David O’Kane: A Melancholy Object
9 September—7 October 2017
»A Melancholy Object« is an exhibition of paintings and lithographs marking the 350th anniversary of Jonathan Swift’s birth on the 30th November in 1667. The artwork was inspired by his shocking, satirical pamphlet of 1729: »A Modest Proposal«.
The project began in April 2016, when »The Salvage Press«, a traditional letterpress-printing studio in Dublin, invited David O’Kane to produce ten lithographs that would react to and form a dialogue with the original text and nine new poems by the poet Jessica Traynor. On the 31st of August 2017 the special limited edition book was launched at Marsh’s Library in Dublin. Since completing the lithographs in early 2017 O’Kane has developed the motifs further into the large and small-scale paintings. These paintings together with the complete suite of lithographs are on show from the 9th of September until the 7th of October 2017 at the Josef Filipp Galerie in Leipzig, Germany.
O’Kane will also exhibit the series in the »Claremorris Open« Exhibition, County Mayo in Ireland from 16th until the 30th of September 2017. The exhibition is adjudicated and curated by Tom Morton [contributing editor of Frieze]. From November 14th until December 1st 2017, during the Swift Festival and Dublin Gallery Weekend, the series will also be shown in the Lady Chapel of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, where Swift was Dean from 1713 until his death in 1745.
The project began in April 2016, when »The Salvage Press«, a traditional letterpress-printing studio in Dublin, invited David O’Kane to produce ten lithographs that would react to and form a dialogue with the original text and nine new poems by the poet Jessica Traynor. On the 31st of August 2017 the special limited edition book was launched at Marsh’s Library in Dublin. Since completing the lithographs in early 2017 O’Kane has developed the motifs further into the large and small-scale paintings. These paintings together with the complete suite of lithographs are on show from the 9th of September until the 7th of October 2017 at the Josef Filipp Galerie in Leipzig, Germany.
O’Kane will also exhibit the series in the »Claremorris Open« Exhibition, County Mayo in Ireland from 16th until the 30th of September 2017. The exhibition is adjudicated and curated by Tom Morton [contributing editor of Frieze]. From November 14th until December 1st 2017, during the Swift Festival and Dublin Gallery Weekend, the series will also be shown in the Lady Chapel of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, where Swift was Dean from 1713 until his death in 1745.