The Visual Artists’ News Sheet issue 3 May – June 2014 Published byVisual Artists ireland Ealaíontóirí Radharcacha Éire
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The Visual Artists’News sheet
May – June 2014
Editorial
Contents
WeLCOMe to the May / June edition of the Visual Artists News Sheet. VAI’s national networking and information day for visual artists and art workers – Get Together 2014 – takes place on Friday 23 May at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin. We introduce the day in a column on page 5; further details are included a full page notice on page 22 and there’s a focus on VAI Professional Development events at the Get Together on page 34. Don’t delay – book your place now at www.visualartists.ie. Another exciting upcoming opportunity is the 2014 DCC Arts Office / VAI Critical Art Writing Award – details on page 32 – and we report on the VAI inititatives ‘Early Days’ at MCAC, Portadown (1 March 2014) and the screening of !Women Art Revolution! This issue’s career development features include a ‘making it’ column from Belgian artist Els Borgart, now settled in Drogheda. Brendan Early and Ann Quinn, artists with very different practices, each offer career development accounts that stress how art making, rather than conscious planning, has directed their professional pathways. The concept of the artist-entrepreneur is tackled in Kate Oram’s outline of the Harnessing Creativity initiative. US researcher Susan Monagan outlines research on the activities, skill-sets and assets of cultural entrepreneurs in the West of Ireland. Donegal-based artists and art intstitutions (Artlink, Fiona Mulholland, Sarah Lewtas, Regional Cultural Centre Letterkenny, Earagail Arts Festival, Glebe Gallery) share their perspectives. Project case studies include an interview with Cecily Brennan about the making of her film The Devil’s Pool: Madness, Melancholia And the Artist Artist, which was supported by the Arts Council’s Reel Art Award and Sue Morris’s profile of her collaboration with Greg Mclaughlin and Stephen Baker, exploring issues around memory and historical record. Giving insight into institutional infrastructures, Cliodhna Shaffrey is interviewed about her new role as director of Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, Dublin. And adding an international perspective, Jonathan Carroll’s column highlights the absurdities and vanities of art fairs. The critique supplement features Dorothy Cross (RHA), Patrick Alte (Triskel), ‘Overworlds’ (Courthouse Ennistymon), Richard Gilligan (Copperhouse) and Robert Kelly (Droichead). Residency reports come from Saoirse Higgins, on her time at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel, Shanghai and Kim Mcaleese, who discusses a curatorial residency at Soma, Mexico City. Janice Hough announces the recommencement of IMMA’s residency programme. Catherine Harty talks to Mick O’Shea and Irene Murphy, directors / founders of The Guesthouse, Cork, an artist-led residency, meeting and production space. Rachael Gilbourne and Kate Strain discuss the exhibition they developed for the Dublin City Council / The Lab Emerging Curator Award 2013 / 2014. Lesley Cherry and Alissa Kleist, recipients of 2014 ACNI ACES Awards, outline their plans. Also on the topic of development and support, we include a profile of the innovative FIND project, a mentored series of public art projects for Castlebar. VAI’s West of Ireland Representative, Aideen Barry, highlights the contribution art world professionals make to third level visual arts education. As always, there is more – the roundup of recent exhibitions and public art projects, all the latest opportunities and news from the visual arts sector, and updates on recent VAI activities.
1. Cover: Locky Morris, Dead On, dead elm tree, audio, Brooke Park, Derry, VOID Sites Artists’ Gardens commission (December 2013 – Spring 2014). Photo Paola Bernardelli, treatment by Joe Coll (joeandco.ie) 5. Column. Be There. VAI Get Together 2014. 6. Column. Jonathan Carroll. Recalling Bocadillo-gate Bocadillo-gate. 5. Roundup. Recent exhibitions and projects of note. 7. Column. Els Borgart. Forwards & Backwards. 8. News. The latest developments in the visual arts sector. 8. VAi News. Visual Artists Ireland’s research, projects and campaigns. 9. Regional Profile. Donegal. Artlink, Fiona Mulholland, Sarah Lewtas, Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny, Earagail Arts Festival, Glebe Gallery. 12. Project Profile. Spark & Grit Grit. RGKSKSRG discuss the DCC / Lab Emerging Curator Award. 13. Research Profile. The Double Edged Sword Sword. Research on artist-entrepreneurs in the West. 14. Career Development. The Eye of the Storm. Ann Quinn charts the development of her painting practice. 15. Award Profile. Aces High. Lesley Cherry and Alissa Kleist on their ACNI ACES awards. 16. Career Development. Making & Momentum. Brendan Earley discusses the idea of an art career. 17. Project Profile. Stepping Across Boundaries. Sue Morris discusses ‘I Can Say This With Absolute Certainty. I Was There’, which explored issues around memory and historical record. 18. Residency. Scale & Difference. Saoirse Higgins on her residency at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel, Shanghai. 19. Critique supplement. Dorothy Cross, RHA; Patrick Altes, Triskel; ‘Overworlds’, Courthouse. Ennistymon; Richard Gilligan, Copperhouse Gallery; Robert Kelly, Droichead Arts Centre. 23. VAi Professional Development. Stepping Up. Adrian Colwell Reports On ‘Early Days’, A VAI Professional Development event held at MCAC , Portadown (1 March 2014). 23. VAi Activity. Plus Ça Change … VAI V ’S Screening of !Women Art Revolution! 24. How is it Made? Balancing Act. Cecily Brennan on The Devil’s Pool: Madness, Melancholia and the Artist 25. institution Profile. Years Of Possibility. Catherine Harty, Mick O’Shea and Irene Murphy in conversation about The Guesthouse, Cork. 26. Residency Programme. Space Of Activation. The re-commencment of IMMA’S residency programme. 27. Residency Report. Critical Margin. Kim Mcaleese on her curatorial residency at Soma, Mexico City. 28. Career Development. New Thinking / New Processes. Designer / maker Kate Oram outlines her experience of the Harnessing Creativiy inititive. 29. Profile. Create, Exhibit & Exchange. An interview with Cliodhna Shaffrey, the new director of TBG+S. 30. Art in Public Roundup. Commissions, site-specific works, socially engaged practice and other forms of art outside the gallery. 31. Art in Public Profile. Finders / Keepers. Gianna Tomasso profiles ‘Find’, a mentored series of public art projects for Castlebar 32. VAi West Of ireland Representative. Moving The Discourse. Aideen Barry highlights the importance of real world contexts and the contribution that art world professionals can make to visual arts education.
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33. Opportunities. Grants, awards, exhibition calls and commissions. 34. VAi Professional Development. Current and upcoming workshops, peer reviews and seminars. Production: Publications Manager: Jason Oakley. Assistant Editor: Lily Power. News & Opportunities: Niamh Looney. Invoicing: Bernadette Beecher.
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The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
COLUMN
Get Together 2014
5
Roundup
micro and macro forces of ice in the
Beckett Bucket, an artist’s book by Andy
Natural Artifice
retreating ice flows” as well as exploring
Parsons and Glenn Holman, was selected
ideas of “water remedies”.
from the collection at UWE, Bristol to be
Be There!
www.corkfilmcentregallery.com
part of the RUKssian Artist Book Exhibition at Tsaritsyno State Museum,
Visual Artists Ireland’s Get Together 2014 takes place on Friday 23 May at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin. It will be the third iteration of the event, our national day of talks, clinics, presentations, information sharing and connecting with fellow artists and art workers. As with previous Get Togethers, the day will reflect and celebrate the rich and diverse nature of the Irish visual arts sector. We are extremely grateful to IMMA Director Sarah Glennie and her team for allowing us to use the museum and for making the arrangements for what will be a full and busy day appear so easy. IMMA seems almost tailor made for the Get Together. VAI have been generously given the run of six fine spaces in the historic North wing of Royal Hospital Kilmainham: the Little Theatre, the Johnston Room, the Drawing Room, the Baroque Chapel, the Lecture Room and the Great Hall. The event is open and relevant to artists and everybody with a professional interest in the visual arts sector: writers, students, educators, arts officers, curators, museum and gallery directors, art historians, service providers, archivists, studio managers, facilitators, art administrators, philanthropists, policy makers and legislators. So don’t delay – book a place now! In response to feedback from attendees last year, crucial improvements and developments have been made to the structure and programme of the Get Together: we’ve created more time for people to network catch up with each other via formal and informal sessions; there will be an emphasis on developing and maintaining careers in the visual arts; talks will focus on specific areas of everyday work / life issues effecting us all; and leading Irish artists Daphne Wright, Locky Morris and Elizabeth Magill will share their stories and the benefit of their considerable experience. Another key focus will be on the particular challenges facing artists living and working in rural and remote settings. The Common Room Café will occupy the Great Hall and host a variety of organisations offering essential information, supports, services materials and advice on a one-to-one basis. Short and informal presentations addressing a range of topical subjects will take place in the Common Room Café throughout the day. The Common Room Café will also feature VAI’s outlet for artists’ books, catalogues, monographs, art ‘zines and experimental publications. Throughout the day a series of presentations will be made by key experts on essential day-to-day professional matters that impact all visual artists. Speakers will include: the Arts Council and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Axis Web, Art Clash, IMMA’s residency programme, the Crafts Council of Ireland, Rua Red, Fire Station Artists’ Studios, Maurice Ward Art Handling and the Burren College of Art. These sessions will also include a focused presentation on how you can contribute to VAI’s rapidly growing Local Area Groups initiative, an endeavour that is empowering visual artists and art workers all over Ireland. In terms of broad issues, we’ll be asking ‘Is public art in crisis?’ and discussing the matter with a number of public art experts. We also welcome the participation of the Mothership Project, who will consider the issues facing artists as parents, such as: ‘Are retrograde attitudes and practices in relation to artists and parenthood an inherent part of the art world?’ AICA Ireland, in partnership with VAI, have convened discussions on timely and prescient issues. UK art historian / theorist Paul Wood, together with critic / artist James Merrigan and curator / visual arts policy specialist Cliodnha Shaffrey will offer thoughtful discourse on ‘Art in a Time of Transition’. Declan Long will chair the discussion. Elaine A King (Carnegie Mellon University, USA), a specialist in the field of art and ethics, will tackle questions around ‘Artists and Ethics’ in the company of writers Gemma Tipton and Fionola Meredith. Artist Alan Phelan will chair this lively discussion. VAI’s much-celebrated Speed Curating event returns in an improved format and with a larger number of participating Irish and international curators. As ever it offers an accessible and informal means for artists to show and discuss their work with influential art world professionals. We’re also delighted to present a large-scale version of our VAI Show & Tell event, which we’ve been rolling out around the country for some time. This will provide a peer-to-peer developmental showcase for artists. An exciting new development for 2014 will be the documentary and film pitching event, a chance to meet producers and directors working in film, documentary and factual TV to share ideas and make introductions relating to visual-arts themed projects. This event has come about in relation to VAI’s ongoing concern for developing media coverage and public access to the visual arts. Speed Curating, Show & Tell and the Documentary and Film pitching event are booking-only events; we recommend that you act fast to secure a place! The day with close in time-honoured fashion with time for a glass of wine and a chance to catch up with people you may have missed during the day. Bookings / information: www.visualartists.ie
Henrot @ Lismore
Moscow (13 Mar – 18 May). Beckett Bucket
was created, Parsons explained, “by asking members of the public for their insights
and anecdotes about Samuel Beckett and then transcribing them as text and
drawing on the spot, creating a book as a performance”.
Paola Catizone, installation view of ‘Natural Artifice’
In March (7 – 29) Soma Contemporary,
www.floatingworldsprojects.blogspot.com
Moving Mural
Still from Grosse Fatigue
Waterford showed an exhibition of drawing, video and performance works
Camille Henrot’s film work Grosse Fatigue
by Paola Catizone. The show’s title,
made its Irish debut at Lismore Castle
‘Natural Artifice’, referred to the intrinsic
Arts, Waterford (8 Mar – 13 Apr). The film
differences between the various media
premiered at the Venice Biennale 2013
used by the artist, who combines them
and was described in the press release as
through ‘performative’ drawing. Catizone
an “ambitious video … that attempts to
described how, in this process, “direct
tell the story of the universe’s creation
experience and impermanence are
from a computer desktop and using the
proposed to the viewer, who becomes
collection of the Smithsonian Institute in
witness to the live emergence of lines”.
Washington DC”.
www.paolacatizone.com
Jim Cathcart, image from ‘Them that work the hardest’
Them that work the hardest, a “mobile and www.lismorecastlearts.ie
modular mural” project by the Dublin-
based Scottish artist Jim Cathcart was skin to air & edge of absence
eamon McAteer
shown at Draiocht, Dublin (26 Feb – 19
New works by Eamon McAteer were
Apr). The starting point for the project,
recently on show at the Gordon Gallery,
Cathcart noted, “was in listening again to
Derry (14 Mar – 12 Apr). McAteer has
recollected lines from songs dealing with
received several prestigious awards and
the experiences of people at work, while
been exhibited in public institutions
at the same time reflecting on personal,
such as AIB, INTO and Thornhill
family and community history”.
College.
www.draoicht.ie www.gordon-gallery.com
Kilfeather at Oonagh Young McKenna at The Butler
The Oonagh Young Gallery, Dublin
Bernadette Cotter, installation view of ‘Skin to Air...’
presented
Caoimhe
Kilfeather’s
exhibition ‘Before it stirs the surface’ (25 Bernadette Cotter’s exhibition at the
Mar – 21 Apr). Kilfeather showed a
Sirius Arts Centre, Cork (7 Mar – 6 Apr)
selection of sculptural / installation work
‘Skin to Air and Edge of Absence’,
explored architecture and the built world,
comprised a large installation in two parts and a one-off performance. The
with a “sensitivity to the intrinsic qualities of raw matter”.
Stephen McKenna
works on show featured shards of broken
www.oonaghyoung.com
glass engraved with fragments of poems
‘Stephen
by Eavan Boland, Mary Oliver and
Watercolours’ at the The Butler Gallery,
Adrienne Rich.
Kilkenny (8 Mar – 20 Apr) presented a www.siriusartscentre.ie
McKenna:
Drawings
& subliminal Anarchy
range of works on paper reflecting McKenna’s travels and demonstrating
Must Go On
“the fluency of McKenna in motion”. The
Multimedia group show ‘Must Go On’ ran
watercolours and drawings in the show
at Rua Red, Dublin (8 Mar – 19 Apr) and
featured locations such as Derry, Carrara,
featured work by Peter Land, Sonia Shiel,
Pompeii Berlin, Galicia, San Sebastian
Clodagh Emoe, Anita Delaney, Felicity
and Istanbul.
Clear, Ella de Burca and Nicholas Keogh.
www.butlergallery.com
“Proposing a mix of the tragic-comic,” the press release noted, “the works playfully
Beckett Bucket in Moscow
engage with contemporary anxieties, offering a tonic through strategies that include endeavor and failure, illusion,
Stephen Dunne, Edifice, oil on canvas
slapstick and the provocative”.
Working in painting, drawing, moving
www.ruared.ie
image Polar Forces Ruth Le Gear’s film work Polar Forces,
the
investigation
of
Stephen Dunne exhibited new works at
created on a residency in the Arctic
Pallas Projects, Dublin (20 – 29 Mar)
waters of Svalbard in 2012, was shown at
under the title ‘Subliminal Anarchy’. The
Cork Film Centre Gallery (6 Mar – 5 Apr). In this work Le Gear contemplated “the
and
“speculative and theoretical fictions,”
artist described his aim to “generate a Image from Beckett Bucket
universe of delirious narrativity, to depict
6
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
Column
ROUNDUP
Jonathan Carroll
strange monsters, manifestations from
Josephine Geaney showed paintings, bog
human”. Moore’s solo show, ‘Aspects of
the collective unconscious, crystallised
oak sculptures of boats, decayed canvas
Process’ ran at Leitrim Sculpture Centre
Recalling Bocadillo-gate
enunciations and progressive mutant
and ashes, in a show entitled ‘Imram’ at
(11 – 26 Apr).
subjectivities”.
Signal Arts Centre, Bray (1 – 13 Apr).
Art fairs: they’re everywhere but here. The Cologne Art Fair recently offered a free bus to a top health spa – better to clear the head before you make the big acquisition. Frieze, meanwhile, has the best talks and the most bizarre events – most memorably a performance in a packed Royal Academy of Music where the audience witnessed a small bird shit itself with stage fright in front of the expectant critics (Birdconcert 2005, Henrik Håkansson). Basel has misinformed riot police sent to break up Tadashi Kawamata’s favela cafe – oops, was that art? ARCO almost seems grounded in comparison, aside from the wonders of its host city Madrid and the famous Bar Cock (the other one silly!), the official watering hole for the fair and a favoured haunt of Francis Bacon. While your correspondent was there I met Enrique Juncosa, former director of IMMA, who asked after the museum. I also briefly met Irish artist, curator and educator Paul O’Neill, now director of the graduate programme at Bard College’s Centre for Curatorial Studies in New York. O’Neill was one of around 150 leading art world professionals who were invited to take part in one of several sponsored forums and professional meetings (the latter were rather frustratingly closed to the general public). I mingled with several of these invited guests (but sadly had to pay my own way) and enjoyed one group’s banter as they argued over who better deserved the five star hotel rather than the more shabby four star treatment. These VIPs (often chauffer driven around the place) networked and discussed future contracts and projects in closed sessions with enticing titles such as ‘Material Culture and Contemporary Art’, which featured Max Andrews, Nav Haq, Nicolaus Schafhausen and Paul O’Neill. I mention these ‘junkets’ by way of contrast to the other important art fair participants: artists. The galleries pay substantial sums on their booths – a 40sqm space costs up to €11,500 – alongside staff and transport costs, so there’s a pressure to sell or at least break even. Bringing a few actual artists along can help with a gallery’s sales, but most of the artists that I met paid their own way, staying in modest pensiones. ARCO 2014 was all about recovery; newspaper headlines included: “The fair closes: the most exciting edition we have seen since the crisis”, “The constant flow of sales brings back the hope that this is the upturn edition” (ABC Newspaper) and “Who is eating who? The new edition of the fair puts the art market to the test” (El Mundo). There was much talk prior to this year’s ARCO about museums no longer having the funds to collect works, galleries not selling very much and confusion over the Spanish government increasing the VAT rate for gallery sales of art from 8% to 21% – adding an amended rate of 10% for artists direct-selling work. The overall decline in art sales at ARCO is best illustrated by the reduction in money spent by the Reina Sofia Museum. This year it spent €204,625 buying 17 works of art. In 2013 it spent €318,799, which in turn was less than half the €700,000 spent in 2012. However, sales improved from last year thanks, in no small measure, to the reported €1 million ARCO spent out of its total budget of €4.5 million on inviting 500 international collectors and museum staff to the fair. This, combined with several art prizes of up to €15,000, resulted in some much needed income for both galleries and artists. I noticed that Ireland’s representative at the last Venice Biennale, Richard Mosse, sold two large works on the opening day at the Leyendecker Gallery based in Santa Cruz Tenerife. With no Irish galleries attending this year, the only other Irish work I saw was by Willie Doherty. Doherty will have an exhibition at Galeria Moisés Perez de Albéniz this year. Nina Canell (of Mother’s Tankstation) will also be part of an exhibition in Madrid, this time at the Nogueras Blanchard Gallery. Incidentally, both these galleries have recently arrived in Madrid to take the spaces usually occupied by a couple of Madrid galleries who had to close due to the crisis. One gallery’s loss is another’s gain. What about those neither selling nor buying? When I lived in Madrid I visited ARCO many times. At the height of the boom I recall ‘bocadillo-gate’ / the ‘sandwich wars’. It was the perfect clash between commerce and entertainment, as at the time ARCO was the victim of its own success. Too many punters (of the non-purchasing kind) were blocking the aisles and obstructing the moneyed set from the primary objective of the fair. Worse still they were bringing their own sandwiches and not spending in the restaurants feeding the art fair’s profit margin. Solution? Ban entry with bocadillos and cut down on those designer seating areas. Current ticket prices are €40 (€66 with catalogue) for the privilege of watching others buy art.
www.pallasprojects.org
Geaney
described
the
works
www.leitrimsculpturecentre.ie
as
explorations of the “unconscious world
Tactile
of memory, experience and curiosity”.
Authenticity
www.signalartscentre.ie
NEOP
Jun Yang, Paris Syndrome, 2007 / 2008 Image from ‘Tactile’
‘This is Authenticity’ at Golden Thread,
The exhibition ‘Tactile’ took place at
Belfast (3 – 24 Apr), focused on sites of architectural
development
in
Catalyst Arts, Belfast (7 – 14 Mar),
the
differing social and political landscapes
coinciding with the Belfast Children’s
Barry W Hughes, image from ‘NEOP’
Festival. Works by Clodagh Lavelle,
of Northern Ireland and China. The exhibition paired the practices of Martin
Barry W Hughes exhibited a series of
DSNT, David Frederick Mahon, Helen
Boyle and Jun Yang, who each addressed
photographs entitled ‘NEOP’ (taking its
MacMahon and Rachael Campbell-
“peculiar constructions of false visuality
title from NASA’s Near-Earth Object
Palmer showed works sharing a concern
in contemporary culture”. The show was
Program) at the Library Project, Dublin (1
with a “bond between artist and audience
curated by Eoin Dara and featured an
–13 April). Hughes’s body of work
and emphasising physical engagement”.
accompanying text by Adrian Duncan.
explored “astronomical phenomena and
www.goldenthread.co.uk
www.catalystarts.co.uk
the science related to their observation and exploration”.
New Tyrells
Hand to Mouth
www.photoireland.org
India 50 Mexican photographer Alejandro Gomez de Tuddo’s work was shown in the exhibition ‘India 50’ at the Copper House Gallery, Dublin (9 – 16 Apr). The show comprised a series of 25 images of India, suggestive of ideas of ‘timelessness’ Sarah Browne, still from Something from nothing
“resulting out of the merging of space and place, and of people and minds”.
Sarah Browne’s show ‘Hand to Mouth’ at
www.copperhousegallery.com
40 years after the artist’s first solo show,
CCA, Derry (29 Mar – 24 May) stemmed from research into informal and
Charles Tyrell, oil on aluminium
painter Charles Tyrell showed a series of
Away at Home
subsistence economies. Browne’s point of
new works at the Taylor Galleries, Dublin
departure was a series of found images
(11 Apr – 3 May). In a departure for the
depicting women from the Shetland
artist, the works were all painted on
Islands, which formed an “unexpected
aluminium and, as the press release
antecedent, to contemporary images of
noted, displayed a “swiftness of movement
the multi-tasking, precarious labourer”.
and swiftness of thought”.
Browne’s filmwork Something from
www.taylorgalleries.ie
nothing, which explored contemporary working conditions for women on Shetland, was a centre piece of the exhibition. www.cca-derry-londonderry.org
Ca Ong Paola Bernadelli, installation view of ‘Away at Home’
Void, Derry showed Paola Bernadelli’s work ‘Away at Home’, a project
Imram
commissioned by BT Portrait of a City (1 Apr – 2 May). Bernadelli’s work examined the concepts of ‘home’ and ‘away’ in relation to individuals “who live in a country with varied social norms, religion
Lucy Sheridan, image from ‘Ca Ong’
Lucy Sheridan, whose recent work
or language”. www.derryvoid.com
focuses on the display of animals in museums and zoos, presented ‘Ca Ong’ at
Jonathan Carroll is a curator based in Dublin. Carroll is one of the curators for the Return at the Goethe-Institut Irland and has worked for Project Arts Centre and the St Patrick’s Day Festival. He is a graduate of Curating Contemporary Art (RCA, London), Cultural Management (Instituto Universitario Ortega Y Gasset, Madrid) and Art History (UCD).
