Joe hogan online catalogue final

JOE HOGAN WOVEN WILD 3 - 31 MAY 2014

JOE HOGAN WOVEN WILD 3 - 31 MAY 2014 The Scottish Gallery is delighted to host Joe Hogan’s second solo exhibition.

Joe Hogan is first and foremost a traditional basketmaker. He has been making baskets at Loch na Fooey since 1978 and was drawn to the craft because of his love of nature, natural materials and desire to live in the Irish countryside. Joe grows his own willow, and harvests the various other naturally occurring materials such as wood, bark, larch, birch, bog myrtle twigs, willow twigs and catkins that he incorporates in his work.

Joe planted his first bed of willow in 1978 and now has fifteen varieties of his own willow.

This variety provides him with green, black, blue, yellow, red and brown willow rods, which he harvests and dries outside his studio.

Joe is regarded as one of Ireland’s master craftsmen and has gained an international reputation for his work. The exhibition includes all new sculptural work and indigenous Irish baskets.

Front Cover: Joe Hogan’s home grown willow Right: Joe Hogan making a Skib in his studio, Loch na Fooey, Ireland, 2013

Joe Hogan is one of the last of his kind. First and foremost a traditional craftsman, he is devoted to ensuring that Irish basketmaking endures in a time when traditional skills are being lost across the world.

While willow is the material that Joe uses most frequently and in the largest quantities, he regularly incorporates other materials. In the past ten years, he has begun harvesting bog pine from local bogs. When peat is harvested from the bogs, Joe is able to select the wood which has been hidden from sight. Joe also carves holes in trees while they are still in the ground, allowing them to continue to grow, and the holes to continue to expand. If he decides to use a piece of this harvested wood in a basket, he then steams the wood and shapes it, drilling small holes for the reeds to fit through.

While initially he produced purely functional baskets, which he saw as the important continuation of a traditional craft by traditional means, Joe is now also producing sculptural baskets. Particularly with the inclusion of wooden pieces, some of his newer baskets are non-functional and purely aesthetic.

Left: Joe Hogan’s studio, Loch na Fooey, Ireland, 2013

Joe Hogan’s studio, Loch na Fooey, Ireland, 2013

“Nature is an endless source of inspiriation. There are mountains, lakes and rivers on our doorstep and areas of wild moorland nearby to delight the eye and nourish the soul.

Although we do not have many trees near us the deepening shades of reds and yellows in the moor-land grasses bring their own visual delight. To walk about in such a landscape is to come back recharged with new ideas and renewed energy for creative work. Over a period of time living here I have also developed a strong sense of belonging in the world and this, I feel, is somehow reflected in my work.”

Joe Hogan, Bare Branches Blue Black Sky, 2011

Large Bog Pouch Bog pine, willow rods 59 x 76 x 93 cms £3250

Pouch on Driftwood and Bog Pine Driftwood, bog pine, willow rods 50 x 63 x 48 cms ÂŁ1630

“There is a wonderful area of wild isolated bog land about five miles from where I live and this is where I source most of my bog wood, almost all of it being bog pine. This work is prompted by a desire to develop a deeper connection to the natural world. My concern is to reawaken a sense of wonder.

When I first pick up a piece of wood that I am considering using in my work, I often do not have the faintest idea what it will become in a basket but over time ideas arise. In fact one of the facets of making that has become increasingly important to me is a type of listening whilst I am making; this is a type of openness to the material where I do not impose my ideas on the basket but try to allow it to become.”

Joe Hogan, Bare Branches Blue Black Sky, 2011

Bog Pouch with Bird’s Head Bog pine, willow rods 49 x 76 x 72 cms £1910

Driftwood Pouch Driftwood, willow rods 49 x 70 x 38 cms £1630

“This basket has its seeds in the Buddhist phrase ‘the insentient expresses the way’ but how the insentient, that which to our sensibilities has no feeling, actually expresses the way is difficult, if not impossible, to explain. But then I think of the surfaces on which lichen develops, their passive acceptance makes it possible and I come a little closer to understanding.”

Joe Hogan, Bare Branches Blue Black Sky, 2011

Pod ‘Ley Lines’ Driftwood, willow rods 27 x 39 x 32 cms £550

Larch Bowl, Willow rods, larch twigs 47 x 47 x 24 cms ÂŁ695

Bulbous Larch Vessel Willow rods, lichen larch twigs 27 x 34 x 34 cms ÂŁ530

Left: Raw Basket Lichen birch twigs, willow rods 60 x 25 x 25 cms, £295 Right: Raw Basket Larch twigs, willow rods 40 x 20 x 20 cms, £195

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, The world offers itself to your imagination, Calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and excitingOver and over announcing your place In the family of things.

