Irish Museum of Modern Art

Established by the Government of Ireland in 1990, the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) is Ireland's foremost national art museum for contemporary and abstract art. Its mission is to foster the practice and appreciation of contemporary visual arts in society and its dynamic exhibition program promotes a wide variety of modern arts including works from its own permanent collection. The museum naturally presents modern art, a focus reflected in its acceptance of donations of artworks produced since 1940, and endeavours to highlight cutting edge art trends from around the world. Ireland's taste for modern art has come a long way since Evie Hone and Mainie Jellett held their controversial joint exhibition at the Dublin Painters Gallery in 1924! Paradoxically, the Irish Museum of Modern Art is based in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, West Dublin - the most outstanding example of seventeenth century architecture in Ireland. The building was restored by the Government in 1984 and IMMA was opened to the public in 1991.

Eye of the Storm, by Michael Craig
Martin.

The Permanent Collection

Comprising nearly 1,700 artworks, the permanent collection of the Irish Museum of Modern Art exemplifies some of the most fascinating trends in world and Irish art.

The collection includes photographic and lens-based art by Paul Seawright, Gilbert and George, Willie Doherty and Marina Abramovic; installation artworks by llya and Emilia Kabakov, Rebecca Horn; sculpture by Barry Flanagan, Juan Munoz, Damien Hirst, Dorothy Cross, Kathy Prendergast and Stephan Balkenhol; painting by Sean Scully, Tony O’Malley, Francesco Clemente, Peter Doig, and Peter Halley.

Portrait of Alice Liddel, After
Lewis Carroll. By Vik Muniz.

The Musgrave Kinley Outsider Art Collection (On Loan)

As an adjunct to Irish Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection of contemporary paintings and sculptures, the Musgrave Kinley Outsider Art Collection encompasses over 600 works. Outsider artists (outside the creative mainstream inhabited by the majority of artists) typically belong to no art movements and are rarely influenced by the history of art. They include artists who suffer from emotional or psychiatric disturbances, as well as hypermodern avant-garde artists. This type of iconoclastic creativity was first collected by the French artist Jean Dubuffet whose collection of Outsider Art (Collection de l'Art Brut) hangs in Lausanne, Switzerland. The Musgrave Kinley Outsider Art Collection features such challenging luminaries as Aloise, Carlo, Henry Darger, Madge Gill, Hauser, J.B. Murry, Sekulic, Oswald Tschirtner, Van Genk, Scottie Wilson, Wölfli, Zemankova as well as numerous lesser-known modern artists.

Sisters a Dream, by Dan O'Neill.

The Madden Arnholz Collection

This comprises almost 1,200 Old Master prints which were donated to the Royal Hospital Kilmainham in 1988 by Clare Madden. It features works by Dürer, Goya, Hogarth, Rembrandt and many other innovative European printmakers, dating from the Italian Renaissance and later. This collection was enlarged in 1998 by the acquisition of a large number of books of prints by the English printmaker Thomas Bewick.

Programs

IMMA also promotes greater and more widespread access to art and artists via its popular Studio and National programs. It offers access to a range of artists' studios in the hospital's converted stable block - and runs an artist-in-residence program. The Museum also runs community and education programs, plus a national out-reach program enabling it to exhibit modern artworks from its collection in other galleries, museums and similar venues. It has become the most exciting venue for contemporary visual arts in Ireland.

Director

The present head of the Irish Museum of Modern Art is Enrique Juncosa. A former Director of the Reina Sofia National Museum Arts Centre (MNCARS) in Madrid, Enrique Juncosa succeeded Declan McGonagle.

IMMA Opening Hours

Tuesday - Saturday: 10.00am-5.30pm
Wednesday: 10.30am - 5.30pm
Sunday and Bank Holidays: 12 noon-5.30pm

For more information about IMMA's collection of contemporary paintings, Irish sculpture, Irish painting, prints and other artworks, or for details of upcoming exhibitions of modern arts, contact:

Irish Museum of Modern Art
Royal Hospital
Kilmainham
Dublin 8
Phone: 01 612 9900
Website: www.imma.ie

• For details of other Leinster fine art exhibitions and collections, see: Irish Art Galleries and Museums.
• For facts about painting and sculpture in Ireland, see: Guide to Irish Art

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