Josephine Geaney, from ‘Imram’
Aspects of Process
Market Studios, Dublin (3 – 9 Apr). The
Working in clay, cast bronze, welded
title of the show referred to the
metal, plaster and oil paint, Billy Moore’s
Vietnamese practice of ‘whale worship’.
work references his own daily experience
What interested Sheridan, the press
to explore the “complexity of bodily
release noted, was “notions of ritual and
emotions and what it means to be
collection” and the divergence between
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
7
Column: Making it
ROUNDUP
Els Borgart
how animals are presented in museums
Ambassador to Germany, described how
featuring installations and digital works
and in these spiritual traditions.
Parnell’s work also touched on “perennial
made between 1992 and 2012.
Forwards & Backwards
www.marketstudios.ie
themes such as beauty, compassion,
www.imma.ie
purity, truth, humility and balance”. It all started in August 2008 in Belgium (where I’m from). After returning from adventuring around Mexico, I realised I was tired of my career in human resources. I finally understood that the only career I really wanted to pursue was in art. I had also found love, and that love happened to live in Ireland, a country with an excellent reputation for embracing and widely supporting the arts. With a Masters in both Fine Art and Cultural Policy and Art Management, I was told that Ireland would be the land of plenty for me. Perfect timing, I thought, let’s go. This was long-term planning at its best. September 2008. Quick update. I was seeing out my notice at my HR job, when the banks crashed in the US and the Irish economy was hit hard by the knock-on effect. Meanwhile, unaware of the impact, I continued packing, not worried in the slightest. November 2008: I began shipping my belongings. The moving company repurposed boxes Paris Hilton used to transport her dog accessories around Europe. So essentially my life was packed into dog boxes. But I was not intimidated at all. I finally arrived in Ireland with three boxes, each one cubic metre in size and with the labels of Ms Hilton still on them. Somewhere between resigning from job and my arrival, the land of plenty turned into the land of panic and despair. The ambitions and dreams that I had come to Ireland to realise, collapsed accordingly, like a house of cards. Five months and many rejection letters later, the reality finally hit me – and I understood that this was not going to work, unless I looked at my options from a different angle. This disastrous situation triggered my creative thinking and I decided to take matters into my own hands. My partner and I established a purpose built studio for ourselves (we converted an old shed) and set up a dedicated arts organisation: NeXus Arts – an artist-led curatorial team that aims to present inspired contemporary visual arts at diverse locations. The next three years were a struggle on every level: professionally, personally and financially. On top of that, it seems to rain here all the time! Really?! It was a case of two baby steps forward, one step back. I was an unknown nobody and therefore nobody took me seriously; why would they? But I was determined to get somewhere with my art career. After all, that is why I moved to Ireland, right? Again, two steps forward, one step back. Perseverance became my motto. In my naïve mind, I simply had no other choice. Two forward, one back. What was I thinking? Fast forward to 2012. My belief and confidence had dropped below sea level. Nonetheless, I decided to dedicate 2012 to throwing every bit of energy and willpower I had at this game and giving it a final push. If nothing improved on any level, I would draw conclusions and begin to look at other options. I could do no more; full stop and exclamation mark. Then, the unthinkable happened. I secured a few small opportunities to show my work and an Arts Council Travel and Training Award to complete a residency programme. In addition, NeXus Arts went on to receive a Curator in Residency Award from the Arts Council for 2013, to support a year-long curatorial programme. So I decided to keep going. 2013 left a big smile on my face. NeXus Arts, due to the funding, was able to complete an ambitious curatorial programme, develop new partnerships and obtain a real level of credibility both within the sector and with the public. My own work got accepted for a series of exhibitions stretching into 2015. Cue tears of joy. But two steps forward are traditionally followed by one back, and back I went. Budget cuts mean that the future of NeXus Arts is at stake once again, and a solo show I’ve been working towards is now indefinitely postponed. I will keep going regardless, because over the years I have realised that when art runs through your veins, you have no choice but to keep on trucking. The last five years have been a bumpy road – but it’s a road that I have always wanted but never previously dared to take. In a way, the difficult situation I landed myself in when I arrived in Ireland, pushed me to pursue what I had always wanted to do. Now I am delighted to do what I love the most on a daily basis, even when it is not easy: making art and working as a curator. I was asked to write about ‘making it’ in this column. So am I ‘making it’? There are many ways to define this. If ‘making it’ means being successful, it’s a very relative term. I feel more successful than I did five years ago, but this could change again tomorrow. Right now the only certainties I have are that I am ‘making’ at least two exhibitions this year with NeXus Arts. As for my own artwork, I am currently ‘making’ plenty of new work. The term ‘making it’ includes a verb in the present continuous. As far as I am concerned, as long as the present continues, I will keep ‘making it’. Els Borghart www.smalldoorstudio.com www.nexusarts.eu
Many & One
Nicholas Keogh at the Kerlin Five Lamps The Five Lamps Festival featured a number of visual arts events as part of their 2014 programme – which ran from 27 Mar – 6 Apr across north central Dublin. Broadcast Gallery, DIT Portland Row,
Kennedy Browne, still from The Myth of the Many...
hosted ‘Seeking the Village’ (31 March – Kennedy Browne’s (Gareth Kennedy and
April). Artists Áine Ivers and Seoidín
Sarah Browne) The Myth of the Many in the
O’Sullivan devised this project to explore
One was shown at Crawford Gallery, Cork
issues around creativity, family and
(11 Apr – 7 Jun) as part of an ongoing
childhood via a number of discussions,
A series of three films by Nicholas Keogh
series of screenings by Irish and
celebratory events and workshops for
were shown at the Kerlin Gallery, Dublin
international artists. The work is based
asylum-seeker parents and children
(18 – 29 Apr) as part of Fortnightly
on the business biographies of famous
currently housed in temporary, state-
Features Presents. “Incorporating wit,
‘tech leaders’ and narratives of “paternal
provided
provision’
music and the absurd,” the press release
entrepreneurial genius”. These issues are
accommodation.
explored in the duo’s distinctive style –
‘Community’ was group show
Blubottles and Schumacher present us with
the press release typifying their working
featuring site-specific engagements by
an “alternative view of the everyday,
methods as a “process of redaction;
Maria McKinney, Catherine Barragry,
re-imagining human relationships, places
compressing an extensive catalogue of
Darn Thorn, Stephen Loughman and
and situations, skewing logic and reason
anecdotal and biographical material
Cora Cummins addressing ideas around
with a startling disregard”.
gleaned from the biographies and crafting
community and education and the
it into a single, complex narrative”.
Brutalist architecture of the venue
www.crawfordgallery.ie
‘direct
Nicholas Keogh, still from A Film About Bluebottles.
noted, A Removals Job, A Film About
Connolly House, the home of Marino
www.kerlingallery.com
For the Birds
College of Further Education (29 Mar – 6 Apr).
Artspace Open In conjunction with an open-studio event
Visual arts projects for young people
held on 29 March, members of Artspace
included: ‘Different Light’ by Swan Youth
Studios, Galway also presented a group
Services; ‘F25L: Findlaters to the Five
exhibition to celebrate the launch of
Lamps’, by Year Interior Architecture
their new website. The show featured
students from Griffith College at
painting, installation, photography and
Charleville Mall Library; and ‘The Lady of
drawing works by Ramona Burke, Marie
the Rocks’, featuring sculptures by young
Hannon, Anne O’Byrne, Laura Angell,
people from the local community aged
Louise Manifold, Robin Jones, Monica
10 – 14 years inspired by the ‘white lady’
Collins, Catherine O’Leanachain, John
statues positioned in many Dublin
On 22 Mar, The LAB, Dublin hosted James
Dowling, Ben Geoghegan, Fionna Murray,
windowsills.
O hAoda’s For the Birds, the closing event
Kathleen Furey, Marielle MacLeman,
www.fivelampsarts.ie
for the group exhibition ‘You can call me
Trish’ (7 Feb – 22 Mar). The work
Mary Ryan, John Brady, Marianne Hughes Browne, Lisa Sweeney, Juliette de la Mer
James O hAoda, For the Birds
comprised a series of actions that took
Spring at IMMA
place in the gallery over a day, utilising
and Laura Brennan.
three exotic birds. The press release
www.artspacegalway.com
described how these avian performers occupied the space “both as viewer and
Eve Parnell in Germany
live performer … activating, intervening
and, in moments, becoming complicit
with the language of display, aesthetics,
and the mediation of contemporary visual art”.
www.rgksksrg.com
Slow Art Day
Sheela Gowda, Kagebangara, 2008
On 12 Apr, Christine O’Brien Shanahan
Eve Parnell, Woman Slicing Bread, pencil on tissue paper
The Irish Museum of Modern Art’s spring
held an event at Greyfriars Municipal
programme
major
Gallery, Waterford to mark Slow Art Day
exhibitions. Haroon Mirza’s ‘Are jee be?’
2014. The aim of this annual event is to
(8 Mar – 8 Jun) comprises a series of site-
encourage slow contemplation of a small
features
three
specific installations that seek to
number of visual art works in order to
Eve Parnell’s exhibition ‘Im Meer des
“complicate the distinctions between
transform the viewer’s experience.
Staubs, ein liebevolles Leuchten’ was
noise,
Vong
O’Brien Shanahan chose three works
shown
Hall,
Phaophanit’s installation Line Writing (8
from Waterford’s municipal collection,
Hannover, Germany in March and at the
Mar – 11 May) is a striking red neon text
which attendees were invited to view and
Embassy of Ireland, Berlin (Apr – May).
work sited under the floorboards of a
then discuss informally. Volunteers run
The show comprised a series of large-
gallery space. Sheela Gowda’s ‘Open Eye
Slow Art Day events and this year over
scale pencil drawings evoking “the power
Policy’ (5 Apr – 22 Jun) presents a major
160 galleries around the world took part.
of compassion”. Michael Collins, Irish
retrospective of the Indian artist’s work
www.slowart.com
at
Burgwedel
Town
music
and
sound”.
8
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
News
CCA Director
be shortly advertising the position of
CCA Derry announced Matt Packer as
Artistic Director / Administrator. For
TBG+S Director
the centre’s new Director, beginning
more information or questions please
The board and artist membership of
on 18 March. Packer is a curator and
contact Laura Jane Redmond, Temporary
President Michael D Higgins
remuneration to help track down the
Temple Bar Gallery + Studios have
writer. He was Curator of Exhibitions
Administrative Assistant at Sirius Arts
VAI is delighted to announce that
rights-holder and provide them with a
welcomed Clíodhna Shaffrey as the
and Projects at the Lewis Glucksman
Centre: cobharts@iol.ie.
President Michael D Higgins has kindly
payment. VAI encourages artists to insist
new Director of the company. Clíodhna
Gallery, Cork from 2008 to 2013, and
agreed to be Patron of Visual Artists
on the integrity of their own copyright
Shaffrey has over 20 years experience
has been Associate Director of Treignac
Ireland. It is a great honour for us and we
and clamour for greater protection in
working in the arts in Ireland. Most
Projet (FR) since 2012. He has curated
arts council touring award
look forward to working with the
any changes to copyright law. IVARO’s
recently she has been Visual Arts
numerous exhibitions in independent
The Arts Council has announced details
President in the future as we continue
submission to the public consultation is
Advisor to the Arts Council Ireland
and institutional contexts, both in
of successful applicants under the Touring
our work supporting visual artists.
available from the website.
(2011 – 2014), where she gained
Ireland and internationally.
and Dissemination of Work Scheme 2014,
significant perspectives and knowledge
www.cca-derry-londonderry.org
www.siriusartscentre.ie
VAI News
should be introduced. This would enable
museums and archives to licence the use of orphan works. It would provide
www.ivaro.ie
round two (for tours starting between July and December 2014) and 2015 – Advance
Artists’ Books
Valerie Earley Residency
and the needs of the visual arts sector
TBG+S / HIAP Residency
Planning (for tours requiring advance
VAI is still accepting submissions for the
In 2013 Visual Artists Ireland put in
in Ireland. As well as this, over the last
This year, Temple Bar Gallery + Studios
planning in 2015). A total of €755,024
Artists’ Book Stall at the Get together
place a commemoration of our late
10 years, she has been in practice as an
and HIAP (Helsinki International Artist
has been awarded to 28 artists and arts
2014. This will be a great opportunity
friend and colleague Valerie Earley, who
independent curator where her work
Programme) have selected the Irish
organisations throughout the country
for artists and publishers to display their
worked with us as Membership Manager
has covered diverse areas from strategic
Artist Margaret O’Brien as the eighth
from 73 applications received. The total
publications to a large number of artists,
for over 17 years. We wanted to provide
planning and policy in visual arts,
recipient of the residency. Margaret
value of the funding sought by the 73
curators and arts workers. We also
a lasting memory of Valerie and hope
public art and local arts, to curation of
will be travelling to Helsinki in May
applicants was €3,143,000. This round
welcome sound works on CD. No more
that this award is one way that Valerie’s
exhibitions and commissioning of new
2014 and will spend six weeks at the
also saw the introduction of a streamlined
than five copies of a book should be sent,
care for our artist members will continue
work by artists.
HIAP residency facility on the Island of
application process by the Arts Council
and each book should not exceed 30 x
into the future. The Valerie Earley
Suomenlinna, just outside of the city.
and Arts Council of Northern Ireland for
30cm in size. They can be dropped off at
Residency award is open to all Visual
Barbara Knezevic, who was initially
North / South tours. 31 applications were
our offices or sent by post. There will be
Artists Ireland members and takes the
Elaine Byrne Laguna Prize
selected for the 2014 HIAP award, is
received for North South tours and 10 of
no charge or commission taken by VAI
form of a two-week residency in the
Irish artist Elaine Byrne won the 8th
not in a position to take up the award
these tours have been funded with a total
but publishers must organise for the
Tyrone Guthrie Centre.
Arte Laguna International Art Prize
this year. It has therefore been agreed
of €285,000 from both Arts Councils.
return of any unsold items.
for Sculpture, 2014. The Arte Laguna
between TBG+S and HIAP to postpone
The successful visual art groups /
A VAI representative will man the
a tranquil, beautiful setting amid the
Prize is an international competition
Barbara’s residency until 2015. Since the
artists under this scheme were: Marie
stand throughout the day, but we cannot
lakes and drumlins of County Monaghan.
aimed at promoting and enhancing
partnership began in 2007, TBG+S and
Brett, Kids’ Own and Kinsale Arts Week.
take responsibility for any damage
The residency is self-catering and
contemporary art. The winning work,
HIAP have supported a total of 12 artists
Further details may be obtained from the
or loss incurred. Please email lily@
includes accommodation and a studio
RAUM, was first shown at the Kevin
and curators from Ireland and Finland
Arts Council’s website.
visualartists.ie with details of the book
facility. The application process is
Kavanagh Gallery, Dublin in January
to undertake new creative work in the
you intend to submit (title, size, price,
subject to the standard terms and
2013 and will be shown in the Limerick
cities of Dublin and Helsinki through
quantity, short description). Publications
conditions of the Tyrone Guthrie Centre.
City Gallery in September 2014.
an exchange programme. Now a well-
ACNI Annual Funding
must be received by 5pm, Wednesday 14
Closing date: 27 June 2014. Tyrone
established opportunity, the TBG+S and
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland
May.
Guthrie
HIAP exchange fosters opportunities for
recently announced details of its annual
EVA International
Irish artists to artists to gain experience
funding allocation to arts organisations.
Ireland’s biennial EVA International was
and contacts internationally, and artists
Awards totalling an £13.7million have
Ivaro: Orphan Works
launched on 10 April in Limerick. The
are supported through the Arts Council
been made to 112 arts organisations
The European Council recently adopted
2014 exhibition is titled ‘Agitationism’
Travel and Training grant.
across Northern Ireland to cover running
a proposal on certain permitted uses of
Rob hilken: Ni manager
costs and programming through the Arts
orphan works (a copyright protected
Visual Artists Ireland is pleased to
Council’s Annual Funding Programme.
work such as a book, a film, a musical
announce the appointment of Rob
DCC Sculpture in Parks
This year there are four new recipients
recording or a work of art for which
Hilken as Northern Ireland Manager.
Participating artists are: Bisan Abu-
Dublin City Council has just released
of annual funding from organisations
the creator or rights holders cannot be
Rob is an artist, curator and arts
Eisheh, Doa Aly, Kjersti Andvig, Martí
a guide to sculpture in the city parks
working across community arts, music,
located or identified), which Ireland
administrator who returned to the sector
Anson, Amanda Beech, Ann Böttcher,
called Art in Parks. In presenting this
theatre, dance and visual arts. The
must implement by 29 October 2014.
following a 10-year career in internet
Jenny Brady, Benjamin de Búrca &
information to the public it is hoped
announcement marks the final year
Since Ireland currently has no legislative
marketing
Barbara
(James
that the experience of visiting city parks
of awards from a planned three-year
framework for the use or digitisation
graduated in Fine Art with distinction
Merrigan), Luis Camnitzer, Chimurenga,
will be enhanced, as well as promoting
funding programme. The four new
of orphan works, this will lead to
from Belfast Metropolitan College in
Jacqueline Doyen, Tom Flanagan & Megs
the creative arts in the city.
recipients of the Arts Council’s Annual
substantial changes in copyright law.
2012 and then joined the Board of
of contemporary visual artistic practices
www.templebargallery.ie
www.theartelagunaprize.com
and was curated by Bassam El Baroni.
www.templebargallery.ie
EVA exhibitions will be spread across several venues in the city for 12 weeks.
Wagner,
+billion-
www.artscouncil.ie
The Tyrone Guthrie Centre is set in
Centre,
Annaghmakerrig,
Newbliss, Co Monaghan.
www.tryroneguthrie.ie
and
consultancy.
He
Morley, Zachary Formwalt, GRRRR (Ingo
Dublin city has over 120 parks and
funding programme include: ArtsEkta,
Images are by far the largest segment
Directors at Catalyst Arts. Rob has also
Giezendanner), Nilbar Güres, Iswanto
over 200 hectares of green space servicing
Dumbworld Ltd, Visual Artists Ireland
of orphan works and any change to
curated exhibitions in Belfast, Dublin
Hartono & Raqs Media Collective, Rana
just over half a million residents. The
and the Dylan Quinn Dance Theatre.
copyright law in this area is particularly
and Castlebar. As an artist he has
Hamadeh, Siobhán Hapaska, Nicoline
parks serve as key recreational spaces,
relevant to artists and photographers
exhibited regularly in Northern Ireland,
van Harskamp, Cécile Hartmann, Malak
but also as spaces that enhance the
(and their heirs).
including the Royal Ulster Academy
Helmy, David Horvitz, Luis Jacob, Jeffrey
identity and cultural values of the city.
Charles Henry Peacock, Ramon Kassam,
The guide is available as a free download
Patrick Jolley, Hassan Khan, Per–Oskar
from the DCC website.
Leu, Alon Levin, Sofie Loscher, Mona Marzouk, Mendizabal,
Pauline
M’barek,
Metahaven,
www.dublincity.ie
Asier Nástio
Peggy Sue Amison
Mosquito, Catalina Niculescu, Seamus
Artistic Director Peggy Sue Amison is to
Nolan, Mark O’Kelly, Uriel Orlow, Neša
leave Sirius Art Centre to continue her
Paripovic,
Patterson-Carver,
career abroad. After 13 years at Sirius Arts
Garrett Phelan, Elizabeth Price, Eva
Centre, where Peggy Sue has established
Richardson McCrea, Walid Sadek, Miri
both a local and national profile as a
Segal, Ann-Sofi Sidén, Praneet Soi, Paul
Curator, she is moving on to explore her
Tarpey, Stefanos Tsivopoulos, Humberto
interests in photographic curation and
Vé lez and Carla Zaccagnini.
development her career in photography
Michael
www.eva.ie
internationally. A subcommittee from the board of the Sirius Arts Centre will
www.artscouncil-ni.org
Correction / Apology Sharon Kelly and Paddy McCann recently contacted us to point out an inaccuracy in Feargal O’Malley’s column our March / April edition ‘Critical & Creative’, regarding Flax Art Studios in Belfast. The article incorrectly stated that artists Phillip Napier and Michael Minnis founded flax Art Studios in 1989; in fact the cofounders also comprised Sharon Kelly and Paddy McCann, who were later joined by Ruth Graham, Angela Ginn, Mike Hogg and German artist Peter Mutschler, who began the first ever ‘residency’ at Flax in 1990.
The
proposal
envisages
the
Annual Exhibition (2011, 2012) and
exception
Household Festival of Contemporary
implemented
Art (2013). Rob currently works as part
it will enable cultural and heritage
of the management team at R-Space
organisations to digitise and provide
Gallery, a contemporary visual arts and
online access to orphan works contained
craft gallery in Lisburn.
introduction to
copyright.
of
a
new
Once
the
Rob’s first column will feature in
permission of the rights-holder. It will
the July / August issue of the VAN. He
also allow commercial exploitation of
can be contacted at rob@visualartists-
the works in order to cover digitisation
ni.org.
