Irena Posner : Best in Show

11 May - 29 July 2023

  • Irena Posner

    Best In Show
  • The works by British artist Irena Posner (b. 1988) enter the realm of allegory, playfulness and humour to explore power structures through animal discourses, selective breeding and fetish. 
     
    Posner’s trio of marble sculptures presented in the new exhibition Best in Show takes domestication and the implicit compromise of freedoms for comfort as a central theme while strongly referencing the literary work of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, and Donna Haraway and Michail Bulgakov (Heart of a Dog). 
     
    With a retrospective view on the portrayal of domestic animals in marble sculpture, there has been a lengthy tradition of animal carvings at the foot of royal tombs. The dog motif was typical for female funerary ornaments (lions for men) as symbols of devotion and fidelity. Posner’s works reconsider the representation and immortalisation of animals in the context of the human realm and the deification of domestic pets. 
  • Installation View, Irena Posner, Best in Show, 2023
    • Irena Posner Dolce, 2023 Hand Carved, Carrara marble 85 x 60 x 36 cm 33 1/2 x 23 5/8 x 14 1/8 in
      Irena Posner
      Dolce, 2023
      Hand Carved, Carrara marble
      85 x 60 x 36 cm
      33 1/2 x 23 5/8 x 14 1/8 in
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    • Irena Posner No tongue can tell, no tail can wag, 2023 Hand Carved, Statuario marble and steel 92 x 44 x 36 cm 36 1/4 x 17 3/8 x 14 1/8 in
      Irena Posner
      No tongue can tell, no tail can wag, 2023
      Hand Carved, Statuario marble and steel
      92 x 44 x 36 cm
      36 1/4 x 17 3/8 x 14 1/8 in
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    • Irena Posner Mind doesn’t matter when matter doesn’t mind, 2023 Hand Carved, Portuguese pink marble 63 x 44.5 x 28 cm 24 3/4 x 17 1/2 x 11 in
      Irena Posner
      Mind doesn’t matter when matter doesn’t mind, 2023
      Hand Carved, Portuguese pink marble
      63 x 44.5 x 28 cm
      24 3/4 x 17 1/2 x 11 in
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    • Irena Posner The Landlady, 2022 Hand Carved, marble 60 x 50 x 35 cm 23 5/8 x 19 3/4 x 13 3/4 in
      Irena Posner
      The Landlady, 2022
      Hand Carved, marble
      60 x 50 x 35 cm
      23 5/8 x 19 3/4 x 13 3/4 in
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    • Irena Posner Eva perched on a wood beam, 2022 Hand Carved, Statuario marble 70 x 48 x 53 cm 27 1/2 x 18 7/8 x 20 7/8 in
      Irena Posner
      Eva perched on a wood beam, 2022
      Hand Carved, Statuario marble
      70 x 48 x 53 cm
      27 1/2 x 18 7/8 x 20 7/8 in
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  • Installation View, Irena Posner, Best in Show, 2023
  • No tongue can tell, no tail can wag
    Irena Posner
    No tongue can tell, no tail can wag, 2023
    Statuario marble and steel
    92 x 44 x 36 cm
    36 1/4 x 17 3/8 x 14 1/8 in

    No tongue can tell, no tail can wag

    The steel muzzle welded directly onto the marble, the cropped pointed ears and docked tail of the Doberman in her sculpture, No tongue can tell, no tail can wag, are design features and signifiers of the curated pedigree. Trained and muzzled, the dog begets a status among other animals. Posner refers to Donna Haraway’s When Species Meet where canine training regimes involve the constant restraint of a dog’s desires until the ‘virtue’ of self-restraint is solidified, a distinctly human virtue that we inculcate in our pets. 
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  • Irena Posner, Installation View: Best in Show, 2023 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Irena Posner, Installation View: Best in Show, 2023 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Irena Posner, Installation View: Best in Show, 2023 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Irena Posner, Installation View: Best in Show, 2023
  • Dolce
    Irena Posner
    Dolce, 2023
    Carrara marble
    85 x 60 x 36 cm
    33 1/2 x 23 5/8 x 14 1/8 in

    Dolce

    The copulating dogs depicted in Posner’s work Dolce alludes to Bernini’s Rape of Proserpina, a sculpture that beautifies violence through the lure of stone. Capturing a brief encounter on a durational material, Posner recontextualises the marble, using the material as a testing ground for the implicit biases acquired by the marble as a material of veneration and subjugation. 
     
    Ultimately, Irena Posner challenges expectations for marble, questioning the material’s connection to idealisation and memorialisation. Instead of another female nude or idolised bust, Posner shines a light on subjects seldom chiselled while incorporating a socially critical viewing point. 

     

     

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  • ‘There are strong opinions about what can and can’t be represented in marble. That frustration or perception that the material is used ‘improperly’ is kind of the sweet spot for me. It complicates our perception of what we thought was an innocuous piece of stone.  Suddenly we are asking questions about value and what is worthy of being re-presented in marble.’ 

  • About the artist

    Irena holds a Masters in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art. She was awarded the Harlow Sculpture Town Artist in Residence for 2023 and was the recipient of the Gilbert Bayes Sculpture Award in 2021. She was shortlisted for the Kenneth Armitage Award in 2022 and has undertaken residencies in Carrara, Italy and Weymouth, England, and most recently completed a 6-month carving residency at the University of East London. Her works are held in Odunpazari Modern Museum, Turkey and Fondazione Benetton, Italy. Irena works between Carrara and London. 
     
    Selected solo and group exhibitions include: D Contemporary, (2023), Groundwork, Studio West (2022), Ashburner Sculpture Prize (2022), Stone Lane Gardens (2022), Making Marks, Battersea Park (2022), Degree Show, Royal College of Art (2022), Equal quantities of everything, The Baths Hackney Wick, London, (2022), Fle-sh, Old Operating Theatre, London (2020), WIP, Royal College of Art, London (2020), Movement, Tate Ex-change, Tate Modern, London (2019), Unfinished, Peckham Levels, London (2018), Light Ignites our Inspi-ration, Asylum, London (2018), Snorkel, Cookhouse Gallery Chelsea, London (2018), Fragments, The Ga-rage, London (2017), Still Lives, Erarta Gallery (2016), London Griffin Gallery Open, Griffin Gallery (2015)