Void, Derry, Northern Ireland
Curated by Gregory McCartney
“Ackroyd & Harvey’s work I came across a decade or so ago and I was fascinated by their ‘living’ landscapes and portraits which lived, which grew, which got older, not in a sinister Dorian Gray manner but rather reflecting the natural and often beautiful aging processes of the subjects. Both landscape and portraiture have traditionally tried to capture a ‘moment’, as if all that mattered was surface dynamics and stasis whilst ignoring the complexities under the surface. An Ackroyd & Harvey artwork grows, literally.
In this instance from grass seed bringing home the point that we all share to some extent similar natural cycles and that the natural world is worthy of our protection. The works to be shown in Void Gallery will be actually grown in the gallery from seed (and soil) and have local subject matter in this case houses from the Park Avenue part of Derry and a resident of one of them. The alignment of the panels in gallery 1 mirror the angle the buildings are physically on the street. The houses and human subject matter will literally be part of a vibrant, growing and innovative local landscape.”
(Gregory McCartney, Curator)
