MAKING ART: Sculpting

Curated by Sara Muthi

MAKING ART: Sculpting is the fifth and final in a series of exhibitions at Draíocht which explores sculpture, its materials, processes and manifestations in contemporary practice. This exhibition focuses on expanded notions of sculpture from four mid-career artists; Bassam Issa, Sibyl Montague, Alice Rekab and Marcel Vidal. This exhibition spans sculpture, painting, video, text and textiles.

Material parables explores the stories that materials tell. The expectations and relationships our bodies have with physical matter - that which takes up space and can be weighed - ranging from the natural to the synthetic. The soft materials featured are light, supple and delicate while the hard materials are bold, sharp and strong. Each artists’ material choice and scale further speaks to each of their conceptual concerns, ranging from personal identity to the social and political. The proximity of these objects and processes juxtapose the various identities of sculpture today.

MAKING ART: Sculpting will be accompanied by a programme of engagement for young people.

Images:
Top Left: Bassam Issa, IT’S DANGEROUS TO GO ALONE! TAKE THIS, 2022, Installation view, The Douglas Hyde Gallery of Contemporary Art, Dublin. Image courtesy The Douglas Hyde and the artist / Photo: Louis Haugh.
Top Right: Sibyl Montague, SELF SOOTHERS (2020) Installation view: VISUAL, Carlow Ireland / Photo: Ros Kavanagh.
Bottom Left: Alice Rekab, Family Lines, 2022, Installation view, The Douglas Hyde Gallery of Contemporary Art, Dublin. Image courtesy The Douglas Hyde and the artist / Photo: Louis Haugh.
Bottom Right: Marcel Vidal, DEFENDER, 2021, wood, zinc fixings, bird spikes, paint, 340cm X 505cm X615cm. Photo: Kate-Bowe O’Brien