Making and Momentum In Conversation with Eileen Gray - Cap Moderne
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Making and Momentum
In Conversation with Eileen Gray
1
Making and Momentum In Conversation with Eileen Gray
9 Foreword by Albert II, Prince of Monaco
11 Introduction to the exhibition
18 Eileen Gray. Irish. Female. Bisexual. Genius
Association Cap Moderne 2021
26 Letter to Eileen by Laura Gannon
46 Eileen Gray – truth, love, myth, magic, legend
by Richard Malone
66 Artist Statement by Niamh O’Malley
88 Biographies
91 Postscript by Laura Gannon
6 7
9
The National Museum of Ireland is Making and Momentum: In Conversation here defined as a radical and self-
delighted to support the vital and with Eileen Gray is a travelling exhibition defining visual language. The exhibition
important achievement of the Association of contemporary visual art, which aims aims to prove that the skills present, and
Cap Moderne on the refurbishment and to celebrate the legacy of modernism in Gray's own artistic legacy, are part of
preservation of E-1027 through the Ireland, and the imagination and influence our present, not our history.
hosting of this exhibition at our Museum. of modern Irish art and design worldwide.
Housing one of the greatest collections Making and Momentum celebrates the
of Eileen Gray material globally, the The exhibition opened at the iconic Villa Design and Crafts Council of Ireland's
National Museum of Ireland is looking E.1027 in Roquebrune, France in June 2021 50th Anniversary.
forward to building on the achievements to celebrate the completion of an extensive
at E-1027 through future initiatives and 7 year refurbishment. The show later
exhibitions that further increase moved to the historic Salle Saint-Lucie at Featured Artists:
accessibility and engagement with Roquebrune Village in July. The exhibition Ceadogán Rugs
Eileen Gray globally. ambitiously places equal importance on Sara Flynn
artist, artisan and maker – observing the Laura Gannon
creative spirit present in developing an Mainie Jellett
independent visual language; removing Richard Malone
the rigid definitions and categories of Nellie Malone
art making, much like Eileen Gray’s own Mourne Textiles
Lynn Scarff practice. Niamh O’Malley
Director of the National Museum Award winning Irish artist and designer, Curated by:
of Ireland Richard Malone, collaborated with Richard Malone
Association Cap Moderne (charity raising
funds to restore E-1027) to curate and Supported by:
exhibit some of Ireland's leading visual Design and Crafts Council of Ireland
art makers. The exhibition is in celebration Creative Ireland
of Gray's phenomenal global influence Culture Ireland
across artistic disciplines – from weaving Wexford County Council
and rug making to metalwork and Association Cap Moderne
painting. Each artist and artisan has Conservatoire du Littoral
been selected for their multidisciplinary Centre des Monuments Nationaux
and experimental approach to making. Dermot and Monica McDermott
The group represents an award winning
selection of some or Ireland's most
prominent artists with numerous
accolades and nominations amongst
them, such as the Royal Hibernian
Academy commission, the Loewe Craft
Prize, the International Woolmark Prize
and the official Venice Biennale
Commission 2022.
Collectively their work is held in some
of the world's most prestigious museums
and institutions, including the Museum
of Modern Art (MoMA) New York, the Irish
Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) Dublin,
The Design Museum London, the National
Gallery of Victoria (NGV) Melbourne, The
Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) London,
and the Design and Crafts Council
Collection Ireland.
The craft and skill visible within each body
of work acknowledges age old skills and
making techniques, often unique to
Ireland, alongside radical modernism –
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Eileen Gray Eileen was a woman way ahead of her
time: androgynous, bisexual and
Magical and unique: come and see
for yourselves...” Michael Likierman.
Irish. Female. Bisexual. Genius entrepreneurial, she lived an extraordinary
life. Born in County Wexford, Ireland, in Continuing the celebration of Eileen
Association Cap Moderne 2021 1878 to an aristocratic mother and artist
father, she became one the first women
Gray’s imagination and influence on
modern Irish art and design, the group
to be accepted into the Slade School of exhibition, Making and Momentum
Fine Art. At 24 she moved to Paris to spearheaded by artist and designer,
continue her design education, and Richard Malone had its debut in July 2021
determinedly began designing her in France at E-1027 before making its way
modernist furniture. There, Eileen became to Dublin. It features some of Ireland’s
involved in the Bohemian circles of the most creative and prominent artists and
time and was able to explore her is a fitting tribute to the Eileen Gray’s
bisexuality and, established a reputation enduring artistry.
as the most avant-garde and inventive
designer in Paris based on her principle
that to “create one must first question
everything”.
She attracted the eye of a young
Romanian architect, Jean Badovici. It was
him who in 1926 encouraged Eileen to
start building what was to become known
as E-1027. Despite having no formal
architecture training she forged ahead
investing her genius in experimentation to
design every element of the villa including
its furnishings. It is here her creative spirit
soars. Even before you enter the space
you are confronted by surprises and once
inside, at every turn, you come upon
never-before-seen control of light, use of
shadows, definition of space and limitless
innovative furnishings that tune into her
focus on detail, functionality and
practicality.
Eileen’s relationship with Jean did not last,
and she left the house in 1932. By the mid
1990’s the house fell into disrepair only to
be rescued by the Conservatoire du
Littoral and The Association Cap Moderne,
which since 2014 has lead an ambitious
restoration plan for E-1027. Completed in
May 2021, thanks to an incredible team of
architects, artisans and fundraisers
guided by a scientific committee of global
experts led by Michael Likierman,
President of Association Cap Moderne.
E-1027 is now welcoming visitors as part
of a remarkable cultural heritage
ensemble. “The restoration of the Villa to
its 1929 state has been a labour of love for
all of us who have worked on the project,
and the effect is truly revelatory of the
genius of Eileen Gray and a marvellously
dynamic contrast with the surprisingly
intimate buildings of Le Corbusier just by.
