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PS1 goes to Belfast artist / Two for
Istanbul / Law lands on Polish artist (July 28, 2003)
O'Mally takes PS1
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| Niamh O'Malley: Window, 2002,
oil and household paint on window frames, sills and wall;
courtesy the artist; click on the image
to see an enlarged version of it; for an explanation of the
image see the footnote below. |
Niamh O'Mally, based in Belfast and Dublin,
but originally from Mayo, is to be the next recipient of the Republic's
PS1 scholarship. The scholarship is awarded by the Arts Council
/ An Chomhairle Ealaíon and it is administered by the Irish
American Cultural Institute; it carries with it a studio at the
PS1 complex in Queens, New York, an apartment and a stipend, for
one year. In effect, it is probably the most imporant visual-arts
prize on offer in Ireland. The Arts Council values it at 40,856
euro.
The decision to award to the scholarship
to an artist who has mostly been based in Northern Ireland adds
a twist to the disappointment felt last year, when the Arts Council
of Northern Ireland decided no longer to fund a PS1 award for
Northern Ireland.
Read the press release here;
more on the PS1 here.
Footnote, relating
to Window image above:
Open House,
Casino Luxembourg
The right hand
corner of the room is already naturally delineated by two faux
pillars and encompasses two windows. This area, from the square
cornice of the ceiling, right down to the floor, has been painted
white. A viewing point has been chosen towards the centre of
the room and the view blocked by the window frame and the wall
as seen from this point painted onto that area.
In the
centre of the main room of the Casino Luxembourg facing the
spectacular valley of the city centre, O'Malley first chose
a viewing point. She then painted parts of the view blocked
by the window frame when looking from this spot onto the frame
itself. Once a visitor negotiates the point of view within
the room, s/he discovers a horizon, beaming through the large
area painted white. The closer the viewer approaches the window,
the less of the painterly world is available for the eye,
and the more inclination one has towards the real, towards
life pulsating on the street. Interplay between the everyday
and the imaginary tends to dissolve sharp edges between inside
and out, offering a vista of a spectacular kind.
Maria Hlavajova,
Catalogue, Open House
Byrne, Doherty for Istanbul
Two artists from Ireland have been selected
for the Istanbul Biennal - Gerard Byrne and Willie 'Turner' Doherty.
The Biennial, which is growing in prestige, takes place from 20
September to 16 November of this year.
Artist gets commuity
service for offending religious feeling
Dorota Nieznalska: image from Passions,
show in Bialostok in
2001 and Gdansk in 2001/2002; the image is held here.
It's probably not the sort of image that would
raise an eyebrow here, but it's costing artist Dorota Nieznalska
six months unpaid community service. A Polish court has ruled
that the artist had offended religious sensitivities.
According to prague.indymedia.org:
"It was absolutely not my intention
to offend anyone," Nieznalska said, quoted by PAP news agency.
She argues that no public complaints on the state financed installation
were recieved. The charges were brought against her by the League
of Polish Families, which is connected to the fundamental Roman
Catholic political party. In January 2002 several members of
this group physically and verbally attacked the artist at the
Wyspa Gallery in Gdansk where the exhibition was shown. These
attacks were recorded by the media which was present at the
time.
(More from prague.indymedia.org here.)
A protest letter is now circulating the internet.
You can read it here
(a Word document), and sign it if you wish.
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