Entitled simply 'Gary Hume', the exhibition comprises some 30 works and presents a comprehensive overview of the main developments in Hume's engaging but powerful oeuvre over the past ten years. In 'Bureau de Change' British artist Rose Finn-Kelcey uses some 12,400 coins to create an image of Van Gogh's Sunflowers, which famously exceeded all previous records, when sold in 1987 for £24.5 million.
Gary Hume at the Irish Museum of Modern Art
The first exhibition in Ireland by Gary Hume, one of the most sought-after and
inventive painters working in Britain today, opens to the public at the Irish
Museum of Modern Art on Thursday 3 April 2003. Entitled simply Gary Hume, the
exhibition comprises some 30 works and presents a comprehensive overview of the
main developments in Hume's engaging but powerful oeuvre over the past ten
years. In addition, to the paintings in the gallery spaces, a sculpture of a
giant bronze snowman is being placed in IMMA's 17th-century formal gardens.
Hume's work is characterised by a distinctive visual vocabulary, combining a
bright, colourful palette with severely simplified, childlike forms. He has
returned continually to particular subjects including the portrait, the nude and
the garden and to images from childhood, such as rabbits, snowmen and polar
bears. This seeming innocence can, however, mask a hidden ambiguity or menace.
In Puppy Dog, 1994, for example, the tranquillity of the child's bedroom is
threatened by the advent of a masked intruder, while in Polar Bear, 1994, an
apparently innocuous green toy spreads out across the surface in a strangely
predatory, unsettling way.
Described by art critic Richard Cork as 'one of the most adroit, inspiring and
resourceful painters around', Hume first came to public attention as a result
of his participation in the seminal Freeze show in 1988, which featured artists
such as Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin who, like Hume, were soon to acquire
celebrity status as yBas (young British artists). His work at this time centred
on minimal, high-gloss paintings based on anonymous, hospital swing doors. By
1993 these had given way to more fluid, lyrical style, which, while retaining
the same surface quality and economic language, incorporated more figurative
elements, including portraits from popular culture such as Patsy Kensit, Kate
Moss and, more recently, Michael Jackson, all of which are included in the
exhibition.
Hume's new paintings, such as Three Shades of Grey, 2002, and Green Hat, 2002,
are intriguing as they are generally more muted and darker in form and content
than before - slightly melancholic and, sometimes, sinister. However, in
contrast, Welcome, 2002, is particular cheerful, with echoes of the earlier door
paintings, while Yellow Window, 2002 marks a return to Hume's grid-like
hospital doors and is perhaps a tongue in cheek homage to Duchamp's Fresh
Widow.
Born in Kent, England, in 1962, Gary Hume graduated from Goldsmiths College in
1988, one of a generation of artists who have become internationally known as
yBas (young British artists). He has exhibited extensively internationally. In
1996 he was the British representative at the Sao Paulo Biennal and in the same
year was nominated for the Turner Prize. In 1999 he represented Britain with a
large solo show at the XLVIII Venice Biennale. He has also had solo exhibitions
at the Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastrict, the Scottish National Gallery of Modern
Art, Edinburgh, the Whitechapel Gallery, London, and Fundacio' 'la Caixa',
Barcelona.
On Thursday 3 April at 11.30am independent art critic Sacha Craddock, will
present a lecture in response to Gary Hume's painting, Imagery in Painting
Today.
On Friday 11 April Rachael Thomas, Curator: Exhibitions at IMMA, will
give a guided introductory tour of the exhibition.
Gary Hume continues until 22 June 2003.
Admission is free.
A publication with an essay by Jonathan Jones, who is an art critic and also
writes for The Guardian, accompanies the exhibition (price ¬15.00).
___________
"Bureau de Change" installed at IMMA
An unusual art installation made entirely from euro and punt coins goes on show
at the Irish Museum of Modern Art on Thursday 3 April 2003. In Bureau de Change
British artist Rose Finn-Kelcey uses some 12,400 coins to create an image of Van
Gogh's Sunflowers, which famously exceeded all previous records, when sold in
1987 for £24.5 million. The work is on long-term loan to the Museum as part of
the Weltkunst Collection of British Art.
For this updated version of the installation, Finn-Kelcey uses euro and Irish
punt coinage to comment on recent changes in the Irish economy and currency, as
well as on the ephemeral nature of fame and the vagaries of the world art
market. Describing some of her reasons for initally making Bureau de Change in
1987 Finn Kelcey said: "I couldn't understand what that amount of money even
looked like. Here I was, making artworks for many years and not getting
properly paid, likewise Van Gogh tried but didn't manage to sell his Sunflowers.
There is something absurd about the fact that this painting fetched that kind
of money when most artists never make money from their work." Since then the
art market of the 1990s has changed all that.
Bureau de Change will be installed on the landing at IMMA. A closed circuit TV
system directed at the image will have a specially designated uniformed guard in
attendance - recreating the conditions of a bank vault. The entire installation
can be seen by visitors from a special raised viewing platform.
Rose Finn-Kelcey is an artist who refuses to be categorised. Her practice
revolves around the desire to engage viewer and artwork in an experimental
dialogue. Whether working with steam that rises and envelopes the viewer or a
sub-zero ice box which can only be endured for a challenging and claustrophobic
moment, or more recently on her interactive LED vending machines and wearable
electronic message signs, she challenges her audiences to take responsibility
for their own actions in relation to the artwork and the wider world of which it
is a part.
Bureau de Change continues until 10 August 2003.
A short guide with an essay by critic and writer Medb Ruane will be published to
accompany the installation.
Admission is free.
Image: Rose Finn-Kelcey, Bureau de Change, 1988,
Installation shot, $1,000 worth of loose change, false wooden floor, viewing
platform, security guard, spotlights, surveillance camera and monitor, On loan
from the Weltkunst Foundation
Opening hours:
Tue - Sat 10.00am -
5.30pm
Sun, Bank Holidays 12 noon - 5.30pm
Mondays, 18 April Closed
For further information and colour and black and white images please contact
Monica Cullinane at Tel : +353 1 612 9900, Fax : +353 1 612 9999
Irish Museum of Modern Art
Royal Hospital Military Road Kilmainham
Dublin