINES OF VISION: IRISH WRITERS ON ART EDITED BY JANET MCLEAN THE EXHIBITION: LINES OF VISION: IRISH WRITERS AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY NATIONAL GALLERY OF IRELAND UNTIL 12 APRIL 2015. ADMISSION FREE.
know I shouldn’t say that, but I just think it’s one of those very reductive things. You may like something when you’re fifteen but then hate it when you’re seventy. To me, this book and exhibition was about picking a painting that intrigued them, or touched them or interested them at this moment. A funny example is Gabriel Rosenstock, who chose the Ribera painting, Saint Onuphrius (1625-29). It’s quite a dark, haunted scene. When he came to speak at the gallery last week, he was asked about it being his favourite picture and he said, ‘it isn’t my favourite picture, that wasn’t part of the brief,’ and I thought yes, thank goodness someone said that, it wasn’t the brief. He then said, ‘I don’t even like the painting!’. I think that’s good though, as you can be slightly repelled by something but find it keeps coming back to you like a really bad pop song. It’s in your brain and you can’t get rid of it. It’s that idea of your connection with a piece. So, I would probably choose the Caillebotte painting, Banks of the Canal, near Naples, (c.1872) even though it’s quite understated. It’s a painting from my area of collection that I recommended the gallery buy in 2008. When Seamus Heaney choose it as his work that he would write on, I felt my choice had been validated and was pleased Heaney saw in the work that you can find beauty in small corners and in things that people may normally pass by. It may not be the most glamorous picture, I mean our Vermeer is wonderful and so is our Caravaggio, but I
like that nineteenth century sentiment. Definitely, so which painting that at artist chose surprised you the most? JMcL: Lots of writers surprised me, but I would say Paul Muldoon and his choice of Charles Emile Jacques’ Poultry Among Trees (c.1860-80). It really astounded me, as he must have found it on our database and all I could think was ‘how did you find that?’ When he came to talk to me about the picture (and the picture is part of my collection but I hadn’t even really thought about it before) I started to really appreciate Jacques the painter. He actually had different schemes - he was in the army and was an engraver as well - but his main pursuit was poultry. He made a manual about keeping poultry that you can find online from 1858. Anyway, when Paul Muldoon came and visited the gallery it turned out that he had a real interest in chicken and poultry himself. So it’s things like that that were a surprise to me. It seemed like such a strange choice at the time as he’s quite urban, but so much of his childhood influenced his decision, which is lovely. Other people did too, like Carlo Gébler picking Roderic O’Conor’s La Jeune Bretonne (c. 1895). Gébler writes quite a lot about contemporary life and he’s quite hard hitting, so this seemed like a very soft, sweet painting in comparison. However, he has put the work in the context of a prison where a prisoner is actually copying this picture as a present for his mother, so when you read his story, you suddenly realize, ‘oh this makes sense’, in contrast to at first thinking ‘what a weird choice’. Overall, I
think all the choices were surprising in different ways, [especially] what ended up being written about them. Professor Walker, what is going to be your contribution to the exhibition? Tom Walker: My plan is to organise an academic symposium towards the end of the show. There are lots of events scheduled with contemporary writers at the moment, but the idea is to do something more academic. What I find quite interesting about this exhibition is that there is a long tradition of Irish writers being very interested in the visual arts. Beckett was tremendously interested in the visual
arts. Yeats trained as an artist and obviously his father, brother and sisters were involved in the arts. He references paintings a lot in his work. Someone like Wilde is very interested not only in the arts but in the way people see, like Walter Pater or John Ruskin have written about visual culture. It would be both about the present, but also about the fact that this has been going on for quite a long time. A lot of the acquisitions in the gallery have been paid for by the royalties from George Bernard Shaw’s plays, for example and Bernard Shaw spoke about the importance of the gallery in his education. My role is to broaden the exhibition from just the contemporary side of writing.
