Discarded sweet wrappers, neglected stuffed animals and used pantyhose are among the last things one expects to see on display when entering an art gallery. Yet that is what the onlooker is proudly faced with when entering the Douglas Hyde Gallery. Marking the first solo exhibition of renowned Canadian artist Liz Magor, the gallery - located in Trinity College Dublin - presents The Rise and The Fall.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1948, Liz Magor now lives and works in Vancouver, British Columbia. In her youth, she studied at the Vancouver School of Art as well as the Parsons School of Design in New York City.
With a practice that has consisted mainly of sculpture, Magor's work is characterized by her uncannily realistic casts of humble, ordinary objects. Exploring the ontology of familiar objects is a core theme of her art, her work remaking and presenting these objects in a new context. Her art is located in an undefined space, somewhere between still life and the uncanny. Objects that are familiar yet strange populate the artist's work. Often forcing viewers to construct their own narratives in an effort to understand what they are visually faced with. Dripping with nostalgia, her work evokes a feeling through the use of materials ever present in our young lives; the tattered teddy bear, our grandfather's ever-full ashtray, and the previously mentioned discarded chocolate wrappers from the Christmases of our youth. The innate sentimentality we feel as we gaze upon the unique work of Magor is unmatched. The unexpected relationships that her objects find themselves in evoke a sense of care and meaning beyond their original use or function. The Rise and The Fall presents a selection of the artist's work produced over the past five years. These objects explore our relationship with the material world and Magor transforms mundane, everyday materials into active protagonists in her work. These ordinary pieces of life, presented as a focal point in art, force the viewer to recognise their passive consumption, use and disregard of the objects they encounter. Magor allows these items the opportunity to express their—often unrecognized—vibrancy. There is a general consensus that Magor's work lacks sentimentality, despite the sentimental emotions it may provoke. In a previous review of The Rise and The Fall Tom Denman states that "There is nothing sentimental about this (or any of Magor's work) or if there is, sentimentality rises and plummets back down again, quickly."
However, Magor's work is far from a mere collection of objects. The assortment that litters the Gallery 1 floor of the Douglas Hyde absolutely suggests a found object grouping, yet there is another presence, something fanciful and otherworldly about the collection: the mundane combined with dreamline. We can recognise these pieces visually but struggle to understand why they are where they are, or how they came to be there.
When entering the first floor of the Douglas Hyde Gallery, one is immediately met with a piece entitled Oilmen's Bonspiel, 2017. The monkey with the pig face protruding from the back of its head is reminiscent of a chimera, which according to Greek mythology, was a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature, composed of different animal parts from Lycia, Asia Minor. The messy attachment, featuring an old knitted sweater suggests this bizarre combination of elements is as close to a child playing god/creator as possible. This undeniably playful and humorous piece sets the scene for the rest of the exhibition; as visitors descend the stairs to the main gallery floor, they are met with the large body of work Magor presents to us. Largely concealed in cellophane boxes, which contribute to the iridescent, dreamlike atmosphere of the space, the collection features an almost overwhelming amount of pastel colours. This colour palate, accompanied by the soft textures and fabrics - one box is entirely populated by stuffing - inarguably presents the audience with a fanciful reality. Although whimsical, the softness is juxtaposed with the stiffness of the cellophane boxes it is housed in, the colours are contrasted by the darkness of the apparatus that hangs from the ceiling of the main gallery and the coat that hovers close by on the wall.
Magor's background in design may explain the heavy presence of textiles and clothing in her work. However, her practice in the past has consisted less of stitching and knitting and more of mould-making and casting in order to allow her work to materialize. She also renders familiar objects in her studio into gypsum or rubber; often she combines them with items that are found or gifted to her. The artist has made it known that she does not actively search for objects, instead, they come into her life through chance encounters. In particular, the naturalized birds that feature in The Rise and The Fall, a littering collection that adorns the room, were gifted to the artist in an antique box from unknown origins; they are not endangered species. Yet, her most recent work features the repurposing of preexisting fabrics. An example of such is the piece Perennial, 2021, which features on the west wall of the main gallery of the Douglas Hyde: the found duffle coat hangs almost ominously, acting as a spectator who keeps a close eye as the viewer peruses the art before them. Yet this work in itself demands a certain level of attention. Although a slightly tattered and certainly preloved clothing item, making one assume it had belonged to an older man, its presentation is distinctly childlike. The jacket holds a flag of a whale, and in the exposed pocket lives two cookies, old wrappers and an assortment of snail shells. Items that allude to a child's ownership rather than anyone else.
The artist's own comments on her exhibition are perhaps the most comprehensive way to sum up its aims; Magor states that "we may discard things, but they don't disappear. They outlive our desires, our interests, our use and ourselves." This exhibition is a clear exploration of the lives of objects after fulfilling their primary function, and how they live on after human intervention and interaction. Our consumption and our awareness of it is what Magor brings to the forefront in The Rise and The Fall - a notion that only becomes more relevant in our 21st-century Western society. Critic Dan Adler has in the past written that "[Magor's] methods of encourage me to slow down, wander about and listen to those neglected things, to understand their difference in relationship to obsolescence- in ways that are analogous to the predicaments of people, or how they struggle with desires, with compulsive and addictive behaviours and with the ideas of value, relevance and worth."
Liz Magor: The Rise and The Fall is showing at The Douglas Hyde Gallery in Dublin until 24th September.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app when you visit!
Discarded sweet wrappers, neglected stuffed animals and used pantyhose are among the last things one expects to see on display when entering an art gallery. Yet that is what the onlooker is proudly faced with when entering the Douglas Hyde Gallery. Marking the first solo exhibition of renowned Canadian artist Liz Magor, the gallery - located in Trinity College Dublin - presents The Rise and The Fall.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1948, Liz Magor now lives and works in Vancouver, British Columbia. In her youth, she studied at the Vancouver School of Art as well as the Parsons School of Design in New York City.
With a practice that has consisted mainly of sculpture, Magor's work is characterized by her uncannily realistic casts of humble, ordinary objects. Exploring the ontology of familiar objects is a core theme of her art, her work remaking and presenting these objects in a new context. Her art is located in an undefined space, somewhere between still life and the uncanny. Objects that are familiar yet strange populate the artist's work. Often forcing viewers to construct their own narratives in an effort to understand what they are visually faced with. Dripping with nostalgia, her work evokes a feeling through the use of materials ever present in our young lives; the tattered teddy bear, our grandfather's ever-full ashtray, and the previously mentioned discarded chocolate wrappers from the Christmases of our youth. The innate sentimentality we feel as we gaze upon the unique work of Magor is unmatched. The unexpected relationships that her objects find themselves in evoke a sense of care and meaning beyond their original use or function. The Rise and The Fall presents a selection of the artist's work produced over the past five years. These objects explore our relationship with the material world and Magor transforms mundane, everyday materials into active protagonists in her work. These ordinary pieces of life, presented as a focal point in art, force the viewer to recognise their passive consumption, use and disregard of the objects they encounter. Magor allows these items the opportunity to express their—often unrecognized—vibrancy. There is a general consensus that Magor's work lacks sentimentality, despite the sentimental emotions it may provoke. In a previous review of The Rise and The Fall Tom Denman states that "There is nothing sentimental about this (or any of Magor's work) or if there is, sentimentality rises and plummets back down again, quickly."
