Fragile yet strong and bold, this exhibition examines how three separate oeuvres work in a space to suggest stretched tensions and boundaries both spatially and conceptually. Materials, light, display and place all work to make a unit, redolent of craft, experimentation and deftness, the ensemble examining notions of relationship in an exhibition between works.
The work of each of these artists is bold and striking, replete with messages and carefully crafted relationships with the space their work occupies, both spatially and conceptually.
For Nevan Lahart, materiality and the transforming nature of his art renders his made-objects absurd and potent. Both his paintings and floor pieces evoke messages of irony transmitted through his juxtaposition of materials and wit. Lahart is one of Ireland’s most innovative artists, defying the norms of display and challenging spaces with his physicality. He has exhibited internationally, and throughout Ireland.
With her oil on paper images pinned directly to the wall, Yuko Nasu evokes the Japanese sublime and then challenges it. She combines the fleshy faces of her disturbing subjects, paying homage to the strong influence of Francis Bacon. Yuko Nasu is London-based, and her work appears in international collections.
George Young positions his stretchers in a riddle, and his works on paper in an almost careless gesture in spaces, defying the viewer with their fragility and painterliness. He questions notions of communications and their presumed linear nature. London-based and from the UK, he has exhibited in Britain, the Czech Republic and in America.
Curated by London based Tamar Arnon and Dublin based Helen Carey, both independent curators who have worked extensively in Europe, America and Asia, Offcentre examines the norms of display working off centre, presenting a counterweight to the fragile, with a defiant strength. It suggests that physical and mental strength comes from stretching limits not always from the centre, a parable of our time.
