Leah Hewson's INK Miami Picks
IFPDA Director Jenny Gibbs spoke with Dublin based artist Leah Hewson about her favorite artworks from INK Miami. Here is what she chose.
I was instantly drawn to this work for its vibrancy and movement. The process Beane uses between paint swipes, collage and photography is a curious mix that keeps you with the work for longer.
This series of images by David Lynch are both grotesque and beautiful at the same time. I like the fact that the image makes you work for its understanding. The thick dark border and grainy effect leaves me feeling like a voyeur which adds to the visceral experience of it.
I love the detail in these works along with the stylized approach and heavy contrast in the shadows. The slight offset with the colors creates a vibration in the details when viewed up close.
I love the simplicity of Meyers works here. The repeated dots in an orderly fashion are pleasing to me while the subtle changes of this order creates a delicate illusion of form and shape that is almost scientific in its aesthetic.
I love the playfulness of this piece. The pure irony of a soft drumkit is humorous. I also love the fact that it has collapsed in on itself because of the soft material, both making it a kind of useless object which is not fit for the purpose in which it was intended.
The color in this piece is so refined. The subtle overlays gives it a kind of blurry effect that keeps the eye moving over the piece. I love the fact that it seems inspired by textiles and is printed onto a drum creating depth in its indigenous roots.
I love the ambiguity around scale in these works. The confined space and seemingly industrial still lives on display intrigue me. They also appear to be objects that I have never encountered before or ones that lack particular purpose which brings an alien like presence to the image.
I love the mischief and feeling of experimentation in these works. Im always drawn to work that makes me smile.
I was lucky enough to see the painstaking work that went into this massive scale print at Stoney Road Press, where I have been making my work also. The scale, depth and texture in this work is just mind blowing. It is a piece that gets very abstract the closer you experience it.
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Hewson has a First-Class BA(Hons) degree in Fine Art from IADT. She has accomplished four solo exhibitions, the most notable of these were 'Ammo Veil' at The Hillsboro Fine Art gallery in July 2018 and ‘Scintilla’ at The Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin in February 2017. This was the culmination of work produced during a six-month residency at The Royal Hibernian Academy School. Other residencies include a six month residency at the NARS Foundation in Brooklyn New York in 2018, SIM Residency in Berlin in 2019 and Wilton Park Studios Residency, Dublin in 2019/2020.
Hewson won the Whyte's Award for painting at the 190th RHA Annual Exhibition, was shortlisted for the Hennessy Craig Biennial Award in 2019, is accredited with the Elizabeth Fitzpatrick Travel Bursary Award 2018 and won the ‘Special Prize for Contemporary Art’ at the ‘Biennial of Humour and Satire in Art’, Bulgaria in 2017.
Her work continues to be internationally collected by private collectors in New York, Australia, Germany, France, Norway, and Spain. Public collections include The Trinity College Dublin History of Art collection, The Office of Public Works, Dublin, The Law Society of Ireland, and the Microsoft Collection.
In 2021 Hewson's work was part of the Sotheby's Irish Art Sale where her painting was up for auction and was sold for higher than the estimate.
