Press release

BOSTON-BORN ARTIST EILEEN QUINLAN FEATURED IN PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION AT THE ICA/BOSTON

EXHIBITION INCLUDES NEW SERIES NEVER BEFORE ON VIEW

MOMENTUM 13: EILEEN QUINLAN
March 18 - July 12, 2009

Boston, MA -- The 13th exhibition in the Institute of Contemporary Art's Momentum series features Boston-born artist Eileen Quinlan in her first solo museum presentation. Momentum examines new developments in contemporary art, inviting emerging artists from the U.S. and around the world to show their work at the ICA. Quinlan's captivating images highlight photography's paradoxical ability both to record fact and create illusion. Based entirely in the studio, Quinlan's work uses pre-digital photography techniques—such as gels, strobes, smoke and mirrors—to create mesmerizing abstract compositions of light, color, and texture. On view from March 18 to July 12, 2009, Momentum 13: Eileen Quinlan features over twenty prints from six bodies of work, including a new series never before on view. 
 
"We are delighted to present the first solo museum exhibition of Boston native Eileen Quinlan," says Jill Medvedow, Director of the ICA/Boston. "Quinlan's abstract work explores the boundaries of the photographic medium."
 
"Quinlan's beguiling images invite us to appreciate the mechanics and psychology inherent in the construction of pictures," says Jen Mergel, Associate Curator at the ICA/Boston. "Her works recall the pure abstraction of Modernist painting, but are actually direct representations of the items used to create backdrops in commercial photography. Evoking the sleek environment of an ad campaign, her imagery is seductive yet product-free, prompting imaginative projections instead of quick recognition. The sheer beauty of Quinlan's work encourages us to reconsider assumed limits and potential for the photographic image."
 
For her ICA exhibition, titled My eyes can only look at you, Quinlan has created Fracas (2009), a new series featuring the ubiquitous fixture of retail display: slat board, the anonymous grooved panel from which merchandise is hung. Juxtaposed with new prints from her prismatic series Night Flight (2008) and the undulating surfaces in the paired series Backdrop and Bandit (2006-2008), these latest works extend her exploration of photography's capacity to "make strange" and seductive even the most ordinary furnishings meant to fade into the background.
 
Artist bio
Born in Boston and a graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts/Tufts University and Columbia University, Eileen Quinlan has recently had solo exhibitions at Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York; Sutton Lane, Paris; and Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Cologne. Quinlan's first solo museum exhibition, Momentum 13: Eileen Quinlan at the ICA/Boston, features selections of past and new projects to trace the development of her practice to date.
 
The Momentum series is sponsored by AKRIS.
 
Exhibition-related programs
Lunchtime Talk: Momentum 13: Eileen Quinlan
Thursday, March 19, 2009 at 12 PM
Momentum 13 artist Eileen Quinlan and ICA Associate Curator Jen Mergel discuss the artist's work in this talk designed for the lunch hour. Free with museum admission. Space is limited. Free tickets are available first-come, first-served one hour before the program. Ticket holders receive a 10% discount at the Water Café. May not be combined with any other offer.

About the ICA
An influential forum for multi-disciplinary arts, The Institute of Contemporary Art has been at the leading edge of art in Boston for seventy years. Like its iconic building on Boston's waterfront, the ICA offers new ways of engaging with the world around us. Its exhibitions and programs provide access to contemporary art, artists, and the creative process, inviting audiences of all ages and backgrounds to participate in the excitement of new art and ideas. The Institute of Contemporary Art, located at 100 Northern Avenue, is open Tuesday and Wednesday, 10 am - 5 pm; Thursday and Friday, 10 am - 9 pm; and Saturday and Sunday, 10 am - 5 pm. Admission is $15 adults, $10 seniors and students, and free for members and children 17 and under. Free admission on Target Free Thursday Nights, 5-9 pm. For more information, call 617-478-3100 or visit our Web site at www.icaboston.org.

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