in
their
collections
without
costs. VAI supports the position taken by the Irish Visual Artists Rights Organisation
(IVARO),
that
rather
than introducing another exception to copyright (and diluting creators rights) an orphan works licensing scheme
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
9
Donegal: Resources & Activities Embedding My Roots
Artlink
Patricia Spokes, Fort Dunree, lino cut, 2014
In spite of everything I shall rise again: I will take up my pencil, which I have forsaken in my great discouragement, and I will go on with my drawing. Vincent Van Gogh, Letter 136, 24 September 1880
For 20 years Artlink Ltd was based in the town of Buncrana, Inishowen, Co Donegal. It provided employment, commissioned artists and delivered workshops and projects in visual arts. Local businesses also benefited by supplying venues, materials, as well as advertising, photography, printing, tea and biscuits for meetings and childcare for the kids of members. In 2012 the Arts Council decided that Artlink would not receive Annual Funding (in 2011 it received circa €70,000). Its employees were made redundant and Artlink was left unsupported and homeless. Then, in a strange turn of events, maximum Arts Council Project Funding was awarded that same year, for an ambitious and exciting curated project commissioning an impressive line-up – John Beattie, Sara Greavu, Conor McFeely and Christine Mackey – to make work at Fort Dunree, a stunning remote ex-military base in Inishowen. Without core support, however, delivering the project would be an enormous challenge. A lengthy and bureaucratic struggle ensued in the aftermath of the annual funding rejection. There were many ‘between a rock and a hard place’ situations. Eventually, a year or so later, due to the determination of the board, an administrative role was generated through the Community Employment (CE) scheme. This gave some support to the demands of the funded project, which had been solely co-ordinated by the curator Declan Sheehan, who had banked on support from the full team that had existed when the application was made. In September 2013 a JobBridge position was created, which brought the team up to three. By then the pitied Artlink Ltd had been taken in by its long-term acquaintance, Fort Dunree Military Museum. Without the hassle of a long term contract, they provide Artlink with an office and a project / studio space, plus access to an exhibition space and to the whole Fort Dunree site, which attracts well over 10,000 visitors every year and is highly advantageous for promoting contemporary visual culture outside the usual urban setting. Stripped of all its resources, Artlink literally went back to the drawing board and began to take an active role in mark making activities, hosting
events on and off site. Drawing was the catalyst for re-establishing links with artists and the community, letting them know that local support of visual art had not been obliterated. With the cross-border assistance of Voluntary Arts Ireland, some basic drawing materials were procured that allowed us to offer drawing workshops to the public. The artists who reconnected with Artlink were inspired by Fort Dunree and expressed interest in proposing site-specific projects. We also held a support meeting for artists who wanted to apply for Arts Council funding but had found the process intimidating. The gathered group went through the guidelines for the Visual Artist Bursary with a fine-toothed comb and questioned each section; collective grey areas were resolved through conversations with the Arts Council, while participants reviewed texts and images. Those with experience offered assistance to others who had trouble using the online system. Finally, nine applications where successfully submitted and declared eligible. In early 2014 hopes were high; there was a real sense of excitement for the coming of springtime. The project we were awarded funding for – around €40,000 – was finally finished. It was tight going but in the end the ‘Resistance and Rebellion’ project delivered brilliant results. Just as things were looking up, we were hit with rejection for a touring project application and all nine artists received rejection letters. We were back to square one. The JobBridge funded position was running out and the freelance curator was no longer getting any financial support. The high profile artists who’d been involved in the project had raised awareness of the organisation and the site, but without a penny in our pocket, what can we do next? The rent is due and the audited accounts need paying, but we still have some drawing materials the site remains awesome. We got a few hours work at a school last week, which will give us enough to hire a digger to get the herbarium – an outdoor studio space – underway. It’s been a long winter in Inishowen, but summer will come. People will leave the cities in search of cool refreshing air and they will find us up here: drawing, making and looking out across the wild waters. Maybe we’re lucky to be here without much financial support. We are free to do as we wish, to take as much time as we want staring at the River Swilly as it battles to enter the sea. Rebecca Strain
Coláiste Ailigh is a mixed gender second level school, established in September 2000, to cater for those in Donegal who wish to pursue a high standard of education through the medium of Irish. With its new building, it is one of the most exciting and innovative educational projects in the North West for decades. The initial enrolment of 25 students has now grown to 245 and the ‘state of the art’ building was designed by architects McGarry Ní Éanaigh and procured through a private public partnership initiative with BAM Building Ltd. In the summer of 2013, under the Per Cent for Art Scheme and through a two stage competition, County Donegal Vocational Education Committee commissioned a new artwork to celebrate and coincide with the construction of the Coláiste Ailigh building in Letterkenny, which opened in November 2013. The public art co-ordinator was Marianne O’Kane Boal, who mediated the project and was invaluable as a support and sounding board throughout the process. The school is named Coláiste Ailigh after the ancient kingdom of Ulster. The name ‘Aileach’ has a long and distinguished history. According to Flann Mainistreach, a seventh-century poet monk, the name goes back as far as the Tuath de Danann. The Four Masters record that the fortress (the Grianan of Aileach) on top of the hill was built almost 4000 years ago. The artwork I developed for Coláiste Ailigh was based on the written word, creating a meaningful and evocative landmark sculpture sited at the entrance of this dynamic new school. I set out to try to reflect the strength of purpose, the modernity and the academic confidence exuded by the college while at the same time recalling some of the cultural heritage of County Donegal and mirroring the modern architectural form of the new building. The strong angular shape of the sculpture resonates with the architectural detailing yet references ancient forms such as spears / flints and is intentionally situated in a dominant standing position in contrast to the low lying nature of the building. Shortly after being awarded the commission, there was an urgency to procure the engineer’s technical drawings and produce a method statement for the project. I worked with Cathal O’Connell, a consulting engineer with the CST Group in Sligo. The initial phase is very important; there will always be a certain amount of compromise between your artwork and the inherent structural constraints imposed by the engineer, but Cathal
was very accommodating. He made himself available throughout the project and was far more involved than either of us had anticipated. We held an open competition in the college to find texts that expressed in the most cogent and profound way the hopes and aspirations of the teachers and students of Coláiste Ailigh, to encourage the students to feel a sense of ownership of the sculpture. The winning text was cut into the stainless steel ‘surface’ of the sculpture using a laser. The Principal Micheál Ó Giobúin and the art teacher Annmarie Ni Chanainn were both very involved in the implementation of the competition and a beautiful new piece of poetry by Proinsias Mac a’Bhaird was selected. It translates roughly as:
Colaiste Ailigh School, Letterkenny
Fiona Mulholland, plans / photoshop image of Saoirse Cainte (Freedom of speech), stainless steel sculpture, 18ft (H), Coláiste Ailigh
We draw the loyalty of Red Hugh to us, We pray for the blessing of St Colm, here on the rich ground that is Coláiste Ailigh. We stand tall in the shadows of heroes, where the young trees blossom, and the stars shine brightly at home and abroad. During the initial phase, I researched stainless steel fabricators throughout Ireland, looking specifically looked for a company who would be able to realise all aspects of the commission, from the laser cutting to the installation. I decided to work with Kent Stainless in Wexford as they had realised several well-known sculptural works and offered a competitive quote. On the downside, Wexford is a long way from Donegal and I had to make a few visits. Kent Stainless is also a large company so you must also be prepared to wait your turn in their production queue. Due to further unanticipated delays, I sub-contracted the groundwork to a local contractor, Paul Duffy of DPH Groundworks, in March, in preparation for the sculpture arriving on site in April. The main skills necessary for working on largescale sculpture commissions are good communication skills and a certain amount of patience. A lot of time is spent emailing, waiting for quotes, making phone calls and driving to and from site meetings. I was essentially the project manager, dealing with all aspects of the commission. It has been a challenging and exciting experience working on such a large-scale project, particularly in Donegal, further embedding my roots in the North West. Fiona Mulholland
10
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
Regional profile: donegal
The Northern Edge
Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny
Image from ‘Lived Lives’ exhibition at RCC, Letterkenny
Sarah Lewtas, Comhrá Conamaír / Detritus Dialogue, ongoing work (detail)
I sat down to write this in late March on a reassuringly typical day in Dunlewey, Northwest Donegal, with a biting south westerly wind cutting across the Poison Glen, bringing every weather condition from bright sun to rain and hail at 10-minute intervals. A sentient and sometimes overwhelming landscape is always watching us here. I’m a recluse most of the time; I work alone in a very damp old converted cowshed or in my room if I’m working with anything that must be dry. At the moment I’m working on ideas for a large 3D construction based on the reproductive organ or epigyne of female spiders, which has been an abiding theme for the past 12 years. Sometimes, I need to interact with other artists and do so through the Cló print workshop and An Gailearai, which are close by. Both have miraculously active facilitators, given that they have very little to operate with apart from their own inventiveness. My gratitude towards them is immense, particularly as I’m aware that, in common with arts facilitators everywhere, they’re competing for the same inadequate funds. Mostly, I hide up here and divide my days. We have land: my partner has planted a forest and I keep a garden and poultry. We are both artists and bicker over managing the ‘necessities’ – housework and outdoor management – so that we can each make time for the ‘real work’ of our art practice. This is further complicated by the continual crosspollination of all these strands of action. After living in this far flung corner of the Gaeltacht for the last 34 years, we have achieved some degree of diplomatic accord. I need to hear what other artists and curators say about my work before I can really see it, or myself. This is a common thing for an artist to say. Negative comments often give the most; it’s always challenging when your submission for a show is rejected. After it happens several times you develop
a thicker skin, but not so thick that insider knowledge of precisely why you were rejected can’t send you into a hole. I have a never-ending work called Comhrá Conamaír / Detritus Dialogue, a kind of photo journal recording all the stuff that hangs around. When I clear up I put what I find in a drawn chalk rectangle on the ground, then I photograph it and throw it away. A couple of years ago there was an open submission which broadly asked: What does it mean to you being an artist living and working in the Gaeltacht? I felt this work described my life here in a very intimate way: remains dug up in the garden, the compost heap, ephemera from friends and their children, travel tickets etc. This included keeping train tickets from trips to see my mother in Sussex or visits to the Tate or London museums – an aspect of my identity as an immigrant living and working here: part of me will always miss England. This seemed like a good opportunity to put the work into book format, so I selected nine of the images as A2 prints for a wall display, and a further 100 or so images in sequence with a brief intro in Irish and English. I was pleased with overall result but it was rejected. In recent interactions with artists, curators and directors through the Samkura project (www.clo. ie/projects), I’ve been described as having a strong connection with nature and with death. Another general observation made was that artists working on their own all the time have a tendency to become rather introspective, ponderous and gloomy. There’s definitely truth in this. Death is of course part of nature, but I also have an interest in the in-between conceptual space of becoming or incarnation. I should definitely lighten up and communicate more. Since I began writing this it has snowed and there’s been geese copulating on the front door step. Sarah Lewtas
The visual arts programming policy at the Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny (RCC) is deliberately eclectic, with an emphasis on providing a broad range of experiences for local audiences. The centre is directly operated by Donegal County Council and receives revenue funding from the Arts Council. It is akin to a municipal gallery with a programme ethos more in keeping with an art museum than an independent gallery. As a result, the programme has not been solely confined to recent contemporary art but has featured work from throughout the twentieth century. It has also contained a high proportion of group exhibitions rather than one person shows. A socially engaged and audiencecentric approach has means that we often commission and select exhibitions on social issues such as education, health, disability and climate change. Two recent exhibitions: ‘Local People’ (April – May 2013) and ‘Lived Lost Lives’ (November 2013) demonstrate the RCC’ s approach to audience engagement. ‘Local People’ was, as the title suggests, a project about local people in County Donegal and neighbouring Derry City. The show focused on ‘ordinary’ local people rather than the famous sons and daughters more commonly featured in these types of projects. It is a Peace III funded project that comprised: an exhibition at the RCC and at the University of Ulster’s Magee campus, Derry; an education and community relations programme; a website (www.localpeopleireland.com); and a publication. The vision for the project was shaped by the exhibition curator Harriet Purkis and influenced by her extensive experience as a social history curator. The exhibition featured life size photographic portraits by Declan Doherty and filmed interviews by Jeremy Howard. Objects (clothes and shoes) and printed quotes to tell people’s stories were included alongside. Using clothes and shoes was a reflection of the curator’s interest in utilising material culture to tell stories. ‘Local People’ also reflects the RCC’s interest in the exhibition as a versatile and multi-layered model of communication that can provide an intellectual, physical, sensory and immersive experience. The project was intended to tease out in its own small way some of the big issues about sectarian and national divisions by focusing on the lives of 40 local people. People are presented first and foremost as human beings and not reduced to racial or religious stereotypes. There are people who have one Catholic and one Protestant parent and people born in Donegal and living in Derry and vice versa. The exhibition also features people who have immigrated to the area for whom these
Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny
particlar sectarian categories have little relevance. Furthermore, many locally-born people included in the work didn’t identify themselves as Catholic, Protestant, Nationalist or Unionist to any great extent. In 2006, Donegal-born artist and researcher Dr Seamus McGuinness and psychiatrist and clinical researcher Professor Kevin M Malone (UCD) initiated ‘The Lived Lives’. Seamus and Kevin interviewed 104 families from 23 Irish counties, who responded to invitations via local newspaper advertisements. Following informed conversational interviews, around 46 families donated belongings and stories associated with the suicide-deceased to the artist. From these donations of objects, images, writing and stories, McGuinness made a series of artworks-in-progress, which were initially presented back to the families for private feedback and their approval to display these works in the public domain. The process was informed by conversations mainly held around the bereaved families’ kitchen tables and subsequent family engagements with the ‘Lived Lives’ works-in-progress, in various locations around the country. As such, the families became co-creators and co-curators of the works. Emerging from the ‘Lived Lives’ project, with the families’ informed permission and active involvement, the next stage – ‘Lived Lost Lives’ – was made public for the first time at the RCC in November 2013. Here, the private experiences of suicide were transposed into the wider public domain. The RCC exhibition comprised a number of ‘Lived Lives Archive’ rooms containing objects and images associated with the suicide-deceased. It featured installations by Seamus McGuinness titled 21g and the Lost Portrait Gallery. A number of short research films documenting the process were also included. ‘Lived Lost Lives’ was not presented as a walkin exhibition but mediated by the artist, who was present at all times. It was also restricted to people over 15 years of age and a bereavement councillor was present throughout the exhibition run. There was an extensive programme of seminars, workshops and guided visits throughout the month. A considerable amount of research data was gathered through feedback forms and film documentation. It is intended that this will inform the next stage of the project. Sean Hannigan, Director, Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny. www.regionalculturalcentre.com
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
11
Regional profile: donegal
Earagail Arts Festival
Glebe Gallery
Selena Mowat, Burnt Until the End, oil in plywood, 2013
Glebe House and Gallery
James Dixon, West End Village
The Glebe House and Gallery is the former home of the renowned artist and collector Derek Hill. In the early 1980s Hill gave his house, along with his collection, to the people of Ireland and it is now open to the public during the summer season. Hill was working as the Artistic Director of the British School in Rome when he first visited Donegal in 1949. He instantly fell in love with the county and had made his home here by the mid 1950s. As an artist he was drawn to the quality of light and the landscape, which he painted constantly over the course of the next 50 years. He brought many leading cultural figures to stay in Donegal and experience the county for themselves. Sometimes they came to sit for portraits and were often inspired by the place. Indeed Benjamin Britton composed A Hymn of St Colomba, Sidney Nolan came in search of his roots and Pietro Annigoni painted View From Lough Salt. They each took something with them but also left their mark in various ways. Derek Hill first went to Tory Island in 1956 after hearing about its rugged beauty. His paintings there are amongst his very best; the seascapes are dramatically beautiful and the portraits he painted of his islander friends are extraordinary. It was on this first visit to Tory that he met James Dixon, the cantankerous old islander who dismissed Hill’s painting, saying that he could paint better if he tried. Dixon’s masterpiece West End Village is one of the great Irish paintings of the twentieth century. Hill encouraged and championed Tory art and these paintings are perhaps Derek Hill’s greatest legacy. Since opening to the public in 1984, the Glebe House and Gallery has continued Hill’s work by nurturing and supporting the local artistic community and by bringing exhibition of international importance to the region. Currently on show is the exhibition ‘Belonging’ by Selena Mowat (30 May – 29 June). Mowat is a Scottish-born artist who has lived in Donegal since 2010. After visiting the county briefly in 2009 she immediately fell in love with its ‘timeless charm and character’, inspired not only by its diverse and captivating terrain, which has attracted so many artists before her, but by its preserved culture and welcoming community spirit.
A former lecturer in Drawing and Painting at Duncan of Jordanstone, Dundee University, where she graduated in 2002, Mowat has exhibited extensively throughout Scotland, the UK and Europe and was recently the Irish winner of Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year. Since moving to Donegal Mowat has immersed herself in the local artist community, founding local art zine ZWEEF and co-founding local artists’ collective Avant Garda, which last year participated in a Culture Ireland funded residency at the Vasarely Foundation in Aix de Provence, France. Mowat works primarily with oil paint, but is an adamant supporter of collaboration, working regularly with filmmakers, musicians and performers to produce a number of films, music projects and events outside of her professional painting practise. For her first solo show in Ireland – here at the Glebe Gallery – Mowat will be exploring what it means to ‘belong’ through her work as a painter and as a collaborative artist. Mowat was born in Scotland and travelled extensively throughout her childhood; her approach to making art is to act as a kind of conduit for information, gathering memorabilia (photographs, postcards, folktales, album covers, magazine clippings) in much the same way that she would have absorbed the world whilst travelling in her youth. As the artist puts it, “I’m interested in what defines cultural identity … the commonalities that bind us, what makes us feel that sense of belonging as individuals and as part of a community and how our sense of place affects this. For the exhibition at the Glebe I will be addressing these themes from a personal perspective and in collaboration with other local artists, musicians and performers.” Work for the show will include paintings produced this year in Ireland, Scotland and Germany, where the artist will spend time retracing her childhood memories, utilising the local landscape and folklore, creating a wall installation of portraiture and developing some experimental moving image pieces made in collaboration with musicians and performers from Donegal. For a short time Mowat will also be on site producing live portraits within the gallery. Adrian Kelly, Director. Glebe Gallery.
The Earagail Arts Festival (EAF) is a multidisciplinary arts festival that takes place every July throughout County Donegal. This year’s festival takes place from 12 – 26 July. EAF has an impressive track record of presenting an annual thematic visual arts exhibition programme over the past 15 years. The festival’s thematic focus has ranged across media – including focuses on print and photography – and addressed subjects such as time, conflict and diaspora. This year a Patrick Scott exhibition will be the main focus of the programme. The Patrick Scott exhibition will be shown at the Regional Cultural Centre (RCC) (14 July – 27 September) and the Glebe Gallery (14 July – 29 August), drawing on works recently show at Visual, Carlow and IMMA. In addition, An Gailearaí, Gweedore will present an exhibition of Scott’s work drawn from the Taylor Gallery, Dublin. The festival’s exhibition programme is jointly co-ordinated by Donegal County Council, the Regional Cultural Centre, OPW, the Glebe Gallery and participating galleries An Gailearaí Gaoth Dobhair, Artlink, An Grianan Theatre and Donegal County Museum. The scale and the quality of the exhibitions are only made possible by the yearround work done by this network of participating publicly-funded galleries, all of which have been in operation for over a decade and for almost three decades in the case of the Glebe Gallery. The EAF has provided an important platform to showcase visual arts in Donegal and has attempted to combine some of the best work by local artists alongside high quality national and international work. Each year’s programme has featured a significant number of locally-based artists. International artists featured over the years include Henry Moore, William Orpen, Sidney Nolan, Peter Blake and Richard Hamilton. Earagail exhibitions and all the participating galleries also play an important developmental role in providing opportunities not just for local audiences but also for local artists to experience high quality international art on their doorstep.
Victor Vasarely, vega-arl, 1968
The festival has very successfully presented major international exhibitions such as ‘Victor Vasarely’ (2008) and ‘Hungarian Constructivism’ (2009). The Glebe Gallery and the Regional Cultural Centre, which jointly exhibited both shows, attempted to carefully disseminate information about the art on display and the wider context from which it emerged. The RCC also ran a programme of ‘hands-on art rooms’ that attempted to create an understanding of European art movements in an accessible form and language, enabling children and adults to make their own artworks in the style of the exhibition. ‘Contemporary Artists of the Donegal Diaspora’, the main Earagail exhibition at the RCC in 2013, featured specially commissioned new work by Turner Prize winner Susan Philipz and Turner nominees Liam Gillick and George Shaw, among others. Back as 2004, Aidan Dunne touched on one the EAF’s focal points – engagement – in a review for the Irish Times, writing: “… not that the Earagail Arts Festival visual arts programme is about bringing high art to the masses in some missionary sense. Rather the issue is one of engagement. Time and again festival events gave the sense that visual culture was something living, something rooted in the world rather than an embellishment of it, something open to debate and up for grabs”. The festival features a broad exploration of art rather that being confined exclusively to contemporary work. The programme includes work by artists of the past as well as living artists and is drawn from collections as well as featuring new (sometimes commissioned) work. Exhibitions are not confined to fine art and include design, architecture and applied arts on occasion. The festival attempts to present the wider relationships between visual art and other disciplines, such as art and science, art and conflict, and art and the diaspora. Sean Hannigan, Director, Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny.
12
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
PROJECT Profile
Spark & Grit RGKSKSRG (RACHAEL GILBOURNE & KATE STRAIN) DISCUSS ‘TONIGHT, YOU CAN CALL ME TRISH’, AN EXHIBITION AT THE LAB, DUBLIN (7 FEBRUARY – 22 MARCH), DEVELOPED FOR THE DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL / THE LAB EMERGING CURATOR AWARD 2013 / 2014.
created by Mary-Jo and James have no physical presence in the gallery, while the work of other artists, such as Alan Butler, manage to take over the entire sensory experience. Pilvi, Rachel, Oliver and Brenna have a staged presence – but you two devised this. In some ways your work is the entire show, and in others your work is the stage upon which the show is displayed. Can you talk us through finding a balance for all of that? MD: It required a duality of thinking. On one hand we wanted to show the artists’ works in a way that they would never have anticipated – but to elucidate materially and spatially some of the values we drew from our experiences of those works. On the other hand, we looked at the works as raw materials for our larger installation, to make something of value for ourselves. So, we felt respect and empathy, while at the same being self-centred and strategic. There’s fertility in a contradiction like this: occupying many ways of thinking and feeling at the same time while being true to them all seems to produce complex and rich results. EM: For me this kind of duel state is what we were aiming for. If there is confusion and ambiguity about the visual result then it means that the ecosystem of our work is healthy. Everything works in tandem, fuses and reflects back on each other. If you were to take any of the works out, the whole show would fall apart. The works rely on each other to create the environment they inhabit.
‘Tonight, you can call me Trish’, installation by Eilis McDonald and Mark Durkan, with sculptures by Brenna Murphy and video by Rachel Maclean, curated by RGKSKSRG; photo by Denis Mortell
In late 2012 we established RGKSKSRG, our joint curatorial practice. Core activities include commissioning, presenting and contextualising contemporary art. Through our mobile working model we devise experimental projects, acknowledging the significance of the institution whilst also, in some ways, challenging it. Our recent project, ‘Tonight, you can call me Trish’, was developed with the support of the Dublin City Council / The LAB Emerging Curator Award 2013 / 2014.1 Following the open submission process in February 2013 and an interview in May, we were notified that our application had been successful. The award offered us the opportunity to present an exhibition at The LAB, with administrative, technical and marketing support from the venue, together with financing for artist fees, production, design and artwork transportation. Mentoring from Clíodhna Shaffrey (Director, TBG+S, Dublin), and assistance from Sheena Barrett (Curator, The LAB) were key elements of the award. We secured additional support from Irish Art Courier and Kunstverein Dusseldorf.2 Our proposal considered the spatial challenges of the gallery; through exploring ideas around performance and precarious labour, the show developed into a layering of roles, works, practices and encounters. The group exhibition featured an audio piece by Alan Butler, sculptures by Brenna Murphy and videos by Rachel Maclean, Oliver Laric and Pilvi Takala. Newly commissioned ephemeral works by Dublin-based artists Mary-Jo Gilligan and James Ó hAodha extended the possibility for engagement, with an audio-walk through the city and an exhibition tour designed for birds. The exhibition’s scenography was devised by Dublin-based artists Eilis McDonald and Mark Durkan, who arranged the artworks in the space on and around a selection of tailor-made platforms or islands. Some of these structures had been elements of ‘I’m astonished, wall, that you haven’t collapsed into ruins’, Durkan’s exhibition at The LAB, which preceded ‘Trish’. As key players within the exhibition, we decided to pose McDonald and Durkan a set of questions, in the hope of untangling some of the core concerns of the show. And, vice versa, they returned some to us… RGKSKSRG: You have collaborated before … what’s the difference in your individual and collaborative approaches? Eilis McDonald: We have very different aesthetics and ways of working. We’re almost complete opposites. I like to leave a lot to chance and
work quite loosely but I’m strict and exact in the smaller details. I find starting with a detailed plan and an expected outcome can be quite stifling. But I think Mark flourishes in the planning and imagining process. Knowing we can pick up each other’s slack and use each other’s strengths means we can be freer in our approach. RGKSKSRG: Were you familiar with the other artists in the show? How did our discussions work for you in describing the ideas behind the exhibition and the potential for staging these through your scenographic interventions? Mark Durkan: We were familiar with all the artists bar Rachel Maclean and we were delighted to be introduced to her work. You provided a lot of reading material and background information on your thought processes and what you wanted to achieve. One of our first group conversations made an impression on me – we went from talking about layers and exhibitions-within-exhibitions to role-playing and identity crises. These were exciting conversations. EM: We also talked about how collaborating and taking on a combined role as artist-cum-interior designer / merchandiser could be liberating… RGKSKSRG: Eilis, you’ve incorporated other artists’ work into your installations, but usually they would be of your choosing, right? Was it difficult to work with someone else’s selection? EM: I started developing this way of working in 2011 for a show called ‘Offline’ at TBG+S, Dublin, curated by Rayne Booth. I worked with the selections Rayne had made to incorporate the whole show into my installation. So for me, the immediate practicalities of ‘Trish’ were quite similar. The main difference was my formal collaboration with Mark and how that changed and opened my ideas about the concepts and possibilities. Your selections were objects for us to work with, like a bedrock of context on which our world could evolve. MD: It was important for us to consider how each artwork would relate to the others and how those relationships would help build a narrative. At times certain works become really intimate with each other and at other times they seem conflicting or even adversarial. RGKSKSRG: There are strange hierarchies at play in any group show, but in this one they’re keenly felt. The ephemeral events
EM & MD: As curators, how was it to give over much control over how RGKSKSRG would look and feel? Is it something you would do again? RGKSKSRG: We trust the artists that we work with and likewise, ideally, the artists trust us. In this sense, it is a core part of curatorial practice to give over control and enter into a conversation – otherwise it would be the curators making the art, right? We are passionate about the concepts, the aesthetic and the attitude of the projects we develop, yet ultimately it is about what happens in the creative space, which our ideas and research can conjure through supporting the artists to produce work and the discussions that can occur in between. In this way, the exhibition is built upon a common vision. Trust is inherent. Of course, there is always risk, but this is what makes the spark and the grit that can create something richer than purely working in isolation either as curators or as artists. EM & MD: Working as a team on your projects, do you find that you divide jobs or roles according to your individual strengths and experience? Is this something that happens for you naturally or tactically? Or is it something you avoid? RGKSKSRG: We first met and worked together professionally at Project Arts Centre, Dublin, as the visual arts team for 2012 (covering curator Tessa Giblin’s maternity leave). To some degree many of the roles and tasks that each of us gravitates toward now developed organically during our time there. We’ve never discussed this, or tactically divided these roles up, and they tend to be unfixed, switching back and forth depending on what is happening at particular times. It is also a strength that each of us knows that there is an inherent flexibility – trust in one another’s ability to succeed in any one task – but there is also the knowledge of what is best for each of us at a given time. EM & MD: Where does the role of curator end and the role of artist begin? RGKSKSRG: We’ve been asked this question before and as far as we can recall we’ve given a slightly different answer each time. For us, there is always a line between the role of the artist and the curator. This line may break, blur or vanish for a moment, but it is always fixed back in place again, since it’s always there in the first place. That’s not to say that it’s an open-shut black-and-white case. Now, ask us this question again, so we can offer up a new answer… Notes 1. ‘Tonight, you can call me Trish’ was the first major manifestation of RGKSKSRG’s practice. Upcoming projects include a nine-month residency award at studio 468, Dublin, to culminate in a solo project by artist Emma Haugh at NCAD Gallery, Dublin in 2015. Recent projects include: ‘a choreographed performance through gesture to music’ at ‘(((O)))’, Clonlea Studios, Dublin (2013); various text-based pieces including for The Naked (NL); and a year-long experiment in retro-programming at Project Arts Centre, Dublin (2013 – 2014) 2. The sculptural works of Brenna Murphy were commissioned and first shown at Kunstverein Dusseldorf in 2013
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
13
RESEARCH Profile
The Double-Edged Sword
Small-scale production isn’t just a promotional asset, however, it is a
susan monagan outlines her recent research project, which focuses on the activities, skills and assets of ‘artist-entrepreneurs’ working across the west of ireland.
and organisations struggle to be as quick and nimble.
