Irish Arts Review

The elegance of choiceAuthor(s): Catherine MarshallSource: Irish Arts Review (2002-), Vol. 27, No. 2 (SUMMER (JUNE - AUGUST 2010)), pp. 70-73Published by: Irish Arts ReviewStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27821392 .

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PRIZES & AWARDS THE ELEGANCE OF CHOICE

The

elegance of choice

A selection of visual artists working in a variety of media tell Catherine Marshall

how the award of bursaries from the Arts Council has nurtured their practice

Once upon a time it was the Medicis and their friends who

provided the financial backing for artists to make new work.

Those patrons have been rightly celebrated over the cen

turies, but for all their ambition to nurture genius as they interpreted it,

even the most enlightened generally offered commissions within well

established patterns. Today, patronage has shifted significantly from the

oligarchs and the aristocrats to publicly-funded organisations. In Ireland

the lead role clearly belongs to the Arts Council, through its bursaries

and awards schemes; although not necessarily as big a spender on the

visual arts as the OPW or IMMA, for example, it is the agency that fore

grounds the development of the artist. The Arts Council's role however,

is not to tamely follow old paradigms but to give artists the vital oppor

tunity to make work that takes both them, their patrons and the wider

public in unknown and exciting new directions.

In the midst of a recession that has seen severe cutbacks in arts pro

vision, it is timely to look back over the artists' bursaries, perhaps the

oldest and certainly the most stable of all the supports given to artists.

Between 2007 and 2009 the Council gave approximately 1.4 million

70 IRISH ARTS REVIEW I SUMMER 2010

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in bursaries to 116 artists,

either Irish or long-time resi

dents in this country, ranging

in value from just over 1,000

to a maximum of 15,000 in

a given year. In a small num

ber of selected cases multi

annual assistance of up to

45,000 over a three-year

period was given. Importantly

the awards are not aimed at

any sp?cifie categories of

artists, but are spread evenly

over artists of all media and

_I practices whether emerging, 2 more established and older

artists exploring new concerns in their work, or artists who seek to re

engage with some aspect of it. The Head of the Visual Arts Team in the

Arts Council considers the bursary budget the most pre

cious of all their budgets as it is the only one that is not outcome driven.1 Its sole function is to buy

time and space for artists to be experimental and

creative. As the guidelines for applications for

visual arts bursaries for 2010 state their pur

pose is to provide artists with 'the time and

resources to think, research, reflect and engage

with their practice*. There are no restrictions

relating to how the money should be spent.

Artists contacted in the research for this arti

cle who have received bursaries are unequivo

cal in their gratitude for the opportunities the

awards give them.2 'The best thing about the bursary

is the recognition that the most important thing one

needs is time', said one. Another pointed out that 'it

shows an understanding of an artist-centred

approach as studio time can often be about explor

ing ideas and areas which do not necessarily lead

to immediate definite outcomes. A studio is a

place which is often about exploring failure and

that demands time*. An artist who

temporarily stepped back from

IT IS WHAT IT . IS, BUT ITS NOT

WHAT IT WAS 2010 acrylic on canvas 130x 175cm

Courtesy the artist

oalsa, jesmonite Paint, toughened glass, MDF object 50xl6x16cm base 31x40x30cm Courtesy Kertin Gallery, Dublin

b-1968 INTO THE

MDF wood, screws 25x20x0.9 cm Courtesy the artist

* Fergus Feehily

6

his teaching job found the bursary 'invaluable'. 'It freed up a lot

of time not just to make work but also time to research and experi

ment in the studio. I think it was very fortuitous timing for me as it

allowed me to develop various aspects of my work which could only

be resolved with unbroken studio time. I've never really had such a

luxury/opportunity before'.

