Mark Clare’s Shangri La is part of a body of work by Clare that is drawn to the emblematic potential of an object. In this case, the objects that are being presented are tents (or shelters constructed from wood and plastic) that offer the potential for various interpretations and uses. Clare’s rudimentary shelter cluster (placed in among the environs of Saint Anne’s Arboretum) acts as a visual prompt that alludes to a modernist vernacular. The use of primary colours in the plastic sheeting and tarpaulin makes reference to the Dutch artistic movement De Stijl, founded in 1917 within the modernist ideology in which the idea of form follows function is brought into question. The temporary structures might ignite a sense of adventure and discovery when happened upon in amongst the trees in the woods. Yet according to the artist ‘on a social level Shangri La can be seen to relate to the anxiety being felt by many people in relation to housing due to the current economic climate. Ironically though, the blocks of colour emulate a Mondrian painting and an association with a modernist idealism that has failed on many levels’.

Clare graduated from St. Martins College of Art & Design (1992), London with a BA (Hons) Fine Art Sculpture before completing a MA in Fine Art at the University of Ulster (2004). He currently lives and works in Dublin. Clare has had several solo exhibitions both nationally and internationally including most recently My World is Over – The LAB, Dublin. He has contributed to numerous group exhibitions and undertaken artistic residential programmes and projects in China, Finland, Italy, Japan, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain and the USA.

“Recently my working process has been drawn to the emblematic potential of an object, from architectural structures and sporting trends to everyday household objects. I am interested in the things we accept as symbols of how we live and the times that we live in. Mixing elements of historical tradition and social trends, such as the world enthusiasm for ping-pong in the 1970’s, monumental public sculpture in former communist states, and the contemporary prevalence of surveillance of public space through CCTV” (Mark Clare 2010).