Tom Molloy

February 4, 2010 by TheAldrich

January 31 to June 13, 2010
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is pleased to announce the first museum survey of the work of Tom Molloy to be presented outside of his native Ireland. The exhibition of approximately twenty key works will feature sculptures, photographs, and drawings—including several large, multipart installations—created by the artist over the last decade.
 
The Aldrich will celebrate the opening of Tom Molloy on Sunday, January 31, 2010. In advance of the opening, scheduled from 3 to 5 pm, patrons are invited to join the artist and exhibition curator Joseph R. Wolin from 2:30 to 3:30 pm for a conversation about the work on view. FREE on-site parking is available, as is continuous round-trip transportation from the Metro North Katonah Train Station to the Museum.
 
Tom Molloy’s art engages with global events, and in particular with America and America’s place in the new world order. With economical means, the artist manipulates found materials and images to explore the interaction of politically charged symbols.
 
Some of the artist’s best known works will be included, such as the cut dollar bill Map (2004)—a double-edged metaphor of American might and hegemony—and the fifty drawings of stars of Allegiance (2004)—hung on the wall to evoke Old Glory, the drawings form a wan and equivocal emblem of union and patriotism.
 
The exhibition will also include Dead Texans (2002), a grid of fifty small drawings of mug shots of men executed in the Lone Star State while George W. Bush was governor, as well as a drawing entitled Sweep, depicting the cleanup after terrorist violence, with the artist’s own blood dripping from behind the frame.
 
Curator Wolin says, “Molloy operates on these potent icons with surgical precision, excising hidden motives and overlooked similarities that resonate through recent history. His work is simple yet deeply incisive, sly yet bluntly political, funny yet deadly serious.”
 
 The Artist:
Tom Molloy was born in Waterford, Ireland, and now lives in County Clare, where he is Head of Painting at the Burren College of Art. He attended The National College of Art & Design in Dublin, earning his B.A. in Fine Art in 1987 and his M.A. in Fine Art in 1992. A survey exhibition of his work was held at the Limerick City Gallery of Art in 2005 and at the Solstice Arts Centre, Navan, County Meath, in 2008. Molloy’s work is included in the permanent collections of The Irish Museum of Modern Art and The Blanton Museum of Art, Texas, and is represented by Rubicon Gallery in Dublin and Lora Reynolds Gallery in Austin.
 
The Curator:
Joseph R. Wolin is an independent curator and critic in New York. A frequent contributor to Modern Painters, Time Out New York, and Canadian Art, he has also contributed essays and interviews to many exhibition catalogues. He was co-curator of the exhibition The Royal Art Lodge: Ask the Dust, which during 2003–2005 traveled to six venues in four countries, including The Drawing Center, New York, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
 
Tom Molloy has been generously underwritten by Culture Ireland, Promoting Irish Arts Worldwide.
 
The Aldrich is supported in part by the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services. Panel discussions are supported in part by the Harry Zarin Fund. The official media sponsors of exhibition openings areRidgefield Magazine and WSHU Public Radio. 
Creative Conversations video