SWITCHED Dublin

SWITCHED Dublin

09th Sep 2010 - 14th Sep 2010

Opening reception Thursday 9th

An ongoing exchange between Catalyst Arts (Belfast) and The Joinery (Dublin).

Linda Monks

Thrilled at having no epic cause to pursue, Monks makes work to entertain and amuse.

The artist’s ideas come from many sources including television, film, comic books, comedy and everyday life. She uses drawings, photography, paper, puppets, video and stop-motion animation to communicate to an audience her relationship with art and popular culture and to explore the juxtaposition of banal familiarity and idiosyncratic strangeness.

The work has a makeshift cheap aesthetic, using cut paper and pound-shop props, and using handmade puppets and sets, but its arrangement in a gallery space looks as professional and uncluttered as possible. It is in this polished presentation that the sharp and skilful wit imbued in work shines through. A certain disillusionment or mistrust of success has been a recurrent theme in Monks’ practice and this, combined with having been intimated in the past by the concept of ‘high’ art, has resulted in a conscious shift away from making such serious work. Instead, the artist finds satisfaction in the development and presentation of what she calls her ‘silly ideas’, and the subsequent body of art produced at once entertains and intellectually engages a viewer.

Linda Monks completed her MFA at the University of Ulster in 2010, and has recently been awarded a six month residency at Platform Arts in Belfast. She has exhibited work in 126 gallery (Galway) and Engage Art Studios (Galway), and most recently in the Golden Thread gallery (Belfast) as part of ‘On Departure’ – an exhibition drawn from the most innovative and exciting emerging artists from 2010’s graduate shows in Ireland.

