Sunday in the park

As Morrissey himself once said 'Every day is like Sunday, everyday is cloudy and grey'.
One of my friends once told me 'Organise your Sundays, you can leave ever other day to chance, but organise your Sundays'. Wise words indeed, as there is something inherently crappy about them. its like you just sit there waiting for Monday, and its world of pain to arrive.
I generally just go to the movies on a sunday, but for once, there was nothing i could enjoy on any level on. So, when coming up with a list of cheap days out in dublin on a Sunday, what would you suggest?

A walk in the park? Window shopping in Brown Thomas? (who exactly can afford to buy junk there!) Picking on the junkies on Talbot street? Dodging the pools of vomit from last nights stag/ hen parties in Temple bar?
Last sunday, I went to the Hugh Lane, for one in a series of concerts they've been having every sunday at midday. Admittedly, it is very poorly advertised, and even the guy on the front desk didn't seem to know what was on. I thought it would be a string quartet, and i might just slip away after the first movement/ song or whatever!

I was pleasantly surprised. The emphasis was on contempary and folk music. The first part was a solo violin, which was played wonderfully. The second was a dodgy poet, who has poems about crackling chestnuts on an open fire, that i really shouldn't mention in this sequence, anyway, they were short! The third was a guy playing middle eastern folk music on a lute and saz (strange shaped guitars to most).

Afterwards, I continued to wander through the various exhibitions. Tacita Dean's two video pieces, at one hour and forty five minutes respectively, killed another few hours. There was also a lecture on, on her work. There have been various lectures over the last few weeks, on a variety of topics. Admittedly, these are only for the hard core amongst you! Anyway, check it, chek it out....

Any other ideas for Sundays?

Current Exhibitions

IMMA is back to full speed at the moment, with three exhibitions recently opened, and according to the curator, has had some of its largest attendances ever, in the last couple of weeks. This is down to the quality of the shows on display, and long may it continue. It may be on the outskirts of town, but is well worth a visit at the moment.
Thomas Demand - This is an exhibition of photographer Thomas Demand, showing work from various stages of his career. These gigantic works, show a world not unlike our own, but obviously something is different. If you look quickly at the work, it would appear nothing different from an office scene or apartment block, but it is only when you take your time to view in detail what it is showing, that it begins to reveal itself.

He creates models of the world to photograph, but they have subtle differences from reality. Phones appear without buttons, doors without knobs, the complexity of every situation has somehow been removed, to focus on the form and the long fluid lines, that he is fascinated by. Even the photo of a clearing in a forest is somehow unreal, and it is almost impossible to tell what is real and what he has created.

IMMA

Alex Katz - This was the least interesting of the three shows, in my opinion, but still had something of value within. They are naive painting of people, sometimes poets and friends, sometimes group scenes of everyday life. Largely with a solid black or grey background, so you can focus on the individual and not on what is around them. They almost seem to float, living in a void, and removed from their every day life.
He is at his best, in the few scenes he paints of people and their surroundings, which are very evocative of a period and a location. (One of stockbrokers in New York in the 80's particularly stands out). I was slightly disappointed, due to the reputation that proceeded this artists work, but still did enjoy some of it.

IMMA

Georgia O'Keefe - A small collection of the artists work, including paintings and sculpture. A few commentators have suggested that her painting of flowers were actually that of a females body, and that seemed evident to me. He has a strong understanding of colour, and at their best, they are quite beautiful

Hugh Lane -
Tacita Dean - This is a collection of video art, paintings and sculpture by the English contemporary artist, and turner award nominee, Tacita Dean. The few that really caught my imagination were two video pieces, one of a plant producing camera film. It dwells on the strange machinery and processes involved in the production process. Sometimes, the reams of glowing film seem almost like abstract paintings, as the shimmer and glow, almost rainbow like, sometimes it focus on the rugged machinery, and its arms, wheels and cogs.

The other video piece is of a convent in Cork, and in contrast to the other piece, focuses on how slow and steady life is in these places. The long corridors at sunset, set alight as the sun comes through the stain glass windows, and other images to capture the mood of their life styles. It reminded me of the 'into the silence' film, currently showing in the IFI.

Dorothy Cross

Ok, I'll nail my colours to the mast, I'm a fan! Her work is haunting, it probes at something deep with us, and can cause feelings of unease and discomfort. Her images stay with you for long after you've left the gallery. As one of the very few Irish artists to be recognised internationally, she definitely deserves your time. Her recent show in IMMA, which featured pieces such as the virgin shroud (on loan from the Tate modern), was the highlight of the year for me.

She pokes around at the Irish psyche, on ideas deep within us around religion and our views on feminity and sexuality. Some of her work can be a little hit and miss, but when she gets it right, there's few better.

Some of my favourite of her images include an old bible core drilled through the centre, the virgin shroud, a statue of the virgin Mary covered in cow hide, with a crown made of udders, which looks like something from a Japanese horror movie, as it looms in the corner of the room.

Another of her pieces 'Ghost Ship', she covered a disused boat in Dun Laoghaire harbour with luminous paint and then shown an intense light on it. When the light was extinguished, the boat glowed in the bay. Something i'm annoyed i missed.

Her new show in the Kerlin gallery opens today. Go have a peek, it should be one of the more interesting shows in town.

Kerlin gallery includes images and biography

There's also Brigid Flannery in the Cross gallery at the moment, with some beautiful abstract pieces. I've only seen them on the net yet, but was very impressed! Its a good time for the ladies!

Cross Gallery