1920 21
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Letter to Eileen by Laura Gannon Dear Eileen,
I am writing to you across time and space. very new substance, you created a six-
You continue to be a mentor for me. We panel, curved metal framed screen.
are both Irish, though as part of an Anglo- The celluloid, pale yellow in colour,
Irish Scottish aristocratic family, you had was semi-transparent allowing a partial
a background different to most. You were view through while occupying a space.
able to use this background to avail of an
international education and travel, In 1972 the journalist and writer Bruce
including being one of the first women Chatwin visited you, in your apartment
to fly, in the 1920’s you flew on the first in Rue Bonaparte. You asked him to visit
airmail service in America, from New Patagonia on your behalf as you were
Mexico to Acapulco. aged 94 and unable to travel. He
promised you that he would. He traveled
The freedom to travel extensively and there and the trip resulted in his
integrate with the Parisian creative world experimental travel book In Patagonia.
of your era, gave you an outlet to unleash
your brilliant and exacting imagination. On 31st October 1976, French Radio
announced your death.
Your use of materials including cork,
metal, plastic, celluloid, lacquer and I will be in France on a residency this
wood was embedded with a geometry autumn. I will continue to look at your
and sensuality. works and think about the life that you
lived there. I have named an artwork
Three of your works that I often revisit: after your Non Conformist chair. You,
as a Non Conformist opened the door
During World War One, you produced a for future creatives. Thank you Eileen,
brown lacquer plate, as part of a series, for your legacy.
covered in small silver circular daub
marks. This gesture of pared back beauty With gratitude,
emphasised your need to keep creating Laura
and experimenting even during wartime.
Your style of modernity was always
infused with sensuality and the needs
of the body.
E–1027, finished in 1929, the house where
you created a camping style of great
pleasure for the body. Designed as the
first piece of architecture that you built
when you were 51 years old. It contained
mirrors with arms that expanded and
contracted to allow the body to be
viewed from all angles.
Indents in the steps of the spiral staircase
to place the foot when ascending
upwards. A cork table top so that cutlery
or glass made no sound when placed on
the surface. A lever on the bedroom
ceiling to open and close to view the moon
at night.
You always moved towards new materials
and experimented with unusual
possibilities. You once made a series of
lights from ostrich egg shells and paper.
Celluloid screen,1931; using celluloid, a
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Eileen Gray – truth, love, myth, magic, legend A seance over scones and soda bread particularly relied upon in current times.
This is magic that allows – and makes real
by Richard Malone June 2021 will see the re-opening of Eileen
Gray’s E.1027 villa, after seven years of
space for – creation, which in turn finds
truth in the real, existing object that is left
renovation by Cap Moderne to take the behind.
house back to its 1929 state. The house is
widely considered a modern masterpiece, For me, a true piece of work finds itself
yet has a complicated history. Gray’s within a larger language. One that is
work has gone through stages of being created, written and shared. This artistic
overlooked, almost forgotten – the house language can be experienced and
itself has fallen into several states of observed; learned even, by many, but
disrepair before renovations took place. is only truly spoken; invented by one.
Le Corbusier, a contemporary of Gray,
was said to be envious of the space she
built, and painted infamous murals there Myth and Legend
after Gray left, which she referred to –
quite rightly – as vandalism. In 2020, I Growing up in rural Wexford, the legend
was asked to contribute, somehow, to and work of Eileen Gray existed in a kind
the house’s reopening. Through several of ether, another world. Gray’s work
conversations and a year of this hideous came into my life through storytelling...
pandemic, and with support from the folklore, even. It appeared both mythical
brilliant Cathy Giangrande, we decided and magical. Daringly original, radically
to curate a show that celebrates Gray’s created and lovingly executed. Her
incredible legacy. This is not a showcase objects were explained as functional,
of work which looks like Gray’s. What yet were entirely different from all of the
Gray’s work left behind is something far things I associated with ‘function’. The
more nuanced than the many work had, and has, a presence to it that
contemporary imitations. The show’s speaks to the human condition, of the
title, “Making and Momentum” speaks human body, which I believe transcends
deliberately of process and time, the more recent academic study of her
something ever-changing and always work – as well as the placing of her work
moving. The show is a celebration of the within the construct of ‘time’.
spirit of self-directed making, which
places equal importance on artisans, To write about her work in an academic
makers and artists. Making and sense would, I think, be to take away from
Momentum centres the very real creative my initial understanding of her practice.
energy that drives so much of our human For excellent, broad understandings of
spirits, allowing us to create worlds and Gray’s work, we can read the exceptional
languages. It is an incredible honour to essays and collected works of Dr. Jennifer
be tasked with such an undertaking, Goff, Curator of Furniture, Musical
especially in conversation with a persons Instruments and the Eileen Gray
whose work I so admire. collection, National Museum of Ireland.
Note the recent book –Eileen Gray, Her
The title of this essay represents the Work and Her World, Irish Academic
cornerstones by which I came to Press Ltd, 2014) My relationship with
understand and experience the work of Gray’s work comes from someplace else.
the artist, architect and designer Eileen
Gray. They are everything and nothing. It is interesting to refer to her work, or
Within the framework of my even her person, as ‘Irish’. When we place
understanding, appreciation and something or someone within a specific
admiration is a rejection of the academic; cultural context, it is always curious to
or ‘referenced” responses to art and note what part of that culture we are
design making. The very act of making, referencing, or what “Irishness” we refer
and the idea of radically working against to – in one that is a complex history both
a zeitgeist, is for me, an act of love. associated with an ancient world and
A love of the self and an utter trust in the progressive modernism. The Republic
creative spirit that many of us believe to of Ireland was established in 1949 –
be guiding us, one that has been so, relatively recently. Gray emulates an
47energy that I associate with ancient to a homogenisation of culture. It allows ground with work which exists in another now still, it is consistently those with
Ireland, when self-definition and new trends to surface and to persist, often world is baffling. The ‘way in’ was access to and absorption to “good taste”
cultural norms were yet to be established. creating barriers to nuance. To define through storytelling – myth, magic, and “good art” that tend to be the ones
Long before British colonisation and the Gray’s work as simply modern, speaks humanity, and inevitably imagination. with the confidence to break tradition.
spread of Christianity. The nuanced and to our current world that reduces radical The act of making, finding truth, really
ever-changing surface of Ireland is an form, ambitious design, and hard fucking being one’s self – these actions are acts When I later came to understand this,
interesting place for Gray’s legend to live, graft to something that makes a brilliant of love that come with risk and self- I also understood the reason for my
and within personal histories and designer fit computably within a cis, acceptance. This is legend. Asserting grandmother leaving this background
conversation we have ideas of invention straight male-dominated peer group. one’s own presence as something fluid, out. The transient, imagined world
and myth. One that now understands good design undefinable, persisting to create a created through folklore and storytelling
through the eyes of capitalism, and often personal language that is instantly allows a person to dream – and this
Gray, for example, was a part of a replaces criticism or critical evaluation recognisable yet often hidden from applies to fiction as much as reality.
