A VAGUE ANXIETY

At IMMA Dublin, there is a group exhibition of vague anxieties which are derived from plus to status quo of the world, effects of social media and turning into an art / production form: A Vague Anxiety is open until 18 August… Emerging mostly Irish and international artists, there are some views from İstanbul as well… Helio Léon with his series ‘Tarlabaşı’ and the other artists point out “the rising levels of anxiety in our media-driven lives”…

Photo: Ros Kavanagh

Artists address some concerns of Generation Y range from social issues such as borders and residential districts to personal issues such as mental health, hook-up culture, gender identity… As exhibition’s curator Sean Kissane says “the most pressing theme,” Kissane realized there was not just one, but several issues. “There are so many pressing themes such as climate, politics, the housing crisis, the internet, apps, these things are pressing on us in the present.” This exhibition neither poses questions nor presents solutions but reflects on our present tensions… Featured artists include Cristina Bunello, Marie Farrington, Saidhbhín Gibson, Helio León, Brian Teeling and Susanne Wawra with their works through diverse mediums from traditional painting, sculpture and photography.

Helio Leon, Maria’s Shadow Barcelona, 2010

Helio Leon, The Purple Room, Tarlabaşı 2015

Helio León, a photographer from Madrid, he comes back and discovers İstanbul with his personal view and creating a visual diary of İstanbul’s exploration as a former exchange student in the city. He declines: “There’s no respect for history and cultural heritage in İstanbul. The most notorious of these remodeling plans at the time was in Tarlabaşı neighborhood which was being evicted and demolished at a fast pace, a beautiful neighborhood, full of history and personality. There was an increasing feeling of oppression”.

Another artist, Irish Brian Teeling’s work on mental disintegration and other angst-inducing experiences range from the context of the public space to the innately private. While his photography often focuses on the trappings of the queer and working-class identity, he believes that increasing tendency to look inwards is a major component in millennial angst.

Brian Teeling, South-End, Shower-Time 2018

Besides the exhibition, there will be lectures on contemporary anxieties of the digital age. One of them will be Dr. Kylie Jarrett’s Hater Gonna Hate: The Political Economy of Online Misogyny.  As an expert in user experiences of social media, she will examine concepts of identity, sexuality and fundamental shifts in labour practices and the economy, with the rise of online hate as a socioeconomic phenomenon of today.