'Medici Lion' by Siobhán Hapaska

Siobhan Hapaska  Medici Lion   1 December 2023 - 10 March 2024 



Opening: Thursday 30 November 2023, 6-8pm Artist Talk: Saturday 2 December, 12pm      The Douglas Hyde is delighted to present Medici Lion a newly commissioned sculptural work and major solo exhibition by Irish-Parsee sculptor Siobhán Hapaska opening in the main gallery space on Friday 1 December 2023 and running until Sunday 10 March 2024. This is Hapaska’s first major solo presentation in an institution in Ireland.   Siobhán Hapaska is a singular voice in contemporary sculpture, consistently pushing the convention of form by utilising materials in unique and often surprising ways. Over the past three decades she has created original and formally complex work, which defies categorization. In this exhibition Hapaska presents the figure of the lion to explore current crises, from the failures of democracy to ongoing conflict and wars, and the ever-present Climate crisis. A universal and persistent symbol of power, the lion has prolonged associations of justice, strength, courage and military might. Here at The Douglas Hyde, Hapaska’s lion is suspended at the centre of the cavernous, double-height space of Gallery 1, tethered to the gallery’s walls. Hapaska uses the emotional resonance of the ambient sound captured at Westminster Abbey while Queen Elizabeth lay in State as an expanded sculptural layer to the work. This exhibition is commissioned by The Douglas Hyde and is supported by The Henry Moore Foundation.   Siobhán Hapaska (born Belfast, Northern Ireland) lives and works in London and Rotterdam. She has had recent solo exhibitions at the Kunstmuseum St Gallen, Switzerland (2020) and John Hansard Gallery, University of Southampton (2019). Her work has been exhibited at MoMA Ps1, New York; Serpentine Gallery, London; Espace Louis Vuitton, Paris; Singapore Art Museum; Museu de Arte de São Paulo, and in solo presentations at Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall; Museum Boijmans Van Beuingan, Rotterdam; the Barbican, Camden Arts Centre and the ICA in London. She has participated in major international exhibitions including Documenta X, the British Art Show, Glasgow International, and the 49th and 56th Venice Biennales.   Image credit: Siobhán Hapaska Medici Lion (production image), 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Kerlin Gallery, Dublin.