Two site-specific works: Liam Gillick presents "A Game of War Structure", a newly-designed version of "The Game of War" (Le Jeu de la Guerre), while Susana Solano presents "Carmen" a large stainless steel sculptural work which encourages the viewer to experience the emotion that the form engenders as it transforms the surrounding environment.
Two new site-specific works by leading international artists Liam Gillick and Susana
Solano will go on show at the Irish Museum of Modern Art on Wednesday 7 September
2011. The installations have been commissioned by IMMA for its beautiful
17th-century courtyard, which is at the heart of the IMMA complex. Widely regarded
as one of the most pioneering artists of his generation, British artist Liam Gillick
presents A Game of War Structure, 2011, a newly-designed version of The Game of War
(Le Jeu de la Guerre) created originally by the French Situationist Guy Debord in
1977, while the internationally-celebrated Spanish artist Susana Solano's work,
Carmen, 2011, is a large stainless steel sculptural work which encourages the viewer
to experience the emotion that the form engenders as it transforms the surrounding
environment.
Gillick's work is based on the war game first produced by Debord who in 1977 founded
the company Strategic and Historical Games, with the goal of producing the
Kriegspiel, a 'game of war'. Inspired by military theory and the European campaigns
of Napoleon, Debord's version is a variant on the game of chess played by two
opposing players on a game board of 500 squares arranged in rows of 20 by 25 squares
( www.r-s-g.org/kriegspiel ). The object of the game
is to destroy the opponent, either by eliminating all its forces, or by destroying
its two arsenals. Gillick's, A Game of War Structure, comprises of three game sets
located in the colonnades adjacent to the courtyard. An instruction booklet and the
game pieces may be borrowed from the Museum. In addition, specialist gamers will be
invited to play during the course of the installation.
Solano's sculptural work, Carmen, alters our perception of the architectural space
that it is contained within, not only through the tunnelling of our vision through
the work but the reflection of the museums architecture in the stainless steel
material. Her works tend to invade spaces that are intended as empty silence that
architecture engenders, this disruption allows for a nuance of meaning and an
open-ended interpretation of what the artist is trying to achieve. Solano's
sculptures create an ambiguous relationship with the viewer by both inviting and
forbidding entry into the spaces they inhabit.
Based in London and New York, Gillick's solo exhibitions include Whitechapel
Gallery, London, 2002; Palais de Tokyo, 2005, and the MCA, Chicago, 2008-2010. He
was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2002 and the Vincent Award at the Stedelijk
Museum, Amsterdam, in 2008. In 2006 he was a central figure in the free art school
project unitednationsplaza in Berlin that travelled to Mexico City and New York.
Gillick has published a number of texts that function in parallel to his artwork. He
was selected to represent Germany for the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009. A major
exhibition of his work opened at the Kunst und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik
Deutschland in 2010. He has taught at Columbia University in New York since 1997 and
the Centre for Curatorial Studies at Bard College since 2008.
Born in Barcelona in 1946, Solano is one of a handful of Spanish artists who has
gained international recognition. She studied at the Bellas Artes de San Jorge in
Barcelona. Her first solo exhibition was in 1980 at the Fundació Joan Miró,
Barcelona, where she showed large-scale hanging canvases. During the 1980s she
experimented with a diverse range of sculptural processes and materials and began to
create large-scale constructions. Her work has been included in major exhibitions
such as the Carnegie International in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1988; Documenta 8
Kassel, Germany, 1987; and she was one of two artists representing Spain in the
XLIII Venice Biennale in 1988. Recent solo exhibitions include Proyectos: Susana
Solano, Museo Colecciones ICO, Madrid, 2007; Galerie Bernard Bouche, Paris, 2008,
and Galeria Maior, Palma, Spain, 2010.
The Liam Gillick installation has been made possible by an anonymous philanthropic
donation. It has received a stipend from the American Friends of the Arts in Ireland
(via philanthropist Cormac O'Malley) towards an accompanying lecture.
The Susana Solano installation is supported by Acción Cultural Española and the
Institut Ramon Llull.
Liam Gillick: A Game of War Structure, 2011, and Susana Solano: Carmen, 2011,
continues until 31 October 2011.
For further information and images please contact Monica Cullinane or Patrice Molloy
at tel: + 353 1 612 9900; email: press@imma.ie
Image: Liam Gillick, A Game of War Structures, 2011, Courtesy of the artist and Kerlin Gallery, Dublin
Opening: wednesday 7 september
Imma - Irish Museum of Modern Art
Royal Hospital Military Road Kilmainham 8, Dublin
Opening hours: Tuesday - Saturday: 10am-5.30pm. Wednesday: 10.30am - 5.30pm. Sundays and Bank Holidays: 12noon - 5.30pm. Mondays: Closed
Admission free