GUSTAVE CAILLEBOTTE (1848-1894) ‘BANKS OF A CANAL, NEAR NAPLES,’(C. 1872) CHOSEN BY SEAMUS HEANEY PHOTO © NATIONAL GALLERY OF IRELAND
‘WITH WIND’ (2014)
@Large:
Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz “The misconception of totalitarianism is that freedom can be imprisoned. This is not the case. When you constrain freedom, freedom will take flight and land on a windowsill.” — Ai Weiwei WORDS: HAZEL SHAW
One can imagine the confusion on the faces of thousands of tourists in search of Al Capone’s infamous prison cell being instead confronted by an elaborately oversized and dazzlingly multicoloured Chinese dragon kite. On September 27th of this year, China’s most controversial artist opened his latest show in America’s most notorious prison. Ai Weiwei’s series of installations for the FOR-SITE Foundation at Alcatraz, San Francisco, seek to inspire not only the keen gallery-goer but the millions of tourists the site attracts every year. Weiwei’s anti-authoritarian art lies at the confluence of art and activism, and since his detainment by Chinese authorities in 2011, he has been particularly sensitive to the subject of imprisonment. Although released with no formal charges, Weiwei’s passport has been revoked, and his movements are monitored by police daily. His inability to leave China has not, however, entirely restricted the dissemination of his artwork, and
has allowed him to channel the psychology of entrapment into his latest works installed via remote instructions from across the Pacific. The history of Alcatraz as a high-security military and federal prison whose inmates faced maximum security with minimum privilege renders it an appropriate space for a debate about the dehumanization of imprisonment. Although many of its prisoners were guilty of robbery, kidnapping, and tax evasion to name but a few, Weiwei’s interest lies with those imprisoned for their beliefs, such as those imprisoned for their the conscientious objections to the first world war. The installations, however, resonate far beyond the specific history of Alcatraz to issues of human rights and political imprisonment worldwide. Addressing the hypocrisy and injustice of incarceration through images of freedom and entrapment, Weiwei aims to address what happens when people lose the ability to communicate freely.
After a ferry ride across deceptively calm grey waters towards the hostile rocky island of Alcatraz, the viewer’s entrance to the prison is immediately interrupted by Ai Weiwei’s first installation, With Wind. Looking up at this colossal Chinese dragon that winds through the stark concrete pillars of the New Industries Building, one notices its eyes made of the twitter logo and a body covered with quotations from activists who have been imprisoned, including Nelson Mandela, Edward Snowden, and even Ai Weiwei himself, whose own statement is that “every one of us is a potential convict”. Walking beneath this mythical paper creation, the viewer is next led to look down to the reality of political prisoners across the globe. Situated on the floor at the rear of the New Industries Building, Trace consists of 176 lego portraits of prisoners living and dead. While some of these prisoners are recognisable, including figures such as Martin Luther King, Edward Snowden,
‘BLOSSOM SINK’ (2014)
and Chelsea Manning, most are foreign and unknown to a U.S. audience. Their pixellated lego appearance mimics the few grainy publicly available photographs that exist of these people, and acknowledges the vague knowledge of their existence in the public mind. Next up is Refraction, a large bird created from found metal objects such as teapots and saucepans, whose confinement can only be seen through small windows from a distance. This restriction of both the bird and one’s viewpoint begins the creation of a feeling of entrapment for the viewer. Weiwei’s greatest identification with the physical and psychological realities of entrapment, however, are created by his powerful audio installations. Stay Tuned brings the viewer to Cell Block A to hear the sounds of political resistance from a cement cell, as one sits on one of Weiwei’s specially designed steel stools to hear music, spoken word, and poetry either created by artists in prison or inspired by entrapment. These sound clips include a speech by Martin Luther King Jr. condemning the Vietnam war, and the Pussy Riot’s ‘Virgin Mary: Put Putin Away (Punk Prayer)’, and are a testament to those who find power and voice in hopeless moments. Beyond this experience of the physical confinement of political activists, Illumination brings the viewer into the psychiatric observation rooms of the hospital ward. Within these eery isolation rooms, chants of Buddhist monks and of the Hopi tribe reverberate off the cold cell walls, creating not only a physical but a psychological experience of suffocating entrapment. Moving beyond these cells towards the bathrooms of the hospital wards, the viewer is confronted by an unusual transformation of utilitarian fixtures into bouquets for a multiplicity of tiny porcelain flowers. Such an image of frailty amidst concrete brutality may be a reference to General Mao’s Hundred Flowers Campaign of 1956, which saw a brief encouragement of free expression immediately followed by a brutal crackdown on dissent, later admitted as being used to “entice the snakes out of their caves”.
