Collection Artist, Residency Artist

Eithne Jordan b.1954

Irish artist Eithne Jordan attended Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dublin. Since her emotionally charged expressionistic paintings of the early 1980s, Jordan’s work has turned towards a formal exploration of the seen world. She looks at the urban environment and is drawn to anonymous spaces, factory roofs, subway tunnels and blank walls. Jordan was elected as a member of Aosdána in 1990. She has exhibited widely in Europe. She took part in the Artists’ Residency Programme at IMMA in 2009.

Country of Birth: Ireland

Overview

Since her emotionally charged expressionistic paintings of the early ’80s, Jordan’s work has turned towards a formal exploration and depiction of the seen world. She looks at the contemporary urban environment and is drawn to anonymous urban spaces, the side spaces, factory roofs, subway tunnels, underpasses, and blank walls – those non-places that are forgotten spaces in cities such as Paris, Rotterdam, New York, Barcelona and most recently Vienna. Within the spaces depicted, although evidence of habitation is everywhere, as in a lit window or a passing car, an explicit human presence is rare, so that there is a melancholy vacancy to most of the scenes, accentuated by Jordan’s treatment of the nuances of colour and tone. There is a sense of the possibility of narrative, but the spaces, the light and the objects themselves are the central actors of the drama, so narrative never takes hold.

Recent solo exhibitions include: Rubicon Gallery, Dublin, 2007; West Cork Arts Centre, 2007; Fenderesky Gallery, Belfast, 2007; Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris, 2007; Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast, 2004. Selected group exhibitions include Fenton Gallery, Cork, 2008; ARCO Madrid 2008, Art Rotterdam 2007 and Pulse New York 2007 Art Fairs. Eithne Jordan is a member of Aosdana.

The Process Room
Eithne Jordan’s work was shown in the Process Room, First Floor Galleries, from 16 to 31 May 2009.

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