Future Exhibition at ArtSway
Eamon O'Kane
Re-enactment
27 June – 23 August 2009
Re-enactment by Eamon O'Kane features two films commissioned by ArtSway that were shot on location at Beaulieu in the New Forest. The films, and the relating drawings and sculptures in the exhibition, explore the artist's own family background, and how history can be both fabricated and manipulated. For the first of his two new films O'Kane staged a re-enactment in the New Forest of a meal King James II had on his way to put down a rebellion in Ireland in 1688, under a Sycamore tree adjacent to a house that is now owned by the artist's parents. The furniture used in this film was constructed from the actual Sycamore tree, which was struck by lightning a decade ago, and is installed in the gallery space alongside the video documentation of the re-enactment. The second film is a re-enactment of a hunt - or skirmish - led by James II in Ireland, as he searched for enemy combatants, that supposedly took place at the same time as the meal. O'Kane deliberately distorts real events - such as the skirmish - by transposing them to different but relevant locations - in this case from Ireland to the New Forest (both were, in essence, hunting grounds for James II, with the king being the last monarch to hunt in the New Forest). The artist playfully manipulates our perceptions of historical events: suggesting how history can be incredibly subjective and open to numerous interpretations. Both the films for the meal and the hunt were reconstructed featuring, in period costume, members of the Earl of Essex Regiment of Foote - authentic re-enacters and proponents of ‘living history'.
Re-enactment is the concluding part of the touring project CASE HISTORIES by Eamon O'Kane, consisting of a series of international exhibitions of new work commissioned by Rugby Art Gallery and Museum; the Contemporary Art Society and Economist Plaza, London; RARE Gallery, New York; Galerie Schuster, Berlin; Plan 9, Bristol; and ArtSway, New Forest. CASE HISTORIES is financially supported by Arts Council England, Culture Ireland and Bristol City Council.
Exhibition Associated Events:
Gallery Talk: Eamon O'Kane in Conversation with Peter Bonnell
Saturday 27 June 2009 at 3pm
Eamon O'Kane will discuss the international touring project CASE HISTORIES and his new work Re-enactment, commissioned by ArtSway, with curator Peter Bonnell. O'Kane will outline the genesis of his two new films for Re-enactment, which were filmed on location in Beaulieu in the New Forest with authentic mid-17th Century re-enacters.
FREE: Booking Essential.
Art in Context (Living History): The Art of Re-enactment
A talk by Helen Down, Treasurer, Earl of Essex Regiment of Foote
Wednesday 15 July 2009 at 7pm
Join Totton resident and English Civil War re-enacter Helen Down as she talks about her involvement in Eamon O'Kane's two newly commissioned films for his exhibition at ArtSway. Helen is the Treasurer for the Earl of Essex Regiment of Foote - an organisation that seeks to educate children and adults of the historical background to one of the most momentous events in English history: the English Civil War. Helen will talk about the activities and background of her regiment; the importance of 'living history'; where the regiment mount events across the country; their education activities, and also the background to the Civil War. For more information about the Earl of Essex Regiment of Foote visit: www.earlofessex.org.uk
FREE: Booking Essential.
Publication Launch: CASE HISTORIES by Eamon O'Kane
Saturday 25 July 2009 at 3.30pm
A 100-page, full-colour, hardback publication CASE HISTORIES will be officially launched at ArtSway. The publication will feature images from each part of O'Kane's major international touring project, with a critical text by Dan Cameron and transcripts of O'Kane's public discussions with Paul O'Neill and Paul Hobson.
FREE: All Welcome.
To book a place on any of the above events please contact Jack Lewis on 01590 682260 (ext.6) or email:
jack.lewis@artsway.org.uk
