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1/11/2014

Michael John Whelan

Grey Noise, Dubai

Grey Noise is pleased to present the second solo exhibition titled 'Lupus' by Michael John Whelan, curated by Eamonn Maxwell.

Working with images, objects and mark making, Whelan investigates critical and poetic relationships within geometry, astronomy and nature. Themes include the commodification of the romantic, and our propensity to place socially and historically coded attributes onto naturally occurring subjects.

For his current presentation, Whelan takes the death of the last known Irish wolf in 1786 as a departure point. Presenting a new body of work, Whelan uses photography, video and sculpture to explore ideas around science, history, memory and ecological relationships.

Central to the exhibition is the premiere of the film From the Mountain which uses a non-narrative structure to address humanities physical affects and inherent mutability. Beginning at the base of Mount Leinster on the border between Counties Wexford and Carlow in Ireland, nightscapes are filmed in a minimal way indicative of Whelan's previous video works. As the film develops, a further pattern is revealed between close up footage of wolves made at a nature reserve, Irish wolfhounds at a breeders and a deactivated surface-to-air missile base on a mountain in Germany. The film contains a minimal electronic score by Irish composer Brian Crosby.

The photographic work The illumination of Lupus is the recording of the first performative work from Whelan. Using a high-powered laser, he travelled to Ireland and projected the constellation Lupus (The Wolf) into the sky directly above the area where it is believed the last wolf died. As this constellation only exists naturally in the southern hemisphere, its presence is astronomically impossible and highlights a temporary and unsustainable replacement of the lost wolf to the surrounding landscape. The anthropomorphic values we place on animals are positioned alongside the historical significance and meaning of star cartography.

The exhibition features other photographic and paper works including actual physical remnants from the mountain in Ireland.
This exhibition is kindly supported by Culture Ireland.

Image: Michael John Whelan, Sunrise No.2, 2008

Private View on November 2, 2014

Grey Noise
Unit 24 Alserkal Avenue, Street 8, Al Quoz 1, Exit 43 SZR, Dubai UAE.
Mon - Thur, Sat / 11 am - 7 pm
Fri & Sun, closed

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