This is a Test. Artist's work uses mass produced objects and found images to conjure up sublime illusions of idyllic landscapes. The show will feature two new commissions. The first is a film produced from hundreds of images of the sun, with each image providing one individual frame. The second is a site specific sculptural installation.
This is a Test
Angel Row Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of new work by James
Ireland. Ireland has received international acclaim for his work, which
uses mass produced objects and found images to conjure up sublime illusions
of idyllic landscapes.
The show will feature two new commissions for Angel Row Gallery. The first
is a film produced from hundreds of images of the sun, with each image
providing one individual frame. The second is a site specific sculptural
installation.
The exhibition also features sculptures from a new series of work created
over the past year. This new work has evolved from Ireland’s previous use
of mass produced objects such as buckets and shelves which can be found in
standardised sizes the world over. Taking these measurements as the basis
of his sculptures, Ireland has generated ten separate standard sized
elements made in steel which can be recombined in thousands of different
ways. These works explore the myriad possibilities of these combinations,
and engage with mathematical ideas of universal truth.
All of the work in the show develops Ireland’s interest in the
deconstruction of nature, questioning conceptions of the ‘natural’ and the
representation of landscape defined by mass-culture. By arranging simple,
easily recognizable domestic and mass produced objects, such as lights,
plastic bags, book pages and concrete blocks, Ireland creates the epic out
of the mundane, providing us with brief glimpses of exotic locations and
perfect vistas. Refusing a coherent representational concept of landscape
he plays with our desire for the far away, the beautiful and the sublime
through our interactions with the everyday, man-made world, and unpicks the
seams that bind our idea of ‘natural’ beauty together.
This exhibition is Ireland’s first solo show since the completion of his
residency at Spike Island, Bristol in 2003.
James Ireland is currently represented by FA projects, London.
Notes for Editors
1. James Ireland (b.1977) graduated from the Ruskin School of Fine Art,
University of Oxford in 1999. He currently lives and works in Bristol.
Ireland’s solo exhibitions to date are: All of the Known Universe, Spike
Island, Bristol (2003), James Ireland fa Projects, London (2002) and How
and Why, Symptom of the Universe, Manchester, 2001. He has also exhibited
in a number of group exhibitions nationally and internationally. Previous
exhibitions and projects include: Scape, CAC, Vilnius, Into My World:
Recent British Sculpture, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Musuem, Connecticut,
>From a Distance, Bluecoat (Liverpool), Double Take, Aspex Galley
(Portsmouth), Unscene, Gasworks (London), and Viewfinder, Arnolfini,
(Bristol).
2. An artist’s book will accompany the exhibition, featuring interventions
by Ireland created in partnership with a graphic designer together with a
newly commissioned short story.
3. There will be a launch event for this exhibition on Friday 20th May.
Michaela Butter, from Arts Council East Midlands will give a short
introduction to the show.
4. During this exhibition artist Sheila Ravnkilde will be showing work
which transforms the foyer area of the gallery.
Angel Row Gallery
3 Central Library Building
3 Angel Row
Nottingham
NG1 6HP