In autumn 2013 I used a Fulbright Award to take leave of my duties in the Department of Theatre Arts at Ithaca College, New York to live in Galway and interview ‘artist-entrepreneurs’ in the West of Ireland about their experiences running creative enterprises. My research is linked to the Creative Edge project, funded by the European Union’s Northern Periphery Programme. Creative Edge has sought to identify the current breadth and future scope of the creative economy in peripheral regions. Little creative economy research has been conducted in rural areas, though these are often areas of great economic need. In many rural regions, a rich cultural life is an underdeveloped economic asset. But how do we avoid using artistic activities as ‘bait’ for other enterprises in a community? When we support ‘cultural tourism products’ benefits the most, the artists or the hotels, restaurants, shopkeepers, etc who reap the benefit of the ‘multiplier effect’ of art events and facilities? Ideally, the
I know my market, because that’s who I am. I make art. I know what’s needed.
competitive advantage. Being small allows companies and organisations to connect directly with their market, gauge its reaction to offerings and quickly adjust their products and services accordingly. Large companies
2. Develop undergraduate degree programmes Though these artist-entrepreneurs have taught themselves the skills they have needed to succeed in their enterprises, many would have preferred some foundational training to a career of constant trial and error. Third level institutions should consider developing degree programmes to include coursework and experiences in: project management, company management, producing and resource development (fundraising, investment etc). These career paths could be explored with those unable to find work and specially-tailored finance and management courses could be encouraged among students pursuing fine and performing arts degrees. 3. Measure intrinsic impact Traditional measures of audience engagement are attendance numbers, money spent on tickets etc, but these numbers hardly tell the whole story. Theatres in the US have begun to measure intrinsic impact and find out
experiences of the artist-entrepreneur can and should inform discussions and policy that is equitable and helps sustain creative enterprises over
be difficult to describe or understand and markets are fickle and hard to
what really happens to the audience member as they sit in a theatre
time.
activate. As one interviewee put it, “Without being an artist, I wouldn’t
during a show or enter a gallery. WolfBrown has conducted research in
know my business; I know my market because that’s who I am. I make art;
this area and they make their research protocol available at no cost.
The motivations and objectives of creative economy actors may appear irrational from a traditional economics point of view. Are they
I know what’s needed”.
motivated by money, social justice, community development – ‘all of the
Understanding both the market and the product for artistic products
above’? I conducted in-depth interviews with 26 individuals who are
and services take specialised skill and knowledge, and the artist-
Though all the interviewees described the arts networking centre of the
engaged in producing cultural projects, products, events and services. I
entrepreneur role is an evolving hybrid and, perhaps, a double-edged
country as Dublin, many had developed models to turn their remote
sought to probe the interviewees’ values and priorities, and understand
sword. One interviewee described herself as having “more the skills of an
location into an asset. Several rural artist entrepreneurs described
the ways in which rural location has presented each person with obstacles
entrepreneur but respect for the art,” continuing, “you have to understand
successfully ‘networking in place’ by bringing artists and patrons to them
and opportunities as well as unique approaches to networking.
how artists work and be able to facilitate the creative process and if you
and giving them an immersive experience. One artist residency director
were to take a pure business line on it, I don’t think it would work. There
described herself as having only ‘one degree of separation’ from major
has to be heart in it as well”.
galleries in Berlin, London and New York because she had made lifelong
My interviewees were ‘artist-entrepreneurs’: those who understand their activity to be directly linked to the economic health of their rural
4. Reframe networking for the rural context
connections with the artists they represent.
community, by way of job creation and / or attracting external funding to
I asked questions targeted to uncover some of the artist-entrepreneur’s
their region. For example, two of the interviewees run countywide craft
values, because this is a place where creative industries and market
20 out of 26 interviewees currently work internationally. Rural
collectives, several manage performing arts venues, four run visual or
economics often diverge. Though artist-entrepreneurs want to make a
venues and festivals bring international artists to Ireland; crafts people
performing arts festivals, etc. A few of the interviewees wanted to distance
living, they are less motivated by money than by the successful
and filmmakers sell and distribute their work abroad. Rural artist-
themselves from the term ‘entrepreneur’ because of its association with
dissemination of creative work. As one interviewee said,
entrepreneurs can collaborate to network internationally, especially if
for-profit business. In the United States and elsewhere, the concept of a
“This project has always been, for me, about the music. I suppose my
‘social entrepreneur’ is well established and used to describe one who uses
career has always been. It’s not a career to make money; it’s a career to
the characteristics of a business entrepreneur to move an agenda for
make music – art. If I had wanted to make money I would have gone to
social change forwards.
the bank like my dad”.
they find Dublin unresponsive to their need for grants, press and access to markets. Artist-entrepreneurs can develop the capacity of their local networks even if they include mostly non-artists. Because of low density, rural
The difficulty of operating in Ireland’s current economic climate was
Many are deeply disturbed that their work is not widely understood
networks need to be loose and broad and travel across areas of expertise
reported to me by many of the interviewees. Traditional sources of public
and appreciated, and see it as their mission to overcome the perception
and interest. Artist-entrepreneurs can lead their rural communities in
funding have dried up and a decline in personal discretionary income
that art requires specialised skill or knowledge to understand and
developing ‘locovore’ synergy and finding the opportunities that serve
means people have less money for ballet tickets or hand-made gifts.
appreciate. “I think it’s really sad when you have something world class
their specific context. An opportunity might find its way into the
Where the financial future is far from certain, planning has become short
like (our organisation) and local people say ‘oh it’s not for me, I wouldn’t
community by way of a green energy initiative, for example, but that
and medium term. The silver lining of this dark economic cloud may be
go up there’… that’s something I really want to try and put right.”
doesn’t mean an artist or group of artists doesn’t have a role to play in
that people are more willing to listen and collaborate than they were during the boom time.
The artist-entrepreneurs I encountered were all sophisticated and
bringing that initiative forward.
tireless in their pursuit of strategies that will keep their work flourishing.
The art-workers I spoke to also indicated that the economic situation
From my limited vantage point, I present some strategies that Irish artist-
During the five months I was in Ireland, I was deeply impressed by the
had pushed them away from their artistic roots and toward developing
entrepreneurs and creative industries policy makers might want to
way in which Ireland’s artist-entrepreneurs are digging in and adapting to
entrepreneurial characteristics – such as motivating others, taking risks,
consider.
meet changing circumstances. Policy makers in Europe look to the creative industries as the bright spot on the economic horizon. A creative
and being stimulated by challenges. Several people identified their ability to think ‘laterally’ as an asset during times of uncertainty; they are able to
1. Develop cottage industries
approach to leading our communities and considering solutions to our
think around a problem rather than tackling it head-on. Though many
Many of the artist-entrepreneurs I met have chosen a rural lifestyle by
most pressing social problems is sorely needed. Policy makers can succeed
had formal training as performing or visual artists, fewer had formal
moving to the rural west from elsewhere in Ireland or the UK. They work
in tapping into the potential of creative industries by developing
training in business or management.
in their homes or in offices / studios that they have constructed on their
programmes that fan the fires of rural Ireland’s artist-entrepreneurs.
Many identified themselves as ‘life-long learners’, continually figuring
property. Many work with family members to create products and deliver
out how to do things in a new way, on an as-needed basis. All of these
services that are then distributed worldwide. In this way, their sites of
Since 2005, Susan Monagan has been the Manager of Audience
characteristics have allowed these artist-entrepreneurs to face the
production look like the twenty-first-century version of a cottage
Development in the Department of Theatre Arts at Ithaca College,
challenges of the current uncertain climate. As one put it, “I think to
industry.
New York. She teaches courses in Cultural Policy and Politics,
survive now you have to use entrepreneurial skills … you have to think of
Artist-entrepreneurs can do more to connect their place of production
Promotion and Publicity, and the Creative Economy. During Autumn
new ways to invent and get money because funding has been reduced to
with the unique characteristics of their place, be it their family or their
2013, supported by a Fulbright grant, Monagan worked with the
such an extent … whatever you do you have to try and keep reinventing
rural county and its people, traditions, history and landscape. As a
Creative Edge project team at NUI Galway’s Whitaker Institute.
the whole organisation in a way that you’re going to try and get some
response to the extreme standardisation of our contemporary modes of
Monagan has also been a team member of Cornell’s New York
return”.
communication, this ‘do-it-yourself’ aesthetic appears to be growing.
Creative Economy research project that explores the potential of
Even in the best of economic times, flexibility, creativity and lateral
Artist-entrepreneurs can build narratives about their products that link
creative economy initiatives in upstate New York, particularly
thinking are requisite skills in the creative industries where products may
them to place and highlight the small-scale production of the work.
those with colleges and universities as strategic partners.
14
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
Career Development
Ann Quinn, Impression of Isfahan, Central Iran, oil on canvas, 98.5 x 122.5 cm, 2014
Ann Quinn, Rice Fields Forever in the Sky with Diamonds, oil on linen 37.2 x 51 cm, 2013
Ann Quinn, Bridge onto Armenia, oil on panel, 13 x 18 cm, 2014
The Eye of the Storm
Pyrenees, Catalonia in 2010; a three month artist residency at
ANN QUINN CHARTS THE DEVELOPMENT OF HER PAINTING PRACTICE
Glenveagh National Park, Donegal in 2007; and most other artist residencies in Ireland. I recently finished a three-week artist residency at the VCCA, Virginia, US in April 2014. I have been earning my living for the past 12 years working as an
In the summer of 2000, I graduated from the National College of Art
maturing and developing my own practice as a painter. I didn’t
arts facilitator, teaching art to older people (aged 67 – 101) in a few
and Design with a degree in Painting at the age of 22. During my first
understand much about the art world but kept my head down and
nursing homes and day care centres in Dublin. This has made me very
few years at NCAD I lived mainly in Dublin, learning to survive in an
painted. My work slowly started to be noticed by galleries in Dublin
diciplined with my time and has taken me out of the insular world of
urban environment after coming from a rural farming background in
and across the country. As I became more and more focused,
the studio. Working alongside healthcare assistants and nurses –
Donegal. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do after leaving art
opportunities increased; doors opened, just as they had in the
these people, I believe, are the highest spirits in Dublin – I continuously
college, despite the fact that I’d had a sell out degree show. I always
beginning with the studio and the teaching.
learn from their unassuming natures, and from their selflessness in
wanted to be an artist and to see the world outside the small green
I have never really had any career-orientated ambition in my
caring for the most vulnerable. Over the years I have met many
valley where I grew up, but it seemed that my aspirations were
journey as a painter, though I have a burning desire to push myself
colourful characters from old Dublin in the twilight of their lives and
unfocused. I took up, in a full-time capacity, my hitherto part-time job
and do the very best work. The art world can sometimes be very
these memories have stayed with me. I feel privileged to have
as a cleaner in a psychiatric hospital in the city.
confusing and distracting, but I have always followed a philosophy: to
introduced to them a passion for painting, which many didn’t know
keep my eyes only on making strong work. The rest will take care of
that they possessed. I have attended several funerals of the patients
itself, like focusing on the eye of the storm.
where a painting of theirs was displayed on the coffin by their
I remember long hours spent trying to take charge of the floor cleaning machine’s buffer as it spun furiously out of control while I
relatives, who thanked me for bringing happiness into the person’s
shined the already squeaky-clean corridors. There was the daily
From 2002 – 2006 I got to live my dream of traveling the world.
pointlessness of cleaning toilets and scrubbing already glittering
With the money saved from sales of my work I traveled throughout
surfaces amongst the noise and havoc of the wards. My existence was
South East Asia, Central America, Iran, East Africa, India and Europe.
My work starts with abstraction; often, I don’t plan the outcome of
a permanent re-run of a scene from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
At the time I saw it as an investment in my work and this proved true.
what a painting will be. I enjoy the power of abstraction, whereby the
During that period I felt low, as if I was criminally neglecting an
Certain places held a particular resonance: some landscapes and
vision of the painting’s particulars can be lurking in the background
essential part of who I really was.
atmospheres in Iran, also places in Spain. Years after visiting Iran I am
– a kind of prophesy of a more tangible outcome. Using my own
After many months of what in retrospect seems to have been a
still making work influenced by my time there, such as recent works
photographs as a source material I enjoy going back to the moments
kind of a glorious degradation, I got a phone call one day from a fellow
Impression of Isfahan, Central Iran and Bridge to Armenia. This urge
when I took the photographs and investigating the richness of those
graduate and great friend Gillian Lawler, urging me to join her in a
to see new places developed into a necessity for artist residencies.
visions. The power of my dreams and inner visions also seeps into the
last years. This has been a most rewarding way of life.
studio she had just found; there was a space going beside her and she
Every piece of work I have made is based on a specific place I have
activity of painting and the outcomes are often quite unexpected. It
thought of me. I said yes and began painting again on my days off
spent time in. My paintings are about places, but in fact I am going for
can take me up to three years to finish a painting; sometimes I leave
from the long corridors of insanity.
the atmosphere. I use places in order to instil an atmosphere; this is
works aside to return to years later.
One hot sunny afternoon a few weeks after moving into Gillian’s
the main element that I go for. It is the same atmosphere that appears
Since 2012 I have been exhibiting my work at the Taylor Galleries
studio, I threw off my ‘Calvary’ uniform and marched out of the
in works of literature and in films. This is the reason why I cherish
in Dublin. I had a solo exhibition at the gallery in June 2013 – ‘Subtle
psychiatric hospital during the middle of my shift. I had no plan for
literature, films and paintings so much; it is the essence of the book,
Correspondence’ – the ninth solo exhibition of my career. Taylor
what I should do next. The following day, as if according to some
the film or artwork that I seek out.
Galleries was established the same year I was born, in 1978. I feel very
ordained and invisible script, a neighbour knocked on my door
Artist residencies are a vital part of my work practice; they enrich
privileged to work with such high caliber gallerists. They understand
looking for an art teacher. The next day I was employed as a part-time
me with an endless source of research material for future projects.
the scope of what I am doing and where I am going in terms of the
teacher of art and now 14 years later I have continued to earn my
Residencies provide the space and time away from the routine of my
development of my practice as a painter.
living this way.
daily existence to fully open up the creative mind. I have undertaken
Ann Quinn
After I joined the studio with Gillian there followed an incubation
many artist residencies over the years, including: the Fundacion
www.annquinn.org
period of seven years when I painted quietly and continuously, slowly
Valpairoso, Almeria, Spain in 2008; the Centre Art I Natura in the
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
15
A rD ProfILE AWA
Lesley Cherry, High Quality Guilt, 2013
PrIME Peer reviews at flax Art Studios 1 March 2014, presentations by Karine Talec & ryan Moffett
Aces High
LESLEY CHErrY AND ALISSA KLEIST, rECIPIENTS of 2014 ACNI ACES AWArDS, oUTLINE THEIr PLANS. IN January the Arts Council of Northern Ireland announced the 12 recipients of the 2014 Artists Career Enhancement Scheme (ACES).1 Awards under the ACES scheme are made annually to professional artists working in music, visual arts, literature and participatory arts, and are among the most prestigious awards bestowed by the Arts Council each year. Each ACES artist receives a bursary of £5,000 and is partnered with a professional arts organisation to help them to deliver a major new creative work. Three individuals working in the visual arts received ACES awards: artists Lesley Cherry and Ian Cumberland, along with curator Alissa Kleist. Respectively they are developing projects in association with: Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast; Millennium Court Arts Centre, Portadown; and the Metropolitan Arts Centre (MAC), Belfast. Lesley Cherry and Alissa Kleist offer accounts below of the impact the award will make on their practices and their initial plans for projects with their partner organisations.2 ALISSA KLEIST I received the 2014 Arts Council of Northern Ireland ACES award to support my development as a curator. I will use the grant specifically as a means to analyse my curatorial practice to date and to facilitate a number of forthcoming research trips nationally and internationally; this will enable me to see new work, visit various organisations, events, exhibitions and biennales, and hopefully make interesting and rewarding contacts as a result. The ACES funding has also enabled me to work in partnership with the MAC, and I will have the opportunity to assist the MAC curatorial team – Hugh Mulholland and Eoin Dara – as an associate curator during the administration and delivery of the MAC International, the venue’s new open-submission biennial exhibition. This is an exciting prospect. The meetings I have had with Hugh, Eoin, and the MAC marketing team to-date have provided me with valuable insight into the development of this ambitious international project. At the time of writing, the MAC International deadline is fast approaching (30 April), and once the deadline has passed, work will begin on preparations for the exhibition, and a jury of international curators:
Judith Nesbitt (Head of National and International Partnerships, Tate, London); Francesco Bonami (Artistic Director of Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin); and Hugh Mulholland (Curator, the MAC) will decide on a shortlist of artists for the MAC International exhibition, scheduled to open on 30 October, 2014. From this shortlist, the jury will select one artist deemed to have made an outstanding contribution to the exhibition, who will be awarded a substantial prize of £20,000. Part of my proposed programme of activities has included a residency this February at the University of Ulster MFA Project Space, run by MFA lecturers and artists Mary McIntyre and Dan Shipsides. The residency has proved to be extremely beneficial. For the first time in over two years of working for and with various arts organisations – as a freelance curator, and as part of the collectives Household and PRIME – I had the opportunity to evaluate these activities in a concentrated manner. Through simple mind-mapping exercises and research I’ve been able to critically assess my own practice specifically, but also developments in the broader curatorial field. As a curator-in-residence I undertook a number of studio visits with several artists and enjoyed impromptu conversations and discussions with students, staff and visitors. It culminated in a lecture I gave to 100 students and staff members at the university. In April, I will use my ACES funding to visit Glasgow International. Other planned, ACES-supported activities on my agenda include: visits to the Berlin Biennale, Liverpool Biennial and EVA International in Limerick; studio visits in Dublin and Helsinki; a visit to Manifesta 10 in St Petersburg later this year; and further research into Istanbul’s grassroots and experimental scene, as well as larger, more established, art organisations and events. I feel privileged to have received an ACES grant and appreciate that the Arts Council of Northern Ireland supports curators in this way – and that provisions are made for invaluable research time and travel, during which new practices and artists can be viewed and discovered, connections made and future collaborations planned.
LESLEY CHERRY Applying for ACES was a natural progression for me after completing an MFA at the University of Ulster in 2011 and then being awarded the ARCH Development Residency in Washington DC in 2012. The ACES award is providing me with time to concentrate, research and create new work and to define my practice. I also have the opportunity to work with one of Northern Ireland’s leading contemporary art spaces, Golden Thread Gallery. Using video and digital photography, as well as domestic and found items, I create tangible 3D works, which transcribe real and imagined stories. These stories are informed by real life: personal stories, political events, popular culture, history and fiction. I like to bring out the humour, hurt, triumph and endurance within human stories. I highlight the ‘small’ happenings, which have meant a great deal to the people they have directly affected. There are recurrent symbols and themes within my work and each story has a definitive title such as The Knitted Word Project The Blue Lamp Disco Sessions Project, Sessions, It’s All About Us and High Quality Guilt Guilt, which I believe adds to the story-type feel of the work and its accessibility to the viewer / audience.4 The Blue Lamp Disco installation (2010 – 11) recreated a Royal Ulster Constabulary youth disco in a disused police station in Belfast. The irony that these discos were held at the height of The Troubles, as part of the RUC’s youth outreach programme, was not lost on the participants or me. The actual discos brought in massive crowds – yearly numbers of up to 300,000 according to official reports. In addition to staging a disco, I also presented a performance, whereby I mimed to law related songs, running in conjunction with the disco. The songs commented on abuse, law breaking, prison offenders and the plight of prisoners’ wives. Forming relationships with individuals is an important element of my work. In the case of the Draw Down The Walls / It’s All About Us project (2013 – 14), men and women from the Shankill Estate in Belfast recorded stories of domestic abuse, loyalist feuds and paramilitary involvement.5 In the presentation of the work, by eliminating the storytellers, I created a sense of security for the participants, allowing them to tell their stories in a frank and unapologetic manner. This work was recently shown at Golden Thread Gallery and at the North Belfast Interface Networks Towards Peace European Conference in March 2014. The ACES award, alongside Golden Thread Gallery’s support and mentoring, will assist me in developing my practice and career as an artist further. Golden Thread Gallery has a strong community outreach programme and with the support of the gallery’s team I hope to gain experience that will be beneficial to my career – both as an arts facilitator and as a practising artist. The award will also allow me the time to research new topics for my work, give me the opportunity to learn additional video and audio techniques and help me to develop a career plan; all of this will give me the direction I need in order to continue to both sustain and support my practice. www.creativeexchange.org.uk www.lesleycherry.wordpress.com Notes 1. The 12 artists are: Sid Peacock (composer & music producer) Lesley Cherry (visual artist); Ian Cumberland (visual artist); Alissa Kleist (curator); Pauline Burgess (author); Nathaniel Joseph McAuley, (poet); David Quinn (performance artist); Kenneth Gregory (fantasy fiction author); Matt Kirkham, (poet); Jan Carson (writer); Kate Guelke (music director & producer) from Belfast; Anthony Quinn (writer). The Arts Council launched the Artists Career Enhancement Programme in 2010 to provide development opportunities for career artists. 2. Ian Cumberland’s report will appear in the July / August edition of the Visual Artists’ News Sheet. 3. www.lesleycherry.wordpress.com 4. www.facebook.com/pages/Draw-Down-The-Walls
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16
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
Career development the growing importance of Chinese art and its art world, in terms of collectors and institutions. JO: Have sales meant that you can make a living being an artist? BE: Recently I’ve done well, but in terms of income it’s been just enough to survive and get by, nothing more. If I believed in the idea of an art career, I’d have to say that there are easier ways to make money than by being an artist. Times are tough now; before the crash, I had more ways to support myself: installation work, teaching – but that’s scarce now. So I’m very fortunate to be represented by a gallery who go to international art fairs and meet buyers. JO: You undertook PhD research at NCAD from 2006 – 2010; how did this impact on your practice? BE: It was a chance to get my work supported by an institution for a length of time, but it sometimes felt like doing open-heart surgery on myself. To my mind, the academic approach of working back from a research proposition is the reverse of how I work. My process is to work out what I’m doing as I go along. Like most artists, once I’ve made something, it ceases to be interest to me; I’m on to the next thing. It did help to develop the writing aspect of my work. I’m now confident and determined to articulate very clearly what my work is about or what’s behind it. I have a big problem with the opacity of a lot of current art writing. Another consequence is that narrative has become important – not just in text form – but in the objects, drawings and installations I’ve been making. I’m interested in an ongoing diaristic approach, both visual and textual. Brendan Earley, ‘Before the Close of Day’, Mother’s Tankstation (19 February – 12 April 2014), installation view courtesy the artist and Mother’s Tankstation
Making & Momentum BRENDAN EARLEY DISCUSSES THE IDEA OF AN ‘ART CAREER’. Jason Oakley: Would you say your career is in a good place? I was really struck by the opening lines of your text for your exhibition at Mother’s Tankstation: “Walking along a dusty road in New Mexico ... my walking companion was Lucy Lippard.”1 I also had in mind your 2013 residency in Beijing, the 2012 solo RHA show and the fact that you were selected for the 2008 DHG / VOID Curated Visual Arts Award … Brendan Earley: That’s a tricky question. I’ve built up a significant body of work, so a certain momentum has come out of that. Whether I’m in a good place in terms of ‘success’ doesn’t interest me. I’ve never actually thought of being an artist as a career or in terms of strategic professional development. I have always seen making art as work rather than a job, and most definitely not as a career – whatever that is.
