Hen’s Teeth & The Project Twins present Bláth, Bláth, Bláth, an exhibition opening at the Dublin 8 gallery on Thursday, 14th April.
Bláth, Bláth, Bláth features a series of woodcut prints, metal sculptural pieces and a throw blanket, all centered around flowers, a symbol in The Project Twins work. The exhibition explores the space between nature and the computer through awkwardly and anxiously drawn flowers which are a “placeholder for a language of emergency and the internet”.
“During lockdown, awkward and wonky flowers became a recurring symbol in our work. Flowers can seen as a universal symbol of beauty and nature, but depending on their context can also represent, reproduction or decay, and through this exhibition we wanted to explore their iconography through a combination of digital and traditional techniques.
We are interested in how angular floral works sit alongside contemporary sources such as fists, explosions and face emojis to create a playful sense of absurdity. The flower motif becomes more of a placeholder, allowing the language of the internet to play across the work.
Themes of both nature and the internet come together throughout the work. The series of prints are made using separate laser cut wood pieces which are inked and put back together, almost like a jigsaw, before printing. We are interested in the combination of digital aesthetics and analogue production techniques.
This marriage between contemporary and traditional techniques was something we really enjoyed playing with- feels like a post-covid adaptation and response to art.“- The Project Twins.
All editioned screen prints & sculptural pieces are available to buy both in Hen’s Teeth and online from 6pm, Thursday 14th April.
About The Project Twins
The Project Twins are James and Michael Fitzgerald, a Cork based collaborative art duo. Their practice is multi-disciplinary, spanning painting, print-making, design, illustration and three-dimensional work.
The Project Twins work together through a process of dialogue and sketching, continually reducing forms to their most basic elements. Their use of minimal forms and graphic shapes are rooted in the visual language of signs, symbols and pictograms. They are interested in the use of this as a universal language and its ability to convey ideas, information and narratives. Recognisable and simple shapes are used as a way to build their own visual lexicon or graphic language which appears to directly communicate while also retaining a sense of ambiguity, allowing for interpretation and inquiry.
Alongside their fine art practice they regularly produce editorial illustrations for an array of international newspapers and publications. Their work has appeared in The Guardian, The New York Times, TIME and The Economist amongst others. With a focus on politics, economics and social work they produce concept driven illustrations which responds directly to the themes within the articles.
They are interested in the crossover of disciplines and how they can influence and inform each other.