Date:
29th January - 28th February
Location: The Blackbird Gallery 18 William St
Time: wed-sat 11am tp 5pm Sun 2pm-5pm Exhibition of Limited Editions from the Irish Museum of Modern Art to open in Kilkenny.
An exhibition of 27 prints by leading Irish and international artists from the Irish Museum of Modern Art series opens to the public on 1st February at the Blackbird Gallery in Kilkenny. Traces: IMMA LimitedEditions, a print series that came into being in 2003, and continues to grow, will give viewers the rare chance to view—and to purchase—these works . Artists being shown include Michael Craig-Martin, Dorothy Cross, Gary Hume, Isaac Julien, Barrie Cooke, Elizabeth Peyton, Jack Pierson, Patrick Scott and Sean Scully. Newly-created additions to the series by Ilya Kabakov and Louis le Brocquy are also shown for the first time.
Since 2003, when IMMA Director Enrique Juncosa began the practice of inviting artists to make a print edition in the context of their exhibitions at IMMA, artists have responded generously. The editions, which have grown to 33 prints and multiples to date, represent a tangible gesture of goodwill and support by those artists, as the sale of the numbered prints directly benefits the Museum’s exhibitions. This has also given rise to a striking body of contemporary prints for the IMMA Collection, which receives a copy of each work in the series. It is this collection of prints which is presented in Traces, an exhibition which brings to the public eye for the first time this new strand within IMMA’s expanding collection.
The series began with Psyche, 2001, by British artist Gary Hume, presented in 2003 to coincide with his solo exhibition at IMMA. Last year the Museum extended the reach of the editions series by inviting contributions from Ireland’s most long-established and respected artists, Louis le Brocquy, Patrick Scott and Camille Souter.
Traces explores the experimental nature of creating an artwork as an edition. A variety of printmaking and editioning processes are exhibited. These range from the traditional intaglio or engraved forms, including etching, aquatint, and carborundum, seen variously in the works of Louis le Brocquy, William McKeown, Hughie O’Donoghue, Elizabeth Peyton and Sean Scully, to silkscreen and screen prints by Michael Craig-Martin, Alex Katz and Gary Hume. McDermott & McGough employ letterpress with handset type, while Anne Madden works with archival inks. Some of the prints are photography-based cibachrome and giclée, such as those by Dorothy Cross, Candida Höfer, Janaina Tschäpe and Jack Pierson, while others are pigment printed on watercolour paper or card, as seen for instance in the prints of João Penalva and Isaac Julien. Multiples in the collection include a collaborative work by Liam Gillick and Philippe Parreno, which takes the form of 3D letters laser-cut from comocell to be arranged by the owner, and Ulla von Brandenburg’s deck of playable tarot cards in a presentation box. Traces also includes a print by Barrie Cooke, the result of their respective collaborations with poet Seamus Heaney.
Traces: IMMA Limited Editions opened last year in IMMA and received tremendous critical acclaim and record sales for the Edition series. It now transfers to Blackbird Gallery in Kilkenny. [Info about Blackbird, quote from Valerie] A fully-illustrated hardback publication which includes quotes from the artists and texts on each of the limited editions accompanies the exhibition. Price €10.00.
IMMA Limited Editions are available for purchase from IMMA via the Blackbird Gallery or online at www.immaeditions.com or from Christine Blessing, Development Officer, IMMA, tel: 01 612 9951.