Kevin Gallagher
Kevin Gallagher was born in 1986 in Chicago (US). He lives and works in Rotterdam (NL).
Sculpture is an armature: it can be mounted, modulated, applied, broken down into pieces, and recombined into new configurations. It is the structure, like a skeleton, that gives presence to effects. This process is transient, sensitive, temporal. In order for a sculpture to have a long life, there must always be a latent element of this wink through time. Not historical time or timeless time, but a purulent time, a time of flow, pulsing, splashing, smelling. The most exciting moments for me in the construction of the works are allowing them this variable, something that can and must change. This is close to life, and maybe even to intelligence.
I recently visited a bio-mimetic robotics lab in Delft. I believe the way they think about bio-mimicry in building robots can provide me with a useful guide to describe my own sculptural work. They break down the practice of biomimicry into three different categories: systems (e.g., ecosystems), forms (e.g., species), and processes (e.g., photosynthesis). I find these categories to be a very useful guide for considering my own practice and artistic production, especially when it comes to sculpture.
Kevin Gallagher completed his bachelor’s degree at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2009) and a master’s degree at the Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam (2013). His upcoming exhibitions include a solo show at Galerie Lodos in Mexico City and Prospects and Concepts at Art Rotterdam. Recent exhibitions include A Thousand Varied Uses at Nogueras Blanchard, Madrid (2014); An Evening in Three Acts at Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam (2014); Nothing Could Be Slow Enough, Nothing Lasts Too Long at TENT, Rotterdam (2013); and Three Artists Walk Into a Bar at De Appel, Amsterdam (2012). In 2013, he received the Werkbijdrage Jong Talent award from the Mondriaan Foundation.
