Exhibition

Gary Shaw

‘memeOrising’

14 - 27 June 2025

FREE All welcome

Open Tuesday to Saturday, 11am - 5pm

EVENTS

Opening reception - Saturday 14 June, 2-4pm

The Exhibition

Gary Shaw returns to R-Space Gallery with selected work developed since 2019, a period that covers the collapse of political institutions, UK withdrawal from the European Union (Brexit), the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, and the centenary of Northern Ireland in 2021. All are referenced throughout the exhibition and contribute to his ongoing intent of illuminating the narratives of post-conflict malaise and political ineptitude in visual ways that are comical, profound and despairing.

These latest works push the boundaries of digital imaging to create an often dystopian view of contemporaneous events. Appropriation, image adaptation and peculiar juxtapositions form a common approach, challenging the viewer to engage with familiar visual references including maps, iconic figures, buildings, objects or the simply mundane. Arguably, the work is rooted in activism and much of the content is designed to be unsettling.

The exhibition marks a natural evolution with Gary’s practice, creating a world of alternative realities, bizarre word associations, historical references or simply using digital effects to produce seamless montages and in some cases, work that resembles traditional paper-cut collage. Nothing is sacred or immune from parody. ‘memeOrising’ as a title concept is a play on words (meme, rising, memory, mesmerising) and first appeared in a digital photo book published in 2022.

About the artist

Gary Shaw is an award winning Northern Ireland-based visual artist, curator and cultural management professional. A graduate of Belfast College of Art (Ulster University) in the late 1980s, he undertook further post-graduate studies which informed his varied vocational pathway across subsequent decades. Aside from his arts practice, Gary is passionate about the exploration of cultural identities, heritage, place-shaping and the environment, evidenced by his involvement in a range of landmark projects, activities and creative collaborations.

https://linktr.ee/garyshawvisual

Funder

R-Space is supported by the National Lottery through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (principal funder).