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• When Cork County Council Arts Officer, Ian McDonagh,
asked me to curate an exhibition of 3D photographic work by
a young artist living in West Cork I had mixed feelings about
it. My only frame of reference for this kind of work was a gallery
I had visited in Soho or Piccadilly in London back in the 80’s.
I found the holograms there quite amazing - way-out! But I connected
them more with spectacle than with art.
Then I met Jon Mitton and quickly realized that he was very
serious about making art, engaging with an audience and developing
innovation in his medium. I was hooked! Since then we have spent
time hanging out in Macroom, meeting Macrompians, drinking coffee
and generally acting suspiciously around the town. I have seen
my local town and its inhabitants with new eyes and have learned
how the medium and the message have a symbiotic relationship
in Jon’s work.
Technology not being my strong point, my next move was to get
Luke Clancy, the one man in Ireland who so beautifully combines
a love of art, science and technology and a frightening level
of expertise in these areas, to write an essay for the catalogue.
Working with Luke again has been another pleasurable outcome
of this project.
There is also an essay by London gallerist, Jonathan Ross, who
has been collecting Jon’s work since he graduated from
the London College of Art. This essay is very illuminating about
Jon and his progression to the man and artist he is today.
Next port-of-call was designer, Stuart Coughlan, my security
blanket in all these projects. As this is a solo show rather
than the usual group shows I have curated for Cork County Council,
I asked Jon about how he wanted the catalogue to look - but
after throwing some ideas around he looked at my collection
of catalogues which had been designed by Stuart - he decided
to just let him get on with it and have input at a later stage.
Thus recognizing Stuart’s sensitivity to both images and
text when he is designing a book.
Of course, the commissioner of these annual exhibitions is Cork
County Council. Ruth Flanagan, Chief Librarian and Ian McDonagh,
Arts Officer, have been as supportive as always of this project
. I work directly with Ian and he has the ability to lift the
mood when backs are to the wall and we are battling deadlines,
a very useful gift.
Without Macroom Town Council we would not have a venue, the
very beautiful Town Hall Gallery. The enthusiasm of the successive
Town Mayors, the Town Clerk, Breda Duggan, Foreman Pat Crowley
and his trusty team make sure that putting the exhibition together
is relatively painless.
In this exhibition there is a circular relationship between
artist and audience as the Macroom leg of the exhibition will
involve some of the audience also being the subject of the work,
which echoes Jon’s concern with the relationship between
art and viewer. In a way there will be two very distinct audiences
for this work – the audience that is intimately connected
with the subject matter and the audience that is looking at
it purely as artwork. It will be very interesting to gauge the
various responses. The comment book will make for interesting
reading.
Norah Norton
June 2008
Copyright Norah Norton, 2008
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