Weiwei’s juxtaposition of a site so associated with confinement with artistic creativity raises the issue of the importance of communication and expression in the face of oppression. Yours Truly, his final word at Alcatraz, is not only a visual and aural experience for the viewer, but an interactive one. Consisting of thousands of pre-addressed postcards to those prisoners depicted in Trace, this final interactive work encourages visitors to communicate messages of encouragement to these political prisoners. The installations end not without hope or effect, but with an inspiration to action which brings Weiwei’s art to the realm of activism. His aim is to ensure the remembrance of prisoners of conscience from around the world, and to let them know they aren’t forgotten, reminding us of “the purpose of art, which is the fight for freedom.” @Large is open daily until April 26, 2015
PHOTOS BYJAN STÜRMANN, COURTESY OF THE FOR-SITE FOUNDATION. ‘TRACE’ (2014)
L IG HT L EAD LUMIN O SIT Y S TA I NE D GL ASS BE YO ND T H E CH U RC H WORDS: JENNIFER DUFFY
Historically, stained glass has been associated with religious art, most famously with Chartres Cathedral. The light illuminating these church windows would have been related to the light of God, reinforcing the religious imagery and symbolism of the medium. However, stained glass is a fine decorative art and has also been used in a secular context. Traditionally laid out in panels, stained glass has great narrative potential and as such can be used to illustrate literary sources. Other artists have used stained glass to illustrate patriotic themes, or for purely decorative functions. In the work of modern and contemporary artists, stained glass has moved away from figurative imagery to show abstraction, and focus on materiality. Irish artists working in the medium of stained glass in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have created many interesting works in a secular context thus showing the potential of stained glass outside the church. Harry Clarke (1889-1931) is arguably Ireland’s greatest exponent of stained glass. His windows are in churches around the country, but he also dealt with literary subjects – as a stained glass artist and an illustrator. His last major project, The Geneva Window (1927) is currently in Florida. This window was commissioned to celebrate Irish writers, but controversy surrounding the imagery led the Irish government to reject the window on the grounds that it ‘would give grave offence to many of our people.’ HARRY CLARKE ‘EVE OF ST AGNES’ (1924) - DETAIL
PEADER LAMB ‘DUBLIN ZOO’ (2008)
However, some of Clarke’s secular stained glass can be seen in Dublin. The Dublin City Gallery (The Hugh Lane) houses The Eve of St Agnes (1924). This pair of windows illustrates a John Keats poem. The windows are divided into panels with stunningly intricate work in Clarke’s eerie style. Clarke’s technique was meticulous: he used a needle to achieve this fine level of detail. The jewel-like colours are typical of his work, with a rich blue being particularly prominent. The text of the poem is included, in tiny lettering. Clarke’s grisaille borders between the panels cleverly conceal much of the leading in the window. Clarke’s windows for the Bewley’s Oriental Café date to 1926. There are
six windows, four illustrate classical orders (Ionic, Doric, Tuscan and Corinthian) and the other two windows are decorative, with patterns of flowers and vines. The windows showing the architectural orders have a column topped with an urn of flowers, framed with beading, compositions of flowers, vines and birds, and finally intricate silhouetted designs. Flowers twist around the shaft of the column, cleverly concealing the lead work. Evie Hone (1894-1955) is another Irish stained glass artist of note. While much of her work (both paintings and stained glass) was religious, one of her secular works can be seen in the Irish government buildings. Hone’s Cubist idiom provides a striking contrast to Clarke’s Gothic style. Commissioned in 1939 for the World Trade Fair in New York, My Four Green Fields shows symbols of the four provinces in Ireland. It is an example of how stained glass can portray patriotic messages. It is often in the backgrounds of Hone’s windows that her Cubist tendencies can be seen. This window has a brightly coloured background, which gives a lively patchwork effect. Hone was involved in An Túr Gloine (The Glass Tower), a stained glass enterprise founded by artist Sarah Purser, which ran from 1903 to 1944 and promoted Irish stained glass. Stained glass continues to be a medium used in contemporary Irish art. Peadar Lamb’s windows in the National Maritime Museum entitled The Dún Laoghaire diptych (2010-11) are an example of this. This work engages with Irish history – featuring an image of a High King, and a boat that resembles that found in the Broighter Hoard. Another work, for the Office of Public Works, entitled Dublin Zoo
PEADER LAMB ‘DUN LAOGHAIRE DIPTYCH; (2010-11)
(2008) features a tiger, elephants, a peacock and monkeys . This subject is markedly different from the traditional ideas of stained glass windows, and shows the decorative potential of the medium. Lamb’s simplistic style is effective and sometimes quirky. His bright use of colour and bold, figurative style creates visually appealing windows. Maud Cotter is a contemporary artist whose work with stained glass has been highly innovative. Nicola Gordon Bowe speaks of Cotter’s ‘painterly energy and adventurous forms.’ Cotter used stained glass early in her career, and now focuses on installations. Her stained glass works tend to be freestanding, rather than in the traditional window format. One such work is Straight as Lemons Meet Fish, which has a pyramid form. The vibrant colours and flowing forms of this work are distinctive, and its form shows different possibilities for the stained glass medium. The viewer can circle the work, which does not have the narrative or defined layout typically associated with the medium. Cotter’s work is energetic and expressive, she enlivens the surface of the glass. The materiality of her work is important to Cotter who links transparency to ideas of the self and the body. These four artists are but a few of those working in stained glass throughout the history of Irish art. While many dazzling examples of Irish stained glass are to be seen in churches around the country, it is important to consider works in other contexts too. It is interesting to consider how stained glass functions in contemporary art, which tends not to be outside a religious context. The work of artists like Maud Cotter shows the potential of the medium, and how it can be removed from its traditional format and usage to create something exciting that is symbolic in its own way.
