In conjunction with our annual Christmas Market, MART is delighted to present the first iteration of a new annual December showcase exhibition – featuring work from 30 members of our artist studio community. 

This show – titled ‘Unison’ – represents a chance for our members to display and sell both original pieces of visual art and specially selected prints. Alongside our Christmas market selling handmade crafts and bespoke gifts, ‘Unison’ offers visitors a chance to discover unique artworks, all while supporting local independent artists. 

A key part of MART’s mission is to support our entire community of members. Providing an opportunity to exhibit work publicly allows artists to raise individual profiles, widen their access to audiences and sell their work. For Unison, members from our network of studio buildings in Rathmines, Harold’s Cross, Crumlin and Kilmainham have the chance to unite and share a snapshot of their various artistic practices.

A Negative Infinity is a new body of work by Richard Forrest that  has emerged from Forrest’s research into our economic system and his attempt to understand it as a whole.  This work aims to reimagine capitalism as a living sculptural entity with the intent of revealing some of its key behaviours. This project looks at how the circulation of capital within a system creates areas of accumulation, points of extraction, unequal distribution and moments of crises due to expansion and contraction. 

The title A Negative Infinity refers to the work of the economic geographer David Harvey {Marx, Capital and the Madness of Economic Reason} who describes how the flow of capital and the internal contradictions of capitalism (such as infinite growth), have allowed it to be resilient and flexible yet they also contain the seeds of systemic catastrophe. This project seeks to contribute to a critical conversation at a time when our interlinked economic, social and ecological systems are in a dysfunctional state of flux. 

About the Artist

Richard Forrest is a contemporary visual artist working in sculpture and digital media, currently based in the Hague, the Netherlands. In 2011 he graduated from Crawford College of Art & Design and in 2019 completed a Masters in ArtScience in The Hague. Richard has exhibited extensively throughout Ireland, Europe and the USA in both solo and group shows. Most recent achievements include a residency in Eindhoven, exhibiting in Los Angeles and being selected for the 2017 Royal Hibernian Academies FUTURES exhibition. He has also received numerous commissions from institutions such as Facebook, for their Dublin based European Headquarters, and the Glucksman Gallery (Cork) and currently he is on the board of directors for The Visual Artists Ireland.

www.richardforrest.info

This exhibition is made possible with the generous support of the Arts Council of Ireland, Dublin City Council, and Stroom Den Haag.

Hayes explores aspects of the casting process as a means to interrogate the boundaries between artist and artisan, the ‘ready-made’ and the ‘art object’, whilst also referencing industrial art production and commodification. His sculptures, installations and film works aim to draw out the often incongruous relationships between finished art objects and the industrial aspects of the processes that produce these ‘revered’ objects. 

Explorative sculptural works aim to consider new modes of making and bring up questions regarding materiality within the sculpture making tradition and convention. The use of the galvanization process is a pivotal concern in some of these new works. Ideas relating to key classical myths and narratives within the art historical canon spring up in various guises throughout Galvanise. References to important creative influences, such as Welsh artist Barry Flanagan and US based art historian and critic Rosalind Krauss are central to the exhibition.

On Wednesday 24 July James held an artist talk in conversation with the poet, artist and writer Sean Borodale. Discussing Galvanise, James’s most recent body of work as well as their experience working together in the late 1990s. Hayes will also outline the ongoing concerns and aims of his research and multi-faceted art practice.

Artist Bio

James L Hayes is a Contemporary Visual Artist based in Cork, he is a graduate of The Limerick School of Art & Design (LSAD), The University of Vigo, Spain, De Montfort University Leicester and University College London, UK.  In 2019 he completed projects with Franconia Sculpture Park & the University of Minnesota in Minnesota, USA and the La Salle College of Creative Arts in Singapore. Hayes is the Principal Lecturer in Sculpture at the Crawford College of Art & Design in Cork and the founder and project director of the International Sculpture symposium, The IRON-R Project (2012/2014 & 2018).

In 2015 he was part of IMMA residency program and recent solo shows were held at the UNO Gallery in New Orleans, USA (2017) The Good Children Gallery in New Orleans, USA (2013). Other recent sculptural works have featured at the Art Market Budapest, MART (2017/18), Redline Contemporary, Denver, Colorado, The West Cork Arts Centre, Art Invite & Reject, MART-New York, Chicago & LA, Drogheda Arts Centre, The MART Instructional European Tour, London, Berlin, Norway, Bratislava, & Dublin, The Worcester Contemporary Open-2010, EV+A 2008 ‘too early for vacation..’ Limerick (curated by Hou Hanru), The USUK International Sculpture Symposia, New York, Global Warming at the ICEBOX’-Philadelphia (curated by Adelina Vlas Curator of Modern & Contemporary Collections-The Philadelphia Museum of Art), The Blankspace Gallery, San Francisco, The Burris Hill Galley, New Mexico.

