C O N C U R R E N T
Sinead McKeever
13 April-18 May
Keady Gallery: Roe Valley Arts & Cultural Centre
24 Main Street, Limavady, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland BT49 0FJ
‘There are algorithms that think they know me better than I know me.’
The C O N C U R R E N T exhibition at Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre is centred around a series of artworks that interrogate the slippages between sculpture, painting and drawing in the expanded field. It highlights the interplay of industrial and domestic materials.Propositions play on formal elements, display and negative space using the motif of disrupted order. Paintings are elevated on bespoke supports, artworks are extended to continue around corners, in some cases the Plexiglas is lifted at a corner to sneak a peek of what lies behind. Sculptural plinths of various sizes tumble precariously from the clerestory window in the Keady Gallery.
The mirrored plexiglass has been exposed to the elements for seven years, they have been repurposed and given new life. Embedded scratches and markings reveal the traces of being weathered. Some pieces reacted to temperature fluctuations and solvents used, triggering cracking, clouding and crazing. These processes of erasures, obliterations, piercings and layering, echo what is made visible and what remains hidden. As the artworks are mirrored on both sides these processes highlight twin aspects, what is behind is reflected on the wall and what is in front of the artworks momentarily become part of the artworks. The visitor’s presence is reflected in the artworks. The gallery lighting plays with the various plinth-like-forms projecting coloured shadows on the walls, blurring where the artworks start and where they end. Paints, nail varnishes and spray paints are smeared to enhance the exuberance of saturated colour.
The mirror finishes offer a respite to indulge in our obsession for selfies and filters.
C O N C U R R E N T refers to two or more events, actions or processes happening at the same time or occurring simultaneously, this term describes the parallel progress and development in my artistic practice. Titles are borrowed from computer terminology where meanings can shift depending on contexts.
‘There are algorithms that think they know me better than I know me.’
Algorithms currently can perpetuate bias and limit choices, so how can an algorithm know me.
The questioning of these hierarchical systems of measuring and knowledge are filtered and constructed in an ongoing exploration of spatial occupation and application. My goal is to create a dialogue between the viewer and the objects I create, fragmented beginnings and endings are volunteered so that perception and interpretation are open ended. The treatment of the surfaces in my artworks reflects current cultural concerns for chemical usage linked to corporate pink-washing and environmental hazards.
It also references the artistic processes of the professional artist which are a form of algorithm for exploration and production. Sometimes it is the mistake, the tangent or the glitch that feels right and signals progress. The human spirit or the ghost in the machine making itself felt.
The mirrored plexiglass has been exposed to the elements for seven years, they have been repurposed and given new life. Embedded scratches and markings reveal the traces of being weathered. Some pieces reacted to temperature fluctuations and solvents used, triggering cracking, clouding and crazing. These processes of erasures, obliterations, piercings and layering, echo what is made visible and what remains hidden. As the artworks are mirrored on both sides these processes highlight twin aspects, what is behind is reflected on the wall and what is in front of the artworks momentarily become part of the artworks. The visitor’s presence is reflected in the artworks. The gallery lighting plays with the various plinth-like-forms projecting coloured shadows on the walls, blurring where the artworks start and where they end. Paints, nail varnishes and spray paints are smeared to enhance the exuberance of saturated colour.
The mirror finishes offer a respite to indulge in our obsession for selfies and filters.
C O N C U R R E N T refers to two or more events, actions or processes happening at the same time or occurring simultaneously, this term describes the parallel progress and development in my artistic practice. Titles are borrowed from computer terminology where meanings can shift depending on contexts.
‘There are algorithms that think they know me better than I know me.’
Algorithms currently can perpetuate bias and limit choices, so how can an algorithm know me.
The questioning of these hierarchical systems of measuring and knowledge are filtered and constructed in an ongoing exploration of spatial occupation and application. My goal is to create a dialogue between the viewer and the objects I create, fragmented beginnings and endings are volunteered so that perception and interpretation are open ended. The treatment of the surfaces in my artworks reflects current cultural concerns for chemical usage linked to corporate pink-washing and environmental hazards.
It also references the artistic processes of the professional artist which are a form of algorithm for exploration and production. Sometimes it is the mistake, the tangent or the glitch that feels right and signals progress. The human spirit or the ghost in the machine making itself felt.
Previous Exhibition: Queen Street Studio, 11 January - 01 February 2024
Sinead McKeever – C O N C U R R E N T
There are algorithms that think they know me better than I know me
Solo exhibition hosted by QSS GALLERY
Opening Event: Thursday 11th January from 6pm.
No booking required, please see the ‘visitor information’ section of our website for further details on visiting the gallery
https://www.queenstreetstudios.net/visitor-information/
Exhibition Dates: 11th January – 1st February 2024
General opening hours: Monday – Thursday, 10am-5pm
C O N C U R R E N T
Sinead McKeever's exhibition at QSS Gallery Belfast is centred around a series of new site-specific interventions. It highlights the artist’s interplay of precariously intertwined sculptural forms with the existing industrial architecture of the gallery space. McKeever addresses the relationship between sculpture, painting and drawing. Her use of industrial and domestic materials together with traditional pigments are exploited and celebrated. McKeever’s propositions play on formal elements and negative space, employing the motif of disrupted order. Painted organic constructions are drawn in space, testing different states of stability and creating a glow of reflected luminescence. These propositions generate new artworks that extrude, merge or collapse in the exuberance of saturated colour.
There are algorithms that think they know me better than I know me
Solo exhibition hosted by QSS GALLERY
Opening Event: Thursday 11th January from 6pm.
No booking required, please see the ‘visitor information’ section of our website for further details on visiting the gallery
https://www.queenstreetstudios.net/visitor-information/
Exhibition Dates: 11th January – 1st February 2024
General opening hours: Monday – Thursday, 10am-5pm
C O N C U R R E N T
Sinead McKeever's exhibition at QSS Gallery Belfast is centred around a series of new site-specific interventions. It highlights the artist’s interplay of precariously intertwined sculptural forms with the existing industrial architecture of the gallery space. McKeever addresses the relationship between sculpture, painting and drawing. Her use of industrial and domestic materials together with traditional pigments are exploited and celebrated. McKeever’s propositions play on formal elements and negative space, employing the motif of disrupted order. Painted organic constructions are drawn in space, testing different states of stability and creating a glow of reflected luminescence. These propositions generate new artworks that extrude, merge or collapse in the exuberance of saturated colour.
All work © 2024, Sinead McKeever. All rights reserved.
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Sinead McKeever is a visual artist working with sculpture, drawing, painting, photographic and site oriented installation art.
Sinead McKeever, Studio 21 QSS Studios + Gallery Address 2nd Floor, The Arches Centre, 11-13 Bloomfield Avenue, Belfast BT5 5AA +44 (0)7495 013947 [email protected] |