HUNT +
HUNT AND GATHER ARE ONE OF DUBLIN’S MOST EXCITING CREATIVE COMMUNITIES. THEIR WEB EDITOR, ALISON O’SHEA, TELLS US WHAT THEY’RE UP TO NEXT AND WHY YOU SHOULD GET INVOLVED.
Off the back of their last open submission print exhibition (“Bill Murray: Chasing the White Whale” in The Library Project), Hunt and Gather are hosting another. This time the theme is deceased celebs, and opens the floor to heartfelt homages, explorations of why celebrity is so important to us, and a chance to capture the essence those nostalgic romanticised deaths of those we loved but never knew. The exhibition takes place on November 28th in the unusual setting of an opticians, Molloy and Dowling on Kildare Street, and coincides with the launch of their website, which is dedicated to fostering creative communities around Dublin and turning ideas into realities. This isn’t just a plug for the exhibition, although I do think it will be a bundle of fun, but I feel like explaining what will happen at the next event H&G are putting on is always the best way to get a feel for what the group really are. It sounds too broad and hollow to say that they’re fun and optimistic people who make things happen, but that’s exactly what it boils down to: they’re some of the people in this city putting the spark back under the creative pot that’s been simmering for too long. It’s easy to say that Dublin’s lost its creative edge when you’re not looking in the right places, and looking and discovering are what H&G are all about: bringing back that childlike sense of wonder of experiencing something new and exciting. Recently H&G took part in a Dublin wide scavenger hunt with Totally Dublin, and again I feel it’s a good way to get across the heart of what H&G are trying to do. Dublin is so small, and everyone knows everyone. This can be totally stunting to taking risks, because it’s not like performing to strangers, it’s like performing to your acquaintances which, as anyone who’s ever performed or exhibited anything will know, is far more daunting. H&G are looking to banish that bashfulness, and help people realise that sharing our talents and knowledge with each other is how we make great things. Tell people about cool things you hear about: it’s the only way to give life to those things. It’s about shaking off that cynicism and notions of cool, and righteous exclusivity, and throwing yourself with optimism and commit-
ment into an off-the-wall event with complete abandon. Come have a dinner party in the woods in eveningwear and elaborate costume, live a little. Hunt and Gather are a group with a taste for mystery and an appreciation of the fantastic. Their events range from themed nights where you can be assured that everyone in attendance will be putting in the effort, high end dinner parties with entertainment and a schedule perfectly matched to the natural rhythm of an evening, to events like this exhibition, where the effect of reinvigorating Dublin’s creative scene can reap tangible benefits. These girls aren’t just making people excited about art and performance and spectacle, they’re helping to support the artists behind it. The profits from the sale of each print at their exhibitions are split 50/50 with the artists. Similarly, at the Nuit Blanche market parties H&G have had in the past, ticket sales went straight to venue rental so artists could have a free space to sell their work. H&G know how to throw one hell of a bash, and their Christmas Dinners in two weeks’ time are sure to be divine, as will their New Year’s Eve Illuminati party, but I’ve always felt that its in their support of Dublin’s struggling artists that they’ve really won my heart. Their aims just ooze out of everything they do, and it’s the sort of creative positivity that we need to get Dublin shaking once more. Part of what makes the events so engaging is how obviously genuine they are: they’re done on a budget, they make the best use of space rather than being hosted in specialised venues, and they rely on the participation and enthusiasm of their attendees to really make them magic. Luckily that support seems to have been always there, just waiting to be called upon, because the crop of H&G attendees rank amongst the coolest and most sincere people in Dublin, and they’re just waiting for you to become one of them. So turn down that invitation to that club night you always go to even though you hate it, get dressed up, BYOB, and come live a night of wonder and suspended disbelief. Sometimes something a little out of the ordinary can remind you why Dublin isn’t all that bad after all.
