GROUND
14 April - 28 June 2025
Green On Red Gallery welcomes you to Ground, the first exhibition to take place in our new downstairs viewing room. Featuring diverse works by Scott Lyall, Caroline McCarthy, Damien Flood, Tom Hunter, Mark Joyce, and Fergus Martin.
Scott Lyall Talent 2023 UV-cured inkjet on glass, mirror, acrylic gel medium, gold nanoparticles; casein paint on wood 121.9 x 87.6 x 5.1 cm
Standing in front of Scott Lyall’s Talent, seeing oneself reflected in gold nanoparticles as a shapeless glowing orb, reminds us of something timeless and famous, but also of the new, the shiny, and the distinctly technological. Situated in the ever-evolving history of artificial light and visual technology, the piece makes us think about the worship of aesthetics and the position of traditional painting in the modern world.
Juxtaposed against the concrete walls of our new space, Talent hangs at the end of the narrow room, grabbing our attention without ever asking for it, simultaneously shy and audacious, glowing in its peaceful courage.
Tom Hunter Jack shall have Jill_ Nought shall go ill_ The man shall have his mare again, And all shall be well 2011 Photographic light jet print on aluminium 135 x 165 cm
In an image that combines both the urban and the rural, day dawns and a version of reality is restored. The young lovers lie sprawled under a tree or sit gloomily, head in hand, as they emerge from their night-long, spell or drug-induced trances. Representative of the old order, the pearly kings and queen survey this aimless scene and seem, paradoxically, more a part of the new dawn than the young people over whom they keep watch.
When Tom Hunter moved to London from Dorset, his first job was as a tree surgeon in Regents Park. “We were working right by the open air theatre when they were performing ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. We gave them branches for the set and got free tickets in return.” In the 25 years since he left the countryside, Hunter has become, to a significant degree, an urbanite, living and working in the quintessentially inner city borough of Hackney. So it is surely not by chance that he chose one of Shakespeare’s most bucolic works as his point of departure for this exhibition, with the nine images strongly reflecting both Hunter’s rural roots and his adopted city home.
Polly Coles in Tom Hunter: A Midsummer Night's Dream Royal Shakespeare Company 2012
https://issuu.com/the_rsc/docs/hunter_exhibition_guide
Mark Joyce Bending Light #1 & #2 2018 Acrylic on raw linen 71 x 49 cm
Caroline McCarthy Composition with Large Red Plane, Yellow, Black, Grey and Blue 2024 Acrylic on linen 43 x 33 cm
Damien Flood One Hundred Birds 2021 Oil on coil-wound earthenware vase; concrete plinth 17 x 14 x 14 cm
Above: Fergus Martin Ground 2008 Acrylic on canvas 32 x 103 cm
Below: Mark Joyce prints
The gallery is open for viewing from 10-6 Monday to Friday and on weekends by appointment. Find us at Park Lane, Spencer Dock, Dublin 1.