The bursaries are awarded by a committee

drawn from a panel of practising artists, cura

tors, gallerists and critics, appointed for a

period of approximately three years. While the

components of each committee may vary, the

absolute constant is that there is always a prac

tising artist on each one. 'The purpose of the

peer panel meetings is to allow for diversity of

expert views to inform the decision-making

process'.3 The outcome of this is the sense of

affirmation that recipients described. 'It always

SUMMER 2010 I IRISH ARTS REVIEW

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PRIZES & AWARDS

THE ELEGANCE OF CHOICE

feels great that one is being recognised

by one's peers', said one established

artist and this was repeated, more

emphatically, by Gillian Lawler; 'It was

important to me that the Arts Council

also felt that my work was worth sup

porting. I feel it enhanced my profile as

a working artist... [It] is an important

support in the development of an

artist's career'.4 A third artist expanded

on this point. 'I think there is a sense that besides the financial support,

which I cannot over-estimate, there is a sense of being recognized by a

peer group, as someone who is making a contribution to your field,

which more often than not has no great commercial return'.

Not surprisingly the bursaries are eagerly sought after, so much so

that in 2008 and 2009 only one applicant in every ten was successful,

although many others met the simple criteria of artistic merit, feasibil

ity and conformity to the objectives of the award. Artists interviewed

about the process agreed that it was a fair process although cumbersome

(due to the volume of applications and the necessary bureaucracy),

resulting in difficulties in advance planning, offset for the lucky few by

multi-annual awards. Only one artist, Kathy Prendergast received a

multi-annual award in 2009 compared with six the previous year and

four in 2007.Tom Molloy, who has just had a successful solo show in

New York and at the Rubicon Gallery was given a 35,000 multi-annual

bursary in 2008. The money freed him to devote himself full-time to his

studio work, to plan his work over a longer period than he had ever

been able to do previously and to prepare for those exhibitions. Molloy's

work combines obsessive technical skill with an exhilaratingly quirky

view of everything from the natural world to global militarism and cap

italism. It sifts and absorbs events and trends in the external world and

72 IRISH ARTS REVIEW I SUMMER 2010

re-presents them, often in series, with devastating

skill and irony. While each item can stand alone, it is

important for the series to exist together until the

entire series is complete. To be obliged to break up

this process before its completion would be destruc

tive of the whole project. Without bursaries such

commitment is unthinkable.

Another well-established artist, David Godbold

received 12,850 in 2009 and 13,000 the previous

year and is currently shortlisted for the Sovereign

European Art Prize at the Barbican for his new work,

It Gets Darker with the Day. Godbold was revered by his

students when he taught in NCAD, but needing time

for his own practice he resigned from teaching and

turned to the studio full-time. Because of his teach

ing commitments, Godbold had not built up the net

work of non-commercial opportunities that other

people prioritise. Bursaries enabled him to step out

side the commercial sector and work for his solo

7 show at the Butler Gallery during the Kilkenny Arts

Festival in 2009 and for the work now deservedly shortlisted for the

Barbican prize. Godbold described the opportunity afforded him by the

bursary as 'the elegance of choice'.

Much younger in her practice, Isabel Nolan was given a 15,000 bur

sary in 2009 which enabled her to rent extra studio space and briefly to

employ an assistant in order to bring in the work for her Kerlin Gallery

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exhibition last December. Nolan's early ̂ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H recognition earned her a solo show in the ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H Project Arts Centre and a place on the Irish ̂ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H team at the Venice Biennale in 2005. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H Although her work has been collected by 11

IMMA, Nolan's edgy existentialism which moves between drawing,

painting, animation, sculpture and installation is not immediately com

mercial. Her achievements to date would not have been possible with

out financial assistance.

Fergus Feehily returned from studying in Tokyo in 2002 and since

then has been working so quietly and unobtrusively that the strength and power of his modest artworks is totally unexpected. He is devoted

to making art that 'invites sustained looking',5 which he achieves with

remarkable economy, on small MDF panels to which found objects from

the manmade and natural-world are combined with painting and

exquisitely-judged pencil marks. A 7,000 award in 2008 helped him

to work towards his 2009 show, 'Pavilion' (Douglas Hyde Gallery).The understated authority of this show raises expectations for what his

15,000 bursary from 2009 will yield in his show at Misako & Rosen,

Tokyo later this year.

