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Abstraction Show at the Irish Museum of Modern Art

An exhibition from the Irish Museum of Modern Art’s own Collection exploring the many languages of 20th-century abstraction opens to the public at IMMA on Thursday 9 May 2002. 'No Object, No Subject, No Matter' comprises approximately 40 paintings, prints, sculptures and installations which illustrate the move away from the former dependence on narrative to a new concentration on colour, space, light and form, which was one of the defining developments of 20th-century art. In addition to familiar works by artists such as Albert Irwin and Sean Scully, the exhibitions features a number of important new acquisitions by Damien Hirst, Anish Kapoor and Peter Halley, part of a long-term loan from an anonymous private lender.

'No Object, No Subject, No Matter' presents some of the most exciting and varied manifestations of the seismic shift away from representation to more abstract forms of expression, which was particularly marked from 1950 onwards. Work ranges from Mainie Jellett’s 'Four Element Composition', with its gentle muted tones, to the precise and rational manipulation of colour and form in Bridget Riley’s 'Nineteen Greys' and the flamboyant geometry of Peter Halley. The creative potential of different materials is seen in the works of Maud Cotter and Shirazeh Houshiary, and of specific locations in Chung Eun Mo’s installation 'Parallel Windows', 1993, created in direct response to the architecture and light in the landing area at IMMA.

Commenting on the exhibition Catherine Marshall, Head of the Collection at IMMA, said: “No Object, No Subject, No Matter offers a splendid opportunity to show three wonderful new acquisitions, each representing not merely different approaches to abstraction but also highlights of those approaches. The Museum already has a small but important range of artworks by some of the leading names in the various abstract movements of the last hundred years and it is timely to look back over the focal points of what was the single most distinctive development in art in the last century.”

The exhibition is accompanied by a guide with a text by Catherine Marshall (price €3.00).
No Object, No Subject, No Matter continues until 1 September 2002.
Admission is free.
Opening hours:Tue - Sat 10.00am - 5.30pm
Sun, Bank Holidays 12 noon - 5.30pm
Mondays - Closed
For further information and colour and black and white images please contact Philomena Byrne or Monica Cullinane at Tel : +353 1 612 9900,
Fax : +353 1 612 9999 email press@modernart.ie

1 May 2002

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Irish Museum of Modern Art, Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, Dublin 8, Ireland
Tel: +353-1-6129900, Email: info@imma.ie

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