protestant Anglo-Irish family that lived with “likes”, the very action of which is view is true bravery. To go against a When discussing this legacy of Gray
in a large stately home in Wexford; yet reductive, and when applied to an grain, or to imagine yourself outside of with me as a child, the omittance of her
my experience of her work through understanding of Gray’s work, is your physical world is a dream that often wealthy and educated background no
storytelling allowed me to imagine our impossible. This is why the more ancient, begins with a tinge of impossibility, which, doubt allowed me to think this was
similarities. It is a meeting of two worlds and the more imagined, the better. of course, is the stuff that great stories possible for myself. The experience of her
that co-exist in one place; a place that are built on. education was not discussed, but Nellie’s
is endlessly reimagining the modern. Gray’s work spoke to me from the moment omittance of it was, in itself, an act of
that I first encountered it. Initially, this was These traits radiate from the work of love. We are not an educated family in the
There are ancient Irish beliefs in a over tea or soda bread and scones Eileen Gray, and – funnily enough – traditional sense, but instead made up of
ceantair (our world) and altar (an ‘other’ through oral descriptions, legend or I have the same response to the work of craftspeople, apprentices, carpenters,
world) – two worlds that are separate, yet béaloideas – ideas and imagined worlds my late grandmother, who always told decorators, shop workers, factory floor
co-exist, and that some people, witches that included the human form, me of this radical, queer Irish woman who workers – people who are more often
for example, can move between. Many of perspectives of bodies, of imagination, went on to dominate the design world. than not referred to as ‘low-skilled’. My
the ideas of ancient Ireland share beliefs of language. Hearing of a person, both My grandmother, Nellie, relished the fact grandmother herself left school before
that do not accommodate our current rural Irish and female, who wholly that Gray was female, that she created she was 10, and neither of my parents had
understanding of the world. Much of the formulated and created a language for opportunity for herself, that her design a third level education, or even 'A-Levels’.
wording, or word structures share themself – without highfalutin explanation language was for nobody else. Every Including an education in her story would
meaning and form with ancient Sanskrit. – was an invitation for me to make freely. piece seems like a creation of something have rendered it unrealistic for me. So
Included in this the idea of creativity as a It wasn’t until much later in my life that I completely new, genuine and informed within the act of storytelling we have a
distinctly female energy – the Bó Báinne, understood the importance and by this complete acceptance of the self. type of editing that allows someone to
a mythical cow who grazes eternally relevance of education in the art and I expect that Nellie saw much of herself feel a part of a story that can feel as
serves as our ‘mother earth’, and Prithvi, design world, from women and men in Gray – or at least allowed herself to imagined as any fairytale.
mother earth in Sanskrit, appeared in who did not have the opportunity. imagine the synchronicity, however
cow form and was milked by Prithu, an different the circumstance. In my life, it has consistently been women
incarnation of Vishna. Gray’s work finds For people who grow up without the who are clever enough, protective
itself truthfully existing in the ceantiar privilege of education, like my grandmother What my grandmother left out in these enough and creative enough to establish
through form and function, yet her self- – exposure to art, confidence to speak, conversations was the issue of class. imagined spaces that allow queer,
directed creation, her language, has an understanding of cultural discourse Gray was born into an extremely wealthy sensitive young people – me in this case
always felt to me like something from – experiencing the real human emotions protestant family. Her own wealth, no – the utter privilege to dream. This again
the altar. A kind of persistence to self- that go in to creating and even inventing... doubt, is what accommodated her way feels akin with that ancient, specifically
investment, or a belief in that which how do you find a way in? When we look in. From staying at the family home in female creativity that itself creates
has not yet been created... When I at work that appears now so tasteful, so South Kensington while attending the nature, the Bó Báinne. It is this female
experienced her work and her legend, radical and so beautiful, the academic Slade, to having an apartment in Paris, energy I identify most with when making
it is a distinctly creative female energy response can often be isolating. Building to having the means to travel. All of these myself. To create, I believe is an act of
that I have learned to associate with it. walls around work for those who do not no doubt allowed Gray to observe the kindness – it is nurturing, protective and
have the capacity to understand it world of good design, of ‘taste’. To study undoubtedly magical. Also note that I
I never understood the language of through a deeply un-radical, and often drawing, to study lacquerwork were mean female as an opposing energy
modernism, the sophistication and inhuman lens. certainly all radical accomplishments to male, not as a defined gender.
excellence allegedly present, sometimes, for a woman at the time, yet impossible
in its neat forms and refined design. As a young person whose comprehension for a woman without means. Gray’s We often neglect to mention how life-
Even now, to use the word ‘modern’ to was, and is still, far outside of this world environment, undoubtedly, allowed her changing these simple representations
apply to a set, expired time-frame seems of good and bad taste– which is often a to be radical, yet it was her spirit that can be, and the many different nuances
somehow incorrect. I find that often, construct in protecting ideas of class, created the conditions to flourish. This is that this can appear as. The importance
defining artists and designers within privilege and wealth and serves as not a criticism – merely an observation of storytelling, however fictional, in
these simplified and limiting frameworks, isolating those who are born without, of circumstance, and one that is often allowing young people to see themselves
serves as a reduction of practice. It leads how I could understand or find a common overlooked. More often than not, and occupy a space that feels wholly
48 49impossible and unlikely. How much hope commonly found Swedish furniture. packaging, only as considered as it’s holds human histories, knowledge and
can come from the existence of another Individual cultures, voices and factory’s automation, it’s quality check, love. It is a gift that communicates who
person from where you live in imagining experiences should be cherished. The it’s ignorance of humanity. We have the you are to someone you love, literally
yourself existing alongside them, or into accepted understanding of the whole opportunity to welcome a human energy giving them a piece of yourself.