The young painter, Gillian Lawler (winner of the RHA Hennessy

Craig prize in 2007) is working for a show in the Fenderesky Gallery later this year. Lawler used her first bursary of 11,720 to work for a

year in preparation for solo shows at the Dock in Carrick-on-Shannon

and Dublin's thisisnotashop gallery. Lawler is currently working with

the artgroup, Difference Engine which showed in Cake Contemporary

^mfmMm .Arts in the Curragh last year and

^^^BnH^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H which is already working for two fur : :M?? ilm^B^^^^^^^^^^^^m ther exhibitions in the Black Mariah

; j^^^HBB|^^^^^^^^^^^^^l Gallery, this summer and theWexford r~ ^x^^^^HH^^^^^^^^^^^^H Arts Centre, summer 2011.

-"^s^^B^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B Martin Healy, came to public notice

^^^BH^H g?fl^^^^^^^^^H when he was included in the RHA s

hHH|^^H|^^^^^^^^^^^H Futures exhibition in 2004. Since then

WU?^^^^K^^^^^^^^^^^^? he has had a residency at IMMA and HHHHHHI^^^^^^^H solo shows at the RHA

10

7 MARTIN HEALYb.1968 FACSIMILE 2008 Single Channel Video. HD Cam on DVD, 5.50 minutes looped edition of 5 Courtesy of Artist and Rubicon Gallery Dublin

8 Martin Healy

9 TOM MOLLOY b.1964 DOVE (X-RAY) N0.2 2009 pencil on paper multiple/variation 25x20 cm Courtesy of Artist and Rubicon Gallery. Dublin

10 Tom Molloy

11 Gillian Lawler

12 GILLIAN LAWLER b.1977 UNTITLED 2009 oil on canvas 100x106cm

that some of the artists, themselves, have earned from teaching.

Furthermore this is not a salary. It is a support for artists to make artwork,

which involves them in such additional costs as

NOT SURPRISINGLY THE BURSARIES ARE EAGERLY SOUGHT AFTER, SO MUCH SO THAT IN 2008 AND 2009 ONLY ONE APPLICANT IN EVERY TEN WAS SUCCESSFUL

renting and heating a studio and buying materials.

While the bursaries are deeply appreciated by artists

the rest of us should be grateful that they are pre

Rubicon (2009) galleries. His sensitive and imaginative explorations of

attitudes to the non-rational through video and photography evoke

responses from the most rational viewer, not least because his chosen

medium, videofilm, is so readily linked to both reportage and the fan

tastic. The costs associated with film-making make it impossible for an

emerging artist, faithful to this medium, to survive without patronage

so Healy s bursaries of 15,000 (2008) and 13,000 (2009) were par

ticularly valuable. To give some perspective on this it is worth pointing

out that the maximum annual award of 15,000 is a very small figure if

compared to the average industrial or white collar wage, or to the salaries

pared to work for so little financial return in order

to enhance our lives and critically enrich our environment and act as cul

tural ambassadors. We should also be deeply grateful to the Arts Council

for protecting this fund that has nurtured the creativity of the artists

described here, in all its variety.

Catherine Marshall is Co-Editor of Vol V (20th-century Irish Artists and their Work), an Art and Architecture of Ireland project. 1 Conversation with the author, 30/3/2010. 2 Alt of the comments from artists come from email correspondence with recipients

who preferred to remain anonymous, in March 2010.

3 Arts Council's Guidelines for Bursary Applications. h Gillian Lawler, email correspondence, March 2010. 5 Green on Red Gallery website.

SUMMER 2010 I IRISH ARTS REVIEW 73

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