SOUTHAMPTON.- John Hansard Gallery, part of the University of Southampton, is presenting Snake and Apple a new sculptural exhibition by Siobhán Hapaska.

Siobhán Hapaska (b.1963) continually reconsiders the role of the object in contemporary sculpture. Through her forms Hapaska seeks to find a balance and sense of stability to explore human relations and navigate our current global condition and its frequent violence.

Hapaska carefully employs an array of materials, each loaded with history and multiple readings. These materials are manipulated into intricate relationships of both potential energy and harmony.

For John Hansard Gallery, Hapaska presents work from her series Snake and Apple (2015–present). Glossy fibreglass ‘apples’ look set to burst as they are constricted between snakeskin veneered metal U channels. The arrangement of elements is at once seductive and unnerving. The title of the series alludes to the ‘Fall of Man’ in Christian theology, the sculpture acts as a retelling of this narrative of seduction and loss of innocence.

Woodrow Kernohan, director of John Hansard Gallery, says: “We are thrilled to present sculptures from Siobhán Hapaska’s extraordinary Snake and Apple series in our main gallery space this winter. These extraordinary works that conjoin organic forms and industrial materials will be visible from both inside and outside of the gallery. This exhibition of new and recent works has been possible with support from Culture Ireland and culminates their GB18 programme.”

Siobhán Hapaska was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1963. She studied at Middlesex Polytechnic, London 1985-88 and Goldsmiths College, University of London 1990-92. Hapaska’s work is in many major institutional collections including The Boijmans, The TATE, The Irish Museum of Modern Art, The Boston Museum of Fine Arts and The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Current and forthcoming exhibitions include John Hansard Gallery, University of Southampton (December 2018 – February 2019) and Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (2019). Recent group exhibitions include Kerlin Gallery (2018); White Cube Bermondsey, London; The Hepworth Wakefield, UK (both 2017); Bloomberg SPACE, London (2016); Azerbaijan Pavilion, 56th Venice Biennale (2015); Royal Academy, London (2010); the British Art Show 6 (2005–06); the Irish Pavilion, 49th Venice Biennale (2001); Magasin 3, Stockholm and Documenta X (1997).