IMMA presents 52 of Lucian Freud’s works in Kilmainham

Understanding art is always a challenge. Trying to get into the complex headspace of the artist, to understand what they were trying to portray and what they want the viewer to interpret makes it very hard to decipher what modern art even is.

The Freud Project Gaze in the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) allows viewers of the exhibition to see the perspective of both the artist, the subject and the viewer all in one.

There are three floors filled with the works of Lucian Freud in the exhibition. Many of the pieces are difficult to interpret what perspective to view them from. The exhibition requires viewers of the various pieces to consider all the viewpoints in a piece of art.

Lucian Freud explored human relationships with animals, aging and the nude within his work. One aspect present in all pieces was vulnerability. He explored all the subjects raw emotions and pain by studying and working with them for hundreds of hours at a time.

One way that Freud explored aging was through two separate self-portraits from different stages of his life. The first of which was done when he was 27 years old. The second was painted when he was 63.

The difference in the self portraits is most certainly the use of darker tones in the second piece – almost as if the innocence had been ripped away from his life altogether.

To discover Freud’s work for yourself journey down to the Irish Museum of Modern Art to view the 52 different pieces. The exhibit has been extended until May 19, 2019 and is located in the gallery at Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Military Road, Dublin 8. Tickets cost €8, with students, members and under 18s going free. Concession tickets for senior citizens and unwaged people are €5.