Joanna Kidney: The Swinging Pendulum
Time passes and so the pendulum swings. To and fro from left to right, light to dark, simplicity to complexity.
Oscillating between opposing sides, modes and ideas.
The space which lies between holds the nuance, diversity, and richness that makes up life.
The LAB Gallery is pleased to present The Swinging Pendulum, a new body of paintings together with an experimental participatory drawing project, by visual artist Joanna Kidney.
The works in this exhibition bring the immediate language of mark-making and line into the complex language of painting. To this end, the malleable nature of encaustic paint- molten pigmented beeswax- enables both a distillation and a materiality in the work.
The paintings enfold a lexicon, gathered continually from the everyday and the sensory experiences of touch and proprioception – the sense of self-movement, force, and body position.
This series of paintings has evolved through multiple experimental processes in the studio by the artist, including automatic drawing exercises and the playful use of paper cut outs and found objects. The paintings embody ideas of dualism…the minuscule and the immense, knowing and unknowing, planning and improvisation. They invite slow looking where meaning is open, existing in the interpretation. Alongside this body of work, the artist has introduced a participatory element to the exhibition, in the form of #themovabledrawingsproject. This comprises of a space for viewers to explore ideas related to drawing and its possibilities. What initially began as a studio project, has become an invitation for others to make temporary 3-dimensional drawings using small found objects. This project is an open, experimental collaboration with people of all ages, a broad conversation.
This work has been supported by an Arts Council of Ireland Visual Arts Bursary and Wicklow County Council Artists Support Award.
Curated by Sheena Barrett
Exhibition preview on Friday November 18th at 6pm with opening words from Cliodhna Shaffrey, Director of Temple Bar Gallery and Studios.
The Possibilities of Drawing
A Public Workshop facilitated by Joanna Kidney
Saturday December 3rd 10.30am to 1pm
As part of her exhibition, Joanna Kidney invites you to join #themovabledrawingsproject conversation and delve into the possibilities of drawing.
In this workshop, we will use experimental drawing exercises to explore visible and invisible marks and lines through sound, movement and small objects. We’ll look at other artists work as part of the conversation. Bring curiosity, small found objects and warm socks.
#themovabledrawingsproject is an ongoing participatory project by artist Joanna Kidney, an invitation to make temporary, 3 dimensional drawings and a space to think about the possibilities of drawing. It is an open, experimental collaboration with people of all ages, a broad conversation.
Free Workshop for adults (18+). Booking required.
The Swinging Pendulum Publication Launch
Thursday December 8th 5.30pm
Join us on December 8th for the launch of The Swinging Pendulum Publication, where writer Joanne Laws and artist Joanna Kidney will be in-conversation at The LAB Gallery.
The Swinging Pendulum Publication is a 40-page full colour publication with a text by Joanne Laws. It is written in response to artist Joanna Kidney’s solo exhibition The Swinging Pendulum in The LAB Gallery.
Design by We Make Visual and photography by Ros Kavanagh.
Publication funded by Creative Ireland.
Joanna Kidney is an Irish visual artist. Her practice considers the sensory, temporal, interconnected and holistic aspects of being human. It is concerned with the non-material, that which is not visible and concrete.
Using a language of abstraction, her work is an enquiry of the mark and the line through drawing, painting and physical space. Selected Solo Exhibitions include RHA, Dublin; Uillinn, West Cork Arts Centre; Galway Arts Centre and Mermaid Arts Centre, Co. Wicklow. She has exhibited widely in group shows in Ireland, France, Germany and the USA.
She is the recipient of a William J. Cooper Foundation Grant; Arts Council of Ireland and Wicklow County Council funding; an RHA Studio Award; a Ballinglen Arts Foundation Fellowship and a DIT Award of Excellence. International residencies include Kiðjaberg, Iceland and Brigham Young University, Utah. Her collaborative practice includes working with visual artists, dancers and artists collectives. She was a founding member of Outpost Artists Studios, Bray, Co. Wicklow.
Her work is in the collections of Allied Irish Banks; The Ballinglen Museum of Art; The Central Bank of Ireland; Department of the Environment, Northern Ireland; Office of Public Works, Ireland; University College Dublin; Wicklow County Council.
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