Studios (set up in 1996) and Lee Welch’s ‘FOUR’ (2005 – 2009) would be a couple of examples. JO: How did you go about making things happen? BE: Things have always happened to me or have ‘come up’ on the strength of the work I’ve made. If people ask me for advice on how to get exhibitions or signed with a gallery, I have to say frankly that I’ve no idea, other than to say: make good work and the interest will come to you. I’ve never methodically sought out opportunities. The fact that I now work with a gallery obviously helps a lot. Over the years I’ve applied for and been awarded Arts Council Awards – project grants, travel bursaries etc. They provide me with dates, targets to keep in mind. When a deadline comes up, I’ll sit down and consider if I have anything relevant on the go.
JO: So avoiding the word ‘career’, when would you say that you began to take being an artist seriously? BE: I’d pinpoint 1997, when I applied for and received a Fulbright Scholarship to do an MFA in Combined Media at Hunter College in New York. I’d graduated from NCAD in 1995 and, like most people, I left art college without a plan. The teaching at Hunter College was completely different from what I’d previously experienced. It wasn’t a matter of playing around with masking tape and sticks, it was serious – you were made to feel as if you were part of and connected to a greater discourse about art. Robert Morris, an artist I admired a lot, was one of my tutors. After graduating I did a residency at the Centre for Experimental Video in upstate New York. It was an amazing facility, set up pioneers like Gary Hill, in an isolated farmhouse set in woodlands and filled with analogue audio-visual equipment, including modular synthesisers and sequencers. But, ironically enough, it was where I actually started drawing again. Video had started to become too ethereal; I was looking for a more hands-on medium at that point.
JO: I’d imagine that encountering and working with leading figures such as Robert Morris, Lucy Lippard, Brian O’Doherty and Mike Nelson (who was a mentor for the DHG / VOID Curated Artist Award) has been an important factor in your practice? BE: Yes, I’ve learnt so much from them all. Mike Nelson was very generous with his time and we had an affinity in terms of our interest in objects and working processes. And I’ve had a connection to Brian O’Doherty for some time. He was the external examiner at NCAD at the time of my degree show and liked the work. He later supported my Fulbright application. At this stage we are friends, but there was certainly a period of courting, of sussing me out. Brian put me in contact with Lucy Lippard.2 My first conversation with Lucy was interesting. She asked me why I was so interested in conceptual art. That was 40 years ago. I replied that, as an artist, I was very conscious that there were too many things in the world, yet I still felt compelled to connect with the world through making; for me, conceptual art suggested ways to deal with this paradox.
JO: I’d imagine the New York art world was pretty inspiring and affirming … BE: Yes. I came back to Ireland in 1999. In New York I’d seen artists set up galleries in their living rooms, but back here there was still a mentality of not doing things without funding, or waiting for opportunities to arise. Things were changing though: Pallas Projects /
JO: How did last year’s residency in Beijing come about? BE: The Swiss gallerist Urs Meile bought my work at Liste in Basel when Mother’s Tankstation were there. Meile has spaces in Lucerne, Switzerland and Beijing, China. We started a conversation, which resulted in a generous invitation to do a three-month residency at his gallery in Beijing. It was an amazing opportunity, not least because of
JO: What about research informing your practice? BE: I’ve been thinking lately that the idea of ‘research’ is a bit overplayed in terms of art making. I’m honestly still thinking about books and ideas I encountered when I was a teenager. For the residency in China I just brought 10 or 12 books I’d first read when I was 16 and it was really interesting to read them again – to see my new work as part of something I began some time ago. JO: Back to the business of making then. What’s your studio setup like? BE: My studio is in a former sweet factory in Inchicore. I’ve been working there since 2007. I found the space myself. It is now under NAMA ownership, so for very little rent I’ve got something like 2,000 square feet to play with. I share the building with one other artist, Finbar Kelly. I’m attracted to working on my own and enjoy the level of concentration it gives me. I don’t like the idea of someone knocking on my door, asking me if I’d like a cup of tea. When I’m working I operate on a nine to five, Monday to Friday routine. It’s great to have the space to make a mess and to try things out. In essence, you could say that my work comes about from ‘tidying up’ – putting the materials and objects that I’ve accumulated in order. It all starts with objects for me; I’m a collector of stuff, so the space is important for that as well. I’m terrible at ‘archiving’. Things are in shoeboxes: DVDs, DAT and VHS tapes. And, as I work with technology, it’s inevitable that things will become outmoded and redundant – but of course that’s not a reason to not to work with technology. JO: A big art / life balance question to close with: As the father of three young children, has parenthood had any particular impact on your practice? BE: Well yes, of course. Having children totally changes your life, whether you are conscious of it or not. One thing I can articulate is that I started to take my work even more seriously; consequently things started to happen for me. I started with Mother’s Tankstation around the time that my first child was born. Practically, I might spend less time in the studio, but I’m focused and secure about artmaking as my work – OK, career. Notes 1. ‘Before the Close of the Day’ (19 Feb – 12 April 2014) Mother’s Tankstation, Dublin. 2. The artist recorded Lucy Lippard reading Arthur C Clarke’s The Sentinels (1948), which later became the basis Clarke’s 1968 novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, developed concurrently with the famous Stanley Kubrick film. The artist’s introductory text for ‘Before the Close of the Day’ notes,“With Lucy as narrator, an otherwise dull and generic story opens up and builds a certain imperative through the narration. Her spoken words engendering a wish for better things to come, driven by a lifetime of activism. This project is a companion piece to a work I made in 2009 with Brian O’Doherty titled 9 Reports. Their presence, either through the timbre of their voices or the connections made to the writing, envelopes the text and gives the fantastical structures of the fiction a very real foundation”.
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
17
project profile
‘I Can Say This With Absolute Certainty. I Was There’ , installation, view Crescent Arts Centre
‘I Can Say This With Absolute Certainty. I Was There’ , installation view, Crescent Arts Centre
Stepping Across Boundaries SUE MORRIS PROFILES HER COLLABORATION WITH MEDIA ACADEMICS GREG MCLAUGHLIN AND STEPHEN BAKER ON THEIR PROJECT ‘I CAN SAY THIS WITH ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY. I WAS THERE’, WHICH EXPLORED ISSUES AROUND MEMORY AND HISTORICAL RECORD.1 My collaboration with Greg McLaughlin and Stephen Baker from the University of Ulster developed from a knowledge and understanding of each other’s practice and concerns – specifically where they intersected and diverged. Early on, it became clear that working together could offer us interesting insights and alternatives to how we approach, conceptualise, rationalise and materialise our respective practices – artistic and academic – as well as the opportunity to present these findings to a wider and more diverse audience. The starting point for the project was in early 2013 when Greg and Stephen were writing their book, The British Media and Bloody Sunday (Intellect Books, 2014). Some of the ideas and preoccupations in this text chimed with those that inform my art practice – especially the connections they were making between notions of the private and public, and the inherent conflicts that define the domestic space in the midst of civil conflict. In this regard, they were developing ideas explored in their previous book, The Propaganda of Peace (Intellect Books, 2010). My work has been informed by internal / external ‘realities’ – of the individual act of remembering, often in direct opposition to more formal, authoritative accounts. Recent work, such as Hortus Conclusus2 and Seomra Úna ,3 have questioned the oppositions of truth / untruth, public / private space, the dynamics within the domestic space and how the outside world encroaches upon it, pushing it beyond the personal. Our debates were always lively and I found it easy to engage with Greg and Stephen’s openness and their concern to appeal to an audience beyond the academic, particularly in the area of community education, in the North and the South. They were keen to communicate their ideas in the very different form and discipline of contemporary visual art – an opportunity perhaps to explore the possibilities of what they call ‘research by practice’. The collaboration has been, we think, a fruitful crossover of discipline, form and approach, and here I want to reflect back on its formation and development, funding and placement, as well as consider its implications for my future practice. Formation and development The first few months of 2013 were about dialogue: an exploration of the conflict between first-hand, eyewitness testimony to violence and the noise of distraction and distortion, ie official / unofficial propaganda, media reporting and the casual, domestic consumption of media messages. To that end, we decided to open up the scope of our inquiry and make connections between Bloody Sunday in Derry,
‘I Can Say This With Absolute Certainty. I Was There’, installation view, Crescent Arts Centre
1972, the miners’ strike in Britain in 1984 and the Hillsborough football stadium disaster in Sheffield, 1989.4 The work situated this consumption in the everyday setting of the kitchen, a space with which the viewer could immediately identify. It alluded to the public / private oppositions and contradictions that the stated events provoked both for those directly involved and those who received information about the events in highly mediated contexts. Thus, the title I can say this with absolute certainty. I was there, paraphrased rather than transcribed verbatim the words of Father Daly moments after the shootings on Bloody Sunday – an ironic commentary on what happens to the language of the eyewitness account over a period of time. These ideas and concerns were re-presented and re-articulated within an audio-visual framework requiring research of original sources – news reports, eyewitness testimonies and photographs – and the outline design of a multimedia installation. Funding and placement The scale and ambition of our project were very much determined and shaped by the level of funding and also the space that we obtained. We first submitted our proposal to EVA International, Ireland’s Biennial of Contemporary Visual Art in Limerick City, 2014. While we were shortlisted for the event, we were ultimately unsuccessful, but by that time we had made a successful application for funding to the Arts Council of Northern Ireland / National Lottery
Fund, who awarded us a modest but invaluable grant to cover specified material costs, with additional funding support from the Centre for Media Research at the University of Ulster. We secured the Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast as a venue for March 2014. An initial site visit to the Crescent to review the space proved instrumental to the progression and shape of the work. The gallery space comprises three interconnecting rooms, allowing for three autonomous elements that could be experienced both separately and as part of the whole. The two smaller, more intimate spaces at either end, linked by the main gallery, accommodated reconstructions of a kitchen with one reflecting the other. The table and its settings in the far room stood in semi-darkness under a stark spotlight, rendered almost entirely in black and white; the detritus of the table – crockery and condiment containers – were embedded in pâpier maché newsprint. In direct contrast, the first room was brighter, more homely, with the table and its detritus situated in a more naturalised context. Accompanying the installations were two sound pieces. In the first room, whispered eyewitness testimonies alluded to the inner voice of the individual witness in an act of remembering and forgetting, of asserting the facts of what he / she had seen. The soundscape in the far room mixed the din of domestic life – vacuum cleaner, washing machine, kettle on the boil, etc – with incoming radio news, insidiously seeping into the everyday. The central space had two slideshow montages of images from Bloody Sunday, the miners’ strike and the Hillsborough football stadium disaster, projected in a continuous loop on opposing walls. Working in opposition both within and between the two montages, the images spoke of the deliberation, manipulation and noise that disrupt original representation. Implications for future practice Throughout this one-year project, our meetings often ended with a discussion of the benefits and implications of our collaboration for our practice and our modes of research, which up until then differed in some significant ways. As a visual artist, I work on a very unstructured, connotative level, looking to present to the viewer layers of ambiguity, ambivalence and opposition without seeking to explain. Greg and Stephen, on the other hand, operate on a set of explicit research questions, progress a logical, structured inquiry based on evidence and, finally, assert an argument. Nonetheless, it became very clear to us as we progressed with this project that some of these disciplinary boundaries were beginning to blur and open up new modes of inquiry, research and practice. Instead of tentatively reaching across boundaries, we found ourselves able to step across them in an act of creative exploration of each other’s terrain. The collaboration also allowed us to be more ambitious with the work, to exploit to the full our different disciplinary skills and craft and also the extensive space that the Crescent Arts Centre provided. While interdisciplinary collaboration is common practice amongst academics like Greg and Stephen, my art practice has been more solitary and independent – though more recently I have collaborated with other visual artists in various projects. My work with Greg and Stephen, however, has marked something of a new departure for me in terms of crossing disciplinary boundaries and exchanging ideas and perspectives in a new and dynamic praxis. Sue Morris is a contemporary visual artist from London and has practiced in Ireland since 1992. She has exhibited in Ireland, the UK, the USA and most recently in Vienna as part of the International Cultural Programme for Ireland’s Presidency of the EU. Greg McLaughlin from Derry and Stephen Baker from Belfast are lecturers in Media at the University of Ulster, Coleraine. They are authors of ‘The Propaganda of Peace: The role of media and culture in the Northern Ireland peace process’ (Intellect Books, 2010) and ‘The British Media and Bloody Sunday’ (Intellect Books, 2014). Notes 1. The installation was shown at the Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast, 4 – 23 March 2014; it was supported by an award from the Arts Council Northern Ireland / National Lottery Fund, with additional support from the Centre for Media Research at the University of Ulster 2. Kunstverein, Baden bie Wien, Austria, 24 November 2012 –13 March 2013; MuseumOrth, Austria, 27 April – 23 June 2013 3. Site-responsive installation, AIR Cló and the Living Archive, May 2013 4. 2014 marks the 25th Anniversary of Hillsborough (15 April) and the thirtieth anniversary of the miners’ strike
18
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
Residency report
Saoirse Higgins, Overview, Bund, Shanghai, July 2013
Saoirse Higgins, Overview, Bund, Shanghai, July 2013
Saoirse Higgins, Overview, Bund, Shanghai, July 2013
Saoirse Higgins, Overview, Bund, Shanghai, July 2013
Saoirse Higgins, Overview, Bund, Shanghai, July 2013
Saoirse Higgins, Overview, Shanghai Exhibition Centre, International Art & Technology exhibition
Scale & Difference SAOIRSE HIGGINS DESCRIBES HER RESIDENCY AT THE SWATCH ART PEACE HOTEL, SHANGHAI, CHINA. The Swatch Peace Art Hotel residency in Shanghai is a three to six month residency opportunity sponsored by Swatch, the makers of 1980s retro-cool plastic watches and worldwide owner of much of the watch movement manufacturing industry. The residency is widely advertised and I came across it by simply googling ‘residencies in china’ (www.swatch-art-peace-hotel.com). Following a juried assessment of my work and my project proposal, I was offered a six-month residency. However, I wasn’t able to take that length of time out, so I opted for a three-month stay. In hindsight, I think the full term would have been better in order to properly get to grips with the overwhelming scale and difference of Shanghai. The residency provides return flights, visas, studio space and accommodation – along with a buffet breakfast every morning, free espresso coffee and as much bottled water as you can drink. As plush as the residency is, it isn’t suitable for artists with families, as it is not set up to accommodate children, partners or visitors. They also don’t organise exhibitions or studio visits by curators. Establishing contacts and networking has to be done by the artist, which I actually found quite easy to do – via artists already on the residency. I developed enough connections with local curators to have a couple of exhibitions during the time I was there. The only thing Swatch asks for in return is for you to leave some sort of ‘trace’ for the Swatch Art Collection before you leave. During my time in Shanghai (18 June –18 September 2013) there were approximately 20 artists at various stages of their residencies present in the building. I was lucky enough to become good friends with some of the artists who had arrived roughly at the same time as me. The resident artists came from all over the world: Italy, Hungary, Macedonia, China, UK, Germany, Switzerland and Brazil. Everybody had different plans and reasons for being there. Some went off travelling to gather research material or had specific projects they needed to complete and some people had no end goal for the residency apart from experimentation. I was there because of a fascination with China: its diverse culture; its increasing wealth and expanding economy; the giant scale of the architecture; and intriguing cultural attitudes to both technology and nature. The size of China is difficult comprehend. 23.9 million people live in Shanghai – the entire population of Taiwan in one city. During my stay, the second highest building in the world – 2,073 feet high – was being built directly opposite the Swatch Peace Art Hotel. The day I arrived, a limousine picked me up from the airport – exactly the type of treatment I could get used to. The residency hotel
is right on the Bund and the main up-market tourist street in Shanghai. The Bund is the promenade running alongside the Huangpu River, a tributary of the Yangtze River. Every weekend a huge number of Chinese tourists, mainly young families from other parts of China, walk down the street to go and look across the river at Pudong, an uber-modern, space-age-style cityscape. Not surprisingly perhaps, this location is featured in Her, Spike Jonze’s recent sci-fi movie. Air pollution wasn’t too bad when I was there, but I was told that come winter it gets severe. The American embassy has an independent monitoring facility and you can download an app to check the pollution levels. The project I developed was a response to the environment I found myself in, along with broader considerations of future human survival – in terms of climate change, over-population and dwindling natural resources. I was also interested in the idea of the ‘overview perspective’, a particular feeling of euphoria and profound connectedness experienced by astronauts when viewing the earth from space.1 Entitled Overview, the work comprised a set of wearable technological elements, intended to offer users a kind of out of body experience and, quite literally, a new perspective on their situation. These included a custom made headpiece with headphones that was attached to a helium balloon suspended several meters above the user’s head. The balloon was equipped with a webcam, which transmitted video and sound via a local wi-fi network to the user’s tablet or smart phone. In July during the residency I showed Overview with the Shanghaibased Little Victories project – a mobile exhibition space comprising a converted waste collection bicycle, with an ethos of “bringing the art to the people and building a foundation for greater acceptance and accessibility of different creative practices” (www.littlevictories.com). The work was also featured at the city’s International Art and Technology Exhibition (28 August – 2 September). The residency premises are located in beautiful 1930s art deco building. My space comprised a studio with a double bedroom, an allglass bathroom and an ample storage area. At first I was paranoid about the cleaning staff having listening devices in their mops; they always seemed to ‘look busy’ as I walked around the corner. I managed to persuade myself that they were not government spies, but we were certainly monitored in a subtle way. I think it would be difficult but not impossible to be overtly political in your work within this residency. The building is government owned, so you are inevitably under a spotlight. I went out with my Overview headgear on to walk
the Bund and the street police looked on at me with a mix of curiosity, surprise and wariness. The electronic markets in Shanghai are geek heaven. Everything can be made up and copied. I really got into the whole concept and I got pretty good at drawing out what I wanted and miming the rest. It was fun to negotiate the purchases and bargain for them, despite the fact that even counting on your hand is different to western counting. I found a friendly guy in the local electronic market and handed him my list, which he took to his colleagues and came back with everything I wanted and charged me very little for the lot. There are markets and shops for everything and anything. I came across a market that sold every type of elastic band you could think of. I also bought a lot of kit off Taobao (www.taobao.com) – the equivalent of ebay, but much better – including helium and various screens and electronics. It seemed to me that the Chinese people get used to new and different ways of doing things very quickly; they seem to have no fear of adapting and trying out new gadgets. Their culture is naturally hacker-friendly. I saw a lot of DIY culture there, with mopeds literally taped together with gaffer tape and very individual attempts to repair and customise things in general. Getting around China is difficult if you do not have the language. I went on a trip to Xiamen, a city south of Shanghai, two weeks into my residency, which was an adventure and a test. I took the train there and flew back. I realised when I was in the train station that I had no clue how to read any of the departure boards, but luckily there was somebody to help me and I managed. Google Chrome’s translator app was also really essential. The staff at the residency reception also assisted me in translating travel plans and any websites. I’m planning to return this summer and travel further out into the countryside – despite the fact that it is hard to manage without Mandarin. I may hire a translator to travel with me, ideally a person drawn from the network of artists I made contact with. I also have a short residency lined up in Iceland, connected to the Overview project.2 Saoirse Higgins www.saoirsehiggins.tumblr.com Notes 1. Frank White, The Overview Effect — Space Exploration and Human Evolution, Houghton-Mifflin, 1987 2. Another outcome from the residency was a presentation of Overview as part of the exhibition entitled ‘Seamless’ at the Museum of Design, Llubiana, Slovenia (17 Sept – 7 Nov 2013). At the time of writing I will soon be travelling to Iceland to utilise a version of the work on a mountain walk in Listhus. Later this year the piece will also feature in the Asia Triennale in Manchester (Sept – Nov 2014).
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
Critique Supplement Edition 13 May – June 2014
Dorothy Cross ‘Connemara’ Royal Hibernian Academy Gallery, Dublin 13 March – 27 April Moving into semi-darkness in the RHA’s Gallery 1
today’s catch. Yet the skeleton rises like some kind
for Dorothy Cross’ ‘Connemara’ initially feels like
of totem pole and casts a large shadow on the
entering a museum: silent and still. The only light
gallery wall, at once beautiful and ominous.
comes from two video pieces projected on the walls
Tabernacle resembles a tiny marine chapel, with a
and from overhead spotlights, which pick out the
handful of small seats and a currach for a roof. The
works dotted across the floor and walls. Cross
seats face a video installation projected on the wall,
initially went to Connemara due to an interest in
shot from the depths of a cave looking out towards
scuba diving and, at a glance, this darkened room
the daylit sea and tracking the water as it surges in
with spot-lit works calls to mind underwater
and out of the cave. The installation evokes the
footage allowing us glimpses of what lies far
ceaseless shifting in nature, the ebb and flow, as the
beneath the ocean’s surface. Yet Cross’s artistic
water slowly erodes the stone.
interest lies not in what rests at the depths of the
‘Connemara’ first opened last year at the Turner Contemporary (Margate, UK) alongside a number of landscapes by Turner and Constable. Shark Heart Submarine, probably the most talked about work in the show, consists of a splattered antique painter’s easel supporting a model submarine, which we are told contains the heart of a shark. This work reflects on a number of things: it juxtaposes traditional and contemporary approaches to art inspired by nature; it aligns art history with natural history; and presents a shark to us from a different viewpoint, its tiny heart encapsulated like the engine in this shiny machine. Throughout Cross’s oeuvre death and loss are transformed; once living beings and inanimate objects are reborn in a new context. A collaboration exists between artist and the natural world, which reflects on man’s interaction with nature. In Basking Shark Currach, death is turned into something new, as a shark skin is used in the place of a traditional cowhide to line the overturned boat, the fin resembling a boat’s keel. The currach represents a way of life closely linked to, and dependent on, nature – an increasingly rare occurrence in many parts of the world. Despite the sea being the show’s primary inspiration, it makes only a few fleeting direct appearances – the two video pieces and a print – and is for the most part conjured up through the
Dorothy Cross, Shark-Heart Submarine, 2011, 19th century oak painters easel, model submarine, laminated wood, oil-gilded in white gold, shark’s heart in glass jar with alcohol, dimensions variable installation view ‘Connemara’ RHA, Dublin. Photo courtesy of Bryan Meade / Sunday Times
Dorothy Cross, Basking Shark Currach, installation view, ‘Connemara’, RHA, Dublin, photo courtesy of Bryan Meade / Sunday Times
objects accumulated. This subtlety forms an important part of many of the works on display,
oceans but rather what occurs at that point where
where an impetus is in place for the visitor to
ocean and the land that we inhabit meet. Navigating
reflect on our position in and relationship to the
the exhibition, the initial stillness is replaced by a
natural world around us. But for a richer experience
sense of nature’s rhythms.
our understanding and imagination are encouraged.