“SOMETIMES SOMETHING A LITTLE OUT OF THE ORDINARY CAN REMIND YOU WHY DUBLIN ISN’T ALL THAT BAD AFTER ALL”
ALL IMAGES COURTESY HUNT AND GATHER
“ARCHITECTURE IS THE MASTERLY, CORRECT AND MAGNIFICENT PLAY OF MASSES BROUGHT TOGETHER IN LIGHT”- LE CORBUSIER (1923) “NO ARCHITECTURE IS SO HAUGHTY AS THAT WHICH IS SIMPLE” - JOHN RUSKIN (1886) The above quotes represent two fundamentally divergent opinions on how one should build. A conflict between simplicity and ornamentation, the straight line and the curved. It is no secret that the principles of John Ruskin and Le Corbusier often oppose each other in theory and in practice. These beliefs are no better embodied than within the Museum Building and the Berkeley Library at Trinity College Dublin. To many, both buildings in their quiet, academic surrounds, seem as far away from each other in design and execution as possible. However, some fundamental principles common to both nineteenth century pre-Raphaelites and twentieth century modernists are upheld between both. Yet one is often held as the jewel of the campus’ crown and the other is either indifferently accepted by most,
or outright despised, much to the dismay of those who know it to be one of the finest modernist buildings ever produced in Ireland. The truth of the matter, is that these buildings are as inextricably linked and integral to each other as the nature that surrounds them. Admittedly, on first view, both the Museum Building and the Berkeley appear diametrically opposed. However, the exterior composition of the Museum Building, built in a style which has been variously described as Lombard, Romanesque, Venetian, Renaissance and Cinquecento, was lauded for its submergence in the contemporary. Similarly, the Berkeley was praised during its construction for its bold adherence to the modern, brutalist style. Both fitted perfectly into their larger European movements and
The Museum Building and the Berkeley Library WORDS: RONAN CAREY ILLUSTRATIONS: CALLUM BATESON
their exteriors originated from a principle of truthful architecture. The honest nature of the muscular action of the human hand on the material is key to the prospering of the imprecise, irregular charm that develops in the richly ornamented exterior of the Museum Building. The brothers, John and James O’shea and an unknown “Mr Roe” hand carved all the Portland stone sculpture that adorns the façade of this ostentatious box. Today, many still prefer the handmade object to the machine, to know the process is integral to our appreciation. How does the Berkeley respond to this? For the exterior and interior rendering of the Berkeley, Paul Koralek placed a retarder on the shuttering of the concrete molds used for casting the slabs that compose the building. Through this, the impression of the wood used to make the structure remains on the surface, expressing the honesty of the manufacture. There are, however, obvious and undeniable contrasts between the exterior compositions of these two structures. The façades of the Museum building echo Charles Barry’s philosophy of letting the windows rather than the classical orders be the determining features. This means that the impression left is that of a single flat surface with windows punched out of it. With the Berkeley, no two elevations are the same and the use of fenestration is markedly different to its neighbour. There are a variety of dramatic and ex-
pansive window forms that contribute to the form of the building, most evidently on the western elevation. On its northern front, however, it is reticent and closed, a foreboding curtain wall undercut by a deep expressive portal that offsets the uniformity of the composition. This is important, for while the Museum Building delights in its repetitive forms and symmetricality, embellished through its ornamentation, the form of the Berkeley is one of irregularity and differing juxtapositions of shapes. This does not cast them apart however, but rather allows them to work together. The Museum Building’s brief required it to pay respect to its classical neighbours, Burgh’s Library and Darley’s New Square, a feat it achieved by avoiding some of the more controversial points of Gothic and instead relishing in its somewhat restrained use eclectic flares. In this way it was, as the contemporaneous magazine The Ecclesiologist said, to “give life and variety to a mass of [college] buildings now so peculiarly sombre and heavy”. When the Berkeley arrived, it too revered its classical environment as well as its eclectic neighbour. The result is that the simplicity of the northern elevation of the Berkeley does not attempt to detract from the Museum Building, as it can express its unique forms elsewhere. The string course and division of space correspond to each other as they loom above the granite plinth. Thus the opulence of the Museum Buildings exterior composition is rendered even more conspicuous through its juxtaposition to the Berkeley. There is a give and take to The Museum Building and the Berkeley Library. Both are steeped in history, literally, as regards their surroundings, and technically, in terms of their construction methods and materials. Through their exterior composition and use of materials the two building have become iconic symbols of their collegiate environment and reference each other with such subtlety and style that many may never even notice. Ultimately they are structures that expressed their own time. Their methods are opposed, but their principles rhyme. They both believe in the truth of architecture, and the importance of presentation, but one expresses it through the glorification of craft and nature and the other expresses it through simple and honest materials, revealing the effect of the manufacture of construction. Thankfully, neither pandered to anything but their own beliefs and the result is that we have two of the finest buildings in Ireland’s architectural heritage within the same shadow.
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