who’s atmosphere you hope to appear; IKEA catalogue speaks to how much we into our lives with the things that live
to one day converse. Often national allow ourselves to be swayed. Objects around us, a sort of love story that grows In contrast, the aluminium, steel,
identities serve to reduce cultures or are important. We accept, in many ways, with us, communicating cross- concrete, plaster that I see in E.1027 are
practices that are specific to place, for a life that is built for us – it’s very fabrics, generationally and instilling a culture personal reminders of my years working
example, I am Irish, within this definition, surfaces, textures are mass produced, and a place within us that knows us, on building sites with my Dad, or at least
I am from Wexford, and within this, I am taken so far from the human hand that that becomes us. It is ever present in the this materiality triggers a different kind of
from Ardcavan. All have specific initially made them to render them alien. abstract hand-tufted rugs by Ceadogán, personal memory. Surrounded by a very
connotations and traditions that can We are taking away the dialogue that spanning vast stretches of knowledge different, “masculine” energy. Within this
disappear under the term “Irish”. exists between the maker, and the person and skill. Both are specific to different I understand the fabrics of two different,
who experiences the made object – there places in Ireland, and both undoubtedly performed worlds – a constructed male
Seeing and imaging someone from the is a human, hidden exchange between protect connections to our lived pasts. world and a created female one. I can still
same place, especially a rural, un- the last smooth of a makers hand over a Imagine how much can be learned from smell and taste the dust, the scent of
cosmopolitan place, a place that I only wooden surface and the next human skin these processes, the lives that are lived masonry paint or varnish takes me
learned, or rather experienced, on arrival to touch it. and experienced by the feet walking over immediately back to the numerous sites
in England was distinctly working class, its surface. around Wexford where we worked. What
allowed me to think that something else, Consider the love and labour in creating I mean to say with “male” and “female”
something ‘altar,’ was an option for me. a hand woven blanket, the incredible skill For me, an example of this imbued energy ideas of materiality, is that they are often
Imagining how a “future you” might find seen in Mourne textiles that has been is ‘Tiddles’. Tiddles is a cross stitched cat performed, and we forever retain the
a voice to create something truthful or passed down through generations. my brother and I made with my right to remove them completely.
pure is an optimistic, manifesting and A lamb is reared by human hands to grandmother when I was five. My friends
radical act. I am not sure I would have become a sheep, the sheep is sheered. will know it as the first thing you see when Without applying academic explanation
the confidence to tell a young person Yarn is spun and rendered ready for dye. you come into my home, and previously it to Grays works and many masterpieces,
that anything can be done, much as The very dye is carefully curated, mixed lived on Nellie’s kitchen wall, carefully it shows how art can be understood by
my grandmother and mother had done and created. The ingredients come from observing the makings that continued to anyone– through the context of their own
without proof or experience of such. years of unwritten knowledge, human be created on that kitchen table. This being. The reality of a present can inform
These storytelling women are risk-takers, connection to place, exploration, knowing energy exists also in the linen table how you understand the world, and
protectors and have endlessly defied – recipes for colour often created in square embroidered by my grandmother, inevitably how one goes on to create.
definition in their own right. female spaces. It is not simply information. which she would take out for tea.
It is knowledge. Culture, art, creation exist Originally this particular piece came Gray’s work and legacy remove the
It would be impossible for me to speak in its preservation. As does love. The final from Curracloe house, where Nellie gender associations we have with certain
about Gray without referencing the real stage is an expert weaver, stringing spun worked as a maid and housekeeper materials. They meld together to birth
way her work and life was communicated yarn ready to be woven through warp when her husband was a farm hand something that will not slide easily into
to me. and weft to create a pattern, the skeleton for a protestant family. I never met my definition. If gender was real, if there was
of which has been in existence for Grandfather, he passed away very truth in it – we would not need certain
hundreds, if not thousands of years. young, leaving Nellie to rear seven cuts of cloth or standards of beauty to
Materiality Consider the hands that have created it, children alone. When I look at these define or by which to judge each other.
nourished it, designed it. The eyes and the cornerstone embroideries I imagine The act of endorsing these existing
The work of Eileen Gray, from her iconic human spirit that exist in every sleight of them creating a relief between her stereotypes often gives them power.
buildings to her embracing of furniture hand that goes into creating. Once the present (at that time) and her altar. Gray outwardly rejected these, not
design, to use of light and block colour threads are cut, this blanket exists as a I imagine the texture of it throughout through a public facing image of herself
to hand-woven Donegal rugs and thickly memory of place and of people. A certain my life, see the lilac, blue and green in say, a “suit” but by virtue of her own
painted gouche studies – exists within a energy undoubtedly exists within it. This coloured flowers explode in front of me. creation. The very tactility of the work
world of contrasts. Beautiful linen and blanket then goes on to decorate your A floral embroidery that existed in the and spaces she created allows for this
chrome, tufted rugs and lacquered room home; it disappears into your world. background of my life, a reminder of nuance.
dividers. Gray was ambitious with her So comfortably that you find your self both place, situation and craft. Years
own diversity, known for her embracing wrapping yourself in it, relying on its later, when making a shirt as a gift for
of craft, and for an acceptance that no touch for comfort, it’s fabrication for my boyfriend, I remember spending Truth
line was to be drawn between fine art warmth. This is a human exchange that hours embroidering bluebells and ducks
and craft. cannot be replicated through mass onto its front. Both are specific to memory Within Gray’s work, for me, there is great
making. An exchange of energies and and place, to Ardcavan, where I’m from. truth – real realities by which I look at
Our present way of living enables an knowledge into the truth of being, it’s The skill was learned and observed in my things now, how I interpret objects, how
acceptance of speed that inevitably function both physical and metaphysically. grandmother’s kitchen, it’s absorption I create and define a space, or react to
eliminates the human touch. Think of the In objects, we do not need some silent seeped into my being, it communicates an objects animation. Coupled with this is
knowledge we have for the names of object-thing that is only as human as it who I am, where I’m from and within that the experience of the story, the imagined
50 51place. Gray’s work, to me, existed in asserted by those who could extract in around her objects. A dedication to form, be compared to Gray. It is the equivalent
another world – a ghostly legend that I order to create wealth and governance. development and possibility that speaks of a drop in the ocean, but there is an
couldn’t quite believe existed. There are Place-specific culture and education was to the core of the human condition. Its acknowledgment of spirit that I believe
numerous texts and cultures that believe in-turn erased. It is this (extremely brief) ever present in the ambitious work in our exists, an ether conversation. It is not
creativity is a type of magic, and at the history that makes Gray’s work all the show, from the abstract and delicate direct inspiration or image that is taken,
very least a blessing. We often hear more radical. When a new, enforced forms of Sara Flynn, whose vessels invoke but this impossible to define ideal of
descriptions about the “place” one goes education system eradicates old ways, both an urge to touch and a fear to making. The idea of birthing a language,
to when making, it is as real as it is the means of making and the dialogues touching, a delicate balance that can only not the language itself. I think again, and
imagined. What we come back from this in craft based spaces, are often what be created when the human hand is often, of Nellie telling me about Eileen.
