Liliane Tomasko presents ‘Spell of the Wood’ solo exhibition has opened at the Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda, and will continue until 20 August, 2022.
She presents two new large, frieze-like wall paintings, ‘Spell’ and ‘Wood’ made specifically for the unique Highlanes space, together with a series of new smaller oil-based works on paper, a floor work titled ‘Magic Carpet’, made of wool and fabric from 2016, and two large works on linen from 2016 and 2018.
The title of the exhibition is borrowed from the painting ‘Spell of the Wood’ by 20th-century Irish artist Nano Reid (1900 – 1981), who was born in Drogheda, and had a deep connection to the magic and mystery of the ancient Boyne Valley, where the megalithic passage tombs of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth are located. Reid’s painting, which will be included in the exhibition, depicts a sleeping figure in the landscape, and is the heartbeat which weaves together Tomasko’s own ideas regarding the subconscious and dreams with the mystery of the surrounding prehistoric landscapes and its megalithic structures.
Tomasko’s abstract paintings employ a distinctive, bold lyricism, with an equally unabashed sense of colour. The artist often begins with a study of the personal effects of everyday domesticity such as bedding or clothing to create work that suggests a gateway into the realms of sleep and dreaming; delving into the gulf between what we understand as the ‘conscious’ and ‘subconscious.’
She was born in Zurich, Switzerland, and lives and works in New York and Mooseurach, Germany. She is represented in Ireland by Kerlin Gallery, Dublin.
Artwork pictured
Liliane Tomasko S P E L L, 2022 (detail)
Acrylic and acrylic spray on unstretched linen, 217.8 x 732.2cm,
© Liliane Tomasko. Photo, courtesy of the artist.