The landscapes are based on drawings of Irish scenery by the artist George Petrie (1790 - 1866). Engravings of his work were used to illustrate guidebooks to Ireland published in the 1820’s when tourism first became a feature of Irish life and the Irish economy.
In this work there is a play between the illusion of drawing and landscape. Some of the drawings have been turned upside-down transforming them into reflections and suggested valleys. The blue light of the neon work opposite animates the wall painting. The intention of this work is to explore the area between modernism and representation, as aspects of art symbolic of Irish society, both forward looking and conservative at the same time.
Upside-down Mountains
Commissioned by the OPW (Office of Public Works) in 2002 and installed at the Northside Civic Centre in Coolock, Dublin in 2003 by visual artist Sarah Iremonger, this artwork consists of two fantasy landscapes, one in blue neon and the other painted on the wall opposite.
Saturday, 16 January 2016
Monday, 25 February 2013
About Upside-down Mountains
The Upside-down
Mountains, is an artwork in the
main entrance hall of the Northside Civic Center in Coolock, in Dublin, it was installed
in 2003. It consists of a fantasy landscape in blue neon, with another
landscape painted on the wall opposite. The landscapes are both based on
drawings of Irish scenery by the artist and antiquarian George Petrie(1790 -
1866). Petrie trained in Dublin as a water colour painter and is best
remembered as ‘the father of Irish archaeology’. Engravings of his work were
also used to illustrate guidebooks to Ireland published in the 1820’s when
tourism first became a feature of Irish life and the Irish economy.
In this work there is a
play with the illusion of drawing and the landscape. By turning some of the
drawings upside down they become reflections that suggest valleys. The blue
light of the neon work opposite animates the wall painting. The intention of
this work is to explore the area between abstraction and representation, as
aspects of art symbolic of Irish society, both forward looking and
conservative.
Installation of Neon
Installation of Upside-down Mountains at the Northside Civic Centre in Coolock, Dublin in February 2003
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