Oil, Gas + Cars is a solo exhibition by photographer Tung Walsh at the Horse Gallery in Dublin from 12th – 27th June. Assembling a selection from Walsh’s personal archive, these images trace life across the world: Azerbaijan to Harlem; Morocco to Cuba; Cairo and beyond.
Unaffordably large tubs of luscious caviar on a plastic tablecloth, a Lada dressed as a Ferrari, rhododendrons exquisitely exploding wild in a wood, epic landscapes: dusty cities, winding roads, gigantic ports, intimate portraits.Walsh’e eye fixates between macro and micro. He appears driven to capture honest moments of normality that evoke confliction, the normal and the supernormal. Walsh’s portraits, objects and landscapes convey states of the human condition – aspirations, memories, the mechanics of mental structures and physical monoliths.
For context, Oil, Gas + Cars takes a funny position in Walsh’s timeline. It’s both his first solo exhibition and equally a mid-career visit to his personal archive. Walsh has over a quarter of a century of experience working in all aspects of the trade as a photographer. Economic practicality and the relevance (or lack) of a gallery space in the proliferation of a photographer’s work mean Walsh’s images have, up to now, been primarily seen as editorial, portraiture and campaigns in printed matter, magazine pages, covers and at points of sale.
Oil, Gas + Cars is a compendium of life that Walsh captured whilst fulfilling jobs for clients: paid travel. Shot entirely on film (a process in itself) Walsh’s edit exposes a superficially antiquated world that is comforting in that it is a continuation of a norm of sorts. These pictures have taken years to coagulate. Through these times millions of photographs are produced each day, everyone with a smartphone has the potential to become a photographer. Walsh’s experience in looking means the imagery seems keen to lose focus on that digital immediacy. The pictures present life with less of a concern of now: more of what is.
Oil, Gas + Cars contains images related to physical violence and may be distressing for some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.
Founded in 2021, The Horse is an artist-run contemporary art gallery in Dublin 1 that seeks to provide a platform for emerging, experimental and underrepresented art practitioners.
For sales, viewings and programming in general, please contact – Matthew Wilkinson – [email protected], Bethesda Place, Dublin, D01 EY29
