THE FOUNDING PHANT, Ormston House, Limerick

Please join us for the preview of The Founding Phant during the Riverfest celebrations on Saturday 4 May from 6-8pm. Alan Magee | Alan Phelan | Anitra Hamilton | Bryan Moore | Caroline Doolin | Darya von Berner | Deirdre Power | Kristian Smith | Levin Haegele | Oisín O'Brien | Padraig Robinson | Róisín McArdle | Sarah Lundy | Tara Woods-Moran | Vanessa Donoso López Curated by Paul Quast and Joan Stack Exhibition dates: 5 April - 18 April 2013 www.prequel-ormstonhouse.com www.ormstonhouse.com Detail from Freedom of the City (2013) by Deirdre Power, framed photograph and article from the Limerick Leader, 70cm x 70cm. Photo credit: Dermot Lynch. Society today is comprised of a series of spectacles which aim to inspire, astound and encourage reverence to anything which appears striking, out of the ordinary or impressive in nature. Whether the spectacle exists through some exploitation of physics, technology, discovery, détournement or even the intrusion of the extraordinary into the mundane, the ever-evolving nature of the term 'spectacle' remains deeply associated with and reflective of the culture in which it appears; "The spectacle is not a collection of images; rather it is a social relationship between people that is mediated by images.”1 Critical theories state that spectacles manifest themselves as an enormous positive event which exists for the sole purpose of identifying aspects which are unnatural and that the monument of their success becomes their eventual downfall from prestige. However, it is with their striking rise to prominence that spectacles serve the purpose of informing and educating viewers of the reasons behind their reverence. They are a vital part of the way the world is viewed and have been a cornerstone for inspiring the pursual of knowledge, understanding and celebration over millennia. The foundation for this open call began as a challenge to artists to create their own spectacle in society equal to that of an aged spectacle to take place in Limerick City 200 years ago. The starting point for this challenge stemmed from a Limerick newspaper article,2 published on the 4th May 1813, which detailed the first elephant to visit Limerick City (housed on the site of the current 9-10 Patrick Street building). ____________________________________________________________ 1.  Society of the Spectacle, Debord, Guy. Zone Books, 1967. 2.  Limerick Chronicle, 4th May 1813 edition.

follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend   Ormston House Gallery, 9-10 Patrick Street, Limerick City, Ireland info@ormstonhouse.com www.ormstonhouse.com Ormston House is open Wednesday-Saturday 12-6pm or by appointment

'Thick, turgid and lacking in soothing oil' ORMSTON HOUSE, Limerick

    Vanessa Donoso López, 'Mama, threads are not just for sawing'.



"Thick, turgid and lacking in soothing oil"

Winter Members' Exhibition curated by Joe Duggan and Mike Fitzpatrick Preview:
Thursday 24 January, 8-10pm Exhibition dates: 25 January - 16 February 2013

Please join us for the preview of our Winter Members' Exhibition featuring works by John Burke, Angela Darby, Vanessa Donoso Lopez, Levi Hanes, Ramon Kassam, Emmet Kierans, Bartosz Kolata, Chris Leach and Frances Leach on Thursday 24 January, 8-10pm.

At the request of Mary Conlon, London-based artist Joe Duggan and I selected this year’s OHM exhibition and we must apologise for several reasons, firstly for not selecting the 100 plus other members. And there are many other reasons for APOLOGISING for what we selected! Too much thick turgid painting, the use of brown paint in particular and some of it, just plain messy and more so works which are deliberately not beautiful. We are also responsible for selecting tiny ‘big’ drawings, why couldn’t they have been bigger? We accept the blame for the inclusion of specific stylistic ‘neo-contemporary’ figurative works, some of which are rather wonderful silent screaming paintings, depressing yes, but in that rather charming film noir cropped manner.

One large print work represents the making of old symbolic money (slightly different from the current IOUs we are allowed to use) weaving a lost cause Lady Lavery genuflecting to a past nostalgia. Handmade symbol of wealth left out in the rain. Sure we all know that wet damp feeling, afraid we are going to seize up in a country lacking in soothing oils or lacking any oil. There are also installations of works including bunting, brains and lampshades. Finally we included a video work which shows plastic bags billowing with air created by blowing wind out of a dustbin, empty but evocative.

Ormston House, the exhibition space conceived and brilliantly directed by Mary Conlon, with the assistance of a group of present and past LSAD students, are currently hosting their Winter Members' Exhibition. Conlon came to Limerick as the third Shinnors Curatorial Scholar, the collaboration between Limerick City Gallery of Art and Limerick School of Art and Design, LIT. She brought the space into being as part her on-going PhD curatorial research with the help of the Creative Limerick initiative of Limerick City Council which allows underused commercial spaces to become sites of cultural activity. Ormston House have developed a significant reputation over its short history. There is something highly energetic and smart about how the space is curated and organised on a minuscule budget with voluntary labour. One is struck by how this space demands standards that seem way beyond its means.

PS: A must-see show, with some of our best, brightest and unabashed artists, who just really enjoy making work that some of you will love.

Mike Fitzpatrick

Ormston House Gallery, 9-10 Patrick Street, Limerick City, Ireland

info@ormstonhouse.com

www.ormstonhouse.com

Ormston House is open Wednesday-Saturday 12-6pm or by appointment