Phelim

Amsterdam-based visual artist Phelim Hoey studied documentary photography at the School of the Arts (HKU) in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Here, in his first days at art school, Hoey encountered a series of optical difficulties. These difficulties were among the early symptoms of MS, a neurological illness with which he was formally diagnosed a few months later. His practice would subsequently acquire new meaning as a possible agent of healing, offering an important creative outlet for studying his condition, as well as the potential for tracing the ever-changing relationship he experiences with his body. Incorporating a varied range of media – whether photography, film, ceramics or sculptural installation – Hoey’s work can be read as a form of conceptual storytelling. In fragile materials, or delicate still-lives depicting precariously-balanced objects, his works are wrought with a pronounced sense of vulnerability and tension. Through photography, film and sculpture, Hoey challenges medicalised frameworks of embodiment through his lived experience of Multiple Sclerosis. Hoey foregrounds subjective sensation over standardised measures of bodily capacity, unsettling assumptions around productivity, control, and normalisation. 📷 1. Installation view 2. Diary notes, 2021, photography print, 34x25cm, Tracing, 2022, drawing, white ink on black paper, mounted on board 3. Motion Cane, 2020, photography print, 70x60cm, Renate Fatigue Studies, 2020, photography print, 37x44cm, Nicholas Motion Suit, 2020, photography print, 37x44cm, Boaz Walking with a Cane, 2020, photography print, 66x46cm 4. Still from MPQ, 2026, video, 7m46s Affective Forms 📅 Tuesday 10th February – Sunday 12th April ⏰ Open: Tues - Sat | 11am – 5pm and Sun 12pm - 5pm 📍 Luan Gallery Free Admission Supported by: @artscouncilireland @artscouncilireland @artswestmeath @visitwestmeath @westmeathcoco @athlone.ie @phelimhoey #luangallery #athlone #contemporaryart #irishartgallery

For all my Irish friends and family (and anyone up for a trip to Ireland): I’m excited to share that I’ll be exhibiting new work at Luan Gallery in Athlone. I’ll be there for the opening this Friday at 18:00, and I’d love to see you there. I’ll be showing photos and drawings from La Machine, a project in which I explore and question the relationship I have with my body. Alongside that, I’ll be presenting spatial work about productivity, the economic value of a “healthy” body, and how I, living with a chronic illness, fit within that framework. I’ll also premiere a new video essay on how we measure physical pain. This piece is part of an ongoing project titled “The Epistemology of Pain,” in which I will reinterpret ‘accuracy’ and the standardized measurement concepts of pain and measuring of ‘the self,’ If you’re around, please come and say hi! A very big thank you for @aoifebanks for creating such a wonderful show. @ok_hole for the camera and grading and @amberdoctersvanleeuwen for the music. @luangalleryathlone @artscouncilireland @westmeathcoco

Test to measure pain...

Sharing some snippets of skin, limbs, and personal work. Bits of older projects mixed with newer, more experimental pieces. Looking forward to the coming months with new exhibitions and new opportunities. Swipe through, get lost.

Commissioned by Apple. In celebration of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, photographer Phelim H. artistically explores the complex emotions and sensations of living with Multiple Sclerosis. “After I was diagnosed with MS, a new identity began to form within me. I had to get to know this “new me,” while still carrying the version of myself from before. Exploring my emotions through my work helped with that process and gave me a way to connect with people dealing with similar things.” #ShotoniPhone16Pro by Phelim H. @phelimhoey Music: “All My Friends (Pink Skies Remix)” by @blushhmusic_ @pinkskiesmusic -- Alt Text: A video going through a collection of photos. The sculptures pictured feature hand casts and support items such as canes, along with lines and a black and white color scheme. The first photo is of a two finger cast with colorful wires coming out of it. Their shadow and the shadow of someone’s hand are behind it. The next photo is of a black walker with white balls attached on an all black background. We then see an empty arm cast mold on an art table. The next photo is a side shot of a person from the waist down with white bars are on their legs and a cane. Then, a sculpture made of canes with white bar reflectors creating two upward facing arches. The next collection of photos are of an art piece on a black set taken at different points. It’s made up of three structures that look like the inside corner of a cube. Looping waves of drawn light are in each of the structures. Then we see someone touching black clay strips with white lines in a box held by another person, followed by black strips wrapped around a hand on a black grid surface. The next photo is of casted hands broken up in pieces as the light from a window shines through blinds, followed by another photo of clay casted hands. The final photo is a behind the scenes shot of the featured art pieces.