However, Magor's work is far from a mere collection of objects. The assortment that litters the Gallery 1 floor of the Douglas Hyde absolutely suggests a found object grouping, yet there is another presence, something fanciful and otherworldly about the collection: the mundane combined with dreamline. We can recognise these pieces visually but struggle to understand why they are where they are, or how they came to be there.
When entering the first floor of the Douglas Hyde Gallery, one is immediately met with a piece entitled Oilmen's Bonspiel, 2017. The monkey with the pig face protruding from the back of its head is reminiscent of a chimera, which according to Greek mythology, was a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature, composed of different animal parts from Lycia, Asia Minor. The messy attachment, featuring an old knitted sweater suggests this bizarre combination of elements is as close to a child playing god/creator as possible. This undeniably playful and humorous piece sets the scene for the rest of the exhibition; as visitors descend the stairs to the main gallery floor, they are met with the large body of work Magor presents to us. Largely concealed in cellophane boxes, which contribute to the iridescent, dreamlike atmosphere of the space, the collection features an almost overwhelming amount of pastel colours. This colour palate, accompanied by the soft textures and fabrics - one box is entirely populated by stuffing - inarguably presents the audience with a fanciful reality. Although whimsical, the softness is juxtaposed with the stiffness of the cellophane boxes it is housed in, the colours are contrasted by the darkness of the apparatus that hangs from the ceiling of the main gallery and the coat that hovers close by on the wall.
Magor's background in design may explain the heavy presence of textiles and clothing in her work. However, her practice in the past has consisted less of stitching and knitting and more of mould-making and casting in order to allow her work to materialize. She also renders familiar objects in her studio into gypsum or rubber; often she combines them with items that are found or gifted to her. The artist has made it known that she does not actively search for objects, instead, they come into her life through chance encounters. In particular, the naturalized birds that feature in The Rise and The Fall, a littering collection that adorns the room, were gifted to the artist in an antique box from unknown origins; they are not endangered species. Yet, her most recent work features the repurposing of preexisting fabrics. An example of such is the piece Perennial, 2021, which features on the west wall of the main gallery of the Douglas Hyde: the found duffle coat hangs almost ominously, acting as a spectator who keeps a close eye as the viewer peruses the art before them. Yet this work in itself demands a certain level of attention. Although a slightly tattered and certainly preloved clothing item, making one assume it had belonged to an older man, its presentation is distinctly childlike. The jacket holds a flag of a whale, and in the exposed pocket lives two cookies, old wrappers and an assortment of snail shells. Items that allude to a child's ownership rather than anyone else.
The artist's own comments on her exhibition are perhaps the most comprehensive way to sum up its aims; Magor states that "we may discard things, but they don't disappear. They outlive our desires, our interests, our use and ourselves." This exhibition is a clear exploration of the lives of objects after fulfilling their primary function, and how they live on after human intervention and interaction. Our consumption and our awareness of it is what Magor brings to the forefront in The Rise and The Fall - a notion that only becomes more relevant in our 21st-century Western society. Critic Dan Adler has in the past written that "[Magor's] methods of encourage me to slow down, wander about and listen to those neglected things, to understand their difference in relationship to obsolescence- in ways that are analogous to the predicaments of people, or how they struggle with desires, with compulsive and addictive behaviours and with the ideas of value, relevance and worth."
Liz Magor: The Rise and The Fall is showing at The Douglas Hyde Gallery in Dublin until 24th September.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app when you visit!
Discarded sweet wrappers, neglected stuffed animals and used pantyhose are among the last things one expects to see on display when entering an art gallery. Yet that is what the onlooker is proudly faced with when entering the Douglas Hyde Gallery. Marking the first solo exhibition of renowned Canadian artist Liz Magor, the gallery - located in Trinity College Dublin - presents The Rise and The Fall.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1948, Liz Magor now lives and works in Vancouver, British Columbia. In her youth, she studied at the Vancouver School of Art as well as the Parsons School of Design in New York City.
With a practice that has consisted mainly of sculpture, Magor's work is characterized by her uncannily realistic casts of humble, ordinary objects. Exploring the ontology of familiar objects is a core theme of her art, her work remaking and presenting these objects in a new context. Her art is located in an undefined space, somewhere between still life and the uncanny. Objects that are familiar yet strange populate the artist's work. Often forcing viewers to construct their own narratives in an effort to understand what they are visually faced with. Dripping with nostalgia, her work evokes a feeling through the use of materials ever present in our young lives; the tattered teddy bear, our grandfather's ever-full ashtray, and the previously mentioned discarded chocolate wrappers from the Christmases of our youth. The innate sentimentality we feel as we gaze upon the unique work of Magor is unmatched. The unexpected relationships that her objects find themselves in evoke a sense of care and meaning beyond their original use or function. The Rise and The Fall presents a selection of the artist's work produced over the past five years. These objects explore our relationship with the material world and Magor transforms mundane, everyday materials into active protagonists in her work. These ordinary pieces of life, presented as a focal point in art, force the viewer to recognise their passive consumption, use and disregard of the objects they encounter. Magor allows these items the opportunity to express their—often unrecognized—vibrancy. There is a general consensus that Magor's work lacks sentimentality, despite the sentimental emotions it may provoke. In a previous review of The Rise and The Fall Tom Denman states that "There is nothing sentimental about this (or any of Magor's work) or if there is, sentimentality rises and plummets back down again, quickly."
However, Magor's work is far from a mere collection of objects. The assortment that litters the Gallery 1 floor of the Douglas Hyde absolutely suggests a found object grouping, yet there is another presence, something fanciful and otherworldly about the collection: the mundane combined with dreamline. We can recognise these pieces visually but struggle to understand why they are where they are, or how they came to be there.
When entering the first floor of the Douglas Hyde Gallery, one is immediately met with a piece entitled Oilmen's Bonspiel, 2017. The monkey with the pig face protruding from the back of its head is reminiscent of a chimera, which according to Greek mythology, was a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature, composed of different animal parts from Lycia, Asia Minor. The messy attachment, featuring an old knitted sweater suggests this bizarre combination of elements is as close to a child playing god/creator as possible. This undeniably playful and humorous piece sets the scene for the rest of the exhibition; as visitors descend the stairs to the main gallery floor, they are met with the large body of work Magor presents to us. Largely concealed in cellophane boxes, which contribute to the iridescent, dreamlike atmosphere of the space, the collection features an almost overwhelming amount of pastel colours. This colour palate, accompanied by the soft textures and fabrics - one box is entirely populated by stuffing - inarguably presents the audience with a fanciful reality. Although whimsical, the softness is juxtaposed with the stiffness of the cellophane boxes it is housed in, the colours are contrasted by the darkness of the apparatus that hangs from the ceiling of the main gallery and the coat that hovers close by on the wall.
Magor's background in design may explain the heavy presence of textiles and clothing in her work. However, her practice in the past has consisted less of stitching and knitting and more of mould-making and casting in order to allow her work to materialize. She also renders familiar objects in her studio into gypsum or rubber; often she combines them with items that are found or gifted to her. The artist has made it known that she does not actively search for objects, instead, they come into her life through chance encounters. In particular, the naturalized birds that feature in The Rise and The Fall, a littering collection that adorns the room, were gifted to the artist in an antique box from unknown origins; they are not endangered species. Yet, her most recent work features the repurposing of preexisting fabrics. An example of such is the piece Perennial, 2021, which features on the west wall of the main gallery of the Douglas Hyde: the found duffle coat hangs almost ominously, acting as a spectator who keeps a close eye as the viewer peruses the art before them. Yet this work in itself demands a certain level of attention. Although a slightly tattered and certainly preloved clothing item, making one assume it had belonged to an older man, its presentation is distinctly childlike. The jacket holds a flag of a whale, and in the exposed pocket lives two cookies, old wrappers and an assortment of snail shells. Items that allude to a child's ownership rather than anyone else.
