Exhibitions > Current Exhibitions

William Crozier: The Edge of the Landscape

13 October 2017 - 8 April 2018
Main Galleries, East Wing


William Crozier, Winged Figure, 1970 - 75. Oil on canvas, 172 x 172 cms. William Crozier Estate

IMMA presents a major retrospective of the Scottish-born, Irish artist William Crozier (b. Glasgow 1930, d. Cork 2011). Best-known in Ireland for the lyrical landscapes he made close to his home in West Cork from the mid-1980s, this exhibition will present these familiar works against a backdrop of his early work inspired by the Existentialist movement and the anxieties of the post-war period. The exhibition will be shown sequentially across the two venues with Crozier's later works from 1985 showing at West Cork Arts Centre (15 July – 27 August 2017) and his earlier works shown at IMMA (13 October – 2018). Both exhibitions are curated by Sean Kissane (Curator, Exhibitions, IMMA)

Crozier began to exhibit in the early 1950s and his bleak views of the British landscape from that time seen in works like Essex Landscape (1959) are imbued with a darkness and pessimism that is immediately apparent. Crozier’s time spent in Paris in the 1940s, and his encounter with the Existential writings of Jean-Paul Sartre gave a voice to this post-war malaise, and became a touchstone for the work he would make over the next fifty years. In the early 60s the human figure enters the work, but it is often interred in the blasted landscape or, later in the 70s it is flayed and skeletal. Reference is made to contemporary political events such as the Northern Troubles in major works like Crossmaglen Crucifixion (1975) that weave concerns with religion, violence and society.

The exhibition is presented in association with West Cork Arts Centre, Skibbereen.

Associated Events

Curators Talk & Exhibition Preview
Thurs 12 Oct, 6pm / Lecture Room
Seán Kissane, Curator, Exhibitions, IMMA, introduces the retrospective of William Crozier. Kissane considers the darker impetus behind Crozier’s early works that continued throughout Crozier’s career. Admission is free but tickets must be booked in advance here

Curator’s Lunchtime Talk / William Crozier: The Edge of the Landscape – Drop In
Friday 19 January 2018, 1.15pm / Meeting Point, IMMA Main Reception
Join Seán Kissane for a gallery walk through of William Crozier: The Edge of the Landscape where a selection of artworks and key exhibition themes will be explored in the galleries. Spaces are limited.

Lecture / Sarah Victoria Turner
Savagery, just beneath the surface: William Crozier’s early work
Wednesday 14 March 2018, 6.30pm, Johnston Suite, IMMA
William Crozier’s early work bursts across the canvas with an intensity of purpose and a raw energy, capturing something of the fear, anxieties, and also the ambitions, of the post-war period.  Returning to the London art world into which Crozier arrived in 1957, this talk will situate Crozier’s painting within the artistic and intellectual circles which shaped Crozier and his early work. Crozier was not part of any one group, rather his early career was shaped by a diverse and international constellation of characters and relationships. By following Crozier to London in the 1950s and early ‘60s –a journey which takes us via Glasgow, Paris, Dublin, Folkstone and Essex – we can map something of a more expansive history of post-war painting and connections to the work of other artists such as Lucian Freud and Frank Bowling.

Please note: Booking will be available for the above events shortly. Join the IMMA Talks mailing list to keep up to date with our Talks programme.

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