SURFACE RESONANCE

5 paintings in video by Feargal Cunningham

On view March 28 to April 22, 2016 - Opening reception April 14, 2016, 7-9 pm

New York, NY – March 17, 2016 - FRONT art space is pleased to present the exhibition Surface Resonance. Surface Resonance is a solo exhibition by Feargal Cunningham, an  artist based in Cork, Ireland. This is Mr. Cunningham’s first show in the United States.

Surface Resonance is a series of five videos that capture the poetic and meditative discovery of reflected images on semi-polished floor surfaces. Mr. Cunningham slowly “paints” water onto the floor with wide brushes or mops. As the frame of the video fills with water, a carefully composed image slowly reveals. Mr. Cunningham’s work challenges the known conventions of art: is this video art? performance? painting? The work in Surface Resonance is a delicate mixture of time, imagery and movement in which each of those components feed off each other’s unique qualities to re-contextualize, rediscover, and re-imagine the world we inhabit.

For the last 25 years Mr. Cunningham has produced paintings, sculptures, and prints. Unsatisfied with the static nature of 2D work he embraced time-based media. Surface Resonance set in motion a new body of work that allowed Mr. Cunningham, to combine his mastery in painting with his scientific experimentation on reflection, movement, and time.

Feargal Cunningham’s works begin with observance attending to relations of space, time, and materials. His practice is rooted in performance based video where the conceits of image framing and construction are imbued with a meditative sense of unfolding. Cunningham employs a spare and curious approach working with: natural light, water, surface, reflections, and fixed viewing angles. Works are prompted through a selection of place, where the importance of alluring resonance and communicative possibilities are vital. His works open out inviting us to share his pleasure of looking and his shaping of what is seen. Harnessing symbolic powers of materials and landscape with compelling sensory flows of elements, Cunningham creates seductive pauses where poetic tensions between the material and the immaterial shift.

Exhibitions include: Screenings at Festival Miden in Re- culture III, Skagiopoulio Foundation, Patras, Greece, 2014; The Emotive Wartime Journey, Tactic Gallery, Cork, 2014; Screenings at CAMP – Contemporary Art Meeting Point, Athens, Greece, 2013; The Éigse Open Submission, VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art, Carlow, 2013; OUTBOX, MA Art and Process Degree Show, CIT Crawford College of Art and Design, Copley Street, Cork, 2012; 21, Backwater Artists Group, Cork, 2011.

Lives and works in Cork.

Download Press Release here