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From Martin Boyce's exhibition in DCA Galleries. A triangular, black light feature hangs in the centre of the room. One of the walls is red.

Martin Boyce

No Reflections

12 December 2009 - 14 February 2010

In 2009, DCA welcomed visual artist Martin Boyce when his exhibition No Reflections returned to Scotland on 12th December following its run at the 53rd International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, the world's largest and most prestigious showcase for contemporary visual arts.

From Martin Boyce's exhibition in DCA. Triangular, black light features hang from the ceiling. There are ceiling-height canvases, one painted yellow and one painted blue, in the room.

Curated by DCA for Scotland and Venice - a partnership between the Scottish Arts Council, National Galleries of Scotland and the British Council - the exhibition builds on the critical success of previous projects which have promoted artists including Turner Prize winner Simon Starling and Turner Prize nominees, Cathy Wilkes and Jim Lambie.

Martin Boyce's lyrical installation of newly commissioned work for seven interconnected rooms in a 15th century Venetian Palazzo imagined the space as an abandoned garden, introducing into the fading grandeur of the palace groupings of works suspended aluminium trees, scattered wax paper leaves, raised stepping stones, a wooden bird box, tables and benches. Setting out to delve into the city's interior landscape, Boyce conflated the internal and external, creating a heightened sense of displacement and abandonment. On its return to Dundee the work has been configured to work within DCA's more modern, formal exhibition spaces and offers a chance to revisit this work that was described by the Scotland on Sunday as muscular and supremely confident, its heavy and rusting materials hard-edged and brutal. It's a classic example of restraint being a form of strength.

The concept for No Reflections makes reference to a starting point in Boyce's work - a photograph of four concrete trees created by Joël and Jan Martel for the 1925 Exposition des Arts Décoratifs Paris. These trees, Boyce says represent a perfect collapse of architecture and nature”, visualising oppositional elements of urban existence: the natural versus the constructed, the populated versus the uninhabited, old versus new.

All works courtesy of the artist and The Modern Institute / Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow; Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York; Johnen Galerie, Berlin.

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From Martin Boyce's exhibition in DCA. Triangular, black light features hang from the ceiling. There are ceiling-height canvases, one painted yellow and one painted blue, in the room.

Artist Video | Martin Boyce on No Reflections

Martin Boyce: Exhibition Notes

Click here to download the Exhibition Notes for Martin Boyce: No Reflections.
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From Martin Boyce's exhibition in DCA Galleries. A triangular, black light feature hangs in the centre of the room. One of the walls is red.
's exhibition at DCA. Black, triangular light structures hang from the ceiling. There are metal sculptures on the floor. The sculptures are sharp and industrial looking.
From Martin Boyce's exhibition in DCA. Triangular, black light features hang from the ceiling. There are ceiling-height canvases, one painted yellow and one painted blue, in the room.
From Martin Boyce's exhibition in DCA Galleries. A triangular, black light structure hangs from the ceiling. There is a large, blue canvas in the background. An angular, metallic statue sits in the middle of the room.
From Martin Boyce's exhibition at DCA. Black, triangular light structures hang from the ceiling. There are metal sculptures on the floor. The sculptures are sharp and industrial looking.
From Martin Boyce's exhibition at DCA. A black, angular and triangular light structure hangs from the ceiling. There are angular letters on the white gallery walls. On the floor, there are large, grey concrete blocks.
From Martin Boyce's exhibition in DCA Galleries. A triangular, black light feature hangs in the centre of the room. One of the walls is red.
's exhibition at DCA. Black, triangular light structures hang from the ceiling. There are metal sculptures on the floor. The sculptures are sharp and industrial looking.
From Martin Boyce's exhibition in DCA. Triangular, black light features hang from the ceiling. There are ceiling-height canvases, one painted yellow and one painted blue, in the room.
From Martin Boyce's exhibition in DCA Galleries. A triangular, black light structure hangs from the ceiling. There is a large, blue canvas in the background. An angular, metallic statue sits in the middle of the room.
From Martin Boyce's exhibition at DCA. Black, triangular light structures hang from the ceiling. There are metal sculptures on the floor. The sculptures are sharp and industrial looking.
From Martin Boyce's exhibition at DCA. A black, angular and triangular light structure hangs from the ceiling. There are angular letters on the white gallery walls. On the floor, there are large, grey concrete blocks.
From Martin Boyce's exhibition in DCA Galleries. A triangular, black light feature hangs in the centre of the room. One of the walls is red.
's exhibition at DCA. Black, triangular light structures hang from the ceiling. There are metal sculptures on the floor. The sculptures are sharp and industrial looking.
From Martin Boyce's exhibition in DCA. Triangular, black light features hang from the ceiling. There are ceiling-height canvases, one painted yellow and one painted blue, in the room.
From Martin Boyce's exhibition in DCA Galleries. A triangular, black light structure hangs from the ceiling. There is a large, blue canvas in the background. An angular, metallic statue sits in the middle of the room.
From Martin Boyce's exhibition at DCA. Black, triangular light structures hang from the ceiling. There are metal sculptures on the floor. The sculptures are sharp and industrial looking.
From Martin Boyce's exhibition at DCA. A black, angular and triangular light structure hangs from the ceiling. There are angular letters on the white gallery walls. On the floor, there are large, grey concrete blocks.