place with is often a surprise. The English sustains their existence. The very object present. You could easily get lost in her Of this cross-century conversation, a sort
language, and even the Hiberno-irish contains a lived truth, history. endless forms and shapes, perfectly of seance over soda bread and scones.
that is spoken in Ireland now, often balanced and unique from every angle, The work Nellie made – the scribbles on
eradicate wording and understandings Designed objects are those around which rendered in intense bold glazes. It is the back of cereal boxes, the painting of
by trying so hard to be accessible or we live our lives, sometimes so functional again seen in the rich physicality and birds on her shed, the stacking and
modern. An example I love is the word they disappear into the rituals of our permanence of the sculptures of Niamh gluing of seashells to create figurines for
Caithnín, which I recently rediscovered everyday. Through what I observe as a O’Malley, utilising metal, concrete, stone sale to tourists, the mending of people’s
in the excellent 32 Words for Field by capitalist ideal, design often takes on the and glass to create work that is at once clothes, the embroidered small animals
Manchán Magan – “It means a speck concept of seduction, without ever giving weighted and impossibly light, delicate, and painted stones, are too loving acts
of dust, a husk of corn, a snowflake, way to that free, creative existence. inviting, fragile. Abstract, yet somehow of defiance, but by different means. It is
a subatomic particle and a miniscule The same seduction can be found in art familiar in its humanity. The same radical to create and show work to an
smidge of butter, or anything tiny that direction, advertising, styling, production, ambitious surrender to material is glaring audience with which there is no
gets into the eye and irritates it. But, retouching, editing – non of which allow from the work of Laura Gannon, richly understanding to judge. I watched from
most evocatively of all, it also means for the trust of art making. Instead the worked upon linen, endlessly layered to my window, often, Nellie painting stones
the goosebumps you feel in moments created/imagined object is fed through create seas of reflection, colour, shadow or sketching until the early hours of the
when you contemplate how everything several filters, allowing for a homogenised and animation. There is a depth and morning. And this act has no less
is interrelated and how tiny we are in ‘production” wherein the object is “for animation to each piece that invites refinement or dedication than that of
relation to the whole, like that feeling sale”. To be for sale, is not to exist, to be conversation, each piece being spirited, Gray. My understanding of good work
when you realise, or, maybe, remember, for sale is to exist with the intention of imbued with a certain human quality. and creative spirit would never exist
that we are all one – all unified”. seducing the consumer, that they need All of these works represent activation, without both of these bodies of work,
the object. It is not the same as a natural they feel real, truthful, intentional and and the tales told in between. Both of
The spread of christianity through conversation or an art objects mere permanent. Each maker has a distinctive these people gave great gifts of inspiration,
indigenous place is one example in existence, as this transaction involves language, from which a conversation creating worlds that others could hope to
relatively recent history. both force and influence, and it is certainly about the core of making is born. one day absorb and in turn, orchestrate
not the same as a tunnel vision, artistic their own.
With the introduction, and by introduction creation or language. The human hand is evident in the rich
I mean introduction by force, of tufting seen in the works from Ceadogán, Here is the thing that the show aims to
Christianity in Ireland, we saw the loss Gray is different. Her understanding of including a unique archive piece lent from channel. This dedication and love of
of local language, local craft and local humans is different, her spirit is different. the Mainie Jellett estate, an abstract work, the equal acceptance of craft in
tradition for something that could be The nature of her existence is radical, painter who was a protégé of Eileen direct relation with art, eliminating the
created and sold. An extraction of labour always refusing to promote herself, rarely Gray. Here we see a cross century lines that separate the two and giving
that supported the British colonisers and speaking, yet constantly making and conversation appearing, the true lineage equal importance and agency to both
erased “Irish” traditions. In a further layer constantly delivering. The language she of Gray’s legacy of intention and maker and artist. Our rigid structures and
of erasure, the colonisation was of course invented has crossed every discipline, workmanship. Decades of histories and definitions, which more often than not
lead by British men, and assisted with from weaving and rug making to painting, developments exist too in the fabric of exist to serve sales, need changing, to
local Irish men with their ambitions set on furniture and architecture. It is pure Mourne textiles, teachings and tradition understand a different world can create
a better, wealthier life, as well as staying strength and defiance. For me, she is a relevant to both land and migration – a groundwork by which to change our
alive. A neo-religious capital structure rare figure whose work expels something the unique collaboration between own. The more we sell define, the more
was enforced. As well as the loss of land other than the aesthetic, it is an inspired weaver, designer, dyer, spinner and opportunity we give to commercially
and physical space, an erasure took confidence. The very fact that her work maker. Languages and skill overlap, interested parties to extract.
place within the Irish language, or in the exists, beyond all trend and any coded histories intertwine and a new space is
more commonly spoken hiberno-Irish. definition, is an invitation to make, to made. Here is an assertion that craft and We desperately need to take a step back,
While this new, colonised Ireland was create, and within that is an invitation making is part of our present, not our to appreciate these acts of creativity.
being created by men, for men, many to be. history – it lives in us and it creates the To embrace and sustain craftspeople,
words for female lead spaces and female worlds around us. It speaks to the thing artisans and artists. New and important
specific words were lost – from genitalia, What Gray’s work says to me is something that vests both modernity and the ancient understandings can be found in the birth
menstruation, sexuality and health to of humanity and sincerity, within that is in modern Irish work. of ideas, in visits to this ‘altar’, and
words relating to resources, craft, weave, both permanence and transience. It is absolutely anyone can reach it.
dye, food recipes etc. Power was a sort of totemic personage that exists I would never say that my own work could
52 53In my mind it is human beings like Gray, A special thank you to everyone who’s
like Nellie, like every artist in this show, tireless efforts, despite a global pandemic,
who silently create different futures, have catapulted this show into existence.