The artist's own comments on her exhibition are perhaps the most comprehensive way to sum up its aims; Magor states that "we may discard things, but they don't disappear. They outlive our desires, our interests, our use and ourselves." This exhibition is a clear exploration of the lives of objects after fulfilling their primary function, and how they live on after human intervention and interaction. Our consumption and our awareness of it is what Magor brings to the forefront in The Rise and The Fall - a notion that only becomes more relevant in our 21st-century Western society. Critic Dan Adler has in the past written that "[Magor's] methods of encourage me to slow down, wander about and listen to those neglected things, to understand their difference in relationship to obsolescence- in ways that are analogous to the predicaments of people, or how they struggle with desires, with compulsive and addictive behaviours and with the ideas of value, relevance and worth."
Liz Magor: The Rise and The Fall is showing at The Douglas Hyde Gallery in Dublin until 24th September.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app when you visit!
Discarded sweet wrappers, neglected stuffed animals and used pantyhose are among the last things one expects to see on display when entering an art gallery. Yet that is what the onlooker is proudly faced with when entering the Douglas Hyde Gallery. Marking the first solo exhibition of renowned Canadian artist Liz Magor, the gallery - located in Trinity College Dublin - presents The Rise and The Fall.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1948, Liz Magor now lives and works in Vancouver, British Columbia. In her youth, she studied at the Vancouver School of Art as well as the Parsons School of Design in New York City.
With a practice that has consisted mainly of sculpture, Magor's work is characterized by her uncannily realistic casts of humble, ordinary objects. Exploring the ontology of familiar objects is a core theme of her art, her work remaking and presenting these objects in a new context. Her art is located in an undefined space, somewhere between still life and the uncanny. Objects that are familiar yet strange populate the artist's work. Often forcing viewers to construct their own narratives in an effort to understand what they are visually faced with. Dripping with nostalgia, her work evokes a feeling through the use of materials ever present in our young lives; the tattered teddy bear, our grandfather's ever-full ashtray, and the previously mentioned discarded chocolate wrappers from the Christmases of our youth. The innate sentimentality we feel as we gaze upon the unique work of Magor is unmatched. The unexpected relationships that her objects find themselves in evoke a sense of care and meaning beyond their original use or function. The Rise and The Fall presents a selection of the artist's work produced over the past five years. These objects explore our relationship with the material world and Magor transforms mundane, everyday materials into active protagonists in her work. These ordinary pieces of life, presented as a focal point in art, force the viewer to recognise their passive consumption, use and disregard of the objects they encounter. Magor allows these items the opportunity to express their—often unrecognized—vibrancy. There is a general consensus that Magor's work lacks sentimentality, despite the sentimental emotions it may provoke. In a previous review of The Rise and The Fall Tom Denman states that "There is nothing sentimental about this (or any of Magor's work) or if there is, sentimentality rises and plummets back down again, quickly."
However, Magor's work is far from a mere collection of objects. The assortment that litters the Gallery 1 floor of the Douglas Hyde absolutely suggests a found object grouping, yet there is another presence, something fanciful and otherworldly about the collection: the mundane combined with dreamline. We can recognise these pieces visually but struggle to understand why they are where they are, or how they came to be there.
When entering the first floor of the Douglas Hyde Gallery, one is immediately met with a piece entitled Oilmen's Bonspiel, 2017. The monkey with the pig face protruding from the back of its head is reminiscent of a chimera, which according to Greek mythology, was a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature, composed of different animal parts from Lycia, Asia Minor. The messy attachment, featuring an old knitted sweater suggests this bizarre combination of elements is as close to a child playing god/creator as possible. This undeniably playful and humorous piece sets the scene for the rest of the exhibition; as visitors descend the stairs to the main gallery floor, they are met with the large body of work Magor presents to us. Largely concealed in cellophane boxes, which contribute to the iridescent, dreamlike atmosphere of the space, the collection features an almost overwhelming amount of pastel colours. This colour palate, accompanied by the soft textures and fabrics - one box is entirely populated by stuffing - inarguably presents the audience with a fanciful reality. Although whimsical, the softness is juxtaposed with the stiffness of the cellophane boxes it is housed in, the colours are contrasted by the darkness of the apparatus that hangs from the ceiling of the main gallery and the coat that hovers close by on the wall.
Magor's background in design may explain the heavy presence of textiles and clothing in her work. However, her practice in the past has consisted less of stitching and knitting and more of mould-making and casting in order to allow her work to materialize. She also renders familiar objects in her studio into gypsum or rubber; often she combines them with items that are found or gifted to her. The artist has made it known that she does not actively search for objects, instead, they come into her life through chance encounters. In particular, the naturalized birds that feature in The Rise and The Fall, a littering collection that adorns the room, were gifted to the artist in an antique box from unknown origins; they are not endangered species. Yet, her most recent work features the repurposing of preexisting fabrics. An example of such is the piece Perennial, 2021, which features on the west wall of the main gallery of the Douglas Hyde: the found duffle coat hangs almost ominously, acting as a spectator who keeps a close eye as the viewer peruses the art before them. Yet this work in itself demands a certain level of attention. Although a slightly tattered and certainly preloved clothing item, making one assume it had belonged to an older man, its presentation is distinctly childlike. The jacket holds a flag of a whale, and in the exposed pocket lives two cookies, old wrappers and an assortment of snail shells. Items that allude to a child's ownership rather than anyone else.
The artist's own comments on her exhibition are perhaps the most comprehensive way to sum up its aims; Magor states that "we may discard things, but they don't disappear. They outlive our desires, our interests, our use and ourselves." This exhibition is a clear exploration of the lives of objects after fulfilling their primary function, and how they live on after human intervention and interaction. Our consumption and our awareness of it is what Magor brings to the forefront in The Rise and The Fall - a notion that only becomes more relevant in our 21st-century Western society. Critic Dan Adler has in the past written that "[Magor's] methods of encourage me to slow down, wander about and listen to those neglected things, to understand their difference in relationship to obsolescence- in ways that are analogous to the predicaments of people, or how they struggle with desires, with compulsive and addictive behaviours and with the ideas of value, relevance and worth."
Liz Magor: The Rise and The Fall is showing at The Douglas Hyde Gallery in Dublin until 24th September.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app when you visit!
Discarded sweet wrappers, neglected stuffed animals and used pantyhose are among the last things one expects to see on display when entering an art gallery. Yet that is what the onlooker is proudly faced with when entering the Douglas Hyde Gallery. Marking the first solo exhibition of renowned Canadian artist Liz Magor, the gallery - located in Trinity College Dublin - presents The Rise and The Fall.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1948, Liz Magor now lives and works in Vancouver, British Columbia. In her youth, she studied at the Vancouver School of Art as well as the Parsons School of Design in New York City.
