Padraig Timoney Buenas Noches, Laser
It is with great pleasure that Xavier Hufkens presents the Buenas Noches, Laser exhibition. This is the second solo exhibition of Padraig Timoney in the gallery.
The work of Padraig Timoney is a rare phenomenon in contemporary art. It is not easily slotted into the cultural tradition of images. Timoney makes a study of the principles by which art unravels reality, but fails to describe it. In particular, how art translates aspects of the world into images, through the practice of the artist and the use of his own visual language. Timoney’s position towards art is one of critical reflection. This leads to unpredictable images in various media, thoroughly examining the many aspects of artistic practice.
The Buenas Noches, Laser exhibition refers to dreaming, time, the occasions of memory, and to the role of their imageries in our psyche. The exhibition comprises paintings and photographs that show diverse, surprising perspectives and visual idioms. The Dry Dock 2 painting for example is not just the representation of a ship on poles, it is a reflection on paint and canvas, on fluidity and support. The artist has employed a transfer-by- dripping method for the shape of the ship that corresponds with the subject of the work.
The Broken Mirror paintings are images of non-reflecting mirrors. They show the material aspect of mirrors but without that most characteristic trait: mirroring. The mirrors are not broken in a literal sense but they have lost their normal utilitarian function and status. The top panel of Meer-a-minute invites the viewer to look through multihued stripes and see an image of an island in the sea. The black part of the painting then struggles to come to rest between possible representation and matter-of-factness.
The multifaceted work of Padraig Timoney speaks of the complex role an artwork has to fulfil today. It expresses a contemporary vision on material use and artisticity. By reflecting on the medium and the imagery of an artwork, Timoney creates layered and modern images that unhinge fixed concepts regarding art.
Recent individual exhibitions of Padraig Timoney include Folkllores at Raucci/Santamaria Gallery in Naples, Italy, Golarithm at Andrew Kreps Gallery in New York, USA and The fear of all sums – Ten million dice to weigh at Void in Derry, Northern Ireland. The artist also took part in group shows such as Frequency at The Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin, Ireland, Un monde d’image in the Frac Picardie, Beauvais, France and The British Art Show in the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, Great Britain. Padraig Timoney is also active as exhibition curator and author of critical reviews.
