MESH Exhibition

Mesh is an exhibition of ten Dublin based artists who have been studying visual art together for the past three years. They've decided to introduce new examples of their diverse practices in the intimate Hello Operator exhibition space this March.

Without a prescribed theme or any universal concern among the artists involved, MESH is an interweaving of approaches to contemporary art practices. Paul Coffey's photographs, dealing with the conventions of cinema, compliment the video work of Louise Brady and Seamus Bradley, who's multi-channel installations deconstruct further those conventions, with particular reference to the viewer's understanding of their operation.
Micheal Gavigan's projection work comes from a background in sculpture and playfully addresses issues of escapism. This theme is echoed in the multi-media piece by Moya Clarken and installation work of Stephanie Golden, as well as in the meditative canvases of Aoife Brady.
The theme of art as catharsis also arises in Mairead Hutchinson's filmed ode to childlike abandon. The scale and broad strokes of that work are, in turn reflected in Shadley Rawat's expansion of his meticulous figurative style onto large, gesturally wrought drawings.
The whole is tied together by Craig Cox's radio-transmission based installation, which invisibly encompasses the gallery space and brings into focus notions of identity and community about which we can all concern ourselves..

Exhibition opening and drinks reception Thursday March 10th, 6pm, Hello Operator, 12 Rutland Place, Dublin 1. Show continues March 11th and 12th.

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Louise Brady

Louise Brady works predominantly with video and installation addressing an interest in audience expectation in relation to moving image and cinema. The lone figure, theories of the fourth wall in film and mundane suburban areas at night are also central themes to her work, which currently is centered around the idea of viewer mobilisation and in recognising their own role as voyeur.

Michael Gavigan

The paper sheets display a selection of replies to the question "How do you find comfort or solace in your daily life?" The sheets have been carefully positioned to create the illusion of a small scale version of the artist walking across the papers surface.

Using a variety of media, Michael Gavigan's work addresses his concern with notions of escaping the stress of the day to day and the relationship between respite and procrastination.

Moya Clarken

Moya Clarken's work offers moments of escape by presenting the everyday world in an unusual and often amusing manner.
Her practice is informed currently by notions of the domestic. Familiar scenes, with monotonous associations, are taken into a new context through her process.

Combining elements of drawing, photography, sound and video into engaging, small scale installations, her work rewards the viewer's curiosity in unexpected ways.

Craig Cox

Craig's work at present is concerned with communication and control, with the power play between individuals and their environments and the languages or rituals used to manage this struggle.

For Mesh, Craig is developing a piece using radio and performance that he hopes will incite the creative impulse within the participant. The intention is to turn both the interaction with channels of information and the awareness of how one interacts with an environment into a playful exploration.

Stephanie Golden

Stephanie Golden's work explores aspects of human nature and the human condition. Predominately through animated videos that incorporate drawing, wire sculpture and photography. Her work seeks to capture and broaden the generlizations of the mental function, viewing the mind as a complex mechanical machine. The Am radio installation, complemented by two video pieces engages the viewer in interaction with fequencies and sound.

Shadley Rawat

Through large scale figurative drawing, Shadley has been exploring the theme of death and regeneration, with particular reference to the resurrection myth of Lazarus.

Aoife Brady

This series of oil and acrylic paintings incorporates traditional techniques alongside a rich palette, stemming from certain areas within the forest landscape and peaceful surroundings of my family home in Co. Cavan. These works have been produced with a view to finding my own place of tranquility and cleansing - an escape from various negative situations in my day to day life

The motif of the lonely pathway is one I revisit here as a personally significant symbol - a pathway of life with space enough for one, a place of revitalisation for the mind, body and soul, away from the harsh, draining effects of some aspects of ones life - freedom from strife. This peace of mind, as attained through the cathartic work of producing the paintings in studio, is thus a way to hold on to the peace I feel when physically present in this particular landscape.

Paul Coffey

Untitled First Position #2 (detail)

Paul Coffey uses photography to create active environments which function as templates for the construction of scenarios. Both the still and moving image take joint precedence in his work and frequently takes cues from cinema practice and its pragmatism.

''Untitled First Position #2" displays an environment that has been prepared for an unspecified interaction.

Seamus Bradley

Can't Buy Me Lunch

This two channel video installation concerns itself with the nature of perception and memory, in a deceptively simple and light hearted manner. The content is derived from thirty seconds of documentary footage on the life of Slovakian supermodel Adriana Sklenarikova.

The raw footage, from a series of re-creations of the scene in question, is presented in two variations. One of the videos presents a carefully manipulated set of images using the familiar film-making device of a "real-time" interaction between between two characters. The other is a more concrete but equally unreal picture - two actors captured, simultaneously, in the interstice between themselves and the characters they are portraying.

Seamus' output, in general, demonstrates a preoccupation with imposing formal structures, derived from the study of chaos in the natural sciences, on narrative works involving video, sound and performance. More info here

Mairead Hutchinson

Avoidance of the reality of everyday life, Mairead Hutchinson's work deals with notions of escape. Moments of childlike abandon are explored through video, photography and performance with suggestions that all is not as it seems.

'Because I Want To' is a video projection in which common childhood actions are performed by the artist simultaneously on a screen divided into several parts.