Sleepwalkers: Lee Welch – Two exercises in awareness and observation - Hugh Lane Gallery

Sleepwalkers is an ongoing project where six artists (Clodagh Emoe, Jim Ricks, Sean Lynch, Linda Quinlan, Lee Welch and Gavin Murphy) collectively used the gallery as a space for research. This is an attempt to reveal the process of conceiving an exhibition by the display of work and ideas in progress as they are being discussed and developed by artists and curators. The process results in each artist developing a solo exhibition in the gallery. The first of these solo exhibitions was Clodagh Emoe: The Closing of Mystical Anarchism, which closed on 13 January 2013. The next in the series are two exhibitions running simultaneously – by Lee Welch (in gallery 8) and Sean Lynch (in gallery 10) from 10 July to 29 September 2013.

Lee Welch: Two exercises in awareness and observation

For Two exercises in awareness and observation gallery eight has been filled with a regular rhythmic pattern of vertical stripes, a measure that plays with the parameters of the gallery, like a concertina that swells and contracts. The repetition of lines also induces an order and structure, yet its monotony on such a large scale is at times potentially overbearing. As a counter to this, within the space can be found interruptions, variations and intimacies drawn out by way of objects, video and text.

A shelf with a mirror top supporting 12 invitation cards can be found in this oscillating chamber. Six of the cards bear quotes; one card reads: “Every movement reveals us”. The other six reveal a place and time, co-ordinates to a future event. The dimensions of the invitation cards replicate the golden rule ratio. Their placement on the shelf reveals the mirror that lies underneath, a device that acts like a re-framing structure, while also supporting a gathering of objects that sit and share a space with the invitation cards. This choreography of the objects will change and be replaced over the course of the exhibition, each configuration charging and changing how we read the text. A second mirrored shelf displays the six invitation cards propped up against the wall. A third display takes the form of a projection onto a stretched canvas with a sequence of images from the artist’s studio.

Each invitation card is bidding the visitors to partake in various events scheduled inside and outside The Hugh Lane. The card “Every movement reveals us” is an invitation to Tai Chi workshops hosted by Natalia Krause in the Sculpture Hall of The Hugh Lane that will take place on Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout the three month exhibition period. These workshops commence during the opening of the show. For Tai Chi bookings (€5 per class) please email [email protected].

Each of the invitations elicits the audience to a different place where particular modes and forms of rhythm, repetition, movement and placement are practised. On a closing note to the exhibition and in collaboration with The Sundays @ Noon Concert Series there will be a concert held in the Sculpture Hall entitled The Portsmouth Sinfonia (A Homage) on 1 September. The philosophy of the Portsmouth Sinfonia is that anybody can join; there is no basis of skill required. The only guiding rule of the orchestra is that the musicians should not be able to play the instrument they hold in their hands.

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Lee Welch (IRL/USA) completed an MFA at the Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam and gained his BFA from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin. He was the NCAD Studio Artist for 2020-21 and was recently awarded a residency at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin. Welch’s work has been featured in numerous institutions including Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Michigan State University; Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León (MUSAC), León, Spain; Kerlin Gallery, Dublin and Objectif Exhibitions, Antwerp. His paintings are in private and public collections such as the Arts Council, Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane and the OPW – State Art Collection.

Tai Chi classes in conjunction with the exhibition Sleepwalkers: Lee Welch – Two exercises in awareness and observation, 2013.