LCGA Exhibitions 2023

EVA International – Ireland’s Biennial of contemporary art proudly presents the 38th EVA International, featuring historical, recent and commissioned works by 56 artists in exhibitions across five venues in Limerick city and an extended programme at Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin.

The 38th EVA International takes its starting point from the painting Night’s Candles are Burnt Out (1927) by Irish artist Seán Keating. The painting presents an allegory of the Irish psyche at the time of the construction of Ardnacrusha, a hydroelectric dam built that same year on the border of County Limerick. Ardnacrusha, constructed in the early twentieth century, accelerated the national economy and radically shifted the society of the new Irish state. Keating’s social realist painting depicts a host of characters set against the backdrop of the construction site of the dam, whose lives are set to change by the dawning of a new era of technological progress.

Alongside Keating’s paintings of Ardnacrusha, the biennial includes works by artists from across geographies, generations, and media, addressing narratives of modernisation (in which electrification played a crucial role) and metaphors of power. Rather than a monolithic thematic exhibition, this edition of EVA International proposes itself as a kaleidoscope of essayistic, retinal and bodily narratives of artistic presentation.

The 38th EVA International has no title, breaking with a tradition that dates back to 1990. This decision, taken by curator Inti Guerrero, is designed to emphasize the word ‘international’ that is central to EVA’s identity. Guerrero explains: “In our current state of nationalisms, hard-borders, protectionism and a complete change of course in humanity, where the liberal belief of a ‘never again’ seems to be dismantling, the word ‘international’ suddenly carries an important weight worth embracing. Since its foundation in 1977 in Limerick, EVA has been a forerunner in understanding the world through art in a transnational, transcultural, international dialogue, presenting its contradictions, anxieties and possibilities.”

Venues
Limerick City Gallery of Art, Pery Square, Cleeve’s Condensed Milk Factory, O’Callaghan Strand, Limerick Clothing Factory, Lord Edward Street, RHH – 6 Pery Square, The Hunt Museum, Rutland Street; all Limerick, and an extended programme at Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin.

Participating artists

Peju Alatise, Malala Andrialavidrazana, Alexander Apóstol, Artists' Campaign to Repeal the Eighth Amendment, Jaime Ávila, Akiq AW, Patricia Belli, Colin Booth, Lee Bul, José Castrellón, Viriya Chotpanyavisut, Steven Cohen, Bruce Conner, Juan Dávila, Patrizio di Massimo, Roy Dib, Rita Duffy, Adrian Duncan and Feargal Ward, John Duncan, Juan Pablo Echeverri, Inji Efflatoun, Gonzalo Fuenmayor, John Gerrard, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Laurent Grasso, Eileen Gray, Claire Halpin, Sanja Iveković, Uchechukwu James-Iroha, Mainie Jellett, Seán Keating, Sam Keogh, Marie-Claire Messouma Manlanbien, Napoles Marty, Francis Matthews, Julie Merriman, Kevin Mooney, Locky Morris, Isabel Nolan, Masahito Ono, David Pérez Karmadavis, John Rainey, Dan Rees, Marlon T. Riggs, Sutthirat Supaparinya, Beto Shwafaty, Mina Talaee, Jenna Tas, Darn Thorn, Top Lista Nadrealista, Nicolás Vizcaíno Sánchez, Ian Wieczorek, Liu Xiaodong, Trevor Yeung. 

Installation view of Lee Bull at Limerick City Gallery of Art

 Installation view Sanja Ivekovic 'Lady Rosa of Luxembourg' at Cleeve’s Condensed Milk Factory (O’Callaghan Strand, Limerick)

See the opening programme and apply for accreditation to www.eva.ie / emma@eva.ie | +353 86 3030520

About the Curator

Inti Guerrero (b. 1983 Colombia/Hong Kong) is the Estrellita B. Brodsky Adjunct Curator of Latin American Art at Tate in London. He was previously Associate Artistic Director and Curator at TEOR/éTica; an non-profit art space founded in 1999 in San José, Costa Rica. He has curated exhibitions at Tate Modern, London, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo, Para Site, Hong Kong, KADIST, San Francisco and Museo de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro amongst museums and institutions in Europe, Asia and Latin America. His texts have been published in Afterall, Art Nexus, Art Asia Pacific and Manifesta Journal. Guerrero primarily lives and works from Hong Kong.

About EVA International

EVA International is Ireland's Biennial of Contemporary Art, creating 12-week programmes of exhibitions and events that engage with the people and city of Limerick every two years. Since being founded in 1977, EVA International has worked with 2,104 artists and 41 curators from across the world, bringing outstanding exhibitions to audiences in the west of Ireland.

EVA International aims to lead and champion the production, curation, commissioning and exhibiting of contemporary art in Limerick and Ireland, supporting the creation of new work by Irish and international artists. Through this EVA International aims to strengthen its relationship with existing audiences and develop and discover new audiences, through engagement with works of art, exhibition platforms, and participation and education projects.

EVA International is supported by the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon, Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick City and County Council Arts Office, JP McManus Benevolent Fund, OPW, Limerick School of Art and Design, Limerick Institute of Technology, Crescent Shopping Centre, EI Electronics, British Council, Institut Français, Embassy of France in Ireland, Shannon Airport, Holmes O’Malley Sexton, Creative Ireland, IMMA, The Hunt Museum, RHH International, Ormston House, ESB, Maurice Ward, RTÉ Supporting the Arts. EVA 2018’s media partners are: Frieze.

For further information please see www.eva.ie