House Arrest in Pink
Stephen Hobbs
25 May - 23 June
Opening: 25 May, 6pm, Studio 12, Backwater Artist Group.
Artist Talk: 27 May, 4pm, Lavit Gallery - Vernacular Safari - Stephen Hobbs and Brian Mac Domhnaill in Conversation
Hobbs’ installation House Arrest in Pink draws viewers into a pscyho-spatial translation of life during lockdown. Living rurally, 5km travel restrictions imposed at the time, made access to basic ‘art’ materials a near impossibility. For the months that followed Hobbs upcycled online purchase packaging boxes into mixed media drawings and implied architectural forms, in direct response to the Jack Fitzsimons inspired bungalow rental he and family occupied north of Cork City. The housing revolution in rural Ireland can be attributed in large part to Fitzsimons’s practical approach to modern housing, as evinced in his best-selling book Bungalow Bliss, first published in 1971 - very much responsible for pulling rural housing out of famine era living conditions into a modern dignified offering. Hobbs and family originating from South Africa, spent a total of 19 months in Cork, before returning to South Africa in July of
Show more..
