Benjamin De Burca
February 25th - March 23rd

the third space is delighted to present a series of new paintings by Benjamin de Burca. If art imitates life, then Benjamin de Burca seeks to construct a new language where art might imitate itself. On gathering reproductions of paintings, he then employs methods which fuse approach with concept, reformulating the surface of the 'painting' by obliterating it with paint, sandpaper or slicing directly into and removing parts of it. These methods create a dialogue between the 'original' surface and the intended outcome. Making new objects of these painting reproductions sees them reinstated as art objects and creates a power struggle between the original surface and its intended meaning, and that of the newly interpreted surface and in so doing raises questions of authorship and originality.

Although the reproductions represent a cross section of painters from differing times and places, thematically they are the same in their presentation of a utopian vision of life in harmony with nature. Their styles may also differ but the rules of representation apply; a tree is a tree, a cloud is a cloud, and so on. In de Burca's recycled interpretations these rules are broken, making solid what was ethereal, shifting lines of perspective and entirely removing elements that were central to the 'original'. He thereby creates a more uncertain terrain, which hints at a dystopia considerably more accurate in reflecting the times we find ourselves living in today.

Benjamin de Burca lives and works in Belfast. He received a BA (Hons) Degree in Fine Art from Glasgow School of Art in 1999 and an MA in Fine Art from University of Ulster in 2006. Selected exhibitions include; Seed of Zero, The Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast, 2006,1% Fire, G126 gallery Galway (Tulca Festival), 2006, Members Show, Catalyst Arts, Belfast, 2006, There is no place, Lloyd Jerome, Glasgow, 2004 and The Cult of Difficult, Project Ability, Glasgow, 2004.

For information please contact; Hugh Mulholland on 0044 (0) 2890 237757 or
hugh@thethirdspacegallery.com