unique spaces for real creativity and love I hope it is an inspiring for the viewer as it
to flourish. We owe it to them to listen; has been for those involved in creating it.
we owe these makers a conversation. It is an optimistic and hopeful gesture to
celebrate the future of radical, self
It is incorrect to say that we should never defining Irish makers, who’s livelihoods
meet our heroes. The work that is left are constantly precarious despite the
behind by those we admire is the richness that their art brings to the fabric
beginning of real dialogue and real of our lives.
learning. Our world can facilitate a more
nuanced way of ‘meeting’, and imagined Thank you to the incredible team at Cap
dialogues are often as important as real Moderne, without whom this would not
ones. be possible – especially Cathy Giangrande
and Michael Likierman. To Elisabetta and
The work of Gray, and so too, the makers Geraldine on site at E–1027, for welcoming
in this show, represent the same love and and supporting us on site.
legacy. This act of making is a great,
ambitious and inspiring thing, which no Thank you to the team at the National
doubt creates a certain momentum with Museum, for accommodating such a
our future, and our past. Making and grassroots project and giving us this
Momentum, I sincerely hope, serves as an space – namely Lynn, Terri, Clare, Charli,
open invitation for others to experience Martin and all of the great staff on site.
the truth and generosity found in the Thank you Dr. Jennifer Goff for your
creative spirit. fantastic and generous research that
has fed so many artists and makers.
Making and Momentum: In conversation Thank you Tom, Isabel and Rike for your
with Eileen Gray opened in Roquebrune, wonderful support in this endeavour.
France this July, to coincide with the
completed renovation of Eileen Gray’s Finally, thank you to all of the fantastic
iconic E–1027 Villa. The exhibition will artists who are the beating heart of this
travel to Ireland's National Museum, show. Your work is endlessly inspiring
before a closing show in Wexford, the and uplifting to so many.
birthplace of both Eileen Gray and
Richard Malone. The exhibition is curated Colm and Martina, Mario, Sara, Niamh,
by Richard Malone, and celebrates the Laura, Mainie, Nellie.
legacy of modernism in Ireland, and the
influence of modern Irish making And of course, the fantastic Eileen Gray.
worldwide. The exhibition features some Your work, commitment and spirit
of Irelands most prominent and daring continues to inspire generations of
makers – Ceadogán, Laura Gannon, makers around the world - thank you.
Maine Jellett, Mourne Textiles, Niamh
O’Malley, Richard Malone and Sara Richard Malone, August 2021
Flynn.
5456 57
59
60 61
62 63
64 65
Artist statement by Niamh O’Malley To know ‘intent’ or to try to describe it,
contradicts the act of ‘finding the work’
which is the act of making. A visitor would
see that numerous templates and shapes
have been cut from card and paper and
rest in early compositions on the wall and
on the ground. There are stacks of vertical
steel posts and piles of wooden blocks,
some from pre-existing works and others
migrating as props, measures and
prototypes for potential forms. Slivers
of coloured and textured glass have been
shaped, cut, sanded and wrapped in
copper foil. Some are soldered and
patina-ed and balanced on the head of
a nail. They hold the light against the wall.
Things seem to be an effort to anchor
and contain, Stones laid, glass cut, wood
stained, hung, arranged, composed, sat,
lain, stood, cornered. Handmade is only
relevant in terms of ‘hand-thought’.
This is not puzzle solving but puzzles
examined. Can thinking through materials
expand the way things are known? Any or
all of these may or may not become part
of an exhibition
Niamh O'Malley, August 2021
66 6768 69
70 71
72 73
74 75
76 77
78 79
06–07 E-1027 © Manuel Bougot 13 Story (2020) by Laura Gannon 20 Sculptures by Richard Malone 22–23 E-1027 with pieces by various artists in the show
21 Vases by Sara Flynn, © Manuel Bougot
14–15 E-1027 © Manuel Bougot 16 Abstract i (running; rusts and yellow) by Richard 24 Story (2020) by Laura Gannon 28 Vessel by Sara Flynn
Malone x Mourne Textiles 25 S (2020) by Laura Gannon 29 E-1027 with throw by Richard Malone x Mourne
17 Sculpture by Richard Malone, © Manuel Bougot Textiles
Abstract i (running; rusts and yellow) Handwoven wool
archival blanket, based on mourne textiles founder
Gerd Haye-Edies original designs. Hand appliqued by
Richard Malone in woven silks and wool, designed by
Malone. Only one ever made, first shown in Eileen
Grays Villa E.1027.
8130–31 E-1027 © Manuel Bougot 32–33 Archive images © Editions Imbernon 38 áit (motion, form), 2021 by Richard Malone and 40 Ceramic vessel grouping (2021) by Sara Flynn
Mourne textiles 41 no.12 rug by Mainie Jellett
39 Vessels by Sara Flynn
áit Handwoven wool panels encased in Mahogany. Ceramic vessel grouping thrown, cut, slab-built,
Each panel is completely hand woven in the mourne reassembled porcelain
mountains, from locally sourced and grown wool,
undyed. The transparent weave is extremely rare no.12 Archive Mainie Jellett designed, hand tufted rug.
and complex to create, and based on archival 50s one of a kind. Mainie Jellett was a protege and friend of
weaves from Mourne Textiles founder Gerd Haye-Edie. Eileen Gray. Made in Wexford.
The panel is then hand-appliqued with woven silk by
Richard Malone, in signature abstract shapes -
alluding to human form, motion, and the ether.
Designed by Richard Malone, with weaving by Mourne
Textiles. Only one piece has ever been made, unique.
First shown in Eileen Gray's villa E.1027, July 2021.
34–34 Archive images © Editions Imbernon 36–37 Room at E-1027 with throw by Richard Malone 42 éitear; R.5713 (imagining E.1027) (2021) by Richard 44 Posts i, ii, iii (2019) sculpture by Lorem ipsum
x Mourne Textiles Malone
43 Bathroom detail at E-1027
éitear; R.5713 (imagining E.1027) A hand tufted, one of Posts i, ii, iii steel wood and glass sculptures installed
a kind abstract rug. Made from archive locally sourced on the terrace at E-1027
and dyed wools, designed by Richard Malone. Only one
ever made. Made in Wexford. First shown in Eileen
Gray's villa E.1027, July 2021.
