The Rise and The Fall by Liz Magor

Liz Magor The Rise and The Fall 14 July – 24 September 2023 Opening Night: Thursday 13 July, 6pm – 8pm The Douglas Hyde is delighted to present ' The Rise and The Fall, 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. Liz Magor’s The Rise and The Fall presents a focused selection of works produced over the last five years that continue to explore our relationship with the material world. Working with ubiquitous, manufactured objects that often go unnoticed, she transforms them using inventive sculptural techniques that locate them on a spectrum between still life and the uncanny. Things such as blankets, containers, clothing and toys are found in relationships that generate a sense of care and meaning beyond their original use or function. Using casting processes akin to photography, determining positives and negatives, she renders familiar objects in her studio into gypsum or rubber and often in repetition. Combining found or discarded objects and cast or amended ones, she unravels quotidian assumptions and desires. The Rise and The Fall 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 Giuliani in Rome. It will tour to Fondazione Giuliani this Autumn, opening 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 David Ireland House, San Francisco (2019); 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); amongst many others.