Stephen Brandes presents another episode in his ever-expanding anti-narrative: this installation, features some modest scaled paintings, monumental posters, and collaged images that collectively conjure up a reliable facsimile of the fantastic world in which this artist operates.

In this, his fourth solo exhibition in two years, Stephen Brandes presents another episode in his ever-expanding anti-narrative; a ‘through the looking glass’ portrait of Europe (in word and picture), portrayed by a fictional character who has spent a lifetime journeying.

While the pertinence of the work and its cultural references are fixed firmly in the present, the ghosts of past histories are exhumed through his choice of corresponding pictorial languages. It is a world of incongruous retro-futuristic architecture, conflicting belief systems and fictive events that exist in close proximity to a familiar humdrum reality. Best known for his large and highly detailed drawings on floor vinyl, Brandes’ oeuvre has since expanded into collage and poster design. This installation, features some modest scaled paintings, monumental posters, and collaged images that collectively conjure up a reliable facsimile of the world in which this artist operates. The resulting eclecticism provides the viewer with a kind of storytelling reliant on intuitive association rather than analytical logic, yet at the same time it is both accessible and darkly humorous.

Stephen Brandes was born in Wolverhampton, UK in 1966 and now lives and works in Cork after moving to Ireland in 1993. He represented Ireland at the Venice Biennale 2005 as part of ‘Ireland at Venice’, and has shown in numerous exhibitions both in Ireland and internationally. Solo projects include: A Grand Tour of the Invisible North, Galerie Robert Drees, Hannover, Germany, 2009; Walpurgisnacht, Rubicon Gallery, Dublin, 2008; Why Travel? Right Here is Fantastic!, Ardbia Gallery, Galway, 2007; Chutzparadiso, West Cork Arts Centre, 2006; Klutz Paradiso, RHA Gallagher Gallery, Dublin, 2006; Ways of Escape, Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin, 2004. Group exhibitions include: Girl Power and Boyhood, Kunsthallen Brandts, Odense, Denmark, 2006; Cross the Line, Conrads Gallery, Düsseldorf, Germany, 2006; ‘live’, Interim.Projekte, Frankfurt, Germany, 2005; Permaculture, Project, Dublin, 2003; Necessary Journeys, Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin, 2003; ‘The Retreat’, City Limits, Melbourne, Australia, 2004.

Public collections include the Irish Museum of Modern Art, An Chomhairle Ealaíon / The Arts Council, AIB Bank and Crawford Gallery, Cork. Brandes has also worked on several curatorial projects, most notably Superbia, commissioned by Breaking Ground in Ballymun, Dublin, 2003 and with artists Mick O’Shea and Irene Murphy formed the absurdist culinary performance group, The Domestic Godless.