8356–57 E-1027 © Manuel Bougot 58–59 Installation view, Salle Saint Lucie, Roquebrune 64–65 E-1027 © Manuel Bougot 68 Abstract iv (twists, sea spike's blue) by Richard
village, July 2021 Malone x Mourne Textiles
69 Abstract iii (expanse, curves in sky's blue) by
Richard Malone x Mourne Textiles
Abstract iv (twists, sea spike's blue) Handwoven wool
archival blanket, based on mourne textiles founder
Gerd Haye-Edies original designs. Hand appliqued by
Richard Malone in woven silks and wool, designed by
Malone. Only one ever made, first shown in Eileen
Grays Villa E–1027.
Abstract iii (expanse, curves in sky's blue) Installed at
lower gorund floor bedroom Handwoven wool archival
blanket, based on mourne textiles founder Gerd Haye-
Edies original designs. Hand appliqued by Richard
Malone in woven silks and wool, designed by Malone.
Only one ever made, first 79 shown in Eileen Grays Villa
E–1027.
60 The bone (2020) by Laura Gannon 62 Camber-esker (2021) by Sara Flynn 70 Bathroom at E-1027 © Manuel Bougot 72 Bedroom at E-1027 with sculpture by Laura Gannon
61 Vessels (2021) by Sara Flynn 63 Bibendum chair by Eileen Gray 71 Abstract iii (expanse, curves in sky's blue) 73 Bathroom detail at E-1027
by Richard Malone x Mourne Textiles,
photographed in the main living area of E–1027
Camber-esker thrown, cut, reassembled porcelain
8574–75 Ghosts iii (low) (2021) by Richard Malone 76–77 E-1027 © Manuel Bougot
Ghosts iii (low) Hand patchworked textile sculpture.
Freestanding in recycled jersey, cotton, steel. Pink/
navy, 2 pieces. Unique. 2021. By multi award winning
Irish artist and designer Richard Malone.
79 Bedroom at E-1027 © Manuel Bougot
87Biographies
Niamh O’Malley Her work is held in many major collections including explains in her essay, Shades of Gray – Laura Gannon
The Victoria & Albert Museum London, England; The “In 1922 Mainie Jellet and Evie Hone met Gray through
Born Co Mayo, Ireland, Niamh O’Malley currently Devonshire Collection at Chatsworth House, England; a mutual friend Kate Weatherby. Gray had the most Laura Gannon's work oscillates between drawing,
lives and works in Dublin, Ireland. The Gardiner Museum, Toronto, Canada; The impact on Mainie Jellett, as she encouraged Jellet to sculpture, painting and film. Recent works include
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England, U.K., The produce her own rug designs.12 In 1927 Jellett designed abstract drawings made with metallic ink on linen.
‘Niamh O’Malley’s artwork reveals a profound Art Institute of Chicago, U.S.A.; The Hepworth Gallery, and had rugs made at the Gray Wyld workshop in rue The linen has been subjected to multiple processes to
appreciation for the act of trying. Trying to catch a England and The National Museum of Ireland. de Visconti. Though some of Jellett’s carpets are formal reveal its corporeality: folding, bending and wrinkling
certain slant of light, trying to prove a pattern or exercises in Albert Gleizes’s theories of abstract cubism suggesting their raw physicality and directness.
uncover a composition, trying to fathom a mountain, She was shortlisted for the inaugural edition of the – other clearly demonstrate Gray’s influence. A circular Her artwork titles are chosen from female literary
trying to hold time still. Working with the moving image, Loewe Foundation Craft Prize in 2017. rug design of 1933 is directly inspired by Gray’s rug Tapis and architectural references. She uses the titles of
mark making and sculptural materials such as glass Ronde which she created for the living room of E1027” short stories and the names of architects, embedding
and wood, O’Malley’s work attempts to contain and She has been a member of the Experts Panel for the the works with the possibility of narrative and
reflect the weight and wonder of the world in its Loewe Craft Prize in 2018, 2019 and 2020 and has also Mainie Jellett made many rug designs through the architectural scale. Gannon's films mark a parallel
becoming. It is the act of trying, in the face of predictable been a member of the judging panel for the RDS Craft latter part of the 1920’s and into the 1930’s. The current to her sculptural drawings with their articulation of
failure, that gives way to conviction and a sense of hope Prize (2018, 2019 and 2020). collection of rugs, made by Ceadogán Rugs at their temporality, light, space and the act of looking;
within the artist’s work. Full of reflection, both literal workshops in Co. Wexford, are based on her original intimate portraits of distinctive architectural buildings.
and metaphorical, filled with absence and framed by In 2020 she sat on the Exhibition Panel for the Design gouache drawings and have been produced by kind
negative space, O’Malley’s work asserts something & Crafts Council Ireland. permission of the representatives of the Jellett estate. Gannon lives and works in London and West Cork.
unstoppable about the human spirit, something that All the rugs are made with 100% pure wool but can also
neither distance nor death can extinguish’ Exhibition be made using silk/ wool (55%/45%) mix. The rugs are Recent solo exhibitions include VISUAL, Carlow,
produced in limited editions of 10.
text by Kate Strain, Grazer Kunstverein, 2018 Ceadogán (2019-20), Kate MacGarry, London (2018), Espace
Croisé, Centre d’Art Contemporain, France, (2016);
O’Malley has made numerous solo exhibitions in recent Ceadogán Rugs began as a small hearth rug business Silver House, Uillinn; West Cork Arts Centre, Ireland,
years including mother’s tankstation limited (2020), in Wexford town in 1981 under dye house master Tom Richard Malone (2015).