Hayes has completed a number of significant commissioned public artworks most recently for The Office of Public Works (OPW), The Arts Council of Northern Ireland,], Galway County Council,, Cork County Council,  Cork City Council , Mayo County Council & Limerick City.

www.jameslhayes.ie

During the summer of 2019 the MART Directors and team launched CIACLA – The Contemporary Irish Arts Centre Los Angeles pilot program; which included 27 Events to over 4000 Visitors, featured in 28 Press Outlets to over 5 million people. We collaborated with 110 artists and participants living in the USA and 50 living in Ireland, partnering with 11 Supporting organisations and 16 local program partners.

The groundwork for CIACLA – The Contemporary Irish Arts Centre Los Angeles was established in 2011 when Matthew Nevin & Ciara Scanlan of MART Gallery & Studios began to curate exhibitions annually in Los Angeles, promoting leading Irish Contemporary Artists.

In 2019, following eight years of exhibitions and events through local partnerships in Los Angeles, the pair launched a pilot venue for CIACLA, which promoted contemporary Irish culture through a multidisciplinary summer program at Bergamot Station, Santa Monica.

This exciting program which showcased a need for a dedicated Irish arts venue in LA and was made possible with thanks to our new members and supporters, The MART Gallery & Studios, Culture Ireland, the Government of Ireland’s Emigrant Support Programme and Santa Monica City.

CIACLA promotes Contemporary Irish Culture and supports local diverse communities through a multidisciplinary programme in collaboration with local and international cultural partnerships. CIACLA is focused on developing a creative platform to support and challenge artists as a means of promoting creative innovation and collaborative initiatives in Los Angeles. CIACLA is a non-profit 501(c)(3).

www.ciacla.com

View CIACLA’s Summer Catalogue here

Two Main Exhibitions by Amanda Coogan and MASER were showcased at the center.

AMANDA COOGAN

In The Ladder Is Always There, internationally renowned Irish performance artist, Amanda Coogan, will create an immersive site specific installation alongside a series of live performances.

Continuing her explorations of embodiment and liveness, Coogan’s installation hangs over the gallery of CIACLA. Audience walk into and stand underneath its groaning presence. First commissioned by MOCA Jacksonville in response to a hand painted dress by Mark Chagall for Stravinsky’s Firebird suite. Made of fabric the colour of the artist’s skin, the sculpture hangs entangled in peaks and troughs calling to mind a landscape, a seascape or an extension of the body. A ladder, suspended from the ceiling at an unattainable height, is always there; a metonym for the potential of movement and change. Through a series of live performances the installation will shapeshift. Performers will move the membrane of the sculpture, lowering and raising its peaks; shifting perspectives.

As with much of Coogan’s work the installation is visually stunning and carries with it poetic resonances. The activities of the silent bodies of the performers rearranging the installation suggest multi resonant layers of meaning. Their gestures, based on Irish Sign Language alongside the pulsating soundtrack – relating to the Adrienne Rich poem, Diving into the Wreck, pour further rich sources to the work.  The Ladder is Always There speaks to a metaphorical journey in which Coogan and by extension, the other performers, dive into or work to overcome an obstacle.

The first iteration of The Ladder is Always was commissioned by and exhibited at the Museum Of Contemporary Art Jacksonville in 2018/2019. We show it here at CIACLA with special thanks to Caitlin Doherty.

MASER

For the exhibition ‘Mirror Door’ at CIACLA, Maser will transform the main exhibition space into a fully immersive hand-crafted installation. Taking inspiration from one of the great natural beauties of Ireland – Glendalough Valley in County Wicklow – the installation will reinvent the valley’s expansive landscape for visitors to the gallery.

On a daily basis in Ireland, hundreds of locals and tourists travel to Glendalough to marvel at its rugged landscape and to trek its journey. It is a place of rural beauty and a place that deeply resonates with the artist.

Through Maser’s signature use of vibrant colours, flowing patterns and playful shapes, the installation at CIACLA will pay homage to the valley’s breathtaking views, and will play on the idea of differing perspectives and organised view-points. The artist will construct a platform in the centre of gallery for visitors to stand upon and become fully immersed in the abstracted landscape.

Having lived in Arkansas for many years, Maser has a close relationship with the United States – while also holding his Irish roots close to his heart. He travelled extensively around the globe, yet the Irish landscape is a place that distinctly evokes a sense of home for the artist and is strongly rooted in his identity. With the installation at CIACLA, Maser strives to create an inclusive and authentic experience for visitors to engage with his representation of contemporary Ireland.

 

MART Gallery is delighted to present the 2019 studio members’ exhibition ‘Onwards’.

