
James Coleman
IMMA - Irish Museum of Modern Art
Royal Hospital Kilmainham
Military Road
March 7–April 26, 2009
Curated by Enrique Juncosa
Spread across three venues, this show bills itself as “the largest and most ambitious staging of James Coleman’s work in Ireland to date”—the crucial phrase being “in Ireland.” Underexhibited in his native land, Coleman, like his more famous compatriot, has been a trafficker in exile and cunning. Of the six works to be shown here, three—Seeing for Oneself, 1987–88, Charon (MIT Project), 1989, and Untitled, 1998–2002—will be appearing in that country for the first time. Philosophical, conceptual, and enigmatic, Coleman’s “slide/tape” projections quite properly have international currency, but they also often have a connection to Irish history and landscape, for those who can decode it. A Coleman show of this scope for a Dublin audience is long overdue.
This exhibition is simultaneously presented at the Project Arts Centre and the Royal Hibernian Academy.