C95 Article
Last November, the Irish Times asked, "has the successful economy made life easier for artists? " It is a difficult question to judge. Having more money in the economy is good for artists if it reaches them through the various channels of awards, grants, commissions, bursaries, galleries and purchases. On the other hand, the negative effects of economic success increase with inflating costs of living. With apartments and offices rising from every available gap in Dublin's skyline, studios and accommodation are harder and harder to find.
A public with more money in their pockets can only be of benefit to artists if they are actually spending it on art, but out and about in January it is tempting to conclude that a high percentage of the available loot is going on 01 D cars, not contemporary art. Then again, to balance the argument, the signs are nonetheless there of a strengthening art market in Dublin. New galleries have been steadily opening, and more importantly, remaining open.
| | Brian Garvey; Back II; courtsey Paul Kane Gallery | |
On South William Street, the Paul Kane gallery was showing its Winter Gallery Show with plenty of red dots alongside a mixture of work that included stunning pieces by Brian Garvey, Megan Eustace, Deirdre O'Brien, and Colin Crotty. Brian Garvey's Back II was a feast of flesh, the skin tones loving, affectionate and intimately rendered in oil. Close up on canvas the upper body, seen from behind, stood against a soft green background, drawing one into a relationship with the figure while at the same time closing off the possibility of contact as the aspect was turned away.
Megan Eustace's work was beautiful too and more intriguing still. In Threshold , small splashes of colour like brown and pink raindrops fell to mark parchment-like paper. A waxed lower third contained scored markings of lines and curves. The abstract composition was held together by a strong mastery of drawing. It enclosed code, half hidden and hinting at the idea of subliminal communications, yet the code was alien, esoteric, unbreakable to the uninitiated. Eustace is an identical twin and the spaces and shapes in her work hint at and describe that relationship of identity and separation. She has a solo show at the Paul Kane Gallery in May; well worth watching.
Strong too were Aidan Bradley''s green and brown hued views of Achill. Atmospheric and semi abstract landscapes in oil, they well evoked the changing faces of that wild and beautiful place.
The Art Store is also on South William Street, a couple of doors up from Paul Kane. It is similar in concept to Barcelona's Supermarcart. Here, artworks are displayed in a series of racks to flick through, like LPs in a vinyl record store, on the floor and also, in a series of exhibitions, on the walls. In the Supermercart, the emphasis is very much on the 'purchasability' of art and here the same is true. Run by Conor Firth, the Art Store has been open for almost two years but has, according to Firth, really taken off since September. The carpeting, armchairs, day-light lighting and deliberately not-white walls are all designed to attract a public who might otherwise be intimidated. This is not to say that the Art Store 'dumbs down'; last year, they showed Sequences , an exhibition of prints from New York including work by Ilya Kabakov, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Joseph Kosuth and Sol Lewitt.
Pre-Christmas, the exhibition New Works was curated in association with artifact ( www.artifact.ie ), a chance to see ArtHouse's virtual works in the flesh. Mark Demsteader, Pam Harris, Joanna Kidney, Rachel Kierans and Marty Walsh all had pieces on the walls above the racks. Meanwhile a steady stream of people were coming in, and getting their chequebooks out. It was a mixed show. Rachel Kierans exhibited geometrical oils on board. Blues and maroons, purples, greys and greens developed depth with shapes that drew in the eye, and once in, one could discern the ebb and flow of paint, wild movements of markings all contained within the spaces' forms.
Marty Walsh's works were heavier, black-framed affairs. Landscapes lit up with brilliant greens and electric blues, anchored with shadow and with shapes deliberately simple. Walsh has a strong idea of light and works the paint well, but these were not subtle images and called nothing so much to mind as Balthus going on an acid trip, but leaving the family behind. Hanging opposite, Mark Demsteader had four pieces, close-up images of heads in brown, orange and rust colours. Profiles leaning forward and into shadow, they won the struggle for impact with Walsh's works, but only just.