This exhibition showcases the work of 30 of our current studio members who are based across MART Studios including the Fire Station studios, Parker Hill Studios, Harold’s Cross Village Studios, Kilmainham and Crumlin Studios.

The choice to become an artist is based on a compelling desire to create. The development of an artist’s practice involves hard work, an unfaltering vision and a determined belief in one’s self. There is no clear career trajectory to follow or guaranteed path to success for an artist. It can seem like an onward struggle sometimes, but it is a labour of love.

We know that having a dedicated workspace is vital for enabling artists to create art. A studio also provides a place to showcase work to curators and buyers, and acts as a social space to meet other artists. Having a studio can also often professionalise an artist’s practice as it can signify a means of further developing their artistic careers.

A key part of MART’s mission is to support our entire community of members. Providing an opportunity to exhibit work publicly allows artists to raise individual profiles, widen their access to audiences and sell their work. The title of this exhibition – ‘Onwards’ – represents the artist’s journey; of progressing forward, looking towards the next project, the next challenge, the next step. This exhibition aims to champion the collective creative output of our members wherever their journey may take them.

Following the success of the first Taproot Art benefit auction for homelessness in January 2018, Ode to Urbanity is the second of it’s type, this time dedicated solely to urban in art in Ireland. 50% of the proceeds raised will go towards Inner City Helping Homeless* and the other 50% to the artists themselves.

Curated by Taproot Art Founder Sophie Murphy, and partnering with art collective SUBSET, creators of The Grey Area Project, the exhibition will feature a number of Irish street artists – including Aches, Decoy as well as a large scale piece accompanied by VR interactive installation by SUBSET themselves. Over several days SUBSET painted a 150 x 40 ft warehouse to create an immersive artistic experience. Using multiple techniques demonstrating an array of styles, symbols and subtle abstract gestural elements, SUBSET encourages the viewer to engage with the piece via virtual reality. The warehouse has been a place of practice and experimentation, and the final piece is a representation of their time spent there between 2017 and 2019. This piece displays the explosive potentiality of finding new functions for redundant spaces. There will also include a range of visual artists, including Neil Dunne and Greg Purcell, whose work generally derives from urban landscapes.

In addition to the visual element there will be a focus on Irish hip-hop by artist TBA. This will be accompanied by hip-hop Dj’s of Dublin Digital Radio (DDR), who will be supplying additional music throughout the evening, followed by a the live auction MCed by Sophie Murphy.

*Taproot will also be accepting donations of white socks for men and chocolate on the night, these items are widely desired by rough sleepers, and needed for ICHH homeless outreach distribution.

Curators Note:

“The theme of this show is not groundbreaking, however what it does is aim to celebrate the groundbreaking advancements in urban art in Ireland over the course of the past decade – primarily in the regions of street art and hip-hop. Dublin has an ‘urban grit’ and Ireland has ‘depressive’ qualities traditionally associated with it, only in recent years resembling a manicured city you will find in the rest of the western world. This ‘urban grit’ is being retained however through the unapologetic lyrics of Irish hip hop artists as well as the un-apologeticness and ‘deviance’ of street artists alike, transforming it into something of artistic wonderment.  It is also being retained, of course, through the ongoing homelessness crisis, an issue which persistently and increasingly pervades the nation producing wonderment indeed, on how it is still as desperate as ever. Art originating from Ireland and Irish people is primarily known for its transformative power: long used by Irish as a vehicle to turn a series of unfortunate and dire circumstances into something eternal & positive – this is precisely what we want to achieve with this show.”

Within her work, Fogarty establishes limitations from which self-dictated narratives emerge. Through these boundaries, elements of chance and endurance enter into the work. Each work is specific to the moment of its creation and, even if repeated, results differ each time. These works stem from an interest in the ways we understand the passing of time and its translation into visual language. Analogous to time, a painting can be interpreted as an accumulation of moments.

The paintings evolve without a preconceived notion of their endpoint with compositions that fold inwards. Their colour palette is predetermined, taken from a colour swatch derived from photographs of the sculptures. The paintings are made using egg tempera. With this method, the paints are made from scratch on a daily basis. Then the colour is slowly built up, layer upon layer. Much like the individual twists of wet paper pulp, patiently adhered to one another in the sculptures.

The sculptures are created using a mixture of paper, crepe paper and wallpaper paste. Paper is a ubiquitous, often throw away material, while also maintaining its affiliation as a traditional artistic material. Through manipulation, this usually flat surface acquires a three-dimensional form. Soaked paper is pulverised, drained, squeezed through a mesh and layered up individually. The lumps retain the twisted action of their making, there is a human presence in their final state.

The work is slow and contemplative in its creation due to the nature of the processes involved. The process is cyclical. The paintings inform the sculptural works and the sculptural works inform the paintings. Everything is connected. This work was made with generous support from MART gallery team, Fire Station artists studios, the Fine Art department at the Dublin Institute of Technology and all the team at D-Light studios.

