2017 exhibition programme highlights

We are delighted to announce our exhibition programme for 2017, which includes the work of leading international artists Rodney Graham (Canada), Nan Goldin (USA) and Jac Leirner (Brazil), all of whom will have their first solo exhibitions in Ireland at IMMA. Through the landmark international group show As Above, So Below: Portals, Visions, Spirits & Mystics we are also particularly pleased to bring to IMMA the work of several masters; Hilma af Klint, Kandinsky, Frantisek Kupka and Sigmar Polke. The exhibition features cult artists James Lee Byars, Ira Cohen and Cameron and some of the most influential artists living and working today including Steve McQueen and Bruce Nauman, among others. Many have never exhibited in Ireland before.

As Above, So Below is a major show with over 200 works, including an exciting series of new IMMA commissions supported by Matheson, from Irish artists Grace Weir, Alan Butler and Eoghan Ryan and international artists Linder Sterling, Hayden Dunham, Nora Berman, John Russell and Stephen Doitschinoff. These new works will address what spirituality means to people today, particularly in these increasingly secular times, while the wider exhibition considers the role played by certain spiritualist and alternative doctrines in the creation of abstract painting from its origins to the present digital age. It will trace and question the genesis of deep religious, mystical and occult beliefs that continue to shape the ideas of contemporary artists today.

Many of the works in As Above, So Below explore relationships between artists, the power of collectives and the influence artists have on each other’s practice. This is a theme that we pick up again in the summer with two solo exhibitions from hugely influential lens based artists Vivienne Dick (Ireland) and Nan Goldin (USA). Goldin and Dick have been friends for over 40 years and have played an important role in each other’s work, often appearing as subjects in each other’s photographs and films. Indeed, it is through their friendship that Goldin first came to Ireland in the 1970’s and we are particularly pleased to be presenting a series of Donegal photographs that have never before been seen by the public.

An ongoing theme in IMMA’s programmes is the examination of the art historical from a position of the contemporary, as evidenced through our Collection exhibitions and Modern Masters series, such as the William Crozier exhibition in October. 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of ROSC ‘67, the first major exhibition series of international art in Ireland. ROSC had a significant impact on the development of contemporary art in Ireland, and for ROSC 50 (1967/2017) IMMA together with NIVAL (the National Irish Visual Arts Library) are undertaking a collaborative research project to revisit the Irish art historical account of ROSC. In a year-long engagement commencing with a display in early May, ROSC 50 will examine the ambition, reception, controversies and legacy of the ROSC exhibitions. Unfolding over the course of 2017 this programme will involve talks, events, screenings, displays and a number of artist commissions. 

Click to watch IMMA Director Sarah Glennie introduce the 2017 programme, with contributions from artist Vivienne Dick.

IMMA Exhibition Highlights 2017 

Duncan Campbell: The Welfare of Tomás Ó Hallissy
Until May 7, 2017

Jac Leirner: Institutional Ghost
February 14–June 5, 2017

As Above, So Below: Portals, Visions, Spirits & Mystics
April 13–August 27, 2017

ROSC 50—1967 / 2017
May 5–June 18, 2017

IMMA Collection: Freud Project 2016–2021
Until October 2017, with new display opening in November, 2017

Vivenne Dick: 93% Stardust
June 16–October 15, 2017

Nan Goldin: Sweet Blood Call
June 16–October 15, 2017

William Crozier: A Retrospective
October 13–Spring, 2018

IMMA Collection: Coastlines
October 13–Spring, 2018

Rodney Graham
November 23–Spring, 2018