The Pointless Pursuit of Shadows

An Exhibition of Drawings by Orla Barry, Jason Deans,

Michelle Hall, Tracy Hanna, Sarah Quigley and Jenny Spain

The Signal Arts Centre, Bray, 23rd November to 5th December 2010
Opening reception: Friday 26th November 7-9pm

‘The Pointless Pursuit of Shadows’ is a phrase is taken from 'The Invention of Clouds', an account of the work of meterologist Luke Howard by historian Richard Hamblyn. Hamblyn recounts Howard’s journey in the early 1800's to investigate the phenonema of clouds. Howard describes his research as something that “may strike some as an uncharacteristically impractical subject”[1]. The title the exhibition references his uncertainty in his early career.

We are using this combination of futility and hopefulness implicit in Howard’s outlook as an analogy for the early stages of an artist’s career. The pursuit of certain elements of artistic practice may seem pointless but ironically this pointless pursuit is the making of artistic permanancy. We are laying the foundations of our praxis through exploration and investigtion, making the tentative steps and leaps of faith needed to push forward.

The immediacy of drawing to express thoughts and its usefulness as a tool to ‘work things out’ are fundamental to the ideology behind this show. We use drawing for different means in our individual practices; drawing as research, drawing as journey, drawing as finished piece. We will each present projects relating to our own artistic practices developed through the medium of drawing.

[1] Taken from a speech given by Howard titled ‘On the Modifications of Clouds’, Richard Hamblyn, 2001, The Invention of Clouds, Great Britain, Picador, pg. 3.

Images of the Exhibition:

Jenny Spain

Orla Barry

Sarah Quigley

Michelle Hall

Jason Deans

Tracy Hanna

Installation view

Installation view, Jason Deans