Memory to Form 
Guggi 
Sculpture and Painting

Château La Coste is pleased to present an exhibition of new sculpture and painting by Irish artist Guggi (b. 1959, Dublin) exploring the complexities of the human experience and the artist’s personal memories through interpretations of the humble vessel.

Titled Memory to Form, and curated by Dr. Jon Wood, the show is a continuation of Guggi’s exhibition Broken, which was previously presented in Château La Coste’s Renzo Piano Pavilion. Guggi’s practice is characterised by its introspective and contemplative style, drawing on the spiritual and the transcendental through the depiction of everyday objects in their simplest forms. The vessel is one of the artist’s signature motifs and in its repetition, he has created a language of these precious objects, giving form to memories.

In this exhibition, the artist continues working with canvas, wood panel and distressed torn brown paper yet, rather than his signature palette of muted, earthy tones, he had now moved towards bright, vivid colours. While some works exhibit one plane of colour, many of Guggi canvases and drawings are split into two fields of acrylic or oil paint demarcated by a vertical division. One side is washed white, whereas its counterpart is bright and bold. The colours are instinctive, as are the marks that emerge: crosses or hashes that may resemble a crucifix, an upright body, or perhaps a tree.

Each piece also reveals a bowl as a cross-sectional outline, opening up the object both materially and spatially, and celebrating simplicity. Central to the presentation is a new twelve-piece turquoise work titled Antigua (2023) that draws directly on Guggi’s memories of the Caribbean waters of Antigua and Barbuda. ‘Memories of colour, or memories of memories of colour’, as the artist describes, the paintings are immersive, light and dreamy. The pieces’ frayed edges suggest the passing of time as well as a sense of fragmentation, as if the pieces are part of a lost, larger whole. The exhibition also features an ensemble of bronze bowl-like sculptures of varying sizes and a series of smaller urns atop higher, altar-like plinth.
Together, they appear anthropomorphic and reminiscent of a familial context, alluding the artist’s childhood, which serves as an important influence throughout his practice. The large bronze sculptures relate to Guggi’s permanent work at Château La Coste , Calix Meus Inebrian (2009), translated as ‘the chalice that inebriates me’. As the title of this work suggests, these sculptures might also reference the artist’s Christian upbringing by recalling the communion bowl or chalice and the consumption of alcohol, as they sit nestled amongst the vineyards.

The artist has worked closely with foundries to create exactly the right shapes, contours and surfaces for his larger bronze vessels; the patina of each and the space within is crucial. The largest bowl, measuring over a metre wide, is characterised by its matte black painted exterior which contrasts to its highly polished interior, striking a delicate balance of texture and colour. Usually placed on a low platform, the sculptures command attention yet are open, generous and invitational, encouraging the viewer to come and experience them. By comparison, the smaller pieces, which are raised on plinths, suggest the level of the everyday table or even an altar.