Royal Hibernian Academy (2019), Lismore Castle Arts Ceadogain. It was acquired by Denis Kenny and Fiona
(2019), Grazer Kunstverein (2018), Bluecoat Liverpool Guilboy in 1989 , Denis having undertook an Richard Malone, 30, is a multi-disciplinary artist and Group shows include Drawing Biennal, Drawing room,
(2015), Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (2017) & (2015) a apprenticeship with Tom (after stints as a fisherman, designer from Wexford, Ireland. Malone graduated London (2019) Andersen’s Contemporary, Copenhagen,
five venue solo show called ‘The Mayo Collaborative’ teacher and pig farmer, a true renaissance man!). from Central Saint Martins in 2014, winning both the (2018), Show Window, Kate MacGarry, London, (2016);
Ireland (2013), ‘Garden’, Project Arts Centre, Dublin Deutsche Bank and LVMH Grand Prix prizes for his Folly: Art After Architecture, Glucksman Gallery, Cork,
(2013) Ha Gamle Prestegard, Norway (2012), ‘Model’, Over thirty years with Denis and Fiona at the helm, collection. In February 2020, rounding off the meteoric (2014); A House of Leaves, David Roberts Art Foundation,
Green on Red Gallery, Dublin, Ireland (2011), ‘Island’, Ceadogán went from a small hearth rug business first chapter of his career, Malone was named the (DRAF) London, (2013). A House in Cap-Martin was
Centre Culturel Montehermoso, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain to a leading maker of fine bespoke rugs and wall winner of the International Woolmark Prize, previously included in Customary Beauty, Mor-Charpentier, Paris,
(2010), ‘Frame, Glass, Black’ Centre Culturel Irlandais, hangings. Our work can be found hanging or lying awarded to Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent – (2011); Silver House was screened as part of the Official
Paris, France (2010), ‘Echo’, Gaain Gallery, Seoul, Korea all around the globe. praised by the panel of judges for his ‘radically Selection Milano Design Film Festival, (2017).
(2010), ‘No Distance’, Void, Derry, Northern Ireland transparent’ working practise, revolutionary approach
(2009). A selection of group exhibitions include Berwick In 2021 the baton was passed again and Colm Kenny to research and a redefined notion of luxury. The
Film & Media Arts Festival, CAG, Vancouver, KARST, and Martina Navrátilová took the reins having spent lifeblood of his garments is Malone’s detailed, sensitive Mourne Textiles
Plymouth, eva International, Biennale of Visual Art, several years deeply involved in the running of observation of the body. A staunch advocate for
Limerick, Eli & Edythe Broad Museum, Michigan, Ceadogán rugmakers. In good keeping with tradition women’s rights, Malone was a vocal public supporter Mourne Textiles was founded in the foothills of the
Kilkenny Arts Festival, Galleria Civica di Modena, both Colm and Martina found their way to rug making of the Repeal The 8th campaign in Ireland and the UK Mourne Mountains, County Down, in 1954 by
White Box, New York, Irish Museum of Modern Art, via the scenic route with backgrounds in furniture and – including a protest at London’s Selfridges department Norwegian textile designer, Gerd Hay-Edie. Over
Kunstverein Ludwigsburg, Germany. Niamh O’Malley, fine art printmaking (and a few other detours along store. He has dressed and collaborated with clients the years that followed, Gerd’s textile designs and
with Temple Bar Gallery + Studios as the curator, will the way!) ranging from art and fashion industry executives to pioneering weaving techniques became a staple of
represent Ireland at the 59th Venice Art Biennale in international icons: Tilda Swinton, Roisin Murphy, mid-century design and collaborations with celebrated
2022. We are now a team of eight people united in our Björk, Debbie Harry, Rihanna, Kate Moss and Beyoncé. designers such as Robin Day, Hille and Conran,
passion for design and making. We are dedicated to Malone’s essays and letters have been published by established Gerd’s lasting influence upon the world
the pursuit of excellence in our craft and pride in our British Vogue and Luncheon magazine. of weaving.
Sara Flynn work.
As well as his bi-annual shows at London Fashion Week, Gerd handed her expertise down to daughter Karen
Sara Flynn was born in Cork, Ireland in 1971, and We remain true to our roots – fiercely independent, Malone’s work has become highly collectible and is part Hay-Edie, a Master-Weaver in her own right, who in
trained in the Crawford College of Art & Design, committed to our local heritage and the tradition of the permanent collections of some of the world’s most turn passed the baton on to her son, Mario Sierra,
Cork City, Ireland. of exceptional craftsmanship. Our workshop and prestigious museums and galleries – including the who shares the family passion for weaving and now
showroom are situated in the family homestead, Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) in New York, the Design runs the Mourne Textiles studio.
Her studio is in Belfast, Northern Ireland. a stone walled farmyard that dates back to the 1600s, Museum in London, and the National Gallery of Victoria
overlooking Bannow Bay Estuary in Co. Wexford. in Melbourne. His cross-disciplinary approach includes Mario continues the Mourne Textiles legacy from the
Having begun her career in 1999 producing small-scale sculpture, performance, illustration and photography. original site in Rostrevor and like his grandmother,
functional pots, as her skill has increased she has Malone is internationally recognised as an advocate for seeks out opportunities to work alongside respected
moved entirely into making one-off Sculptural Maine Jellett conscious design and has worked across the world in designers. Recent projects have included partnerships
Decorative Vessels. ’Closed’ Abstract Forms are also researching and developing sustainable practices for with some of the most exciting names in modern
explored through the production of limited-edition Mainie Jellett (1897 – 1944) was one of Ireland’s finest the fashion industry. Malone’s pieces are made in design, including Margaret Howell, Carl Hansen,
Cast Bronze objects. painters of the 20th century. She was part of the strictly limited editions, or completely unique – Pinch and Twentytwentyone.
explosion of ‘Modernism’ of 1920’s Europe and was fabrications include handwoven cotton supporting
She is represented in London by Erskine, Hall & Coe, a notable contributor to the ‘Art Deco’ movement regenerative farming, locally sourced woven wools from Mario and the Mourne Textiles Team, continue to
Mayfair; and has held five solo exhibitions with them. that revolutionised thinking in design, colour and the Mourne mountains, regenerated ocean-waste proudly champion the beauty and community of their
composition. jerseys and garments reconstructed from past season surroundings and combine this with a deep respect
Her first Solo Exhibition in Japan was held in Sokyo toiles. Malone is strongly against the mass production of craftsmanship, artistry and design excellence.
Gallery, Kyoto, in 2019, and her fist Solo exhibition in Jellett was a know protege of Eileen Gray, as Dr. involved in the fashion industry.
France will be held with Galerie d’Ancienne Poste, Jennifer Goff, (the world leading expert on Gray and
in Toucy in May 2021. Curator of Furniture, Musical Instruments and the
Eileen Gray collection, National Museum of Ireland)
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