Cross often works with found objects and
This stands in marked contrast to art inspired by
materials, a process facilitated by the movements
nature in more sensational or direct ways – think
of nature. Skins consists of a selection of man-made
Damien Hirst’s infamous shark.
objects washed up on the beach, which were cast in
The exhibition offers a chronological path to
bronze and neatly hung up in a row on the wall:
follow, which I choose to do in order to see if there
rubber boots, insoles and fins. Incorporating found
was some sense of story to how the works were
objects into the works brings a sense of where they
ordered. Sapiens, the final piece, consists of an
came from into the gallery, embodying the history
adult skull on an antique tripod; as you move
of that place.
around the work, you find a baby skull protruding
The shark has recurred in Cross’s work to
from the back of the larger one. Perhaps this work
represent a number of things: our fears, that which
considers our place in the world characterised by
repulses us, desire and misunderstanding. In Everest
its transience amidst the ultimate cycles of life and
Shark this fearsome fish pauses at our feet and at
nature. ‘Connemara’ offers but a glimpse of Cross’s
once appears vulnerable, its fin replaced by a model
extensive collection of works that respond to what
of Mount Everest. This vulnerability recalls the
the natural world offers her in terms of source
point made by countless marine experts that sharks
material and inspiration, but it’s enough to affirm
are not the mythical monsters we have created and
an artist working with a wealth of curiosity and
are probably more afraid of us than we are of them,
sensitivity to explore encounters on the threshold
while also positioning the shark, like a mountain,
where man and nature collide.
as our long time predecessor on this planet. In Whale, a whale skeleton hangs from the
Roisin Russell is a writer based in Dublin and
ceiling, its skull stretching towards a rusted bucket
her work has featured on Paper Visual Art
and marble plinth on the floor. This once beautiful
Journal, Vulgo and Circa.
sea creature is present in a rather dejected position:
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet CriTique SuppleMeNT
May – June 2014
‘Overworlds’ The Courthouse Gallery, ennistymon 14 March – 3 April
Patrick Altes ‘A Story of Revolutions’ Triskel, Cork 14 March - 20 April COnneCtIOnS between writing and image are a major component in Altes’s exhibition of digital imagery, paintings and texts at Triskel. The show’s title states the exhibition’s goal: to tell ‘A Story of Revolutions’. One particular mode of sequential visual story telling is suggested by the venue’s former life as a church. The 13 digital prints and the 6 paintings are placed around the walls of Triskel’s gallery space, which brings to mind a kind of Stations of the Cross. Altes employs wall texts to provide the viewer with information in order to contextualise his images. He uses a collage technique in his digital prints, which bring together photographic images taken at different times. Altes’s sources include photographs taken by his family in Algeria prior to its independence in 1962, as well as contemporary photographs he has taken on recent visits. The digital collage Chronology comprises photographs of a city at night – generic city lights and high-rise buildings stand as signs for any fairly developed city. The upper section of the collage is an image of a barren landscape; palm trees depicted in silhouette stand out against it. The blue sky has been decorated with graffiti flourishes and stenciled with the words “This isn’t democracy”. The style of this slogan and the fact that it’s in English brings to mind the recent Arab Spring revolutions. It also reads as a discrete nod towards jubilant Western references to ‘twitter revolutions’ along with globalisation in general and English as the language of international commerce and communication. The main focus of this image is on two groupings of people. Three children wearing school uniforms and, to their right, another grouping of three – a smartly dressed couple, and an older woman in traditional dress. Altes’s text describes how the older woman, a stranger, became incorporated by chance into the photograph of his parents. The collage also contains elements that have been vertically flipped, both architectural features and figures. This obvious digital manipulation stresses the highly constructed nature of the piece and emphasises that it is not a document of a particular time and place. It functions critically due to its close understanding and manipulation of the technologies of photography, Another of the digital works, Mal Mal, incorporates what at first glance appears to be Arabic script; on closer examination, the resemblance is only superficial. Altes’s text describes it as being a “mock appropriation of Arabic”. The collage incorporates different modes of representation: x- rays, photography and writing, but ultimatly blocks our attempts to unlock the image.
patrick Altes, The Process of Civilisation
The paintings on show are drawn from a series entitled No Country for Nomads (The Myth of Origins). In an accompanying text by Dr Helen Jacey, it’s suggested that these works “serve as an imaginary reclamation of a mythical geography of birthright which is fantastical, evocative and surreal”. The paintings are overall compositions with no particular area of focus; in a number of them the ground has a gritty look, suggestive of sand. They allude to both maps and topography seen from above and are reminiscent of certain aspects of indigenous Australian painting, as well as work by Miro and Chris Ofili. They are decorative, the application of paint and their compositions suggesting vegetation, rivers, veins and blood flow. There’s a linking made between land and body, which could be read as problematic. Though large in scale – all measuring 150 x 130cm – the paintings seem to be weightless, as much of the imagery is quite generic, which I suppose could be read as an expression of rootlessness. Though the paintings are more unified compositions than the collaged digital works, ultimately they don’t seem entirely necessary – they’re almost simulacrums of painting – paintings as signifiers of ‘painting’. The digital works are more interesting; they are assembled in a fairly crude manner, with no attempt made to hide the joins. The rough collaging can be read as a metaphor, an attempt to assemble an art that articulates Altes’s conflicted relationship with his identity and his family background. Combined with the text they are confrontational. In Classroom Picture Picture, an old family photograph of his mother’s school class has been superimposed onto a lurid green and white background and overlain with a text about the exodus of Pied-Noir from North Africa to Europe. Altes’s project is a very ambitious one – an exploration of “representation, diaspora and transition within the context of the colonization of Algeria and the Algerian revolution”. Based on the works in this show, it’s debatable just how successful he has been in achieving this aim. There’s always a danger when an exhibition’s contextualising material makes grandiose claims; it directs viewers to read artworks in a certain way and the work can be found lacking if it doesn’t live up to textual promises. In fact the most successful works in this show are those that fail to ‘represent’ and instead express the fragmentary, unreliable and unstable nature of representation itself. Catherine Harty is a Cork-based artist and member of the Cork Artists’ Collective as well as being an activist with the Socialist Party.
patrick Altes, Droit d’entree
Ailbhe Barrett, -10 C C, Oil on Canvas, 30 ins x 40 inches
In We Have Never Been Modern, the French sociologist of science Bruno Latour observes that climate change is simultaneously material, discursive and socially constructed. It is at once a product of natural phenomena, of power relations and of the effects of language, a hybrid of ‘nature’ and ‘culture’.1 I mention this because these days I find that the act of looking at landscapes, both real and pictorial, is suffused with the knowledge that what I am looking at is not just what I am looking at. Every leaf and blade of grass carries within it microscopic traces of human activity, whether from pollution, chemical fertilisation, genetic modification or something else. Wild animals, including those in my immediate environment, have become increasingly like the mythical lost tribes of the Amazon, modern anomalies set to disappear under the advancing wave of capitalist growth. International protocols determine the right to pollute the air. It’s not that I am nostalgic for some previously ‘pure’ state of nature – as though natural phenomena could exist independently of human actions and effects – it is just that I anticipate, as the artist Mark Dion has recently said, that the world is going to get grottier, and that there is very little that we can do about it.2 Looking at the seemingly ‘innocent’ landscapes created by Ailbhe Barrett, on show as part of ‘Overworlds’ at the Courthouse Gallery in Ennistymon, it seems unlikely that the artist was working from such a pessimistic viewpoint. While the majority of her works focus on the sky, they feature “silhouettes and shapes of human activity and built structures” at the edges of the compositions, described by the artist as “both comforting and threatening”.3 The sense of threat that I detected in the work seemed to come less from these small indexes of human presence, however, than from the very real awareness of this sky, this enveloping atmosphere, as the locus of some pretty awesome and destructive forces in formation. The sublime is back, but not as we knew it. The painful fact of beauty and its imminent loss may be a Romantic theme, but it is no less current for that. Two of Barrett’s larger paintings, The Weir, Maigue River and -10 o C C, stood out in this regard. Scenes of trees and water, strangely lit, the images were built up through a fine lattice of brushstrokes painstakingly applied, the surfaces charged with an intensity of looking. In the weird, crystal stillness of these works, the hybrid reality of ‘nature’ seemed somehow close to the surface.
The work of Joan Sugrue, also on show as part of ‘Overworlds’, engaged more consciously with the complexities of representation. Concerned with overlapping perceptions of time, place and space, Sugrue generates painted images that appear like multiple exposures. Each layer of the image seems to reference an entirely different visual language: photographic, hieroglyphic, sometimes cartoonish, in keeping with the artist’s interest in the heterotopias that result when elements of place and time are “out of sync”.4 Sugrue’s Broken is a striking evocation of the space of ‘otherness’ that Foucault described in the heterotopia. Taking the form of a double image, the lower canvas operates as a reflection or inversion of the one above, suggesting something seen and seen again as though through a wormhole in spacetime. Similarly, Portal creates a void in the representation of an otherwise straightforward scene, exposing the instability of the image and its internal workings. Sugrue’s series of six small, pinhole photographic prints, titled for the length of their exposure – 88 days, 21 days and so on – added something significant to the cumulative effect of the exhibition. Through the analogue process of pinhole photography, the world imprints itself directly onto the surface of the paper, which is most obvious in the tracks left by the passage of the sun across the sky. This evidence of the indifferent, relentless turning of the world placed the miniscule significance of human time in a cosmic perspective, partially offsetting the melancholy of representation that so permeated the other works. The fictional constructs of ‘nature’ and ‘culture’ have allowed the human species to conceive a makebelieve separation between our actions and their consequences. ‘Overworlds’ acknowledged this artifice while seeming to maintain a thread to the material reality from which it derives. Fiona Woods is a visual artist recognised for her curatorial and collaborative work in rural contexts. She is currently developing a new work by invitation for Action on the Plains, a Coloradobased programme of socially engaged art with US collective M12. notes 1. B latour, B, We Have Never Been Modern, 1993, trans C porter, Harvard university press, 1993, 6 2 M Dion in S lookofsky, Trash on the Beach, 2013, Dis Magazine, www. dismagazine.com 3 A Barrett, artist statement, ‘Overworlds’, The Courthouse Gallery, 2014, www. thecourthousegallery.com 4 J Sugrue, artist statement, ‘Overworlds’
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet CriTique SuppleMeNT
May – June 2014
Richard Gilligan ‘DIY’ The Copperhouse Gallery, Dublin, 13 March – 3 April
richard Gilligan Warsaw, Poland
SecluDeD down a quiet laneway off Synge Street, Dublin the ‘Copper House’ is wrapped in thin sheets of the eponymous metal, an eccentric cladding for an otherwise nondescript industrial block. The twostorey structure houses a photographic studio and digital printing service with a ground floor gallery offering a showcase for the company’s output. This immaculate exhibition space provides a pristine air for the 16 colour photographs that make up Richard Gilligan’s exhibition, ‘DIY’. Gilligan is a commercial photographer who also pursues more personal projects. As a skateboarder, he has travelled widely in Europe and America photographing skateboarders and the unofficial, cobbled together skateparks that they build. The small (42.5x51cm) and medium (79x96cm) sized photographs are simply mounted and framed without glass. The exhibition combines images of the gerry-built parks themselves (including an occasional skater or two) and shots of individual skaters taken in or around these locations. There is little or no action as such and, contrary to expectation, barely a single skateboard in evidence. A spirit of gung-ho optimism may be synonymous with ‘DIY’ but in Gilligan’s exhibition title the term becomes more nuanced. His portraits of lone figures and isolated parks suggest that doing it yourself may also mean doing it by yourself, when you move away from the conventions that govern elsewhere. Munich, Germany depicts a hooded figure in the shadows of a darkened space. Standing pensively in a shaft of light, he’s like a backstage actor waiting for his cue. In New Orleans, USA a young boy leans forward with arms on hips. He seems oblivious to his surroundings, his downward gaze ignoring the blurry edifice behind him and the weedy verge delineating his concrete patch. All the photographs are titled after their locations: Brooklyn, USA, Liverpool, UK UK. But despite these varied locales the pictures reveal a common topography, a similar landscape of dead-ends, underpasses and vacant lots – a sort of Esperanto hinterland where the useful and the useless intersect. In Warsaw, Poland a cultivated slope sweeps down to a rectangle of grey concrete, marked here and there by low platforms and ramps. A group of tiny figures is dwarfed by a row of tower blocks behind, standing like sentinels with so many eyes. The light is eerily even, lending everything an equal status under the cloudy expanse above. I was reminded of Pieter Bruegel’s painting, Hunters in the Snow, and how, viewed from an elevated vantage point, his silhouetted ice-skaters draw your eye into the distant valley and a sense of the intimate life there. Gilligan’s skateboarders seem more remote, frozen by the camera on the edge of an indifferent metropolis.
The photographer’s view is oblique, taking in tangential spaces and the incidental moments around events. In Philadelphia, USA two young women sit cross-legged on a hard slope. Beside them a curve of blue concrete marks the rim of a skateboarding ‘bowl’. Though together, the women seem alone in their thoughts. There’s a darkness on the edge of town, or a twilight at least, an atmosphere of pensive separation hovering over the off-piste terrain. In the distance a road sign glows orange, lit by electricity or by the dying rays of the sun. One of the pleasures of the exhibition is to see how the dips and pours of these temporary playgrounds can soften the hard edges of urban infrastructure. Gilligan notices how ramps can resemble natural features. In Memphis, USA the picture is dissected by a rain-soaked wall. Behind the wall a line of telegraph poles gives measure to the watery sky. In the open space in front there is a single white ramp, its undulating mass like a snowdrift melting into the ground. Skateparks that colonise neglected space can themselves become neglected. In Derry, Northern Ireland a scrubby field is bordered by conifers and a broken fence. A wooden ramp appears abandoned in a gap between the trees. Whatever energy was here has now gone, the bucolic and the alcoholic mingled in a scrubland of discarded beer cans. At the turn of the millennium Shaun Gladwell’s Storm Sequence (a slow-motion video of a skateboarder (himself) spinning on the edge of a rain-lashed pier) proved that you could make art by combining boyhood enthusiasms with notions of the romantic sublime. The ‘street’ and its vernaculars are by no means strangers to art (and I’m not talking about Banksy) with photographers in particular frequently finding treasures there. Another millennial work, the sequence Heads by the American photographer Philip-Lorca diCorcia, renders ordinary pedestrians monumental by ingenious lighting techniques. Gilligan’s photographs don’t have the dramatic impact of these examples, but they have something of their mixture of insouciance and conviction. Serving as an anomaly in a set otherwise focused on the outside, a second image titled Munich, Germany shows a skatepark tucked inside a barnlike structure. A cropped view makes a powerful arrangement of black and brown interlocking shapes. An area of pale concrete scooped out from the surrounding level completes the abstract composition. The picture’s formal qualities made me think of George Braque, particularly his ‘Atelier’ paintings and their symbolic birds, locked into the painted surface but not bound to it. Already in its second edition print run, a handsome volume, also titled DIY, offers a fuller spectrum of these quietly engaging photographs. John Graham is an artist based in Dublin.
Robert Kelly ‘Interconnectedness’ Droichead Arts Centre, Drogheda 9 March – 25 April ‘InteRconnecteDneSS’, the title of Robert Kelly’s exhibition of abstract prints at the Droichead Arts Centre, alludes not only to the visual links created between works through the repeated use of plates, but to the persistence of motifs and themes that have informed his practice since the 1970s. Geometric forms and grid patterns are infused with less taut characteristics to explore the tension between order and chaos in a modern-meets-postmodern interplay. Hidden spaces, perception and the impact of time and motion are also pitched within a resonating set of relationships. The works on show span four years of output and show variety in both technique and aesthetic as a counterpoint to cohesion in themes and to some extent formal content. A set of four sugar-lift etchings with Pop Art leanings, entitled Liminality in CMYK, manipulates cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black) to explode the illusion of unity promoted by commercial four-colour printing. Rather than align the chromatic elements, Kelly applies them in various overlapping combinations, creating entities that are at once graphic and calligraphic, gestural and structured. This chimes with the artist’s stated wish to celebrate the unique character of print processes, while deconstructing and laying them bare, referencing spaces that would otherwise elude perception. Both Sides Now, a lithograph featuring chine collé collaged elements, harnesses this idea. It comprises a work printed with the same component back and front, aligning either side of the midpoint, like the folded paintings that teach children about symmetry. It takes close observation to detect the tonal differences, which demonstrated that the reverse of the paper had been printed – drawing attention to a place that would otherwise go unnoted. A small but important component of Liminality in CMYK is a latticework of squares, which, to varying degrees, anchor the imagery across the suite of works, but in themselves are rough-hatched and destabilised by competing elements. Such allusion to ‘the grid’ is a keynote in other works, though sometimes only conceptually, through the deployment of horizontal and vertical dynamics. In The Spirit of Amergin, a trio of distinct soapground etchings, vertical forms derived from the incised marks on Bronze Age pottery are married with (possibly landscape-inspired) horizontal compositional devices and mark-making. The intrusion of the former into the latter conveys a timeless tussle between order and disorder, while the deployment of a sombre palette evokes a sense of deep history. Most significant among the remaining exhibits is a recent body of work that provides clear evidence of process-led decision-making and the evolution of an idea. 3D elements are incorporated through
printing onto folded paper, which is then opened to reveal hidden parts, articulating the artist’s interest in unseen spaces. In The Space Between with Triangles, where both folded paper and background are printed in carborundum, the predominant element is a sharp-edge yellow triangle derived from a card template. This shape was then overprinted from carborundum in a complementary colour, after the fold was opened. The resulting visual deconstruction of a geometric form associated with mathematical rigour and certitude is advanced in The Space Between with Triangles, Circles and Squares, through slight movement of the inset paper; because the crisp geometric shapes bled onto the background, the movement caused them to mis-register, further undermining their integrity and referencing a tension between reality and illusion. Observed from a distance, given their threedimensionality and the alchemy of complementary colours, these works seem calligraphic, even graffitilike. Placed on the opposite wall, the largest of the series, The Space Between with Squares, encourages this viewpoint. In this work, the artist offsets the ‘inset’ to reveal a misshapen, blind-embossed square with the imprint of the folds – an inspired move. In another positioning manoeuvre, the creases in The Space Between with Circles I, II and III (an etching and carborundum series) are exploited to comment on perception. Placed at staggered intervals and arranged on the basis of suitability for viewing from above, on the level and below, time and motion are introduced to the process. A collection of standalone 3D works is displayed in glass cases. These included printedpaper sculptures, which merge origami with complex geometric forms, such as the hexaflexagon favoured by school-age girls. These were flanked by Chinese Whispers I and II, lithograph-printed artist books shown tumbling from their covers to reveal their visual narratives. On a final note, a chance encounter with the artist provided valuable insight into nuances of technique and intention that would otherwise have been difficult to glean from the work. This enrichment of the viewing experience would ideally have been extended to all visitors through well-chosen text. The absence of such material is understandable given the expense of mounting an exhibition in straitened times, but it would have helped to build the audience for print, through revealing the processes behind works by an artist clearly immersed in its versatile and investigative potential.
robert Kelly, The Space Between With Circle, Square, Triangle
robert Kelly, The Space Between With Triangles
Susan Campbell is a freelance art writer and visual artist.
Ireland’s national day for visual artists
Friday May 23rd 2014
Irish Museum of Modern Art Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, Dublin The 2014 Get Together will include a wealth of discussions, talk and events. Our various information sessions will include: Artists Talk, where Daphne Wright, Locky Morris and Elizabeth Magill discuss career development; Local Area Group meetings; a talk on Artists as Parents with the Mothership collective; and the Little Theatre, where leading experts – including both Arts Councils, Axis Web, IMMA’s residency programme, the Design Council and Rua Red – will present on day to day professional matters that affect visual artists. The Common Room will be held in IMMA’s Great Hall, featuring the Artists’ Books & Supplies area alongside and array of stalls from relevant arts organisations and service providers. The whole day will wrap up with an informal Wine Reception and a chance to discuss the day’s events. Art and Ethics is the chosen topic for the VAI / AICA panel discussion, featuring Paul Wood, James Merrigan and Cliodnha Shaffrey. In the afternoon, Elaine A King, Fionola Meredith and Gemma Tipton will consider the theme Art in a Time of Transition. There will also be opportunities for artists to present their work at our popular Speed Curating or to a selection of Documentary and Film producers. The Show & Tell will take place in the beautiful IMMA chapel, and is an open event, providing a platform for peer sharing. tickets available now at www.visualartists.ie
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
23
VAI PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
VAI ACTIVITY
Stepping Up
Plus ça change …
ADRIAN COLWELL REPORTS ON ‘EARLY DAYS’, A VAI PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT EVENT HELD AT MCAC , PORTADOWN (1 MARCH 2014).
ÁINE MACKEN REPORTS ON VAI’S SCREENING OF !WOMEN ART REVOLUTION!
Rob Hilken talking at VAI’s ‘Early Days’
ON 1 March, Visual Artists Ireland held a day of talks and presentations entitled ‘Early Days’ at the Millennium Court Arts Centre, Portadown. The day comprised three separate strands, each focusing on early career development strategies: a series of presentations by Belfast-based artists, curators and directors; a Show & Tell event; and a Common Room Café. Organised by VAI Professional Development Officer Monica Flynn, ‘Early Days’ was held in conjunction with the exhibition ‘Presently’, curated by former Visual Artists Ireland Northern Ireland Manager Feargal O’Malley, which showcased the work of 18 emerging contemporary artists based in Northern Ireland. The day began with a series of presentations from Belfast-based ‘self starters’ – artists, curators and directors. Rob Hilken, who has recently finished two years as co-director with Catalyst Arts, kicked off the event. Rob talked about his involvement with Catalyst, which, in accordance with its constitution, is run by unpaid volunteers. Catalyst seeks to adopt a poly-vocal strategy towards the promotion of contemporary art practices by selecting a large number of artists and projects from the widest possible range of disciplines. Tonya Mc Mullan, founding member of the PRIME Collective (www.primecollective.wordpress. com), spoke about the mutual support that the group provides its members with: assisting new projects and partnerships, creating networking opportunities and placing emphasis on learning amongst the group as well as with other creative professionals. Michael Weir, Director of the Belfast Photo Festival, gave the final presentation. He discussed the origins of this major photographic event, which celebrates some of the finest national and international contemporary photography and visual culture. In particular, Michael mentioned the festival’s Youth Edition, which launched in April and aims to encourage and present future talent, while providing training and skills development for young people through photography. Following these presentations, Geraldine Boyle, Exhibitions Officer (MCA) and Feargal O’Malley chaired a short Q&A with each of the speakers. The contributors emphasised several important elements: the satisfaction of developing a platform for their work and interests; the benefits of self initiated projects in the development of professional networks, professional affinities and support from the artistic community; proving your creative abilities to yourself and others; building a track record as an artist-curator. The Show & Tell event took place after the presentations. Five of the artists featured in ‘Presently’ gave short, fast-paced presentations about their work – Dorothy Hunter, Eamon Quinn, Brian Morison and Peter Spiers, who each spoke about their respective practices and recent projects. Organised by VAI Membership Manager Adrian Colwell, the VAI Show & Tell provides artists with the opportunity to talk about their practice in an informal setting where they can network and meet people with similar ideas and
interests. VAI has so far rolled this event out in Dublin, Galway and Limerick. ‘Collaboration and Inter-Disciplinarity’ was the theme for the first of the afternoon sessions, which began with presentations from directors and curators of three artist-led spaces from the Republic of Ireland. Hollie Kearns, an independent curator based in Callan, Co Kilkenny, was first up. She presented on recent curated projects including Workhouse Assembly (2013), a twelve-day participative research workshop exploring the complex social history and future development possibilities of a semi-derelict wing of the Callan Workhouse. Artist-curator Miranda Driscoll, co-founder and Artistic Director of The Joinery, Dublin discussed a number of collaborations that have taken root at The Joinery. She went on to explain how the organisation has established itself as a platform for artists, curators and musicians to experiment and try out new working practices. Ben Readman, artist and Artistic Director of Block T, Dublin, tracked the organisation’s trajectory from small beginnings to the present day and shared some of the ideas and practices that underpin their sustainable studio model. Following these presentations, the speakers were joined by Monica Flynn, Professional Development Officer VAI, and Jackie Barker, Arts Director MCAC, for a discussion on the benefits of collaboration and the issues surrounding the sustainability of artist-led spaces. One of the key issues that emerged was the challenge faced by artist-led spaces in sustaining the voluntary energy needed to run them and their financial resources. Readman and Driscoll both highlighted the benefits of multi-disciplinary approaches to programming, including the opportunity for cross-fertilisation between artistic practices as well as the diverse audience that this approach fosters. Conversely, the benefits of this approach are difficult to communicate to funders where funding streams are aimed towards single artform programmes or venues. Collaboration and collective approaches were key in all three presentations and Kearns in particular highlighted an innovative model of curatorial praxis that aligns itself within a community and works collaboratively with this community. The day culminated with a Common-Room Café discussion on the recently launched Payment Guidelines for Artists, Northern Ireland. The Common Room Café is a series of pop-up events providing an informal and social space for artists to network, share skills and knowledge and discuss issues of common interest and concern. Alex Davis, Advocacy Officer at VAI, outlined the development of the guidelines and how they can be applied in practice. Keep an eye out for upcoming VAI networking events happening as part of the annual Get Together, which will take place at IMMA, Dublin on 23 May. Adrian Colwell, VAI Membership Assistant.