With a practice that has consisted mainly of sculpture, Magor's work is characterized by her uncannily realistic casts of humble, ordinary objects. Exploring the ontology of familiar objects is a core theme of her art, her work remaking and presenting these objects in a new context. Her art is located in an undefined space, somewhere between still life and the uncanny. Objects that are familiar yet strange populate the artist's work. Often forcing viewers to construct their own narratives in an effort to understand what they are visually faced with. Dripping with nostalgia, her work evokes a feeling through the use of materials ever present in our young lives; the tattered teddy bear, our grandfather's ever-full ashtray, and the previously mentioned discarded chocolate wrappers from the Christmases of our youth. The innate sentimentality we feel as we gaze upon the unique work of Magor is unmatched. The unexpected relationships that her objects find themselves in evoke a sense of care and meaning beyond their original use or function. The Rise and The Fall presents a selection of the artist's work produced over the past five years. These objects explore our relationship with the material world and Magor transforms mundane, everyday materials into active protagonists in her work. These ordinary pieces of life, presented as a focal point in art, force the viewer to recognise their passive consumption, use and disregard of the objects they encounter. Magor allows these items the opportunity to express their—often unrecognized—vibrancy. There is a general consensus that Magor's work lacks sentimentality, despite the sentimental emotions it may provoke. In a previous review of The Rise and The Fall Tom Denman states that "There is nothing sentimental about this (or any of Magor's work) or if there is, sentimentality rises and plummets back down again, quickly."
However, Magor's work is far from a mere collection of objects. The assortment that litters the Gallery 1 floor of the Douglas Hyde absolutely suggests a found object grouping, yet there is another presence, something fanciful and otherworldly about the collection: the mundane combined with dreamline. We can recognise these pieces visually but struggle to understand why they are where they are, or how they came to be there.
When entering the first floor of the Douglas Hyde Gallery, one is immediately met with a piece entitled Oilmen's Bonspiel, 2017. The monkey with the pig face protruding from the back of its head is reminiscent of a chimera, which according to Greek mythology, was a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature, composed of different animal parts from Lycia, Asia Minor. The messy attachment, featuring an old knitted sweater suggests this bizarre combination of elements is as close to a child playing god/creator as possible. This undeniably playful and humorous piece sets the scene for the rest of the exhibition; as visitors descend the stairs to the main gallery floor, they are met with the large body of work Magor presents to us. Largely concealed in cellophane boxes, which contribute to the iridescent, dreamlike atmosphere of the space, the collection features an almost overwhelming amount of pastel colours. This colour palate, accompanied by the soft textures and fabrics - one box is entirely populated by stuffing - inarguably presents the audience with a fanciful reality. Although whimsical, the softness is juxtaposed with the stiffness of the cellophane boxes it is housed in, the colours are contrasted by the darkness of the apparatus that hangs from the ceiling of the main gallery and the coat that hovers close by on the wall.
Magor's background in design may explain the heavy presence of textiles and clothing in her work. However, her practice in the past has consisted less of stitching and knitting and more of mould-making and casting in order to allow her work to materialize. She also renders familiar objects in her studio into gypsum or rubber; often she combines them with items that are found or gifted to her. The artist has made it known that she does not actively search for objects, instead, they come into her life through chance encounters. In particular, the naturalized birds that feature in The Rise and The Fall, a littering collection that adorns the room, were gifted to the artist in an antique box from unknown origins; they are not endangered species. Yet, her most recent work features the repurposing of preexisting fabrics. An example of such is the piece Perennial, 2021, which features on the west wall of the main gallery of the Douglas Hyde: the found duffle coat hangs almost ominously, acting as a spectator who keeps a close eye as the viewer peruses the art before them. Yet this work in itself demands a certain level of attention. Although a slightly tattered and certainly preloved clothing item, making one assume it had belonged to an older man, its presentation is distinctly childlike. The jacket holds a flag of a whale, and in the exposed pocket lives two cookies, old wrappers and an assortment of snail shells. Items that allude to a child's ownership rather than anyone else.
The artist's own comments on her exhibition are perhaps the most comprehensive way to sum up its aims; Magor states that "we may discard things, but they don't disappear. They outlive our desires, our interests, our use and ourselves." This exhibition is a clear exploration of the lives of objects after fulfilling their primary function, and how they live on after human intervention and interaction. Our consumption and our awareness of it is what Magor brings to the forefront in The Rise and The Fall - a notion that only becomes more relevant in our 21st-century Western society. Critic Dan Adler has in the past written that "[Magor's] methods of encourage me to slow down, wander about and listen to those neglected things, to understand their difference in relationship to obsolescence- in ways that are analogous to the predicaments of people, or how they struggle with desires, with compulsive and addictive behaviours and with the ideas of value, relevance and worth."
Liz Magor: The Rise and The Fall is showing at The Douglas Hyde Gallery in Dublin until 24th September.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app when you visit!
Discarded sweet wrappers, neglected stuffed animals and used pantyhose are among the last things one expects to see on display when entering an art gallery. Yet that is what the onlooker is proudly faced with when entering the Douglas Hyde Gallery. Marking the first solo exhibition of renowned Canadian artist Liz Magor, the gallery - located in Trinity College Dublin - presents The Rise and The Fall.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1948, Liz Magor now lives and works in Vancouver, British Columbia. In her youth, she studied at the Vancouver School of Art as well as the Parsons School of Design in New York City.
With a practice that has consisted mainly of sculpture, Magor's work is characterized by her uncannily realistic casts of humble, ordinary objects. Exploring the ontology of familiar objects is a core theme of her art, her work remaking and presenting these objects in a new context. Her art is located in an undefined space, somewhere between still life and the uncanny. Objects that are familiar yet strange populate the artist's work. Often forcing viewers to construct their own narratives in an effort to understand what they are visually faced with. Dripping with nostalgia, her work evokes a feeling through the use of materials ever present in our young lives; the tattered teddy bear, our grandfather's ever-full ashtray, and the previously mentioned discarded chocolate wrappers from the Christmases of our youth. The innate sentimentality we feel as we gaze upon the unique work of Magor is unmatched. The unexpected relationships that her objects find themselves in evoke a sense of care and meaning beyond their original use or function. The Rise and The Fall presents a selection of the artist's work produced over the past five years. These objects explore our relationship with the material world and Magor transforms mundane, everyday materials into active protagonists in her work. These ordinary pieces of life, presented as a focal point in art, force the viewer to recognise their passive consumption, use and disregard of the objects they encounter. Magor allows these items the opportunity to express their—often unrecognized—vibrancy. There is a general consensus that Magor's work lacks sentimentality, despite the sentimental emotions it may provoke. In a previous review of The Rise and The Fall Tom Denman states that "There is nothing sentimental about this (or any of Magor's work) or if there is, sentimentality rises and plummets back down again, quickly."
However, Magor's work is far from a mere collection of objects. The assortment that litters the Gallery 1 floor of the Douglas Hyde absolutely suggests a found object grouping, yet there is another presence, something fanciful and otherworldly about the collection: the mundane combined with dreamline. We can recognise these pieces visually but struggle to understand why they are where they are, or how they came to be there.
