Brendan Jamison at the Tate

Sweet taste of success for Ulster Artist

18/06/2010

South Belfast based artist Brendan Jamison has been given a taste of success with a commission to create a two metre wide sugar cube sculpture of the iconic Tate Modern building as part of the 2010 London Festival of Architecture.

Artist Brendan Jamison

Brendan, whose career has been supported by the Arts Council over the last six years, is renowned for his imaginative projects and ingenious use of materials. Previously having created installations using wool and wax, his work is now housed in many private and corporate collections around the world. He is represented in Northern Ireland by the Golden Thread Gallery.

Using 71,908 sugar cubes and weighing in at 224 kilograms, the Tate Modern sculpture has been built to a scale of 1:100 and is one of two works he will be showing at the London event. Commissioned by Native Land and Grosvenor, Brendan has also created a sugar model of NEO Bankside, four apartment pavillions adjacent to the Tate Modern.

Speaking about his latest venture, Brendan said: "I was delighted to be offered these commissions, aside from the colossal scale of Tate Modern sculpture, I also enjoyed the challenge of constructing and carving the hexagonal towers of Neo Bankside, a beautiful state of the art development of luxurious apartments designed by world renowned architects Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners. The views out over Tate Modern and the Thames are truly spectacular.”

Roisin McDonough, Chief Executive of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, said: “Brendan Jamison has shown that Northern Ireland produces artists of the highest international standards and that an artist’s professional success is based upon receiving the right kind of support at the early stages of their career. Up to 20% of the grants which the Arts Council distributes to individuals goes to up and coming artists providing the vital assistance they need to take their career to that next level.

“To see Brendan’s work exhibited at the festival is an endorsement of the highest order and a testimony to his talent and ingenuity.”

With support from the Arts Council, next Spring Brendan will return to the Ormeau Baths Gallery in Belfast where he will build his tallest and most ambitious sugar model to date. Working on site, the artist will create a 5 meter high turret using a quarter of a million sugar cubes. Rising up through the two-storey space, once completed it will be the largest sugar cube construction in the world.

To tie in with the London exhibition, the Hylands Gallery of Contemporary Art on the Lisburn Road in Belfast is currently exhibiting some of Brendan’s smaller sugar cube sculptures and wax JCB Buckets.