james hayes in memory of hostile encounters…

6th  – 26th March 2009

 

Limerick Printmakers are delighted to announce the opening of in memory of hostile encounters… an exhibition of new works by James Hayes on Friday the 6^th of March at 8pm.          

This exhibition deals with conflict and tension, and the lurking power struggle underpinning our society.  There is conflict at play here between the material Hayes’ uses in his work and the form that they take. The objects imitate that which they represent; yet the heaviness of the bronze with which they are composed, exaggerate the function of their original form.

On entering the show at Limerick Printmakers the viewer is immediately confronted with four bronze flyswats mounted on plinths. These bronze versions have a violent brutality that their plastic originals lack. The weight and density of the bronze ‘flyswat’ and their upright stature enhances this everyday item’s potential as a fierce and powerful tool that is wielded to kill.

The ongoing use of traditional and non-traditional sculptural methods and their given interplay is central to Hayes’ concerns especially in regard to material and conceptual conflict.   Larger scale sculptural installations feature in this exhibition and aim to explore not solely the properties of the works concepts but the given context of the site and its users.

Works like Location, Location, Location and Rocky Mountain flyer incorporate both sculptural objects and video display projection. Simplified to its essence Location, Location, Location, juxtaposes three scenes, which are the sites of past conflicts now existing as tourist attractions. Including a tour around the Titan 2 Nuclear Missile Silo in Sahaurita, Southern Arizona, Al Capone’s cell in Philadelphia State Penitentiary and the entrance to Monument Valley in the Navajo Nation, Arizona.

In an attempt to find the right words……consists of large-scale clusters of bronze pencils which represent drawing. Drawing can be thought of as an artist’s way in which to acquire knowledge, yet these pencils do not creatively move over a surface they are aggressively launched at it depicting a hostile encounter between pencil and surface. The incorporation of sound to this work adds an additional tension.

Recently, Hayes’ work has been selected internationally by Adelina Vlas Curator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art for a Contemporary Art Project at the Philadelphia ICEBOX in Nov.08. Nationally his work was seen at Ev+a 08 ..too early for Vacation.. Selected by Hou Hanro from San Francisco Art Institute. Most recently his work has been chosen for the International Conference on Contemporary Sculpture at Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. He lives and works in Cork and currently lectures in Sculpture at the Crawford College of Art & Design in Cork.

Artist’s Talk: James Hayes will give a talk on his work on Friday the 13^th of March at 1pm.  All are welcome.

The exhibition will run until Thursday the 26^th of March and the gallery is open Monday to Friday 11am to 5.30pm and Saturday 10am to 4pm.