When entering the first floor of the Douglas Hyde Gallery, one is immediately met with a piece entitled Oilmen's Bonspiel, 2017. The monkey with the pig face protruding from the back of its head is reminiscent of a chimera, which according to Greek mythology, was a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature, composed of different animal parts from Lycia, Asia Minor. The messy attachment, featuring an old knitted sweater suggests this bizarre combination of elements is as close to a child playing god/creator as possible. This undeniably playful and humorous piece sets the scene for the rest of the exhibition; as visitors descend the stairs to the main gallery floor, they are met with the large body of work Magor presents to us. Largely concealed in cellophane boxes, which contribute to the iridescent, dreamlike atmosphere of the space, the collection features an almost overwhelming amount of pastel colours. This colour palate, accompanied by the soft textures and fabrics - one box is entirely populated by stuffing - inarguably presents the audience with a fanciful reality. Although whimsical, the softness is juxtaposed with the stiffness of the cellophane boxes it is housed in, the colours are contrasted by the darkness of the apparatus that hangs from the ceiling of the main gallery and the coat that hovers close by on the wall.
Magor's background in design may explain the heavy presence of textiles and clothing in her work. However, her practice in the past has consisted less of stitching and knitting and more of mould-making and casting in order to allow her work to materialize. She also renders familiar objects in her studio into gypsum or rubber; often she combines them with items that are found or gifted to her. The artist has made it known that she does not actively search for objects, instead, they come into her life through chance encounters. In particular, the naturalized birds that feature in The Rise and The Fall, a littering collection that adorns the room, were gifted to the artist in an antique box from unknown origins; they are not endangered species. Yet, her most recent work features the repurposing of preexisting fabrics. An example of such is the piece Perennial, 2021, which features on the west wall of the main gallery of the Douglas Hyde: the found duffle coat hangs almost ominously, acting as a spectator who keeps a close eye as the viewer peruses the art before them. Yet this work in itself demands a certain level of attention. Although a slightly tattered and certainly preloved clothing item, making one assume it had belonged to an older man, its presentation is distinctly childlike. The jacket holds a flag of a whale, and in the exposed pocket lives two cookies, old wrappers and an assortment of snail shells. Items that allude to a child's ownership rather than anyone else.
The artist's own comments on her exhibition are perhaps the most comprehensive way to sum up its aims; Magor states that "we may discard things, but they don't disappear. They outlive our desires, our interests, our use and ourselves." This exhibition is a clear exploration of the lives of objects after fulfilling their primary function, and how they live on after human intervention and interaction. Our consumption and our awareness of it is what Magor brings to the forefront in The Rise and The Fall - a notion that only becomes more relevant in our 21st-century Western society. Critic Dan Adler has in the past written that "[Magor's] methods of encourage me to slow down, wander about and listen to those neglected things, to understand their difference in relationship to obsolescence- in ways that are analogous to the predicaments of people, or how they struggle with desires, with compulsive and addictive behaviours and with the ideas of value, relevance and worth."
Liz Magor: The Rise and The Fall is showing at The Douglas Hyde Gallery in Dublin until 24th September.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app when you visit!
Discarded sweet wrappers, neglected stuffed animals and used pantyhose are among the last things one expects to see on display when entering an art gallery. Yet that is what the onlooker is proudly faced with when entering the Douglas Hyde Gallery. Marking the first solo exhibition of renowned Canadian artist Liz Magor, the gallery - located in Trinity College Dublin - presents The Rise and The Fall.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1948, Liz Magor now lives and works in Vancouver, British Columbia. In her youth, she studied at the Vancouver School of Art as well as the Parsons School of Design in New York City.
With a practice that has consisted mainly of sculpture, Magor's work is characterized by her uncannily realistic casts of humble, ordinary objects. Exploring the ontology of familiar objects is a core theme of her art, her work remaking and presenting these objects in a new context. Her art is located in an undefined space, somewhere between still life and the uncanny. Objects that are familiar yet strange populate the artist's work. Often forcing viewers to construct their own narratives in an effort to understand what they are visually faced with. Dripping with nostalgia, her work evokes a feeling through the use of materials ever present in our young lives; the tattered teddy bear, our grandfather's ever-full ashtray, and the previously mentioned discarded chocolate wrappers from the Christmases of our youth. The innate sentimentality we feel as we gaze upon the unique work of Magor is unmatched. The unexpected relationships that her objects find themselves in evoke a sense of care and meaning beyond their original use or function. The Rise and The Fall presents a selection of the artist's work produced over the past five years. These objects explore our relationship with the material world and Magor transforms mundane, everyday materials into active protagonists in her work. These ordinary pieces of life, presented as a focal point in art, force the viewer to recognise their passive consumption, use and disregard of the objects they encounter. Magor allows these items the opportunity to express their—often unrecognized—vibrancy. There is a general consensus that Magor's work lacks sentimentality, despite the sentimental emotions it may provoke. In a previous review of The Rise and The Fall Tom Denman states that "There is nothing sentimental about this (or any of Magor's work) or if there is, sentimentality rises and plummets back down again, quickly."
However, Magor's work is far from a mere collection of objects. The assortment that litters the Gallery 1 floor of the Douglas Hyde absolutely suggests a found object grouping, yet there is another presence, something fanciful and otherworldly about the collection: the mundane combined with dreamline. We can recognise these pieces visually but struggle to understand why they are where they are, or how they came to be there.
When entering the first floor of the Douglas Hyde Gallery, one is immediately met with a piece entitled Oilmen's Bonspiel, 2017. The monkey with the pig face protruding from the back of its head is reminiscent of a chimera, which according to Greek mythology, was a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature, composed of different animal parts from Lycia, Asia Minor. The messy attachment, featuring an old knitted sweater suggests this bizarre combination of elements is as close to a child playing god/creator as possible. This undeniably playful and humorous piece sets the scene for the rest of the exhibition; as visitors descend the stairs to the main gallery floor, they are met with the large body of work Magor presents to us. Largely concealed in cellophane boxes, which contribute to the iridescent, dreamlike atmosphere of the space, the collection features an almost overwhelming amount of pastel colours. This colour palate, accompanied by the soft textures and fabrics - one box is entirely populated by stuffing - inarguably presents the audience with a fanciful reality. Although whimsical, the softness is juxtaposed with the stiffness of the cellophane boxes it is housed in, the colours are contrasted by the darkness of the apparatus that hangs from the ceiling of the main gallery and the coat that hovers close by on the wall.
Magor's background in design may explain the heavy presence of textiles and clothing in her work. However, her practice in the past has consisted less of stitching and knitting and more of mould-making and casting in order to allow her work to materialize. She also renders familiar objects in her studio into gypsum or rubber; often she combines them with items that are found or gifted to her. The artist has made it known that she does not actively search for objects, instead, they come into her life through chance encounters. In particular, the naturalized birds that feature in The Rise and The Fall, a littering collection that adorns the room, were gifted to the artist in an antique box from unknown origins; they are not endangered species. Yet, her most recent work features the repurposing of preexisting fabrics. An example of such is the piece Perennial, 2021, which features on the west wall of the main gallery of the Douglas Hyde: the found duffle coat hangs almost ominously, acting as a spectator who keeps a close eye as the viewer peruses the art before them. Yet this work in itself demands a certain level of attention. Although a slightly tattered and certainly preloved clothing item, making one assume it had belonged to an older man, its presentation is distinctly childlike. The jacket holds a flag of a whale, and in the exposed pocket lives two cookies, old wrappers and an assortment of snail shells. Items that allude to a child's ownership rather than anyone else.
