Void Gallery in Derry underwent massive physical alterations in preparation for the exhibition by Ivan and Heather Morison titled The Black Line.
In the run up to the exhibition four walls in the gallery spaces were knocked down to reveal the underlying skeletal structure of the space. What remained were the raw stripped steel struts, cabling and the original red brick walls of the City Factory.
A reminder of what the space once was.
The Morison’s approach to the exhibition at Void and its space was greatly influenced by the earlier works of artist/writer Robert Irwin, especially his work Black Line Volume.
Irwin’s aim was to isolate the art experience, to clear his work of any and all concrete manifestations so that it could be reduced to pure phenomenon.
In light of this, The Morison’s work at Void aims to dissolve the spaces into each other, the building and the street. Extensive work has been carried out to remove the boundaries that the gallery walls have created revealing the space beyond.
The installation however does not end there. The walls were replaced with charred vertical timbers. The outside wall on the street side of the gallery was knocked through where a window once was and was blocked back up again with mud and glass bottles. An existing window on the other side of the basement was also removed and refilled with mud and bottles, creating two diffused light sources either side of the space, obliquely visible through the slatting.
Heather & Ivan Morison Biography
STUDIO MORISON founders Heather Peak and Ivan Morison have worked together as an artist duo, under the name Heather and Ivan Morison, since 2003, establishing an ambitious collaborative practice that transcends the divisions between art, architecture and theatre. STUDIO MORISON facilitates their practice and the projects that flow from it.
Heather and Ivan Morison are represented by Works|Projects, UK and Clint Roenisch Gallery, Canada.
Acknowledgements
Void Gallery is supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Derry City Council.