FromWild Geese, by Mary Oliver

Lichen Bowl Willow rods, lichen twigs 22 x 42 x 42 cms ÂŁ720

Bog Myrtle Bowl Willow rods bog myrtle twigs 23 x 47 x 47 cms ÂŁ630

Birch Bowl Willow rods, birch twigs 22 x 50 x 50 cms ÂŁ630

Hairy Birch Vessel Willow rods, birch twigs 34 x 40 x 40 cms ÂŁ480

Three Nests Front: woven birch Back left: freeform birch Back right: freeform birch with lichen 25 cms wide each approx ÂŁ95 each

Loch na Fooey, looking East from Fooey Hill, Ireland, 2013

Long Vessel with Forked Tail Driftwood, willow rods 29 x 76 x 33 cms ÂŁ960

From Earth and Sky, No. 3 Flight Path Driftwood, willow rods 26 x 88 x 80 cms ÂŁ1080

Blue Basket on Three Legs Alder wood, salix daphnoides rods, willow rods 29 x 58 x 28 cms ÂŁ315

Blue Wall Piece Weathered bog pine, salix daphnoides rods, willow rods 58 x 29 x 3 cms ÂŁ150

Bog Wood Baskets Bog wood, willow rods 32 x 72 x 42 cms ÂŁ870 each (The left hand basket will be in the exhibition )

Wall Drawing, Circle and Square 57 x 46 x 3 cms ÂŁ395

Joe Hogan’s studio, Loch na Fooey, 2013

“Skibs are based on traditonal baskets which were used for straining and serving potatoes. They could be classed as traditional baskets but I show them here to draw attention to the changes that have been made from the more traditional ones. Apart from the obvious difference regarding colour as a result of selecting different varieties of willow there are several changes to the traditional design. Amongst these would be the use of a wale put on over the outstretched uprights to form a strong rim, the use of 40 uprights to give a more rounded shape and the use of a six pair border.�

Joe Hogan, Bare Branches Blue Black Sky, 2011

Large Skib Willow 70 cms diameter ÂŁ230

Willow Skib 52 cms diameter ÂŁ130

Willow Skib 44 cms diameter ÂŁ95

Willow Skibs 34.5 cms diameter ÂŁ80 each

“The Kerry Hamper is based on a basket I saw in County Kerry in 1977 which had been made upside down. I wanted to have a strong durable base so set about making something similar in shape but a completely different design. The basket has a foot to protect the base from wear.

The use of knots at the start of each set of weavers which gives a certain patterning to the sides is a feature of much country basket making in Ireland.”

Joe Hogan, Bare Branches Blue Black Sky, 2011

Kerry Hamper Willow rods 57 x 56 x 56 cms £290

Front right: Curly Weave Bowl Willow rods 22 x 43 x 43 cms, £270 Back left: Curly Weave Bowl Willow rods 23 x 48 x 48 cms, £320

“I believe that it takes a good deal of time to develop a mastery of the willow...over a period of time I have come to appreciate that I could become proficient at techniques that I once found difficult by working at them repeatedly. This effort and repetition bears fruit; one makes something which is good though not without fault and there is an immense amount of satisfaction to be derieved from progress of that sort. There is a subtle process going on as you try to perfect a technique.You are learning to be patient, to work in the present moment and to not prejudge the outcome. In essence you are learning lessons which can be applied to many spheres of life.”

Joe Hogan, Bare Branches Blue Black Sky, 2011

Curved Turf Log Basket Willow rods 56 x 56 x 54 cms £280

Tall Connemara Log / Turf Basket Willow rods 46 x 42 x 42 cms ÂŁ220

Connemara Lobster Pot Willow rods 44 x 45 x 45 cms ÂŁ290

Loch na Fooey, Ireland, 2013

JOE HOGAN Selected Biography Selected Solo Exhibitions 2011 Bare Branches, Blue Black Sky Garter Lane Arts Centre, Waterford, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, Aras Eanna, Inis Thiar, Aran Islands. Co Galway Dunamaise Arts Centre, Co Laois 2008 Wood Meets Willow Linen Hall Arts Centre. Castlebar, Co Mayo 2005 Weaving The Harvest Grennan Mill, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny Selected Awards 2008 RDS Reserve Award of Excellence, Crafts Council of Ireland Bursary 1st Prize Basketmaking Category, RDS National Craft Competition 2007 1st Prize Basketmaking Category, RDS National Craft Competition Award Don Juan Gonzalez Farina 2006 Crafts Council of Ireland Bursary (joint award) 2005 1st prize Pinolere International Basketry Competition

All images in this catalogue are copyright of The Scottish Gallery and Joe Hogan and cannot be reproduced in any form without prior consent.

Right: Baskets in the window of Joe Hogan’s studio, Loch na Fooey, 2013 Back cover: Joe Hogan’s studio, Loch na Fooey, 2013