Spain Rodriguez, !Women Art Revolution!, poster
Back in February artists Gráinne and Eimear Tynan, members of Market Studios, Dublin contacted Visual Artists Ireland and suggested collaborating on a VAI Screening event to explore feminist issues relating to the visual arts sector. The Tynans were interested in expanding on issues raised by their research into issues of gender equality in the Irish visual arts sector. Myself and Adrian Colwell (VAI Membership Manager) felt this was a relevant and important topic, and set our minds to programming an event around the time of International Women’s Week. We decided on !Women Art Revolution! (2010), a film by Lynn Hershmann Leeson, who spent 40 years collecting hours of footage and interviews centred on the development of the Women’s Liberation Movement through the lens of feminist visual art. Through intimate interviews, footage of works and rarely seen archival film and video pieces, !Women Art Revolution! traces major developments in women’s art of the 1970s. The screening took place in Goldsmith Hall, Trinity College on Thrusday 6 March in collaboration with Claire Doyle of TCD’s Visual Arts Society. The event was free to members of VAI, Market Studios and VisArts Society; it quickly booked out, with over 50 people attending on the day. Áine Macken, Admin / VAI Events Assistant. ackNOWLEDGMENT & cHaNGE GRÁINNE TYNAN In 1989, the Guerilla Girls famously asked: “Do women have to be naked to get into the Metropolitan Musuem of Modern Art collection?” A quarter century on from this statement, I had hoped that this question had become redundant. So I decided to check out the current situation in Ireland, vis-à-vis gender balance in the visual arts sector. I sat down with my laptop and a cup of tea and began to look through the websites of various Dublin art institutions, counting up the visibility of male versus female artists. 1 Some of my results were encouraging. Of the 10 arts organisations I looked at, 6 had female directors, and on average 55% of visual arts strand Arts Council funding (individual bursaries and project awards between 2012 – 14) was awarded to women artists. I then looked at five private contemporary art galleries in Dublin. Of the artists they represented, an average of 37% were women (ranging from 28% – 43%). While this is not ideal, it’s not terrible either, and it indicates that the market supports women artists. Buoyed up with hope, I went on to look at six publically funded art galleries in Dublin, imagining that their figures would reflect current policies around participation and diversity. However, of the 163 solo exhibitions that took place from 2009 – 14, an average
of only 23% were by women (ranging from 0 – 35% between galleries). So for every one solo exhibition by a female artist, there were three by male artists. Initially, the figures for the three high profile, publically funded studios / residencies in the city looked positive. Of the 89 awards given between 2009 – 13, an average of 42% went to women artists. However, while two organisations had 47% and 53%, one had only 26%, ie just over a quarter of awards went to female artists. The membership of the RHA and Aosdána are made up of over two thirds male artists. (Editor’s note: VAI membership is 69% female and 31% male). Could it be that women aren’t interested in becoming artists? This argument is often trotted out in other spheres to explain away gender gaps. Yet when we look at ratios in art colleges, that theory goes out the window: 60 – 88% of fine art students are female. The Guerilla Girls noted this anomaly in 2009, declaring: “71% of Irish art students are women. If you’re not going to exhibit them, collect them, or let them join academies, why bother educating them?” We would also expect that the number of women in art education would impact the gender breakdown of senior lecture staff. I looked at the fine art departments in two and found that out of the 11 senior staff members (directors / deans / department heads), only one was a woman. Lecturing positions at this level are highly paid, so what about the other end of the teaching spectrum: secondary school teachers? Of the 1507 art, craft and design teachers in Ireland, a full 84% are female (compared to an average of 60% in other subjects).2 In the words of the great sage Dr Phil, “You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge”. As a community of artists, we need to admit that gender inequality continues to be a real problem. Recently, the Noble Call speech delivered at the Abbey Theatre by Panti (aka Rory O’Neill) asked us all to look at our own internalised biases, and I think that people of all genders need to ask themselves when making decisions, “Am I being sexist here?” It is fantastic that 60% of the institutions I looked at have female directors, but this doesn’t seem to be filtering down to equal participation at the ground level. One suggestion could be to introduce quotas for publically funded institutions. Another is to do further research on the barriers to equal participation, not just in terms of gender, but also in terms of all the other forms of discrimination.3 Gráinne Tynan Notes 1.The results presented have not been cross-checked with the organisations and should be interpreted as indicating general trends rather than specific results. 2. Statistics from the Teaching Council of Ireland, 2014 3. Further reading: themothershipproject.wordpress.com, www.enemiesof www.enemiesofgoodart.org, www.irishfeministnetwork.org, www.nwci.ie
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The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
How is it made?
Cecily Brennan, still from The Devil’s Pool: Madness, Melancholia and the Artist, 2014
Balancing Act CECILY BRENNAN DISCUSSES THE MAKING OF ‘THE DEVIL’S POOL: MADNESS, MELANCHOLIA AND THE ARTIST’, WHICH WAS SUPPORTED BY THE ARTS COUNCIL’S REEL ART AWARD 2012 AND PREMIERED AT THE JAMESON DUBLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL IN FEBRUARY 2014. Jason Oakley: What was your starting point? Thematically and visually ‘The Devil’s Pool: Madness, Melancholia and the Artist’ relates to aspects of previous works, but the documentary format is a new departure – the commentator’s interjections interrupt the flow of a powerfully dramatised performance work. Cecily Brennan: The starting point was simple. I wanted to make a documentary with two elements. The first: a description of an artist, a young man in his 30s, losing his mind. The second: an examination of the long-held public belief in a connection between madness and artistic creativity. In the final film, the contrasting worlds of the artist and the interviewees grind against each other – we’re made aware of the distance between the two worlds by their lack of contact. The role of the artist is played by Marty Rea. The interviewees are Dr Simon Kyaga from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Patricia Waugh from Durham University, playwright Frank McGuinness and poet Paul Muldoon. In the edit we didn’t overlap the voices of the artist and the interviewees. They were kept separate so that the audience, hopefully, would be shifted from emotion to reason and reason to emotion – a deliberate disturbance to prevent them from getting locked down to one view or another. JO: The performance sections are very powerful; was there a mix or tension between scripted direction and improvisation in the process? CB: There was no improvisation in the delivery of the script. I really knew what I wanted there and I had rehearsed with Marty intensively for five days. So there was no mix there, but there was a tension. I guess there always is on film shoots. You have to organise everything in advance, including spontaneity. The actor and all the crew must be assembled, the location set up and all technical aspects ready to go. We only had the location for four days and we were working on a limited budget, so I was very conscious that we only had one chance in our white set to splash the black pigment around. I’d had experience of that in the past with Unstrung (2007), so I knew that once we started we couldn’t go back and start again. There just wasn’t the time or the money. So I think there was a tension between the stability of the structure, rehearsal and so on and the complete instability of the elements: the paint, his body and the special FX. JO: How did you approach writing a script and editing the audio and visual elements? CB: When I had finished the script I brought it to a great script editor,
Lauren MacKenzie, who helped me enormously. She understood the piece and in particular taught me about not having to say everything – to let the audience see what’s happening. She’d say to me – your protagonist doesn’t need to say “Oh the pain”. We can see he’s in pain. Though now that I think about it, we did argue about those words and I kept them in. But having to argue and defend my position was really useful. And this was also the first time I’d really had a chance to work with a film editor. After a pretty extensive search, I asked Nick Emerson, who edited Good Vibrations, a great movie, to edit The Devil’s Pool with me. In terms of the person you need to get on best with, I think the editor comes very far up the list. You are working side-by-side for weeks. It took Nick and myself five weeks, five full days a week, to edit The Devil’s Pool. This was pretty good going as the film has a complex structure. He was great to work with. The Digital FX for the ‘storm’ sequence – a whirlwind of black debris that occurs in the artist’s studio / mind – was done by a company called BAIT based in Wales. I’d worked with BAIT’s director Jon Rennie before. He did the work turning the tears black in Black Tears (2011). Rennie’s team at BAIT built the tornado / storm digitally. Jon Stevenson, a sound designer at Ardmore Sound, created the sound. Nick and myself talked through some of the conventions of the documentary format – what would and wouldn’t work. That’s why the film starts off with an introductory section using an existing work by Gerald Barry, The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit. It’s wonderful, with long drawn out textures and an intentional instability that seemed to mirror the work that I wanted to make; it also signalled that perhaps something was amiss. I always planned to use Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder.1 I chose a recording by Bryn Terfel, the Welsh bass-baritone. JO: Was the collaborative nature of film production of interest? CB: Well I don’t actually think it is collaborative – you certainly work with a lot of people but you have to be the one making the decisions; you have to take that on. It is an intense process and there were some hairy moments. But I really like working with other people, like the cinematographer Seamus Deasy, and it gets you out of the solitary studio. JO: Could you give an overview of the timeline for the project? CB: Prior to putting in an application for the Reel Art Award, you need to get a producer on board. A friend of mine suggested Cormac Fox from Vico Films and we met up and got on fine right from the start. With Cormac in place we were ready to pitch to the funders, ie the Arts Council, Jameson Dublin Film Festival (JDIFF) and a panel member
who was from Curzon Cinemas in London. I’d never done this before. It essentially requires that while you’re sitting in front of them, you have to convince them to give you the money. Working with Cormac as producer was really helpful though. As an artist, to have someone to look after the organisation and financial side of things – getting things together – gave me the freedom to mostly concentrate on the creative aspects, which was a real privilege. In terms of making the film, the whole process took a year. We got the Arts Council Reel Art Award in February 2013 and from then on there was a lot of organisation involved, especially in terms of finding the interviewees, contacting them, seeing if they would be available, all that stuff.2 Location work and auditioning for an actor, that was difficult, along with getting the crew together, writing the script, storyboarding, script editing, organising the shoot, editing the footage. The film was then outputted as a file Digital Cinema Package (DCP) file. JO: What are your plans for distribution? CB: We’ve had a really good start as the Reel Art award includes a screening for The Devil’s Pool in the programme of the 2014 Jameson Dublin Film Festival. That went very well, selling out Screen 1 at the IFI – it was really exciting. Future plans include further screenings in festivals with a documentary focus. Grainne Humphries of JDIFF and Fionnuala Sweeney from the Arts Council were so supportive throughout the whole process, which was really important to me. It was such as positive experience. JO: You’ve been making moving image for over 10 years now and I get the sense that you’re motivated by the possibilities the medium, and that you are never daunted by the prospect of moving into unfamiliar territory … CB: Well, I don’t think medium or media matter at all, as long as there is clarity about you want to say. The choice of medium has to make sense in terms of the work and you do have to search for that. As for being daunted, no, not at all – what’s the worst that can happen? It wouldn’t be a disaster, once a good process is in train. I’ve never felt I had to have technical expertise in all the aspects of filmmaking: editing or operating a camera. Why should I? I just have to really know what I want and be able to communicate that. An artist filmmaker friend of mine is always nagging me to get my own camera, but I’m just not that kind of person. I think it’s more important to work with the best creative people – who have perfected skills in their own area – that you can. Just before we started talking, I was thinking about what’s really important for me in making a piece of work. To be as clear as possible about what I am trying to make and what I’ll need to make it; to research everything and seek out the best people that I can find and afford. And I really try to find people that I like personally and would like work with – this process can get stressful and you need to be able to have a laugh. Notes 1. Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder / Songs on the Death of Children (1901 – 1904) are orchestral settings of five poems by Friedrich Rückert, written in response to the death of two of his children from scarlet fever. Poignantly, Mahler lost his daughter, Maria, aged four, four years after writing these works. 2. www.reelart.ie
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
25
institution profile
Rachel Warriner and James Cummins performing at the Guesthouse (upcoming resident writers and hosts of SoundEye (12 – 14 July 2014)
The Quiet Club’s Mick O’ Shea, Danny Mc Carthy and friend
Maximilian Le Cain, Esparanza Collado, The Consecutive Imposters
Years of Promise
improvised music, sound art, live electronics, installations and more, which is now in its eighth year. This year, Sonic Vigil takes place from the 2 – 4 May, both in the Guesthouse and in St Anne’s Church, which is a fantastic sonic space with wonderful people; they are really encouraging. ‘Seesound’ is another ongoing event – a collaboration between video and sound artists. It will take place in November, leading up to it there will be two Iranian filmmakers Barhara Sandie and Rouzbeh Rashidi , who are involved with the Experimental Film Society (www. experimentalfilmsociety.com) in residence Rouzbeh is a return visitor who has both produced and shown work here.
CATHERINE HARTY in conversation with MICK O’SHEA & IRENE MURPHY, DIRECTORS / FOUNDERS OF THE GUESTHOUSE, CORK – an artist-led residency, meeting and production space. The Guesthouse, located in Cork’s Shandon area is an artist-led initiative that offers a residential space for production, meeting and cross-practice peer exchange – including various forms of public discourse and encounters. The Cork Artists Collective in partnership with Cork City Council founded the Guesthouse. The Guesthouse’s residency programme accepts applications once a year, usually in spring and the venue also hosts projects by nonresident artists throughout the year. Catherine Harty: What were your thoughts when you founded The Guesthouse in 2004? Mick O’Shea: It started organically as one thing, but became another. The Guesthouse emerged from the Cork Artists Collective (CAC), who were looking for a project / public space, while the City Council were offering us a number of spaces. Those were the good times! Irene Murphy: Around 2003 CAC member Dobz (David O’Brien – now Programme Manager in the National Sculpture Factory) was interested in setting up and programming a white cube gallery space – looking ahead to coincide with Cork City of Culture in 2005. We contacted Liz Meany (Cork City Council’s Arts Officer). She was very approachable. The Council was buying properties at the time and engaged in developing the area of Shandon as a cultural center. None of the buildings we were shown were suitable for a white cube space, but the former guesthouse space seemed to have the most possibilities. CH: What happened then? MO’S: Irene and Billy Foley really got the thing going. Claire Guerin and Irene then worked very hard at the beginning stages. IM: We took an experimental approach in the first year of operation to see how the space could function. The Council was very open to this and they gave us a huge amount of freedom. At the beginning we were still trying to figure out what the project was – we called it the Guesthouse Project. Clare Guerin was another important person who came in at an early stage, just after she’d left Art College; she was so encouraging and invested a lot of time and energy in the project. Claire and I began by interviewing people, travelling to Dublin, Galway and Belfast; that continued when Colette Lewis joined. The Guesthouse didn’t formally open as a space until 2009 when we began to kit it out and start the seed of projects such as ‘Tuesday Lunch’, ‘Sunday Lunch’ and ‘The Gramophone Sessions’. We also began the residency programme and started up the website. Then the directors came in: Matt Packer, Trevor Joyce, Colette Lewis, Claire and myself. The City Council had been on board since 2004, but it needed that amount of time to take on the work and adjust to the commitment of keeping it going. But once you work with the right people, things happen very fast.
CH: Did you see the Guesthouse as running in tandem with or separate from your respective practices? MO’S: I knew it would benefit my practice, whether it was to do with the food or sound collaborations, it worked on all levels for me. IM: I could see that it was going to change my practice and, in a way, I wanted to change. It took me away from strictly studio-based work; it was a catalyst. But initially I did have doubts about getting involved and the amount of time I’d have to invest. CH: Were hospitality-based events an element right from the beginning? IM: Well, it was a natural development to think about this building as an intersection, where people cook, meet and pass through. The Guesthouse projects come out of the residencies. Hosting artists is a really important idea for us – the Guesthouse embodies an ethos of conviviality. MO’S: Yes we thought of it as a social and performative space; it ticked all the boxes, even though it was, and remains, quite domestic in scale, yet manages to have its own atmosphere and integrity. CH: Speaking of the social, did the ‘Domestic Godless’ – the collective culinary / art collective yourselves and Stephen Brandes are involved in – start from the Guesthouse? 1 MO’S: No, it actually formally started with the show ‘Artists / Groups’ (15 – 22 November 2003) at the Project Arts Centre, Dublin. But I suppose there was a Guesthouse dimension – the three of us had earlier that year made a contribution as Domestic Godless, to the exhibition ‘Pavilion’ (14 – 28 June 2003) that CAC did at the Crawford in the same year.2 IM: Incidentally, the physical framework of ‘Pavilion’ was a scale model of my studio at CAC. By then I was really battling with the idea of the studio. The quandary for me was that what was happening in the studio wasn’t reaching the public. CH: How does the Guesthouse operate now? IM: Once the resident artists have been chosen and confirmed for the year, we can then use that as the basic structure around which everything else can be built. This gives us a lot of space – events can weave in and around our interests and those of the resident artists. We don’t do any particular marketing, but we’re successful in getting audiences in; our audience is growing all the time. MO’S: We have a very open policy; there is no heavy bureaucracy and satellites of activities occur. These would include some reoccurring, longer-running events, such as ‘Sonic Vigil’ – a marathon of new and
CH: And what about funding? MO’S: Funding is very interesting this year, because Cork Artists Collective runs two spaces, the CAC studios in the Library House and the Guesthouse. We’ve gone from a high of €30, 000 annual funding to €9000 this year – and that’s specifically designated for The Guesthouse, with nothing going towards the studios, which actually run the place. It’s a bit of a knock; we see The Guesthouse as offering tremendous benefits to many artists – all those who stay or pass through – so we’re facing a challenge. We’ve no administration costs; the space is run collectively and voluntarily. IM: It’s tough. Part of our ethos is to host a cross-section of disciplines and provide a space that is not specific to one medium, even though we come from a visual arts background. I think we are difficult to categorise. CH: What new developments are on the horizon? IM: Our involvement with other groups is really growing as a way of utilising and supporting the Guesthouse space to full effect. There’s enough space for a few people to stay in the building – offering a really productive time and context. Maximilian Le Cain and the Experimental Film Society stayed last year for a few weeks prior to making contributions to ‘Seesound’. MO’S: This year we have Helen Horgan with a version of her ongoing project, the LFTT library (www.thelfttlibrary.com), which is going to be here for a year. Helen had developed this work during a previous residency with us. The overall library encompasses around 4,000 books, some of them 400 years old. This time at The Guesthouse she’s curating a space within a curated space – like the Russian doll effect: a project within a project. www.theguesthouse.ie www.thecollective.ie Notes 1. The Domestic Godless is a collective of three artists – Mick O’Shea, Irene Murphy and Stephen Brandes – who explore food in terms of cultural values, taste and presentation, as material for artistic endeavor and experimentation. www.thedomesticgodless.com 2. ‘Pavilion’ (14 –28 June 2003) – curated by Grant Watson as part of Cork Mid-Summer Festival – was an installation at the Crawford Municipal Gallery produced by a group of artists: Una Quigley, Irene Murphy, Dobz, Stephen Brandes and Louise Walsh. For ‘Artists / Groups’ at the Project (15 Nov – 22 Nov 2003) Irene Murphy, Stephen Brandes, Una Quigley, Dobz and Mick O’Shea reinstalled this structure at Project and used it as a departure point for their work.
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The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
Residency profile
Space of Activation JANICE HOUGH ANNOUCES THE RECOMMENCMENT OF IMMA’S RESIDENCY PROGRAMME.
Current IMMA resident Albert Weis in studio 11
residency, which we hope will enhance the flow of cultural exchange and opportunity. I recently spoke to current residents Albert Weis and Jesse Jones, who gave me a brief synopsis of what this residency means to them. Weis offered insightful comments about balancing a flexibility of approach, consciousness about place and the pursuit of specific interests: “I can concentrate on city sites and structures in a different way to if I was just here for a short visit. By revisiting places and doing research in archives, I’m gaining more knowledge about topics – and thus I’m able to develop a more complex perspective. Dublin has specific places, buildings and agglomerations of urban structures, which are related to my practice. Doing a residency abroad means being away from my home studio and the usual context of my work, but there are connections to be discovered which will have resonance with my work after my time here. To do a residency successfully you have to adapt the way you look and experience accordingly; I’m in a new studio, broad and empty, and full of new possibilities. It’s a chance to concentrate on just a few projects, to stay focused and complete them during this period of time.” Jesse Jones likewise commented on the value of context and place: “I think the residency is wonderful and a great place to think and be embedded in the city but still have enough space and distance to focus on your work. I’m in a group show at IMMA later in the year, so it is great to be sited in the grounds and to have the access to the institution in preparation for this. It’s also an exciting interface between national and international practices with artists coming and going.” At IMMA there is a wealth of people passing through the Museum and the Royal Hospital Kilmianham site every day, there are galleries, artworks located throughout the grounds, the gardens and meadow spaces and of course the studios. We have works from the collection to research, temporary exhibitions to respond to, knowledgeable and experienced staff with specialised interests and numerous connections, various programming departments, fellow residents and Dublin city itself as a resource. The list goes on … With the right approach, dependent on how each artist works, participants can set up their ‘stage’, activate audiences, conduct research and network, both formally and informally. The more successful residency experiences have been a result of the artist’s inspired thinking – trying and testing, pushing and pulling the rich context of resources surrounding them and discovering innovative and efficient way to use these discoveries.
