Solomon Fine Art is delighted to present highlights from a newly commissioned body of innovative and diverse work by Irish artist Cléa van der Grijn. 

For the past decade Cléa van der Grijn has been fascinated by the intellectual, social, and emotional constructs around death and loss, unravelling the complexities associated around the culture of death, reconstructed memory and time.

JUMP is a newly commissioned body of work about understanding the rational, social and emotional circumstances constructed around time and memory. The exhibition consists of a series of new paintings by Cléa as well as an ambitious film work, written and Directed by Cléa and created with collaborators Joseph P. Hunt, Michael Cummins and Ciaran Carty.

A woman stands at the edge of a pier. She willfully jumps. Slowly she falls through water where time catches her breath. What are the memories between the transitional period of jumping + hitting the water when life becomes momentarily suspended. Alive not dead. What memories would be placed to validate existence. Memories to record. Real or perceived? Fact or fiction?

Cléa has been exhibiting to considerable acclaim for over twenty years in public and private art galleries in Ireland, Britain, Italy and the USA. She has undertaken many residencies and commissions and has won numerous awards.  Van der Grijn’s work is also part of prestigious private and public art collections, in Ireland, the UK and the USA; including the Office of Public Works, The Arts Council, Carton House, Bank of Ireland, Allied Irish Bank, The Gate Theatre, Bord Gáis and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London,

JUMP is a touring exhibition commissioned by Mermaid Arts Centre in partnership with five venues and funded through an Arts Council of Ireland Touring Award.