Contemporary. Artists Explore. Gallery as Studio.
9 June - 28 August 2008
Ruth LeGear, Niall de Buitleár, Maria McKinney, Fiona Hallinan
A series of 4 short residencies formed an experimental project exhibition in which the gallery transformed into an active studio. The studio was an open space which invited audience in to chat, observe and engage with the artists’ processes. The artists participating were encouraged to make new work in response to their experience in
In relocating private studio space into a public arena, artists are challenged to open the private development of their work to gallery visitors. The juxtaposition in the gallery of the artist in production verses the completed art-object, questions audience engagement and perception of the process space and the artwork.
The curator as artist / audience mediator is removed from the equation, allowing direct contact between artist and audience. Ideas held by the artists and audience on contemporary practice, artists processes and the gallery environs are challenged through direct engagement.
Ruth Le Gear
Ruth’s work investigates water as a conductor of memory while reflecting on transience, loss and the uncanny. The work instigates a contemplation of the environment we find ourselves in. Ruth utilises various media including photography, underwater photography, video, installation work, collaborative projects and archival documentation.
Niall de Buitlear
Niall works with found materials, building up sculptures from an accumulation of smaller parts which come together to form a more complex whole. His intricate drawings and sculptures employ similar processes of accumulation to achieve a sense of organic growth over time. The work is essentially abstract but the forms are consciously suggestive of various structures such as cells, fungi, landscapes, and standing figures.
Maria McKinney
Maria’s work explores subjects of boredom and activities used to pass the time, echoing the escapist nature of their objective. Using commonplace materials her work has a methodical and often compulsive character, drawing influence from conceptual and folkart. Visually, her work examines the traditional codes of space and perception, inviting query into the everyday. Her practice includes drawing, sculpture, installation and intervention.
Fiona Hallinan
Fiona's work is concerned with perception, patterns in society, technological fear and the interactions between human beings. She works in a range of media, including drawing, photography, sound, installation, collaborative projects and the organization of relational art events.
ARTSPACES Seminar
Saturday July 26th at 12.30pm
Curatorial Seminar chaired by Susan Holland & Artist/Curator Michelle Horrigan.
Invited Speakers were Sheena Barrett, (LAB,
Contemporary. Artists Explore. Gallery as Studio. is a process exhibition exploring the gallery as a production space and is a curatorial research project being conducted by Susan Holland under the Shinnors Curatorial Fellowship programme run at LCGA.
