TD 1
do something different, off the beaten path, not
the usual gallery standard. Coming from the same ideology. You can do gallery stuff, and also do the underground, and be multi dimensional. We’ve done four culture night shows, shows in nightclubs, in my friend Peaches Ink’s tattoo studio - Studio E - we just improvise in the spaces to make them into a gallery. I’ve always enjoyed finding unique venues. The self maintained collective sprang Opposite top: Ishmael and his daughter Nancy Belle Claxton, shot by Violet Ogden Opposite below: Xulture Vulture Above: Jabu Cowboy in the Liberties Above right: A shot from the Migration/Integration series from humble origins, people recognising one another from repeated visits to a small independent shop. “ÍOVA started about six years ago, in Gunns camera shop. Myself and a few other photography enthusiasts, who all shoot analog film. So we would always see each other there, and we would have chats amongst ourselves, and eventually we just started going for pints. After a while we started meeting up regularly, and originally it was just called photos, chats and beers. It just started as a group of between five and ten of us, one of our first events was a presentation of our work, more like feedback sessions. And that naturally developed into putting on our own shows. The second year we did it at the same space, but much more organized, we have a theme, similar printers, pieces framed, a few big names. I think we had about 2000 come and view that. David Buckley, one of the co-founders came up with ÍOVA, which is ‘image’ in Irish. As an artist led group, we don’t get funding, and we’re not for profit. Everyone chips in a few bob, and that pays for everything in the show. So what does 2024 mean for Ishmael Claxton? “This year I have a plethora of things coming up, though I’m trying not to do 39 shows again. That certainly takes a toll. My focus is mainly going to be on solo shows, but first, I’m doing a show with ÍOVA on April 5th in Tøn Gallery,Temple Bar. That’ll be a show on prisms, running for a month. The first solo show is at Liberty Ink on the 11th of April. It’s named “You’ll Never Be Cool”, and it’s a tribute to my nerdy side, a japanese/punk themed show. An ode to my affinity for anime.” From Antiquity To Modernity is a collaborative series of concerts and a multimedia visual artistic installation held between May and June, at the National Concert Hall. That will deal with understanding the historical role artists and musicians of colour have played. Then I have a big solo show on the 7th of June in the Irish Georgian Society, a solo show that deals with class and sex. It’ll be revisiting a famous Venetian ball that happened in the 1950’s, and recreating it in a modern context.” Indeed, it looks to be a busy year for Claxton, as he begins to work on a larger scale, not content to rest amid well earned adulation, he is also working on ‘Capall Gang’ a book concerned with finding the deeper meaning between various social classes and the deep Irish connection to horses. Already renowned for his astounding eye, and his talent for creating and immortalizing remarkable moments of stillness, we can seemingly forever look forward to more from the prolific auteur. Thoughtful work, with weight and meaning. A punk spirit. An immaculate host, to boot. @ishmaelclaxtonphotos 23