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From Saturday 6th – Friday 12^th February 2010 Solomon Fine Art is delighted to present a solo exhibition of new work by the eminent sculptor Orla de Brí in the beautiful Georgian surroundings of 15 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2.

Elements of Sculpture is inspired by the still life paintings of the 17^th century Dutch masters.  Typically these paintings combine elements from nature: food, game or flowers with man made objects.  These objects often have highly reflective surfaces like pewter plates, vases or glass goblets. They are meticulously arranged on wooden tables and lit from the left.  These paintings often had hidden meanings - for example the use of decaying fruit or an hourglass alludes to the transience of life.

In this series of work de Brí has similarly created miniature installations combining elements from nature with highly polished bronze figures.  Each installation is carefully arranged on seasoned wood with a backdrop of rich black velvet and is lit from the left, giving each one a painterly quality.  The vignettes are then digitally captured, printed and framed.  A three dimensional character from the image is presented with each work, placed on a bronze shelf to the right of the image, thus giving the viewer a different perspective both of the image and the sculpture.  Like the Dutch still life paintings, de Brí’s installations convey different symbolic meanings, hidden messages or humour. 

Human evolution and development have always been central to de Brí’s work.  Images coupled with sculpture allow her to explore the self and our surroundings with the theme of perspective.  She seeks to express this by viewing sculpture in a different way.  Friedrich Nietzsche believed that truth only emerges when you explore as many perspectives as possible.  de Brí mirrors this view throughout the show.  

Orla de Brí has been working from her studio in Co. Meath for the last 15 years.  This is her fifth major solo exhibition and she also exhibits regularly in many indoor and outdoor group shows nationwide.  de Brí has completed 17 large scale site-specific public sculptures and her work is in prestigious public collections, including Bank of Ireland, Aer Rianta, American Airlines, Dublin City University, University College Cork and the Office of Public Works.  She is also in many significant private collections both nationally and internationally.

A 24-page colour catalogue of the exhibition has been produced with an introduction written by the Irish Times art critic Aidan Dunne.  The exhibition will tour to the Mullan Gallery, Belfast from 12 – 25 March 2010.

NOTES ON THE EXHIBITION:

Each image is printed on 100% cotton material using a fine art method called Archival pigment printing, which is the finest quality available worldwide.  The images are then archivally mounted under anti-reflective glass in a limed ash frame.

Open: Monday to Saturday 10am - 5.30pm / Sunday: 12pm-6pm 
 

Solomon Fine Art, Rathmore, Naas, Co. Kildare

tel: +353-45-862940

www.solomonfineart.ie