Visual Arts Aidan DunneReviewed: RHA 177th Annual ExhibitionRoyal Hibernian Academy Gallagher Gallery, 15 Ely Place Tues-Sat 11am-5pm, Thurs 11am-8pm, Sun 2pm-5pm May 22-June 30 01-6612558 and Art 2007 Dublin Art FairRDS Ballsbridge May 19-20
The 177th Royal Hibernian Academy Exhibition is a formidable show, building on the strengths of last year in practically every respect.
In the recent past the ranks of the academicians have received much-needed reinforcements in the form of a mature generation of artists, painters mostly, who, although they work representationally, do not fit the old academic mould and many of whom, indeed, would in earlier days have seen themselves as natural opponents of the RHA. These days, there is no point in attacking the academy for not being what it isn't, though that still tends to happen. What is important is that it does what it does well.
The annual exhibition is uneven. It has to be; that's the nature of the beast. Attracting a huge open submission (reputedly in excess of 2,000 pieces this year), with much more than 500 exhibits, including work from open submission, invited artists and academicians, often displayed in uncomfortably close proximity, the event simply cannot devote to each work the resources it needs or deserves, and it is very easy to overlook even fine pieces. Despite the daunting rate of attrition, the RHA Annual is in the end an inclusive show, potentially open to all, with a wide spread of viewpoints in the 13-strong selection committee.
From this has emerged a high proportion of good work and a sizeable proportion of really outstanding work. More than that, apart from the predictable concentration on painting, it is encouraging to note that three relatively neglected areas of endeavour, drawing, sculpture and photography, are all there in quality and depth. Yet more new awards have been added to an already substantial portfolio.
It seems likely that sales at this year's show will surpass last year's breaking of the €1 million barrier. At the same time, as the academy's current president Stephen McKenna notes in his catalogue preface, it's been a year of both good and bad news for the organisation. Sadly, it lost two prominent members, architects Arthur Gibney and Sam Stephenson, as well as several honorary members, including painters Nancy Wynne-Jones and Hilda van Stockum.
Meanwhile, since the catalogue went to press, details of the keenly awaited allocation of €32 million in ACCESS (Arts and Culture Capital Enhancement Support Scheme II) funds has been announced.
This was both good and bad for the academy. The budget for the implementation of the much-needed development of the Ely Place building is something around €8 million. ACCESS funding came through with €1.75 million, one of the larger allocations, and one which may sound like a lot but, in the context of such a major building project, is worryingly inadequate. Unofficial estimates suggest that the academy's funding for the project, counting ACCESS, is at or around €3 million. Which means there is quite a mountain to climb. Furthermore, the clock is ticking, because at the moment the plan is that the Ely Place HQ will close this coming November for about a year's building work. Yet in a way the most surprising thing about all this is the fact that the stakes are so high, and that the RHA has so much going for it at all.
To look for themes or trends in the annual show is surely an exercise in futility. And, in the hustle and bustle, reliable artists whose work is regularly seen tend to suffer because you're inclined to look for the unpredictable. Falling into both categories - reliable and unexpected - are Michael Quane's two extraordinary painted sculptures. Quane has a way of yoking together what might be described, as elements of ancient and post-modern sculptural language, and he does so here to tremendous effect. Do give his two pieces, a swimmer and a beast, some considered attention.
As one visitor to the exhibition, a gallery director, observed, it's always nice to encounter someone whose name is absolutely new to you but whose work seems exceptional and fully formed. Such was the case, for me, with Jamie Saunders Madden, whose November 2006, a colour photographic print, is startlingly good, a landscape from the new Ireland. You could say that Agnes Pataux's The Wave, a black-and-white photographic print, is a landscape from the old Ireland. It too is superb, and equally true. Other notable photographic pieces include those by Jackie Nickerson, Liam Blake, Tady Walsh, Fiona Hackett, and Ruth McHugh, and Basil Blackshaw shows a superb, large-scale painting, as does AIB Prize art award winner Diana Copperwhite. Also in fine form is Eithne Jordan, whose muted studies of Parisian streets are beautifully judged. Veronica Bolay introduces figures into her radiant, charged landscapes. Mike Fitzharris's port landscape is very lively and inventive. Stephen Loughman's view of a parachute drop is eerie and mysterious. Other painters who should be mentioned include Sinéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Helena Gorey, Colin Harrison, Clement McAleer, Tracey Quinn, Frances Jung, Maria Levinge and Francis Matthews.
ANDREW FOLAN'S WORK always has an ingenious, perfectionist quality, but the series he shows here, using seed pearls, is exceptional even by his standards. Among striking works on paper - drawing, print, watercolour - are those by Antoinette Emoe (beautiful graphite on gesso works), Birgitta Horan, Róisín Lewis, Jim Savage, Gerday Teljeur, Geraldine O'Reilly, Mercedes Helnwein, Gary Coyle, Gypsy Ray, David Lilburn, Cliona Doyle, and Turlough Rynne, who has a nice pencil drawing of the platforms in Connolly Station.
Portraiture, which seemed not that long ago to be fading away, is now thriving, with persuasive works by Mick O'Dea, James Hanley, Nick Miller, Una Sealy, Joe Dunne, John Short, and, although in generic terms it is a nude, Sahoko Blake's study of a figure in her studio. Outstanding sculptures include those by Alan Counihan, Marie Foley, Anthony Scott, Olivia Musgrave, Sonja Landweer and Vivienne Roche.
The opening of the RHA Annual was immediately preceded by another inclusive art event of note. It would be rash to draw any conclusions on the basis of its first and only occurrence to date, but this year's Art 2007 Dublin Art Fair should prove to be significant, and should be repeated and consolidated in years to come. Previously, no one had managed to persuade the main commercial galleries in the country to take part in an art fair. There are other fairs, but Art Ireland, the notable example, is more populist in character and doesn't reflect the mainstream contemporary art scene, and the more established galleries are conspicuous by their absence. Yet in allowing the populist end of the market and the auction houses to grab the headlines and the public imagination, the mainstream commercial galleries could be accused of a certain level of complacency. In a competitive environment, it has become increasingly important for them to make their concerted presence felt.
Art 2007, under the auspices of Interior Design 2007, was a good step in that direction. The participants included the majority of the main commercial galleries. They were grouped in the Serpentine Hall.
Each was allocated a relatively generous space, and a uniform system of high, white-painted divisions and plain grey floor generated a sense of airy comfort. The galleries threw themselves into the the enterprise with enthusiastic zeal. It was quite an experience to wander through one contained space and see so much contemporary Irish art. Obviously, by no means all the artists on each gallery's books was included. Four gallery devised an outstanding show with work by just one, for example. Nevertheless, the concentration, together with the quality of the work, was exceptional. Let's hope it returns and expands next year.
