DUBLIN.- The Douglas Hyde is hosting the first solo exhibition in Ireland by renowned Canadian artist Liz Magor. For over four decades Magor’s practice has primarily centred on sculpture, exploring our persistent and complicated relationship with things. Using various sculptural techniques Magor transforms ordinary objects into new forms which are located somewhere between still life and the uncanny. Things such as blankets, food containers, clothing and toys are found in unexpected relationships that generate a sense of care and meaning beyond their original use or function.

Titled The Rise and The Fall, the exhibition presents a focused selection of works produced over the last five years that explore our relationship with the material world, inviting us to examine the tension between attraction and disinterest. Magor transforms muted, everyday objects into active, concerned protagonists. Whether it’s a weathered coat, discarded toy, or empty sweet wrappers, the works are a recognition of the eloquence of materiality, allowing the items we accumulate and discard throughout our lives an opportunity to express their vibrancy.

The exhibition is organised by Focal Point Gallery in collaboration with the Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver and is presented in partnership with The Douglas Hyde, and Fondazione Guiliani in Rome. It will tour to Fondazione Giuliani this Autumn, opening on 27 October 2023 and running until 27 January 2024.

Liz Magor (born 1948 in Winnipeg, Manitoba) lives and works in Vancouver, British Columbia. Magor studied at the Vancouver School of Art and at Parsons School of Design in New York City.

In 2021, she was awarded the highest French cultural award, Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) for her contribution to the landscape of contemporary art, both in France and internationally. In 2015, she was the recipient of the Gershon Iskowitz Prize at the Art Gallery of Ontario, in 2009 she was recognized with the Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Visual Arts, and in 2001, was recipient of the Governor General’s Award for achievements in visual and media arts in Canada. In 1987, she exhibited at documenta 8 in Kassel, Germany, and in 1984, she represented Canada at the Venice Biennale.

She has presented numerous solo exhibitions most recently at Focal Point Gallery, Southend-on-Sea, UK (2023); the Carpenter Center for the Arts, Cambridge; the Renaissance Society, Chicago; the David Ireland House, San Francisco (2019); The Modern and Contemporary Art Museum of Nice, France; Kunstverein in Hamburg, Germany; Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich, Switzerland (2017); and Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (2016). Her work has been included in group exhibitions including Le Crédac, Ivry sur Sein, France (2020); Musée d’art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (2019); Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland (2017); Glasgow Sculpture Studios (2016); Marcelle Alix, Paris (2015); Orange County Museum of Art, Santa Ana; Musée d’art contemporain de Montreal (2012); Seattle Art Museum; Wattis Institute, San Francisco; Vancouver Art Gallery; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego (2003); National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (2001); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (1995); Museum of Modern Art, New York (1992); Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff (1989); and Biennale of Sydney (1982).

The Douglas Hyde Gallery of Contemporary Art
Liz Magor: The Rise and Fall
July 14th, 2023 - September 24th, 2023