The artist's own comments on her exhibition are perhaps the most comprehensive way to sum up its aims; Magor states that "we may discard things, but they don't disappear. They outlive our desires, our interests, our use and ourselves." This exhibition is a clear exploration of the lives of objects after fulfilling their primary function, and how they live on after human intervention and interaction. Our consumption and our awareness of it is what Magor brings to the forefront in The Rise and The Fall - a notion that only becomes more relevant in our 21st-century Western society. Critic Dan Adler has in the past written that "[Magor's] methods of encourage me to slow down, wander about and listen to those neglected things, to understand their difference in relationship to obsolescence- in ways that are analogous to the predicaments of people, or how they struggle with desires, with compulsive and addictive behaviours and with the ideas of value, relevance and worth."
Liz Magor: The Rise and The Fall is showing at The Douglas Hyde Gallery in Dublin until 24th September.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app when you visit!
Discarded sweet wrappers, neglected stuffed animals and used pantyhose are among the last things one expects to see on display when entering an art gallery. Yet that is what the onlooker is proudly faced with when entering the Douglas Hyde Gallery. Marking the first solo exhibition of renowned Canadian artist Liz Magor, the gallery - located in Trinity College Dublin - presents The Rise and The Fall.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1948, Liz Magor now lives and works in Vancouver, British Columbia. In her youth, she studied at the Vancouver School of Art as well as the Parsons School of Design in New York City.
With a practice that has consisted mainly of sculpture, Magor's work is characterized by her uncannily realistic casts of humble, ordinary objects. Exploring the ontology of familiar objects is a core theme of her art, her work remaking and presenting these objects in a new context. Her art is located in an undefined space, somewhere between still life and the uncanny. Objects that are familiar yet strange populate the artist's work. Often forcing viewers to construct their own narratives in an effort to understand what they are visually faced with. Dripping with nostalgia, her work evokes a feeling through the use of materials ever present in our young lives; the tattered teddy bear, our grandfather's ever-full ashtray, and the previously mentioned discarded chocolate wrappers from the Christmases of our youth. The innate sentimentality we feel as we gaze upon the unique work of Magor is unmatched. The unexpected relationships that her objects find themselves in evoke a sense of care and meaning beyond their original use or function. The Rise and The Fall presents a selection of the artist's work produced over the past five years. These objects explore our relationship with the material world and Magor transforms mundane, everyday materials into active protagonists in her work. These ordinary pieces of life, presented as a focal point in art, force the viewer to recognise their passive consumption, use and disregard of the objects they encounter. Magor allows these items the opportunity to express their—often unrecognized—vibrancy. There is a general consensus that Magor's work lacks sentimentality, despite the sentimental emotions it may provoke. In a previous review of The Rise and The Fall Tom Denman states that "There is nothing sentimental about this (or any of Magor's work) or if there is, sentimentality rises and plummets back down again, quickly."
However, Magor's work is far from a mere collection of objects. The assortment that litters the Gallery 1 floor of the Douglas Hyde absolutely suggests a found object grouping, yet there is another presence, something fanciful and otherworldly about the collection: the mundane combined with dreamline. We can recognise these pieces visually but struggle to understand why they are where they are, or how they came to be there.
When entering the first floor of the Douglas Hyde Gallery, one is immediately met with a piece entitled Oilmen's Bonspiel, 2017. The monkey with the pig face protruding from the back of its head is reminiscent of a chimera, which according to Greek mythology, was a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature, composed of different animal parts from Lycia, Asia Minor. The messy attachment, featuring an old knitted sweater suggests this bizarre combination of elements is as close to a child playing god/creator as possible. This undeniably playful and humorous piece sets the scene for the rest of the exhibition; as visitors descend the stairs to the main gallery floor, they are met with the large body of work Magor presents to us. Largely concealed in cellophane boxes, which contribute to the iridescent, dreamlike atmosphere of the space, the collection features an almost overwhelming amount of pastel colours. This colour palate, accompanied by the soft textures and fabrics - one box is entirely populated by stuffing - inarguably presents the audience with a fanciful reality. Although whimsical, the softness is juxtaposed with the stiffness of the cellophane boxes it is housed in, the colours are contrasted by the darkness of the apparatus that hangs from the ceiling of the main gallery and the coat that hovers close by on the wall.
Magor's background in design may explain the heavy presence of textiles and clothing in her work. However, her practice in the past has consisted less of stitching and knitting and more of mould-making and casting in order to allow her work to materialize. She also renders familiar objects in her studio into gypsum or rubber; often she combines them with items that are found or gifted to her. The artist has made it known that she does not actively search for objects, instead, they come into her life through chance encounters. In particular, the naturalized birds that feature in The Rise and The Fall, a littering collection that adorns the room, were gifted to the artist in an antique box from unknown origins; they are not endangered species. Yet, her most recent work features the repurposing of preexisting fabrics. An example of such is the piece Perennial, 2021, which features on the west wall of the main gallery of the Douglas Hyde: the found duffle coat hangs almost ominously, acting as a spectator who keeps a close eye as the viewer peruses the art before them. Yet this work in itself demands a certain level of attention. Although a slightly tattered and certainly preloved clothing item, making one assume it had belonged to an older man, its presentation is distinctly childlike. The jacket holds a flag of a whale, and in the exposed pocket lives two cookies, old wrappers and an assortment of snail shells. Items that allude to a child's ownership rather than anyone else.
The artist's own comments on her exhibition are perhaps the most comprehensive way to sum up its aims; Magor states that "we may discard things, but they don't disappear. They outlive our desires, our interests, our use and ourselves." This exhibition is a clear exploration of the lives of objects after fulfilling their primary function, and how they live on after human intervention and interaction. Our consumption and our awareness of it is what Magor brings to the forefront in The Rise and The Fall - a notion that only becomes more relevant in our 21st-century Western society. Critic Dan Adler has in the past written that "[Magor's] methods of encourage me to slow down, wander about and listen to those neglected things, to understand their difference in relationship to obsolescence- in ways that are analogous to the predicaments of people, or how they struggle with desires, with compulsive and addictive behaviours and with the ideas of value, relevance and worth."
Liz Magor: The Rise and The Fall is showing at The Douglas Hyde Gallery in Dublin until 24th September.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app when you visit!
Discarded sweet wrappers, neglected stuffed animals and used pantyhose are among the last things one expects to see on display when entering an art gallery. Yet that is what the onlooker is proudly faced with when entering the Douglas Hyde Gallery. Marking the first solo exhibition of renowned Canadian artist Liz Magor, the gallery - located in Trinity College Dublin - presents The Rise and The Fall.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1948, Liz Magor now lives and works in Vancouver, British Columbia. In her youth, she studied at the Vancouver School of Art as well as the Parsons School of Design in New York City.
With a practice that has consisted mainly of sculpture, Magor's work is characterized by her uncannily realistic casts of humble, ordinary objects. Exploring the ontology of familiar objects is a core theme of her art, her work remaking and presenting these objects in a new context. Her art is located in an undefined space, somewhere between still life and the uncanny. Objects that are familiar yet strange populate the artist's work. Often forcing viewers to construct their own narratives in an effort to understand what they are visually faced with. Dripping with nostalgia, her work evokes a feeling through the use of materials ever present in our young lives; the tattered teddy bear, our grandfather's ever-full ashtray, and the previously mentioned discarded chocolate wrappers from the Christmases of our youth. The innate sentimentality we feel as we gaze upon the unique work of Magor is unmatched. The unexpected relationships that her objects find themselves in evoke a sense of care and meaning beyond their original use or function. The Rise and The Fall presents a selection of the artist's work produced over the past five years. These objects explore our relationship with the material world and Magor transforms mundane, everyday materials into active protagonists in her work. These ordinary pieces of life, presented as a focal point in art, force the viewer to recognise their passive consumption, use and disregard of the objects they encounter. Magor allows these items the opportunity to express their—often unrecognized—vibrancy. There is a general consensus that Magor's work lacks sentimentality, despite the sentimental emotions it may provoke. In a previous review of The Rise and The Fall Tom Denman states that "There is nothing sentimental about this (or any of Magor's work) or if there is, sentimentality rises and plummets back down again, quickly."
