Conor Kelly

The Hrönir (Jerks, Buffoons & Pests) 2019

Platform Arts, Belfast 04 - 27 April

This project consisted of a solo exhibition of paintings, sculptures and site-specific installation questioning notions of territory and belonging through the representation of Balinese Long-Tailed Macaques. The macaques possess a sacred/profane duality within the Mandala Suci Wenara Wana animal sanctuary that is contingent on whether they are within or without the santuary. The image of the sacred/profane animal was set against the context of historical events in Northern Ireland between 1972-74 when a ‘satanic panic’ was partially instigated by the British army’s psy-ops division in the deployment of fake ‘sites’ using the paraphernalia of the black mass. reference a variety of subjects, including sacred Balinese monkeys and the ‘satanic panic’ that spread throughout Ulster between the years 1972-74. The paintings are presented in a dressed environment commissioned specially for the gallery space.

The title of the exhibition refers to the mysterious and poetic objects that appear in Jorge Luis Borges’ short story Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius. The hrönir are ’ideas, dreams and desires that are metaphorically projected onto the real world as solid, poetic objects.

The installation included a range of materials including oil paint on linen, acrylic paint on canvas, acrylic spraypaint, posters, linen, tarpaulin, staples, cable ties, cotton webbing, 8ft x 8ft X-frame, studio lights, skull (macaca fascicularis), ceramic plate, polyethylene, beer bottles, beer cans, candles, Bill Gold’s 1973 promotional poster for William Friedkin’s The Exorcist.)