Peer Gallery, London, 21 June - 27 July, 2003. A 12-page catalogue was produced, in conjunction with the exhibition, with an essay by Sally O'Reilly. Related exhibition: 2003 Royal Academy Summer Show: James In Limbo & Essie's Party (2 paintings from the commissioned series) exhibited.
This exhibition was commissioned by PEER, an independent arts organisation that develops and presents projects in a range of media and in various locations, including their gallery space on Hoxton Street, London. Writer and critic Louisa Buck said of Peer: "In an art world that is ever more commodified and market-driven, the multifarious projects commissioned by Peer, which are chosen for their quality alone, are especially precious – and memorable. Whether it is drawing attention to less familiar artists or giving established names the freedom to explore new possibilities, [Peer] continues to work across genre, generations and medium to the greater enrichment of us all."
The exhibition took the form of several large-scale paintings - where snippets of messages and conversations subconsciously scribbled down, were xeroxed and pasted onto the canvases. Over this, enlarged, painted cut-out shapes derived from the doodles became leitmotifs for the work, hovering among painted calligraphic marks in a field of decorative activity.
February 2004
Invited by Sheffield Hallam University, to give a lecture, part of a series of talks by leading and emerging artists, on 'Ornament & Utility' at The Showroom Theatre where I showed a chronolgy of works from 1987 onwards, focusing particularly on the paintings from 'James In Limbo'. From this, a 194 page publication, Transmission - Speaking & Listening, vol 3 was produced to document the series, and a painting from the 'James in Limbo', series 'Three Blue Bows', was reproduced on pages 23, together with texts and drawings on further pages.
"Mikey Cuddihy's paintings cross many perimeters. They are both abstract and figurative, yet curiously, neither description sits comfortably...."
(Sally O'Reilly, 'James In Limbo', Peer Gallery, 2003, ISBN 0953977234)
"Cuddihy spoke frankly of her work as a form of 'cottage industry', presenting herself as a 'home-worker', juggling life and work as she moves between the small scale of the domestic to the grandeur of the gallery, torn between intimacy and distance, between body and canvas."
(Sharon Kivland, Transmission - Speaking & Listening, vol 3, 2004, ISBN 1-899926-51-8)