However, Magor's work is far from a mere collection of objects. The assortment that litters the Gallery 1 floor of the Douglas Hyde absolutely suggests a found object grouping, yet there is another presence, something fanciful and otherworldly about the collection: the mundane combined with dreamline. We can recognise these pieces visually but struggle to understand why they are where they are, or how they came to be there.
When entering the first floor of the Douglas Hyde Gallery, one is immediately met with a piece entitled Oilmen's Bonspiel, 2017. The monkey with the pig face protruding from the back of its head is reminiscent of a chimera, which according to Greek mythology, was a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature, composed of different animal parts from Lycia, Asia Minor. The messy attachment, featuring an old knitted sweater suggests this bizarre combination of elements is as close to a child playing god/creator as possible. This undeniably playful and humorous piece sets the scene for the rest of the exhibition; as visitors descend the stairs to the main gallery floor, they are met with the large body of work Magor presents to us. Largely concealed in cellophane boxes, which contribute to the iridescent, dreamlike atmosphere of the space, the collection features an almost overwhelming amount of pastel colours. This colour palate, accompanied by the soft textures and fabrics - one box is entirely populated by stuffing - inarguably presents the audience with a fanciful reality. Although whimsical, the softness is juxtaposed with the stiffness of the cellophane boxes it is housed in, the colours are contrasted by the darkness of the apparatus that hangs from the ceiling of the main gallery and the coat that hovers close by on the wall.
Magor's background in design may explain the heavy presence of textiles and clothing in her work. However, her practice in the past has consisted less of stitching and knitting and more of mould-making and casting in order to allow her work to materialize. She also renders familiar objects in her studio into gypsum or rubber; often she combines them with items that are found or gifted to her. The artist has made it known that she does not actively search for objects, instead, they come into her life through chance encounters. In particular, the naturalized birds that feature in The Rise and The Fall, a littering collection that adorns the room, were gifted to the artist in an antique box from unknown origins; they are not endangered species. Yet, her most recent work features the repurposing of preexisting fabrics. An example of such is the piece Perennial, 2021, which features on the west wall of the main gallery of the Douglas Hyde: the found duffle coat hangs almost ominously, acting as a spectator who keeps a close eye as the viewer peruses the art before them. Yet this work in itself demands a certain level of attention. Although a slightly tattered and certainly preloved clothing item, making one assume it had belonged to an older man, its presentation is distinctly childlike. The jacket holds a flag of a whale, and in the exposed pocket lives two cookies, old wrappers and an assortment of snail shells. Items that allude to a child's ownership rather than anyone else.
The artist's own comments on her exhibition are perhaps the most comprehensive way to sum up its aims; Magor states that "we may discard things, but they don't disappear. They outlive our desires, our interests, our use and ourselves." This exhibition is a clear exploration of the lives of objects after fulfilling their primary function, and how they live on after human intervention and interaction. Our consumption and our awareness of it is what Magor brings to the forefront in The Rise and The Fall - a notion that only becomes more relevant in our 21st-century Western society. Critic Dan Adler has in the past written that "[Magor's] methods of encourage me to slow down, wander about and listen to those neglected things, to understand their difference in relationship to obsolescence- in ways that are analogous to the predicaments of people, or how they struggle with desires, with compulsive and addictive behaviours and with the ideas of value, relevance and worth."
Liz Magor: The Rise and The Fall is showing at The Douglas Hyde Gallery in Dublin until 24th September.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app when you visit!
Discarded sweet wrappers, neglected stuffed animals and used pantyhose are among the last things one expects to see on display when entering an art gallery. Yet that is what the onlooker is proudly faced with when entering the Douglas Hyde Gallery. Marking the first solo exhibition of renowned Canadian artist Liz Magor, the gallery - located in Trinity College Dublin - presents The Rise and The Fall.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1948, Liz Magor now lives and works in Vancouver, British Columbia. In her youth, she studied at the Vancouver School of Art as well as the Parsons School of Design in New York City.
With a practice that has consisted mainly of sculpture, Magor's work is characterized by her uncannily realistic casts of humble, ordinary objects. Exploring the ontology of familiar objects is a core theme of her art, her work remaking and presenting these objects in a new context. Her art is located in an undefined space, somewhere between still life and the uncanny. Objects that are familiar yet strange populate the artist's work. Often forcing viewers to construct their own narratives in an effort to understand what they are visually faced with. Dripping with nostalgia, her work evokes a feeling through the use of materials ever present in our young lives; the tattered teddy bear, our grandfather's ever-full ashtray, and the previously mentioned discarded chocolate wrappers from the Christmases of our youth. The innate sentimentality we feel as we gaze upon the unique work of Magor is unmatched. The unexpected relationships that her objects find themselves in evoke a sense of care and meaning beyond their original use or function. The Rise and The Fall presents a selection of the artist's work produced over the past five years. These objects explore our relationship with the material world and Magor transforms mundane, everyday materials into active protagonists in her work. These ordinary pieces of life, presented as a focal point in art, force the viewer to recognise their passive consumption, use and disregard of the objects they encounter. Magor allows these items the opportunity to express their—often unrecognized—vibrancy. There is a general consensus that Magor's work lacks sentimentality, despite the sentimental emotions it may provoke. In a previous review of The Rise and The Fall Tom Denman states that "There is nothing sentimental about this (or any of Magor's work) or if there is, sentimentality rises and plummets back down again, quickly."
However, Magor's work is far from a mere collection of objects. The assortment that litters the Gallery 1 floor of the Douglas Hyde absolutely suggests a found object grouping, yet there is another presence, something fanciful and otherworldly about the collection: the mundane combined with dreamline. We can recognise these pieces visually but struggle to understand why they are where they are, or how they came to be there.
When entering the first floor of the Douglas Hyde Gallery, one is immediately met with a piece entitled Oilmen's Bonspiel, 2017. The monkey with the pig face protruding from the back of its head is reminiscent of a chimera, which according to Greek mythology, was a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature, composed of different animal parts from Lycia, Asia Minor. The messy attachment, featuring an old knitted sweater suggests this bizarre combination of elements is as close to a child playing god/creator as possible. This undeniably playful and humorous piece sets the scene for the rest of the exhibition; as visitors descend the stairs to the main gallery floor, they are met with the large body of work Magor presents to us. Largely concealed in cellophane boxes, which contribute to the iridescent, dreamlike atmosphere of the space, the collection features an almost overwhelming amount of pastel colours. This colour palate, accompanied by the soft textures and fabrics - one box is entirely populated by stuffing - inarguably presents the audience with a fanciful reality. Although whimsical, the softness is juxtaposed with the stiffness of the cellophane boxes it is housed in, the colours are contrasted by the darkness of the apparatus that hangs from the ceiling of the main gallery and the coat that hovers close by on the wall.
