Meditations
Patrick Scott

Exhibition from 30 January to 4 March 2009
Opening on 29 January 2009 from 18.30 to 20.00

The Centre Culturel Irlandais is pleased to present Meditations by Patrick Scott, an Irish artist of international stature whose work is characterised by its abstract minimalism and extensive use of applied gold and palladium leaf. Twelve works on paper produced in collaboration with Stoney Road Press editioning house and one sculptural piece also produced by the same studio will be presented in this exhibition, his first in France. Enigmatically, all the works are Untitled but evidently revisit many of the contemplative themes explored by the artist throughout his long career.

The apparent simplicity of these strong visual statements belies the artist’s prowess and his use of potent universal motifs moves the interpretation of his work beyond the Christian connotations with which the use of gold is often charged. Deeply influenced by Japanese aesthetics, Patrick Scott’s signature motif is the disc allied with the square; one of the first prints created in 2004 in the print studio at Stoney Road Press features an iridescent sun framed in relief by a black background, poised above a square of vertical brown bands. In turn, a golden apple, first used as a motif in 1993, appears in one of his single prints of 2007 – an image rich in mythical and literary precedents. The set of prints entitled Meditations, made the same year, is dominated by mandala motifs, often used to represent the cosmos or, in various spiritual traditions, for establishing a sacred space. The sculptural piece is a delicate composition of sixteen golden squares hung on a lattice stainless steel structure.

Born in Co. Cork in 1921, Patrick Scott studied architecture at UCD. He has devoted himself fully to painting since 1960, the year he won the Guggenheim Award and represented Ireland in the XXX Venice Biennale. His works have been exhibited worldwide and figure in several important collections including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He had a major retrospective in the Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, in 1981 and a survey of his work was exhibited by Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane in 2002. In 2007, Scott, who is a founding member of Aosdána, was conferred with the title of Saoi, the highest honour that can be bestowed upon an Irish artist.

This exhibition is organised in collaboration with Stoney Road Press, Dublin,
www.stoneyroadpress.com