Sam Gilliam: Sewing Fields

Friday 13 June 2025 – Sunday 25 January 2026
Sam Gilliam | Sam Gilliam: Sewing Fields | Friday 13 June 2025 – Sunday 25 January 2026 | IMMA | Image: Sam Gilliam | photo of a horizontal strip of what appears to be canvas or similar, with overlapping areas of different colours; the cloth curls in and out, overlapping itself and undulating a bit up and down as well, as it streatches across a white wall

IMMA presents for the first time in Ireland an exhibition by Sam Gilliam (1933-2022), one of the great innovators in post-war American painting. Emerging in the mid-1960s, his canonical ‘Drape’ paintings merged painting, sculpture, and performance in conversation with architecture in entirely new ways.

Suspending unstretched lengths of painted canvas from the walls or ceilings of exhibition spaces, Gilliam transformed his medium and the contexts in which it was viewed.

This body of work has formed the impetus to exhibit his work at IMMA, showcasing his exceptional mastery of colour, form, and material. Following his time in Ireland, he continued his innovative exploration of sewn and collaged works, liberating canvases from traditional supports blurring the boundaries between painting and sculpture.

The dramatic, undulating forms in his work resonate with the vastness and wildness of the Irish coast, featuring loose, flowing compositions that reflect the organic and unpredictable nature of the land and sea. Gilliam’s signature vibrant colour fields were influenced by the unique Irish light, resulting in atmospheric, almost translucent hues. By moving away from the rigid geometry of modernism, Gilliam’s work in Ireland fostered an intuitive dialogue with the surrounding environment, celebrating the physicality of painting and the emotional resonance of place through abstraction and materiality.

This exhibition continues IMMA’s engagement with artists whose work has received renewed attention and accolades in recent years that has included Howardena Pindell (2023), Derek Jarman (2019), and Frank Bowling (2018).  +

Image: Sam Gilliam
Friday 13 June 2025 – Sunday 25 January 2026
IMMA
Royal Hospital, Kilmainham
Dublin 8
Telephone: +353 1 612 9900
www.imma.ie
Opening hours / start times:
Tuesday 11:30 - 17:30
Wednesday 11:30 - 17:30
Thursday 11:30 - 17:30
Friday 11:30 - 17:30
Saturday 10:00 - 17:30
Sunday 12:00 - 17:30
Admission / price: Free
Bank Holidays open 12:00 – 17:30.

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