An ongoing exchange between Catalyst Arts (Belfast) and The Joinery (Dublin). *Linda Monks* Thrilled at having no epic cause to pursue, Monks makes work to entertain and amuse. The artist's ideas come from many sources including television, film, comic books, comedy and everyday life. She uses drawings, photography, paper, puppets, video and stop-motion animation to communicate to an audience her relationship with art and popular culture and to explore the juxtaposition of banal familiarity and idiosyncratic strangeness. The work has a makeshift cheap aesthetic, using cut paper and pound-shop props, and using handmade puppets and sets, but its arrangement in a gallery space looks as professional and uncluttered as possible. It is in this polished presentation that the sharp and skilful wit imbued in work shines through. A certain disillusionment or mistrust of success has been a recurrent theme in Monks' practice and this, combined with having been intimated in the past by the concept of 'high' art, has resulted in a conscious shift away from making such serious work. Instead, the artist finds satisfaction in the development and presentation of what she calls her 'silly ideas', and the subsequent body of art produced at once entertains and intellectually engages a viewer. _Linda Monks completed her MFA at the University of Ulster in 2010, and has recently been awarded a six month residency at Platform Arts in Belfast. She has exhibited work in 126 gallery (Galway) and Engage Art Studios (Galway), and most recently in the Golden Thread gallery (Belfast) as part of 'On Departure' - an exhibition drawn from the most innovative and exciting emerging artists from 2010's graduate shows in Ireland._ An ongoing exchange between Catalyst Arts (Belfast) and The Joinery (Dublin). *Linda Monks* Thrilled at having no epic cause to pursue, Monks makes work to entertain and amuse. The artist's ideas come from many sources including television, film, comic books, comedy and everyday life. She uses drawings, photography, paper, puppets, video and stop-motion animation to communicate to an audience her relationship with art and popular culture and to explore the juxtaposition of banal familiarity and idiosyncratic strangeness. The work has a makeshift cheap aesthetic, using cut paper and pound-shop props, and using handmade puppets and sets, but its arrangement in a gallery space looks as professional and uncluttered as possible. It is in this polished presentation that the sharp and skilful wit imbued in work shines through. A certain disillusionment or mistrust of success has been a recurrent theme in Monks' practice and this, combined with having been intimated in the past by the concept of 'high' art, has resulted in a conscious shift away from making such serious work. Instead, the artist finds satisfaction in the development and presentation of what she calls her 'silly ideas', and the subsequent body of art produced at once entertains and intellectually engages a viewer. _Linda Monks completed her MFA at the University of Ulster in 2010, and has recently been awarded a six month residency at Platform Arts in Belfast. She has exhibited work in 126 gallery (Galway) and Engage Art Studios (Galway), and most recently in the Golden Thread gallery (Belfast) as part of 'On Departure' - an exhibition drawn from the most innovative and exciting emerging artists from 2010's graduate shows in Ireland._
An ongoing exchange between Catalyst Arts (Belfast) and The Joinery (Dublin). *Linda Monks* Thrilled at having no epic cause to pursue, Monks makes work to entertain and amuse. The artist's ideas come from many sources including television, film, comic books, comedy and everyday life. She uses drawings, photography, paper, puppets, video and stop-motion animation to communicate to an audience her relationship with art and popular culture and to explore the juxtaposition of banal familiarity and idiosyncratic strangeness. The work has a makeshift cheap aesthetic, using cut paper and pound-shop props, and using handmade puppets and sets, but its arrangement in a gallery space looks as professional and uncluttered as possible. It is in this polished presentation that the sharp and skilful wit imbued in work shines through. A certain disillusionment or mistrust of success has been a recurrent theme in Monks' practice and this, combined with having been intimated in the past by the concept of 'high' art, has resulted in a conscious shift away from making such serious work. Instead, the artist finds satisfaction in the development and presentation of what she calls her 'silly ideas', and the subsequent body of art produced at once entertains and intellectually engages a viewer. _Linda Monks completed her MFA at the University of Ulster in 2010, and has recently been awarded a six month residency at Platform Arts in Belfast. She has exhibited work in 126 gallery (Galway) and Engage Art Studios (Galway), and most recently in the Golden Thread gallery (Belfast) as part of 'On Departure' - an exhibition drawn from the most innovative and exciting emerging artists from 2010's graduate shows in Ireland._ An ongoing exchange between Catalyst Arts (Belfast) and The Joinery (Dublin). *Linda Monks* Thrilled at having no epic cause to pursue, Monks makes work to entertain and amuse. The artist's ideas come from many sources including television, film, comic books, comedy and everyday life. She uses drawings, photography, paper, puppets, video and stop-motion animation to communicate to an audience her relationship with art and popular culture and to explore the juxtaposition of banal familiarity and idiosyncratic strangeness. The work has a makeshift cheap aesthetic, using cut paper and pound-shop props, and using handmade puppets and sets, but its arrangement in a gallery space looks as professional and uncluttered as possible. It is in this polished presentation that the sharp and skilful wit imbued in work shines through. A certain disillusionment or mistrust of success has been a recurrent theme in Monks' practice and this, combined with having been intimated in the past by the concept of 'high' art, has resulted in a conscious shift away from making such serious work. Instead, the artist finds satisfaction in the development and presentation of what she calls her 'silly ideas', and the subsequent body of art produced at once entertains and intellectually engages a viewer. _Linda Monks completed her MFA at the University of Ulster in 2010, and has recently been awarded a six month residency at Platform Arts in Belfast. She has exhibited work in 126 gallery (Galway) and Engage Art Studios (Galway), and most recently in the Golden Thread gallery (Belfast) as part of 'On Departure' - an exhibition drawn from the most innovative and exciting emerging artists from 2010's graduate shows in Ireland._ An ongoing exchange between Catalyst Arts (Belfast) and The Joinery (Dublin). *Linda Monks* Thrilled at having no epic cause to pursue, Monks makes work to entertain and amuse. The artist's ideas come from many sources including television, film, comic books, comedy and everyday life. She uses drawings, photography, paper, puppets, video and stop-motion animation to communicate to an audience her relationship with art and popular culture and to explore the juxtaposition of banal familiarity and idiosyncratic strangeness. The work has a makeshift cheap aesthetic, using cut paper and pound-shop props, and using handmade puppets and sets, but its arrangement in a gallery space looks as professional and uncluttered as possible. It is in this polished presentation that the sharp and skilful wit imbued in work shines through. A certain disillusionment or mistrust of success has been a recurrent theme in Monks' practice and this, combined with having been intimated in the past by the concept of 'high' art, has resulted in a conscious shift away from making such serious work. Instead, the artist finds satisfaction in the development and presentation of what she calls her 'silly ideas', and the subsequent body of art produced at once entertains and intellectually engages a viewer. _Linda Monks completed her MFA at the University of Ulster in 2010, and has recently been awarded a six month residency at Platform Arts in Belfast. She has exhibited work in 126 gallery (Galway) and Engage Art Studios (Galway), and most recently in the Golden Thread gallery (Belfast) as part of 'On Departure' - an exhibition drawn from the most innovative and exciting emerging artists from 2010's graduate shows in Ireland._