e v+ a 2008 – too early for vacation

curator: Hou Hanru (China)

ISBN 978 0948037 603    192 pages (paperback)   24x17cm   342 illus   artist index

incl. DVD of video artworks

• features 44 Irish and international artists • colour illus, artist’s statement and short biog for each artist • curator’s essay by Hou Hanrou – “Too early for vacation” • afterword by Paul M O’Reilly – “Come let us: think about the way we think about art and the place of art in life” • DVD of video artworks

EXTRACT

"Conventionally, Ireland has been seen as an exotic, idyllic and even somehow spiritual destination for vacation. Limerick, a ‘remote’ city situated in the mid-west of the country, is certainly one of the most desired places on the tourist map. For the last decade, this city and the surrounding region, like the whole country itself, has entered a process of renaissance, thanks to their embracing of new technologies and integration in global economy. But few have imagined that this rather small city could be a vibrant site for the production of contemporary art.
         However, for the past three decades, Limerick has been holding the most significant contemporary art event in Ireland. Over the years, e v+ a has become a major and unique international exhibition. Remaining relatively modest, the event has persistently been rooted in the local context. The artists involved, coming from Ireland and all around the world by invitation or by selection via public calls for applications, are encouraged to create and present their works in a context-specific manner in order to integrate their imagination and creativity into the real life of the locality. Specific sites have been selected to host the presentation of the works. The sites are not only backdrops for the works, but integrated physical conditions for their formation and significance. In the process, the local population is often called upon to play their part in contributing to the event.
         e v+ a is an extraordinary event – at once modest, intimate, ambitious and generous. Ultimately, it is systematically engaged with the local reality that is continuously evolving and being reinvented in its negotiation with global influences, including new ideas, projects and energies brought in by artists from different parts of the world. Interestingly, one can observe that contemporary art has become much more popular, presented in numerous cultural institutions, market places and mass media, and increasingly turned into a part of the mainstream entertainment system and tourist industry. This fundamental change in the nature of contemporary art from quasi-underground, activist and avant-garde activities in the 1970s, when e v+ a was founded, to being part of the late-capitalist and consumerist cultural establishment, has actually launched an intellectual, ethic and even political challenge to the art world itself."

— Hou Hanru 

 FEATURED ARTISTS
2-4-page spread per artist (incl colour illus, artist’s statement, biography)

Jennifer Allora (usa) / Ian Brown (uk) / Alan Bulfin (ireland) / Guillermo Calzadilla (cuba) / David Campbell (uk) / Chen Shaoxiong (china) / Chen Wenbo (china) / Mark Clare (ireland) / Martina Cleary (ireland) / Common Culture (uk) / Angela Darby (ireland) / Allan deSouza (usa) / Aideen Doran (ireland) / Mark Durden (uk) / Latifa Echakhch (morocco/france) / Malachi Farrell (ireland/france) / Séamus Farrell (ireland/france) / Gimhongsok (korea) / James Gormley (ireland) / Ailbhe Greaney (ireland) / Fiona Hackett (ireland) / Henna-Riikka Halonen (finland) / James Hayes (ireland) / Catherina Hearne (ireland) / Nina Höchtl (austria) / Emma Houlihan (ireland) / Sarah Hurl (ireland) / Ian Kiaer (uk) / Ruth Le Gear (ireland) / Tricia McCarthy (ireland) / Mairéad McClean (ireland) / Maeve McElligott (ireland) / Dara McGrath (ireland) / Terry Markey (ireland) / Ni Haifeng (china/netherlands) / David O’Kane (ireland) / Tsuyoshi Ozawa (japan) / Adrian Paci (albania/italy) / Robert Peters (ireland) / John Reardon (uk) / Taro Shinoda (japan) / Shahzia Sikander (akistan/usa/germany) / Vertigo Smyth (ireland) / Xijing Men (china/korea/japan) / Haegue Yang (korea/germany) / Yang Jiechang (china/france/germany)