In her first solo exhibition in New York, 26-year-old Irish artist Lisa McCleary delves into the connection between our desire for contact with flesh and our relationship with communication devices.

Co Wicklow artist Lisa McCleary is adding her name to the list of talented Irish artists contributing to New York’s art scene in 2019 with her first solo exhibition “Edging” opening until Friday, May 3, in Gallery MC in Midtown Manhattan.

McCleary, 26, is making huge strides in the city with her new series of work which uses painting, sculpture and tapestry to explore the theme of touch, in particular, that way that our desire for touch and contact with human flesh has crossed over in the touchscreen age to translate for a desire for our communications devices.

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Corp agus Fuil/Body and Blood, 2018, oil on aluminum, concrete, threaded rod, steel , 10ft x 4ft x 7f.

Corp agus Fuil/Body and Blood, 2018, oil on aluminum, concrete, threaded rod, steel , 10ft x 4ft x 7f.

Although this is her first solo exhibition in New York, McCleary’s work has already been showcased in several exhibitions in 2018, including Art on 52ndSt., Growing Pebbles, The Seattle Erotic Arts Festival, Body Positive, Figurative Group Show and From Minuscule to Monumental at The Factory LIC, New York.

Her previous solo exhibitions, Opened 1m Ago and #foreveralone,  were featured at Palmer Art Projects, Sydney, Australia, in 2015 and 2016.

Grinneas/Clarity, 2019, oil on aluminium, 29" x 16"

Grinneas/Clarity, 2019, oil on aluminium, 29" x 16"

Growing up in the seaside town of Greystones, McCleary moved to Australia with her mother where she undertook her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree at the University of New South Wales Art & Design, recognized as a leading art university in Australia.

“Edging” will showcase her new series of paintings on aluminum and tapestries in the large 83-meter squared space of Gallery MC. The series of work addresses haptic sensations and the representation and embodiment of touch. It is a space in which desire, abjection and the digital, real and abstracted body are in play.

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Edging” runs in Gallery MC in Midtown, Manhattan (549 W 52nd St, 8th Floor, New York) until Friday, May 3.

See more of Lisa McCleary's work on her website here.