Magor's background in design may explain the heavy presence of textiles and clothing in her work. However, her practice in the past has consisted less of stitching and knitting and more of mould-making and casting in order to allow her work to materialize. She also renders familiar objects in her studio into gypsum or rubber; often she combines them with items that are found or gifted to her. The artist has made it known that she does not actively search for objects, instead, they come into her life through chance encounters. In particular, the naturalized birds that feature in The Rise and The Fall, a littering collection that adorns the room, were gifted to the artist in an antique box from unknown origins; they are not endangered species. Yet, her most recent work features the repurposing of preexisting fabrics. An example of such is the piece Perennial, 2021, which features on the west wall of the main gallery of the Douglas Hyde: the found duffle coat hangs almost ominously, acting as a spectator who keeps a close eye as the viewer peruses the art before them. Yet this work in itself demands a certain level of attention. Although a slightly tattered and certainly preloved clothing item, making one assume it had belonged to an older man, its presentation is distinctly childlike. The jacket holds a flag of a whale, and in the exposed pocket lives two cookies, old wrappers and an assortment of snail shells. Items that allude to a child's ownership rather than anyone else.
The artist's own comments on her exhibition are perhaps the most comprehensive way to sum up its aims; Magor states that "we may discard things, but they don't disappear. They outlive our desires, our interests, our use and ourselves." This exhibition is a clear exploration of the lives of objects after fulfilling their primary function, and how they live on after human intervention and interaction. Our consumption and our awareness of it is what Magor brings to the forefront in The Rise and The Fall - a notion that only becomes more relevant in our 21st-century Western society. Critic Dan Adler has in the past written that "[Magor's] methods of encourage me to slow down, wander about and listen to those neglected things, to understand their difference in relationship to obsolescence- in ways that are analogous to the predicaments of people, or how they struggle with desires, with compulsive and addictive behaviours and with the ideas of value, relevance and worth."
Liz Magor: The Rise and The Fall is showing at The Douglas Hyde Gallery in Dublin until 24th September.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app when you visit!
Discarded sweet wrappers, neglected stuffed animals and used pantyhose are among the last things one expects to see on display when entering an art gallery. Yet that is what the onlooker is proudly faced with when entering the Douglas Hyde Gallery. Marking the first solo exhibition of renowned Canadian artist Liz Magor, the gallery - located in Trinity College Dublin - presents The Rise and The Fall.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1948, Liz Magor now lives and works in Vancouver, British Columbia. In her youth, she studied at the Vancouver School of Art as well as the Parsons School of Design in New York City.
With a practice that has consisted mainly of sculpture, Magor's work is characterized by her uncannily realistic casts of humble, ordinary objects. Exploring the ontology of familiar objects is a core theme of her art, her work remaking and presenting these objects in a new context. Her art is located in an undefined space, somewhere between still life and the uncanny. Objects that are familiar yet strange populate the artist's work. Often forcing viewers to construct their own narratives in an effort to understand what they are visually faced with. Dripping with nostalgia, her work evokes a feeling through the use of materials ever present in our young lives; the tattered teddy bear, our grandfather's ever-full ashtray, and the previously mentioned discarded chocolate wrappers from the Christmases of our youth. The innate sentimentality we feel as we gaze upon the unique work of Magor is unmatched. The unexpected relationships that her objects find themselves in evoke a sense of care and meaning beyond their original use or function. The Rise and The Fall presents a selection of the artist's work produced over the past five years. These objects explore our relationship with the material world and Magor transforms mundane, everyday materials into active protagonists in her work. These ordinary pieces of life, presented as a focal point in art, force the viewer to recognise their passive consumption, use and disregard of the objects they encounter. Magor allows these items the opportunity to express their—often unrecognized—vibrancy. There is a general consensus that Magor's work lacks sentimentality, despite the sentimental emotions it may provoke. In a previous review of The Rise and The Fall Tom Denman states that "There is nothing sentimental about this (or any of Magor's work) or if there is, sentimentality rises and plummets back down again, quickly."
However, Magor's work is far from a mere collection of objects. The assortment that litters the Gallery 1 floor of the Douglas Hyde absolutely suggests a found object grouping, yet there is another presence, something fanciful and otherworldly about the collection: the mundane combined with dreamline. We can recognise these pieces visually but struggle to understand why they are where they are, or how they came to be there.
When entering the first floor of the Douglas Hyde Gallery, one is immediately met with a piece entitled Oilmen's Bonspiel, 2017. The monkey with the pig face protruding from the back of its head is reminiscent of a chimera, which according to Greek mythology, was a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature, composed of different animal parts from Lycia, Asia Minor. The messy attachment, featuring an old knitted sweater suggests this bizarre combination of elements is as close to a child playing god/creator as possible. This undeniably playful and humorous piece sets the scene for the rest of the exhibition; as visitors descend the stairs to the main gallery floor, they are met with the large body of work Magor presents to us. Largely concealed in cellophane boxes, which contribute to the iridescent, dreamlike atmosphere of the space, the collection features an almost overwhelming amount of pastel colours. This colour palate, accompanied by the soft textures and fabrics - one box is entirely populated by stuffing - inarguably presents the audience with a fanciful reality. Although whimsical, the softness is juxtaposed with the stiffness of the cellophane boxes it is housed in, the colours are contrasted by the darkness of the apparatus that hangs from the ceiling of the main gallery and the coat that hovers close by on the wall.
Magor's background in design may explain the heavy presence of textiles and clothing in her work. However, her practice in the past has consisted less of stitching and knitting and more of mould-making and casting in order to allow her work to materialize. She also renders familiar objects in her studio into gypsum or rubber; often she combines them with items that are found or gifted to her. The artist has made it known that she does not actively search for objects, instead, they come into her life through chance encounters. In particular, the naturalized birds that feature in The Rise and The Fall, a littering collection that adorns the room, were gifted to the artist in an antique box from unknown origins; they are not endangered species. Yet, her most recent work features the repurposing of preexisting fabrics. An example of such is the piece Perennial, 2021, which features on the west wall of the main gallery of the Douglas Hyde: the found duffle coat hangs almost ominously, acting as a spectator who keeps a close eye as the viewer peruses the art before them. Yet this work in itself demands a certain level of attention. Although a slightly tattered and certainly preloved clothing item, making one assume it had belonged to an older man, its presentation is distinctly childlike. The jacket holds a flag of a whale, and in the exposed pocket lives two cookies, old wrappers and an assortment of snail shells. Items that allude to a child's ownership rather than anyone else.
The artist's own comments on her exhibition are perhaps the most comprehensive way to sum up its aims; Magor states that "we may discard things, but they don't disappear. They outlive our desires, our interests, our use and ourselves." This exhibition is a clear exploration of the lives of objects after fulfilling their primary function, and how they live on after human intervention and interaction. Our consumption and our awareness of it is what Magor brings to the forefront in The Rise and The Fall - a notion that only becomes more relevant in our 21st-century Western society. Critic Dan Adler has in the past written that "[Magor's] methods of encourage me to slow down, wander about and listen to those neglected things, to understand their difference in relationship to obsolescence- in ways that are analogous to the predicaments of people, or how they struggle with desires, with compulsive and addictive behaviours and with the ideas of value, relevance and worth."
Liz Magor: The Rise and The Fall is showing at The Douglas Hyde Gallery in Dublin until 24th September.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app when you visit!
