This exhibition is now closed. Please contact the gallery prior to purchasing art from this exhibition to confirm availability.

JUMP - Cléa van der Grijn

THE FILM

A woman stands at the edge of a pier. She willfully jumps. Slowly she falls through water where time catches her breath. What are the memories between the transitional period of jumping and hitting the water when life becomes momentarily suspended. Alive not dead. What memories would be placed to validate existence. Memories to record. Real or perceived? Fact or fiction?

THE EXHIBITION

Exhibition Completed. If you are interested in a remaining artwork please contact the gallery before purchasing on-line, as the work may no longer be available

THE ARTIST

Since 2008, Cléa van der Grijn’s work and practice is about unraveling the complexities associated around the culture of death, reconstructed memory and time. Memories real or imagined. Dream.  JUMP is a newly commissioned body of work about understanding the rational, social and emotional circumstances constructed around time and memory.

At the end of an extensive national tour which began last November, and which also included screenings at prestigious film festivals in Europe and the US  - ARFF Amsterdam and WRPN International Women’s Festival, Oakland Short Film Festival California -  Sligo based artist  Cléa van der Grijn is bringing this acclaimed exhibition and film “JUMP”  home to Sligo.

JUMP consists of a series of new paintings by Cléa as well as an ambitious film work she wrote, directed and created with collaborators Joseph P. Hunt, Michael Cummins and Ciaran Carty.

This body of new work was originally commissioned by Mermaid Arts Centre and has been funded through The Arts Council of Ireland Touring Award.

 JUMP will show at Hamilton Gallery from April 11th – May 11th.

THE FUNDERS

THE POD

JUMP includes the installation of a film pod in each venue,  especially designed by Michael Cummins. The process of blending the worlds of film and paintings is laid out in fascinating detail by the team who created it.

“Cléa came up with the idea to make a film piece that would be shown in conjunction with paintings and that they would have a common narrative thread. It was important from the beginning that we would show the piece in a way that both separated and connected the two strands.

Where possible the pod is in the same space as the paintings. The outside is a smooth surface of lacquered poplar plywood. The shape is inspired by traditional Japanese lunch containers. These Bento boxes are both formal and fluid; simple, stylish and practical. When we first put the pod up beside the paintings we were glad that its shape and surface seemed in harmony with the lighter elements of the canvases and encouraged the viewer's approach to them. Meanwhile the film showing in the dark space and the elements of the soundtrack that bleed out into the gallery space resonated with other, deeper aspects of the painting narrative.

We liked the idea of a viewing space that allowed an immersive experience, and we wanted the viewer to feel close to the film. A countdown clock invites you to enter the cave-like space, ideally the simple single door is closed and you share the experience with a small group of people. A good blackout is complemented with a curved space to create total focus on the moving image and sound.

We hope that the combined experience of the exhibition allows the viewer to bring the film and the paintings close to each other while allowing each to live in its element. When you've seen the film the paintings have a different resonance and vice versa.

The pod is created like a set of theatrical flats and utilising that technology it can be assembled in a few hours. Like a yurt or circus big top it can just as easily be dismantled and moved on to the next location.