About the Artist

Jane Fogarty is an artist living and working in Dublin, Ireland. Her work has featured in both national and international exhibitions, including a two person exhibition, Mystery Ewer, at Artbox (2016) and three solo exhibitions; Paperwork, a site-specific installation in Harold’s Cross (2016), Mel at Eight Gallery (2014), and |’painti NG | at the Talbot Gallery (2011) as a result of receiving the Most Promising Graduate Award in 2010. Selected group exhibitions include: A ̄ ̄A A ̄ ̄A A ̄ ̄A at 126 Galway (2015); Spirit of the Stairs at Basic Space (2014); Unearth at Roscommon Arts Centre (2013); Nailing Jelly to the Wall at Catalyst Arts (2012) and ELIA’s NEU/NOW Live in Nantes, France (2010). Her work was recently added to the State Art Collection (OPW). Fogarty has also received several awards from the Arts Council, the RDS and South Dublin County Council.

https://janefogarty.com/

The MART Gallery announced the 2019 winners of our annual MART Exhibition Award: Èanna Heavey and Sarah Diviney from the 2018 CIT Crawford College of Art & Design Fine Art Graduate exhibition and Emma McKeagney from Fire Station Artists’ Studios 2018 Sculpture Bursary Award. The aim of this award is to provide a showcase and supported exhibition opportunity to emerging artists whose work is both engaging and experimental.

The artwork presented is a selection of sculptural forms, video work and live performance. Emma McKeagney’s beautiful sculptural objects are presented alongside new video work that further explores the materiality of natural and designed forms. Sarah Diviney’s moving performative work reflects Ireland’s state institutional treatment of women, many of whose fate was sealed due to the woeful lack of sexual education in Irish society as referenced in Èanna Heavey’s powerful and unsettling video piece ‘I’m sorry I was not here..’.

The exhibition is kindly supported by CIT Crawford College of Art & Design, Cork and Fire Station Artists’ Studios (FSAS), Dublin, the Arts Council Ireland, The MART Gallery & Studios, and Dublin City Council.

About the Artists

Emma McKeagney is a Visual Artist based in Dublin. After graduating in 2017 from Dun Laoghaire IADT she completed a year-long residency at Talbot Studios after winning their Most Promising Graduate Award 2017. During this residency she fabricated work supported by the Sculpture Bursary Award at Fire Station Artists’ Studios.

McKeagney’s practice involves working closely with material processes to create bodies of work which incorporate the idea that a process is made up of not only the artist but the material they use and the impending idea of exhibiting. Reading and discussing various topics related to New Materialism, her interest starts with collapsing any hierarchy which puts humans ahead of all other materiality.

McKeagney had her first solo-show in June entitled Unstable Categories as part of Pallas Projects and Studios’ Artist Initiated Programme. Work selected from her solo-show is presented in this exhibition and developed further through new video works is a second phase of the project.

This work aims to blur the lines between the designed and natural worlds and question the emphasis we have on dividing these categories. What is human, is a malleable category which bends and stretches depending on the objects and minerals we are oriented between.

www.emmamckeagney.com

Èanna Heavey graduated from CIT Crawford College of Art & Design with a BA in Fine Art in June 2018. “I’m Sorry I was Not Here…” explores the distorted development of self through false education, institutional structures and the ideologies of Western culture.

Interwoven into this narrative is the idea of sexuality as a core element of the human experience. The work touches on the issue of insufficient sex education within Ireland. There are some uncomfortable undertones; suggesting at what has been unsaid, unseen or unheard.The unravelling of self is an important element of the work. There is a sense of fragility; a fragile strength longing for the return to innocence, searching for freedom.

Sarah Diviney graduated from CIT Crawford College of Art & Design with a BA(hons) in Fine Art. The work in this exhibition ‘I, X’ comprises of an installation consisting of a performance piece and a video work. It investigates the authority of the Church and State within the private realm, documenting the intimacy of the domestic sphere and the position of Irish women in society.

The work explored the dangerous axis of the female body as object, amplifying this through the chosen mediums of performance and video, with the performance space acting as a developing installation. Simultaneously, the work occupies the body as a moving sculpture due to the spectator relationship  between the audience and the work. The perturbed body licenses the unsettles tempo of the performance which transitions from meditative stillness to frantic action, disturbing the perceived tranquillity within the space and in turn, abruptly presenting the dystopia.

The work is an accumulation of influences by Sarah’s extensive research into the history of Irish women which generated the need for a confrontation medium to be used. The performance projects the concept into the present echoing the histories of Irish women.

www.sarahdivineyartist.wordpress.com

*Lectus – Latin word meaning selected, chosen, choice, good, exquisite