"This season
I will be mostly visiting LCGA." Plenty on offer here for quality
visual-art eye candy in the Golden Vale.
Transparency
- a word oft used (and at times abused) by media journalists, politicos
during pre-election months or public servants offering live radio
soundbites.
Transparency - in the form of perspex - a modern material
given a 21st-century twist utilised to distinction by
Áine Nic Giolla Coda in her recent exhibition Through a Rose
Room at the Limerick City Gallery of Art.
This artist
has employed this particular material for a number of years now.
Earlier segments of this body of work have been shown in Ireland
and abroad over the past few years. That is not to imply that this
exploration, in terms of its materials or architectural context,
is anyway near its best-before date. Fundamentally one is faced
with a simple, straightforward process with ample freshness and
vitality.
With three
distinct components to the exhibition, consisting of perspex painted
on the reverse using enamel, a suite of cibachrome photographs,
and large-scale wall drawings, one does not have to walk far to
encounter the artistic origin of the work. The cultural tapestry
that links the work spans from one corner of Pery Square in Limerick
to the other, from the now restored Georgian House
No. 3 Pery
Square1 to LCGA, the funky new guy on the block with
its cool clothes in the form of its recent extension. The proximal
thread linking these two cultural buildings is deliberate and didactic.
There's a development
with this particular suite of works towards a more sculptural and
architectural field, too much aplomb. A shift has taken place in
the scale, shape and installation process. Simple small-scale square
or rectangular works have cultivated new strands, including large-scale
ellipses attached to the gallery walls with artist-designed and
custom-made stainless-steel fixtures.
These new elements,
particularly Oval [Blue Room], won me over from first
viewing. So impressive it invited me back for repeat viewings on
three occasions! Art with attitude - how bad! This elliptical perspex
work consists of an edited view of the Georgian interior. Careful
decisions have been made on the image reduction, with the remaining
view represented in strong cobalt blue enamel lines.
In the best
possible way, this work is very accessible. The artist presents
us with the breath of the exploration through the elements of the
work in an unpretentious manner.
The cibachrome
photographic series are cinematic in terms of image quality, reminiscent
of production continuity shots, spinning visual tales for the viewer
of the possible narratives and probable events that may have transpired
in these spaces.
The wall-based drawings are not quite as dense in colour blocks
as Michael Craig Martin's but are nonetheless effective. A ceiling
rose becomes transported from its photographic basis to the gallery
wall in the process, thereby drawing the viewers attention to an
oft-unutilised corner above a doorway. The work of British artists
Richard Wright or Julian Opie also comes to mind in terms of a clear
and concise line with dexterous application. Adjacent to the 'off
kilter' ceiling rose are further drawings of doors and opes, presented
at varied heights to the viewer. One such ope is low enough and
reduced sufficiently in scale to recall that used by John Cusack
and Cameron Diaz in the film Being John Malkovich. Imaginary
portals put to gainful use.
•
During the
month of December, O'Connell Street of Limerick was treated to a
form of street decoration out of the norm from the seasonal décor,
i.e. not Christmas lights. Temporary public artworks by Seán Lynch
inhabited the city as part of Quadrant Young Contemporaries,
the annual expo of emerging artists developed by the Belltable Arts
Centre.
Artist-designed and constructed street-sign appendages were added
to previously existing steel uprights. The objects made from aluminium
and stainless steel took the form of angular pointed additions to
carefully selected poles in specific areas with an abundance of
daily pedestrian traffic.
One ended up in questioning mode when viewing the works. Were these
here yesterday? What do they do? Are these artworks cancerous metal
growths, street-sign fashion jewellery for the Celtic Tiger era
or, on a more science-fiction train of thought, communication satellites
for mysterious beings from another planet?
Who knows?
This I do know - these artworks knitted themselves into the visual
streetscape of Limerick very neatly. It would be interesting to
explore to what extent the general public took notice of these temporary
public artworks. Not that a negative response would be a deterrent.
One can only 'guesstimate' that those that did notice the added
elements were left with pondering questions rather than explanations
as to how or why they were there in the first place. In some ways,
due to the annual plotting of temporary public art projects in the
Limerick cityscape as part of EV+A, there is a
pre-existing thread of heritage in Limerick for work of this nature.
Whether that makes the public in the area more comfortable and informed
or, as a long shot, more discerning, is a much greater question.
The questioning
and 'mirror holding' method of interaction between the public and
contemporary art practice is, in my mind, an essential element to
purposeful public art. Please note: It is with a sense of caution
that I use the term 'public art'2 here.
The artist
has developed this method of working over a period of time and applied
the concept to different locations. Similar and very sublime metal
appendages were seen on Seán Mac Dermot Street in Dublin last Summer
as part of the Fire Station's City Fabric, curated by Brian
Kennedy. In a time when so much effort is concentrated on the discussion,
planning and construction of brand-new public-art sites for artists
to respond to, more often focused on permanent public artworks,
it is very refreshing to have an artist deliberately responding
to the pre-existing architectural environment.
On a more surreal
line of logic - picture the scene: It's the opening session at the
International Street Furniture convention. Delegates, town clerks
and city planners flick through the latest catalogue of the Seán
Lynch Haute Couture collection for street furniture. Anything is
possible - get yours today; they're bound to be all the rage.
Aine Nic Giolla
Coda: Through a Rose Room, Limerick City Gallery of Art,
December 2001/January 2002 Seán
Lynch, in Quadrant Young Contemporaries, Limerick, December
2001
Annette
Maloney is
an arts professional based in Limerick.
