Casey Kaplan
GIORGIO GRIFFA
Gallery 1
May 29 – July 29, 2014
Many of the exhibitions in the Douglas Hyde Gallery’s 2014 programme make reference to minimalism, austerity, and restraint; this is one of them.
Giorgio Griffa’s paintings comprise simple coloured patterns that are sensitively articulated on plain spacious backgrounds; in his use of repetitive gestures on unstretched canvas and linen he conveys a sense of meditative concentration and harmony. When a work is complete, it is carefully folded and stored until it is ready to be displayed again, whereupon it is simply pinned on the wall in a relaxed and elegant manner.
His work is directly linked to the Arte Povera movement in 1960s Italy, which employed everyday or humble materials to make objects that were richly evocative in meaning.
Giorgio Griffa was born in Torino in 1936 and has exhibited his paintings around the world. In 2012, Casey Kaplan Gallery in New York held a critically acclaimed exhibition of paintings made over the past 40 years, which sparked renewed interest in the artist.
The Douglas Hyde Gallery gratefully thanks the artist, Casey Kaplan Gallery and Gavin Delahunty for their help with this exhibition.