Pavilion of Ireland
55th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
Corban Walker
Media Contacts
Madeline Boughton (Ireland and Europe)
Director of Showcases and Communications, Culture Ireland
madelineboughton@cultureireland.gov.ie
TEL +353 (1) 631.3906
Sarah Goulet or Jennifer Joy (United States)
sgoulet@thepacegallery.com
jjoy@thepacegallery.com
TEL +1 212.421.3292
www.irelandvenice.ie
(live May 9, 2011)
The Pavilion Location
The Irish Pavilion at Venice is located at the Istituto Santa Maria della Pietà, Calle della Pietà, Castello 3703. Calle della Pietà is mid-way between Piazza San Marco and the Arsenale, off Via Riva degli Schiavoni. The Irish Pavilion received over 40,000 visitors in 2009.
Ireland will present a new installation by the artist Corban Walker at the 54th International Art Exhibition/La Biennale di Venezia. The Commissioner of the Irish Pavilion is Emily-Jane Kirwan and the Curator is Eamonn Maxwell.
The Exhibition
Corban Walker will present three new, site-specific sculptural installations at the Irish Pavilion, which is located at the Istituto Santa Maria della Pietà.
Walker is known for his sculptures and installations relating to architectural scale and spatial perception and utilising industrial materials like steel, aluminium, and glass. At the height of four-feet tall, the artist’s personal relationship between self and the built environment is fundamental to the way he defines and develops his work. Many of Walker’s works explore minimalism from the artist’s unique point of view, responding to rule-based, mathematical principles that derive from his own height and perspective.
The works at the Pavilion will interact with the historic architecture of the Pietà and are all, in some way, transparent. Two of the works consist of vinyl “drawings” mapped onto the front and back windows of the space according to mathematic modulars. Though they may appear random or chaotic, there is an overlying order. A third sculpture made of over 100 interlocking stainless steel cubes fills the interior. The open-framed cubes are interlocked to build a seemingly fragile structure that can support itself but can be built or altered by anyone—though one alteration could destroy the existing configuration and create a new one.
“The work exercises the viewers in considering their relationships with themselves and in how they participate and communicate with their own surroundings,” explains Walker. It intrigued him that the Pavilion is open at both ends, with each end offering a different destination—the canal or a garden. There is no front and back, and no beginning or end. In the past, Walker has used transparent materials like glass and Plexiglas to create sculptures; this time, the installation itself will be transparent though the actual materials—metal and vinyl—are opaque.
Ireland’s participation at the Venice Biennale is an initiative of Culture Ireland in partnership with the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon. The exhibition remains a key opportunity for the international art community to engage with Irish contemporary art practice and for Irish artists to showcase their work on an international stage.
Previous Irish artists who have represented Ireland at Venice include Stephen Brandes, Mark Garry, Ronan McCrea, Sarah Pierce, Isabel Nolan and Walker and Walker [2005, Commissioner Sarah Glennie]; Gerard Byrne [2007, Commissioner Mike Fitzpatrick]; Sarah Browne and Gareth Kennedy [2009, Commissioner Caoimhín Corrigan].
Culture Ireland is the state agency for the promotion of Irish arts worldwide, working under the aegis of the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport. Culture Ireland creates and supports opportunities for Irish artists to present their work at strategic international festivals, venues, showcases and arts markets. The agency comprises a board appointed by the Minister and an executive staff led by the Chief Executive.
The Arts Council is the national agency for funding, developing and promoting the arts in Ireland. www.artscouncil.ie
www.cultureireland.gov.ie