Specialising exclusively in print, the Lemonstreet Gallery off Grafton Street has been open since last March. Again, the emphasis is on art you can buy, but their aim is also to maintain and enhance the image of art in Ireland through the work on show. The work of around fifty artists is on view with the images displayed on ingenious sliding glass panels against the walls and centrally in the small space. The selection changes during the year, sometimes with an opening, but also with a gradual phasing in or out of the prints. The Lemonstreet Gallery shows prints by Irish and international artists including Elizabeth Blackadder, Michael Coleman, William Crozier, Gráinne Cuffe, Joy Gerrard, Julian Opie, Ana Maria Pacheco and Adrian Wiszniewski. The staff are knowledgeable and friendly and, shedding prejudices about art that is easy to like and buy, it is a wonderful place to browse.
| Clea Van Der Grijn; Untitled 3 , 76 x 152cm; Photo Stuart Smith; Cross Gallery |
Again with an emphasis on a domestic rather than 'white space' setting, Cross Gallery has been open in Francis Street for just over a year. Interestingly, Clea van der Grijn's Salto Angel was an exhibition that would have worked equally well (and possibly better in the case of some of the images) in a sparer space. Based on a trip to Salto Angel, or Angel Falls in Venezuela, van der Grijn has created paintings which capture the dramatic meeting of the powerful water with earth and air. In the front part of the gallery, framed works on paper drew out in dark blues the patterns of water rushing against rock. Three small triptychs called to mind through their colours the mysterious movements of water through darkness. In the central area, long panoramic paintings showed vistas of the interplay of shape and shade which drew you on to the drama of the back room. And it was here that one might have wished for a wider brighter space to adequately frame the drama of these images. Equally a development from, and a contrast to van der Grin's previous series of paintings, the calm, meditative, underwater blues of deep-water diving, these large canvases were a rush of movement and hue. Alive with kinetic energy and contrast, blue sky merged into blue water as the series progressed, churned white as it dashed down against the changing patterns of black rocks. Van der Grijn manages to simultaneously capture the calm stillness of such a remote place and express the pure energy of the ever-rushing water.
Planning to cash in on both Christmas and the economy, Art Ireland was billed as "the largest visual arts event in Ireland." Held in the RDS in December, it seemed to be both success and failure, depending on your perspective. The stands ranged from exhibits from individual artists, to galleries, to Australian wines and Celtic candles. Used perhaps to some form of curation, it was difficult to navigate the event as you moved between the varying stands and standards. The 'wrapping table' was always busy. Roger Cummiskey and Greg Long, for example, had sold and received commissions and were planning to return next year. On the other hand, the James Hayman Gallery, who had come from London to show artists including Hughie O'Donoghue, Leon Golub, Gary Hume and Nan Goldin, were finding the visitors unreceptive to the art they had on view.
So is life easier? Again, the question is next to impossible to answer because it will always depend on the criteria one uses to judge. Wealth and a ready market are not necessarily the natural prerequisites for quality and creativity. In the past this has been illustrated by the differences in the art scenes in Edinburgh and Glasgow (though things have now changed). Money in Edinburgh meant that relatively 'safe and saleable' work was on show there, while Glasgow (also thanks to the MFA at Glasgow's College of Art) was the place to see far more challenging and exciting experimental pieces, installation, performance and time-based work; the kind of art that is hard to package and purchase.
A strong network of private galleries broadening the market and selling work in Ireland is, with some notable exceptions, of immediate support only to artists working to a particular scale and in particular media. Nonetheless, a public which buys contemporary art is a public engaging with art, on whatever level. How that engagement is developed is the next question for all of us.
Winter Gallery Show , Paul Kane Gallery, December 2000
New Works , The Art Store, November/December 2000
The Lemonstreet Gallery , ongoing
Clea van der Grijn : Salto Angel , Cross Gallery, November/December 2000
Art Ireland , RDS, December 8 - 10, 2000
Gemma Tipton is a writer
