siobhan hapaska

playa de los intranquilos

20 may – 4 july 2004

 

For seven weeks an imposing sculptural presence adopted Peer as its temporary home. Placed among palm trees, sand and seashells, and clad in arctic-weather sheepskin, this shiny bestial object reigned over its kingdom-in-miniature with a brooding sense of doom. These elements also constructed a scenario of gruesome beauty. The apparent subjects of this fucked-up equation were a small gathering of coconuts, placed in a secure glass box, over which the object rests, watching. Though protected in their microclimate, the coconuts witness images of their own destruction via the LCD screen that is the face of their captor. This is the beach of the restless, a holiday destination for the disaffected.

 

Siobhan Hapaska’s new commission for Peer develops her recent preoccupation with notions of good and evil, freedom and incarceration, safety and terror. This was her first one person exhibition in London since 1997 when her work was also exhibited at Documenta X. During the intervening years she has shown widely in Europe, the US, Japan and in Ireland, where she won the Glen Dimplex Award in 1998. She also represented Ireland at the 2001 Venice Biennale, and is currently a recipient of a Paul Hamlyn Award.

Press
Time Out review

Art Papers review