Skin / Deep Featured Artist: Phelim Hoey In his series 'La Machine', Hoey reclaims the clinical and illustrative language of photography often used to police bodies. Through this deeply personal work, Hoey reflects on how physically diverse bodies and those with health conditions are represented, using the medium to articulate his own experiences of living with Multiple Sclerosis. Don’t miss Skin / Deep 👉 Discover via our link in bio Skin / Deep brings together challenging artistic perspectives on the body in contemporary Irish photography and lens-based media. On display until 8 February 2025, this exhibition, curated by Darren Campion, features nine remarkable artists, offering an expanded view of the social, psychological, and material realities of embodiment – of being a ‘body’ in the world. #SkinDeepExhibition #PhelimHoey #ContemporaryPhotography #PhotoMuseumIreland @shiaconlon @janecummins_ @phelimhoey @queermyths @poilin_ni_ruain @vera.ryklova @padraigspillane @brianteeling @aylakcekirge @artscouncilireland @dublincityartsoffice @_darrencampion @trishlambe

Moving to a smaller studio and making smaller work. White pen tracings from chronophotographic sequences in my studio (late 2023). Me picking up something from the ground Me taking the last sip of coffee Me getting up from the floor Me jumping in position Me getting up from a chair

- Plaster mold of my penis, 2022 - Having and enjoying a healthy sex life is an important part of my life and adds to the quality of it. Although sexual problems or sexual dysfunction are common in the general population it’s people who have MS that experience it more often. Sexual arousal begins in the central nervous system, as the brain sends messages to the sexual organs along nerves running through the spinal cord. If MS damages these nerve pathways, sexual response — including arousal and orgasm — can be directly affected. Sexual problems also stem from MS symptoms such as fatigue or spasticity, as well as from psychological factors relating to self-esteem and mood changes. The latter has affected my sex life in the past and although I’m enjoying a healthy sex life at the moment I am very aware of the fragility of it. This thought can be terrifying at times as these problems have a significant impact on an individual’s relationships and quality of life. In addition, research in this area is limited, is often overlooked by healthcare providers and underreported by patients. The importance of psychosocial health and sexuality should not be underestimated, so let’s talk about it.

Some new work after a long time of not posting.

I’ve been voluntarily neglecting my social media for the past months as I’ve been working on new things. These three ‘Therbligs’ I made for the exhibition Someone Lives In This Body at Platform P-ost in Arnhem are among some new and more spacial works I’ve been busy with. In the beginning of the twentieth century, researchers Frank and Lillian Gilbreth used photographic time and motion study techniques to study the productivity and the performance of factory workers. Their study aimed to reduce a complete work cycle to the shortest and most efficient sequence of gestures. They did this by analyzing the motion paths workers made whilst performing various tasks that were traced by small lamps fastened to the workers' hands or fingers. By studying productivity through physical science their research helped establish a “motion economy”, thus giving the healthy body economic value. As a result, people who struggle with their health (physical or mental) can be perceived to be less productive and therefore ‘worth less’ given that they often do not fit this ideal efficient body. The time and motion study technique was used by me to explore my own sick body and how it can move within this societal frame of productivity. M.01 - 3D wire model of my motion path while walking with a cane. M.02 - 3D wire model of my motion path while walking with a walker (walking rack). M.03 - 3D wire model of my motion path while moving around in a wheelchair.

I’m beyond grateful and overjoyed for having received the @artproof.eu production grand. Special thanks to all the participants of @fototallinnfair and to curator @isabellavmarle for creating this beautiful show.