The Irish artist Eva Rothschild (born in Dublin 1971, lives and works in London) is one of the most exciting protagonists of a generation of artists dealing with the expanded concept of sculpture. Her exhibition at Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane is her first solo museum exhibition in Ireland.

In Eva Rothschild’s work, the formal values of modernism and its ideas of utopia are inverted. The history of 20th century abstract art is deconstructed through her installations and through the materialism of her objects they become inquiries into how we as humans develop structures (both physical and metaphoric) to support our values.

Eva Rothschild’s works are tension-filled combinations of varied materials such as: steel, concrete, jesmonite, fibreglass, Plexiglas, leather, polystyrene, wood and paper. An eloquent admiration of ancient cultures can be discerned through Egyptian and Roman references as well as 20th Century movements such as minimalism and constructivism.

The artist also has made a series of photographic portraits of people holding snakes in galleries in different cities. In preparation for her Dublin exhibition, an event was held at The Hugh Lane in February in which visitors to the gallery were invited to have their picture taken with a snake. Participants included locals, visitors and Dublin City Council staff. A selection of these photographs features in the Dublin exhibition.

Vestibule - a festival of contemporary art, on Merrion Square, Dublin from 16th May 16th to 19th September also features an outdoor sculpture work by Eva Rothschild. Curated by Aoife Tunney it includes artists Aleana Egan and Daniel Gustav Cramer and Eva Rothschild.

This exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue published and distributed by Ridinghouse publications.

Eva Rothschild has recently participated at the Sydney Biennale 2014 and has exhibited internationally, at Tate Britain - including the monumental site-specific 2009 installation “Cold Corners”, the Nasher Sculpture Centre, Dallas, Whitechapel Gallery, London, Kunstverein, Hannover, The Hepworth in Wakefield, UK. She is represented by Stuart Shave/Modern Art, London, The Modern Institute, Glasgow, Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich and 303 Gallery, New York.

The Eva Rothschild exhibition is curated by Michael Dempsey.