RESIDENCIES: POINTERS & QUESTIONS IMMA Residency living quarters
IMMA Residency Studio 3b – current resident Jesse Jones
IMMA’s Residency Programme is back. To be precise it recommenced in January, following a range of redevelopments to the museum’s facilities, which were completed in 2013. We’ve reopened our living quarters, refreshed the studio spaces and put together a full schedule of activities for 2014. For nearly 20 years IMMA’s residency programme has supported more than 250 artists and projects from 50 countries worldwide. Applications for our 2014 / 2015 residency programme will be accepted throughout June, and approximately 10 residencies will be awarded, depending on the selection of individual or collaborative projects. The application process itself is an important opportunity for Irish and international arts practitioners to showcase their practice to IMMA. The selection panel will comprise an international curator, an established artist and key programming staff from IMMA. Our last open call generated more than 1,000 applications from around the world. The selection is always a very challenging and exciting process; it’s a privilege to see the vast range of practices and proposals that come up for consideration and to programme from a variety of artists and projects proposing significant commitment to immersion in a space, context and time at IMMA. Our 2014 scheudle include residencies by Isabel Nolan, who is working towards a solo show at IMMA opening in early June, and Jesse Jones, who’ll be exhibiting in a group show at IMMA in the autumn. Painter / sculptor Sonia Shiel has just come from a residency at the International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) in New York and will focus on research garnered from the Art & Law Program at Fordham Law School. German artist Albert Weis is a current resident and is pursuing his interest in the connections and disparities between public and private spaces. French artist Stephanie Nava will use the representation of the Famine in Irish history as a departure
point for her residency. Australian artist Mikala Dwyer intends to use her studio to research and test new materials used in her large-scale installations Other 2014 participants include: Becca Albee, Özlem Altin, Nicholas Byrne, Amanda Coogan, Priscila Fernandes, Fischer + el Sani, David Horvitz, Mee Ping Leung, Antonia Low, Deborah Luster, Nastio Mosquito, Vittorio Santoro, Naomi Sex, Edward Clydesdale Thompson, Nick Thurston and Lee Welch – with further guests and projects to be confirmed throughout the year. In addition to the open call for residencies we have also developed new programmes offering opportunities for arts practitioners at various career stages. This year we will introduce a 12-month studio award for a selected artist / project from Ireland – further details will be announced soon on IMMA’s website. A studio award for a recent graduate is also in the pipeline – this will be a shorter residency aimed mentoring an emerging artist, providing a chance to work alongside an exciting mix of national and international artists. Hopefully, this will result in an inspirational and practical experience for the artist during a transitional and formative stage in their career. The residency programme will also continue to invite arts practitioners nominated through professional recommendations from partner institutions, independent projects and affiliated curators. So far this year we have supported projects with Temple Bar Galleries + Studios, Project Arts Centre, EVA International, the RHA and the Goethe-Institut, Dublin. In collaboration with NCAD we will also host a visiting research fellow. The development of international partnerships with established residencies and institutions overseas is also at the forefront of IMMA’s objectives, with the aim to generate more mobility for arts practitioners based in Ireland. Inviting international curators for short research trips to connect with artists and projects is another developing aspect of the
To close if you are considering applying to the IMMA’s residency programme or any other residency opportunities, here are few useful pointers and key questions to bear in mind: ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■
Do some research around residencies – think about what might suit you and consider the context you would like to engage with, whether it’s rural, urban, quiet, dynamic, institutional, a creative co-operative, self-motivated. Ask the following questions: Is it funded or self-funding? Do you know anyone who has participated on the residency who can give you some advice on what to expect? Will you be asked to produce a finished piece of work? If not, how will your work be supported? What will be expected of you? Will language or culture be an obstacle? This is a particularly relevant consideration if your practice is very participatory led or relies significantly on other technical or specialised supports. Problems can be overcome, but you should address them with your host so suitable preparation and connections can be made. Do you require a lot of technical support? Can you invite a partner, family or guest? Where or what is your studio? Is it a state of mind? Is it a physical space? Is it the connections you make? Knowing your goals and how best you operate will help you make a decision on what is suitable for you. How do you work? What do you like to be surrounded by? Are you looking to face a challenge or are you looking for progress on a particular project?
Please check in on IMMA’s website for more details on forthcoming programming opportunities and updates on residency activities at www.imma.ie. Janice Hough, Co-ordinator of IMMA’s Residency Programme, Irish Museum of Modern Art. Janice Hough Artists’ Residency Programme Co-ordinator, Irish Museum of Modern Art.
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
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Residency report
SOMA patio and meeting area, photo by Kim McAleese
SOMA patio and auditorium. Photo: Kim McAleese
SOMA interior foyer, photo by Kim McAleese
Critical Margin
using post-internet strategies. They show not only international artists, but a generation of younger Mexican artists they feel are overlooked. Following in this trend, is the ad hoc space Bikini Wax, which hosts experimental exhibitions lasting for maybe a couple of days at a time, in a restricted space with a quick turn around time. It is intuitive and responsive, showing dynamic local artists and people passing through for perhaps a few days. Close by is the newly created Lulu project space in another domestic environment, hosting a wonderful selection of mid-career international artists who have never been shown before in Mexico City. While visiting I was exposed to the most intimate viewing of a solo show by Nina Canell, with four small pieces in the tiny gallery space. Not far away is the Galeria de Comercio, one of the side projects of Abraham Cruzvillegas, which has been running for five years. Public artistic projects take place in a temporal and ephemeral way once a month on a street corner for a couple of hours, and disappear leaving no trace behind for the residents in the area of Colonia Escandón. The socially engaged organisation Casa Vecina is housed in the historical centre of Mexico City, as part of effort to regenerate the once desolate streets of the area. Casa Vecina’s mission is to facilitate large coparticipation projects between artists invited to their residency programme and the surrounding people in their locale. Besides researching artist-led initiatives, another element of my residency was engaging in dialogues with MA students at SOMA. Each week I was scheduled to have four one-to-one meetings, talking to the artists about their practice, conducting portfolio reviews and helping with the development of their ideas. My residency at SOMA has formed starting points for broad cultural communication and exchange between the projects I’m currently engaged with in Northern Ireland (Satis House and Household). I fully intend to build upon various dialogues I have already initiated. For example, next year will represent the year of official collaboration between Mexico City and the UK as agreed by The British Council and the Mexican National Council for Culture and Arts. In what can appear at times to be a difficult cultural climate, Mexico City boasts a rich and diverse art scene. Moreover, it’s a scene that looks critically at itself and at broader contemporary contexts, including international models. Overall there is a thirst for change – artists and art workers are self organising with enormous drive. Institutions like SOMA are providing artists with the knowledge to explore their own agency and help diversify the arts infrastructure in the city.
KIM MCALEESE REPORTS ON HER CURATORIAL RESIDENCY AT SOMA, MEXICO CITY Mexico City is a megalopolis housing 21.2 million inhabitants, with over 100 museums and countless more art institutions spread across the heaving urban area. Historically it has always brandished a marginal reputation and it’s a place always on the point of redefinition. This pliancy is seductive – it’s precisely the reason for many to visit or relocate to the city. Throughout February and March 2014 I completed a six-week residency in SOMA, a non-profit educational institution tucked away in the sleepy neighbourhood of San Pedro de Los Pinos (www.somamexico.org/en). The organisation was created in 2009 by a group of artists, most notably Yoshua Okón, the founder of one of the first and arguably most visible artist-led spaces in Mexico City in the 1990s: La Panadería. Following La Panadería’s closure in the early 2000s, Okón having spent prolonged periods of time abroad and enjoyed international success, the artist identified a huge void upon his return to Mexico City. In the wake of the absence of La Panadería there was no space for meaningful dialogue, intergenerational communication and ideas exchange. After inviting 20 artists on to an advisory board, Okón forged the structure that became SOMA. Eduardo Abaroa was appointed director of the educational programme and Barbara Hernández the general director. Each year SOMA invites 12 practicing artists to attend their 2-year master’s programme, which is 85% subsidised for students by public foundations and private donations. The artists are in the early stages of their careers and their acceptance into the programme is based on merit and the potential of their artistic trajectory. SOMA’s programme also functions as a response to the lacking educational infrastructure in Mexico City – where no accredited master’s of fine art programme exists. Recent decades have witnessed a decline in the standards of public education and educational policies in Mexico, in terms of both institutional resources for students and teachers alike. SOMA employs a structure of diverse economic support, enabling nondependence on public money – Okón and Abaroa utilise their international connections with patrons and donors. Based on the needs of the students, Abaroa tailors a programme comprising lectures and workshops from practitioners in all fields, hand chosen because of their specialised skill set, that includes artists, curators, critics and academics to guide the students through each trimester. The second strand of SOMA’s programme is residencies, one of which I was undertaking during the six-week period (1 February –15 March 2014). The residencies are open mostly to international practitioners, in order to encourage and maintain a flow of knowledge production and dialogue in and out of Mexico City. They also provide ‘content’ for other areas of the educational programming.
SOMA regularly advertises the residencies and MA programme through their own website and online platforms such as E-flux. My reasons for applying for the SOMA residency were multifold: to become acquainted with a unique organisation employing the strategy of an artist-instigated educational program to effect culture; and to get a sense of both institutional and self-organised practice across Mexico – in all of their intricacies. Also, I was seeking to engage with a Spanish-speaking institution as I have a degree in Hispanic Studies from Queen’s University (Belfast) and I wanted to maintain the knowledge of the language. My first week in Mexico City was spent scanning Zona Maco, the largest art fair in Latin America. After hours spent scouring commercial booth after commercial booth, I left somewhat deflated by the unashamed excess of wealth being flaunted in the space. Running concurrently alongside Zona Maco was the first incarnation of Material, an art fair showcasing a broad range of artist-led activity in North and Central America. This fair, whilst perhaps an awkward fit for some of the smaller galleries and project spaces involved, was an opportunity to gauge the range of self-organised activity, the individuals involved and the reasons for their inception. Following these initial introductions at Material, I spent the following weeks visiting the practitioners in their working spaces and project spaces, becoming acquainted with their methodologies. A collective of note was Cráter Invertido, who were currently looking for a space, but deeply committed to their involvement with leftist politics and self-publishing as a means for disseminating their ideas. Similarly, another collective I encountered, Neter, came together because of their common interest in the social values of cooperation and respect for the ideas of others. Whilst they offer exhibition opportunities to artists, they often facilitate workshops and prioritise working collaboratively. In the relatively ungentrified area of San Rafael, there are a number of artist-led projects hidden like tiny gems between two streets. Each has been conceived by international artists or Mexican artists returning from education in North America and they position themselves differently to other spaces by offering a spectrum of innovative contemporary practice within domestic settings. Casa Maauad occupies a breath-taking old house divided into numerous exhibition and residency spaces, with the focus on an international dialogue and the production of a final exhibition for the resident with a sizable budget. Across the street is Lodos Contemporáneo, a newly converted garage space with an impressive roster of international artists usually working with new modes of production. Around the corner is No Space, another gallery in a domestic setting, where the directors are keen to explore ideas with artists
Kim McAleese lives and works in Belfast. McAleese is a co-curator of Satis House, and a member of the curatorial collective Household. This residency was made possible through the 2013 Arts Council of Northern Ireland Artist Career Enhancement Scheme.
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The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
career development
New Thinking / New Processes DESIGNER / MAKER KATE ORAM OUTLINES HER EXPERIENCE OF THE HARNESSING CREATIVIY INITIaTIVE.
Kate Oram – 3D design prototyping process
I am a designer-maker based betweeen Roscommon and County Down. The materials I use, which are often recycled and reclaimed, directly inspire my work. I’ve developed this approach over the years to include work cast from recycled bronze, which often gives unexpected variations in colour and texture. The form my work takes often reflects this rebirth that the materials themselves are undergoing: seed / pod forms; growing, organic shapes; or the ever-changing shapes of the sea – swells, waves and surf. Besides making work for gallery exhibitions, I’ve made works for corporate commissions – my clients have included: Diageo, Belfast Telegraph, Northern Irish Tourist Board, UTV, North West 200, Phoenix Natural Gas and Bulmers / Magners. Almost a year ago I walked into my first Harnessing Creativity ‘Creative Lab’ in Manorhamilton.1 In my application to the Harnessing Creativity I’d expressed an interest in collaborations with other creative industries. I heard about the programme through the Visual Artists’ News Sheet and the Leitrim Sculpture Centre. The first Creative Lab meeting was scheduled very soon after I was notified about my selection. Delayed by a previous commitment, I arrived part-way through the day’s proceedings to be met by a bunch of friendly faces and a long wall of coloured Post-It notes. There was a conspicuous white gap where my contribution should have been, which I rapidly made efforts to fill in order to catch up. This first workshop allowed us to introduce ourselves and our creative backgrounds in readiness for the next ‘lab’ which would happen in two weeks’ time. In total there were six ‘blank slate’ lab events where we were invited to unleash our mental scribblings. Our sometimes rather too lateral
ramblings were ably reined-in and propelled forward by facilitator Leo Scarff. The second meeting – a field trip to the Cavan Burren (who knew?!) – was like a return to art college. We headed off along trails in the woods, alone or in pairs or trios, crossing paths occasionally, peeling off from one companion and joining another, exchanging thoughts and ideas. Back in the warmth of the studio after lunch we talked about our impressions and inspirations from the morning. This outing was a welcome and thinly disguised ploy to relax our wired-for-business minds, and in a few labs’ time, we left the Cavan Burren way behind us as we marched onwards to projects new. If I had been told a year ago that I would soon be developing a way to weave 3D printing into my sculpture practice, it would have been unexpected news. After a particularly stimulating and animated brainstorming session during the third lab, we formed pairs and selected a subject that ignited our imaginations from the busy mindmap. My co-creative and I chose ‘Connectedness with Materials’ (and / or disconnections). Half an hour later we had some ideas germinating in our minds: I began to ponder how to keep hands-on techniques alive in the face of rapid prototyping and 3D printing; how to incorporate new technology into the ancient technique of bronze casting; and how to make an attractive, commercial product from an idea. It was probably at about this stage in the lab process that the participants either formed collaborative groups or began to radiate off on their own; two other labs were running concurrently in Enniskillen and Omagh and several of these participants synergised into pairs or groups; but within our Manorhamilton Lab there were only solo projects.
While the reality of 3D printing was crashing into my consciousness I heard about the well-timed IDEATE festival in Kilkenny. IDEATE was devised and produced by the Crafts Council of Ireland and the National Craft Gallery, described on the website as a “multi-disciplinary mini-festival about making,” it explores and celebrates “craft, design and creativity through experimentation and collaboration and aims to build a community of practice actively engaged with innovation, technology and design”. Perfect for me! I attended several lectures and masterclasses in 3D computer-aided design as well as a tantalising 3D printer demonstration – the excitement! Most importantly, I established contacts at IDEATE, who continue to be involved in my current work. I defined my project as ‘Online Tutorials and 3D Printing’ in an effort to take all my nebulous ideas and solidify them into something demonstrable, for the purpose of the next stage of Harnessing Creativity – the showcase exhibition called ‘Expanded Territories’. All the participants were given a budget to create their exhibits. The paperwork was unfortunately very arduous, requiring two written quotes for every bit of expenditure and the time-frame was extremely tight, so it was an intense and often frustrating lead-up to the opening night. Culture Night, 20 September 2013, was chosen as the date, and The Dock, Carrick on Shannon as the venue, so the attendance was good and the atmosphere buzzing – not least with a sense of achievement from the exhibitors. The exhibition toured in December to the Civic Offices in Dublin and in January to Letterkenny, and during this time there was a pause in activity, to be resumed in February with an application to progress to the next stage – Product Development and Mentoring funding. Only 6 participants (from the original 26) would receive this funding, so another frustrating wait was upon us, as we awaited the decision. It was with huge relief and some pride that I found myself opening a fat envelope with the good news in the middle of February. And then it was all systems go to put the wheels in motion and trial the process I had proposed. Through IDEATE as well as the Creative Labs contacts, I engaged the interest of tutors in two institutes of technology, Carlow and Omagh. Some of their students are currently designing files to be printed in 3D; I will interact with them through Skype and email in order to guide them in their designs – the first step towards online tutorials. Once their prints have been made, they will come to my sand-casting class in the foundry in Manorhamilton where they will use their prints as patterns to reproduce their designs in bronze.That will complete the process: from the Bronze Age to the Digital Age, reconnecting computer-aided designers with some of the materials and processes that have shaped their world they live and work in. As my project is only now entering the second phase, its future shape is still undefined. It is fluid enough to adapt to unforeseen applications and demands, yet it has a clear path to follow for the coming months. The next phase will involve the development of an online element to link the 3D design and print technology with the foundry process. A MOOC (massive open online course) will be created, enabling participants to broaden and advance their design skills in order to progress from ‘the drawing board’ (or computer screen) to the foundry via the 3D printer. Here, another collaboration will evolve, this time with Sligo IT, a centre of excellence in online learning. Thus far I feel that the Harnessing Creativity project has been stimulating and beneficial both to me and to the other participants that I had the pleasure of meeting and working with. The project has come at a time when many artists may be struggling to balance the commercial and creative sides to their practices – in my case a decline in corporate commissions left me with a lower income but a new wealth in hours, giving me a welcome opportunity to indulge in creative processes and new thinking. Kate Oram (born Galway 1968) has a BA in Wood, Metal, Ceramics and Plastics from Brighton (1991). She studied bronze foundry practice part-time in Belfast for seven years and was granted an Enterprise Start-Up Allowance in 1994 and a Northern Ireland Arts Council Award in 2002. www.kateoram.com Note 1. Harnessing Creativity has been devised to connect the creative and business talent of Counties Leitrim, Fermanagh and Tyrone and the surrounding region, with the aim of revitalising the border region economically in a way that can be replicated elsewhere in Europe. The project received funding of €799,880 through the European Union’s INTERREG IVA Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). Harnessing Creativity is being delivered by Leitrim County Enterprise Board in partnership with Leitrim County Council, Fermanagh District Council, Omagh Enterprise Agency, Tyrone Donegal Partnership, Leitrim Design House and has been developed by the Irish Central Border Area Network (ICBAN) through their Multi-Annual Plan. The project runs until May 2015.
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
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Profile
Create, Exhibit, Exchange Cliodhna Shaffrey discusses her new role as director of TBG+S. JO: What about the gallery programme? CS: Myself and the curator Rayne Booth want to further define the shape of the gallery programme. Clearly TBG+S support Irish and international artists with solo and group exhibitions, and we don’t want to ‘over-brand’ the programme, but its coherency is being considered. In this regard I think the organisation’s legacy of speaking out for risk and experimentation is interesting. I’m really excited by the upcoming shows, including exhibitions by Caoimhe Kilfeather, Nathaniel Mellors and the group show ‘The mind was dreaming. The world was its dream,’ curated by Paula Naughton.
Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, Dublin, photo courtesy of TBG+S
Jason Oakley: What attracted you to the job? Cliodhna Shaffrey: I’ve always been focused on the artist and their place in the world. Temple Bar Gallery and Studios is a place where artists have been making and showing work in the heart of Dublin for 30 years. And I’ve been an avid follower and occasional participant in their work for a long-time. JO: What’s your perception of TBG+S’s profile? CS: It’s a flagship studio and exhibition space of national and international repute. It’s recently come through a period of re-organisation and has strongly positioned itself. TBG+S describes its three pillars of activity and ambition under the headings ‘create’, ‘exhibit’ and ‘engage’. I’m really impressed with the organisation’s ability for long-term planning. Credit is due to the studio members, board, staff, and especially the outgoing Director Claire Power. It’s an organisation in very good shape – a sharp, lean organisation that has achieved a lot. JO: What particular strengths do you bring? CS: I’d just say that I have a range experience that hopefully adds up to a useful combination.1 This is a new direction for me; I’ve never been directly involved in a venue before. My formative years were spent working with local authority arts offices, and I’ve worked with the Arts Council and running projects. I’ve always enjoyed working very closely with and for artists – be it in a curatorial or a production / administrative mode. JO: Could you outline some of your specific priorities for TBG+S? CS: Bear in mind, everything depends on resources, so I might give you a different answer next year. Right now I’d say that this is a chance to begin thinking about the importance of artists’ supports. Artists say again and again that they need networks. The studio artists to some extent already have this in place between each other – and TBG+S has always attracted visiting curators – but ideally we want to structure this and to seriously demonstrate that this is a formal part of our programme – that TBG+S is committed to offering connections and networks for artists. So it would be great to set up another international residency opportunity, akin to the existing HIAP scheme, that would be open call – not just for studio members.2 The organisation will soon be researching other European studio models and residency programmes. This raises the possibility of becoming part of wider European networks and in turn sourcing possible EU support …
JO: Are there any plans for the building? CS: I believe that good buildings are always adaptable, and the TBG+S building is full of potential. For example, taking down the plaster around the pillars in the gallery space for the Pricella Fernandes show created another atmosphere for the space, akin to a ‘found space’. More could be made of the atrium area. It’s always been an ambition at TBG+S to make it a ‘softer’ space and create a place where people can gather, making the interaction between studio and gallery more visible. JO: We’ve covered ‘Create’ and ‘Exhibit’, what about developments under the ‘Engage’ heading? CS: The education programme, sponsored by the legal firm Mason Hayes & Curran, is a partnership between TBG+S and three city centre schools (St Patricks National School for Girls, St Patricks National School for Boys and Ringsend Technical College) which will remain a key engagement activity. And the recently announced Supporters’ Club is an extremely significant development that will be built upon. TBG+S has always offered spaces to collectives – reading, criticism and screening groups etc. There’s scope for these to be more publically manifested. I also really value the role that studio membership can play. There’s a collective wisdom and experience there, in terms of how to both further artist supports and engagement with audiences. JO: To close, what’s your overall directorial vision for TBG+S? CS: A director’s role, obviously, is to lead, drive and develop an organisation, but I’m also coming into a context that’s already been very well thought out. My role is to steward the enactment of what is largely already in the mind of TBG+S as an organisation. As TBG+S are coming to the end of their last strategic plan, it will be important to put together something for the next phase, based on what is now a very clear direction. In the wider context, Temple Bar itself is undergoing a transition, so the time is ripe for rethinking the area in terms of the cluster of cultural institutions and the invaluable contribution they make to Dublin being somewhere unique. Notes 1. Clíodhna Shaffrey has over 20 years experience working in the arts in Ireland and was recently Visual Arts Advisor to the Arts Council Ireland (2011 – 2014). Curatorial projects include: ‘Unbuilding’, County Wicklow, cocurated with Rosie Lynch & Eilis Lavelle; ‘BodyCity’, commissioned by Dublin Docklands Authority, co-curated with Nigel Rolfe and Shelagh Morris;‘Artistsas-Traveller’ and ‘TRADE’ which were both developed out of a curator-inresidence programme with Leitrim County Council. In 2009 – 2011, Shaffrey worked with Sarah Searson and Jenny Brady to establish publicart.ie. Shaffrey was local authority arts officer for Cavan (1990 – 1994) and Dun LaoghaireRathdown (1994 – 2000). 2. TBG+S, in partnership with HIAP–Helsinki International Artist-in-Residence Programme, run an annual exchange programme. For further details see: www.templebargallery.com.
meeting room@vai Visual Artists Ireland’s meeting room is available to hire for workshops, meetings, presentations, discussions groups etc. • •
Room capacity: boardroom style, 14 people; theatre style, 20 people Rental: €10 per hour
For more information visit: www.visualartists.ie
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The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
ArTT in Public: rounduP
Art in Public Public ArTT coMMissions, siTe-sPecific works, sociAlly engAged PrAcTice And VArious oTher forMs of ArTT ouTside The gAllery. Dogs on the street
Artist’s name: David Turner Title of work: Dogs on the Street Commissioning body: Self-initiated project Date sited / carried out: July 2013, ongoing Budget: n/a Brief description: Dogs on the Street is a project that highlights waste and needless re-cycling by companies who continually buy and then recycle cardboard boxes. The title was inspired by a political phrase often used in Northern Ireland, ‘Even the dogs on the street know’. The artist decided to borrow cardboard from the piles of boxes left in front of shops and make cardboard dogs sculptures out of them, based on a toy bought for his son. The dogs would then be returned to the same place. “In this way”, Turner stated, “I could highlight the continued use of the box in some other way than continually recycling it”.
system tree
Artist’s name: Shane Holland Title of work: System Tree Commissioner: IDEA Design for Systems Biology Ireland, Conway Institute at UCD Date Sited: 10 December 2013 Budget: ˆ 10,000 Brief description: This sculpture aims to express some of the systematic approaches to research and the strands and connections central to medical research. The colours of the various branches connect with branches of other colours and therefore affect them so the modes take the colour of the branch it connects with. This is somewhat like a chameleon merging the colour of a rock. The system tree was an outcome of discussions between the artist and design company IDEA, who introduced Shane to the UCD research staff and discussed the idea of scientific flow charts or strands or branches used in the testing of bloods at this site. Holland’s resulting sculpture uses bright painted stainless steel branches and coloured acrylic discs all fixed into a waterjet cut black quartz plinth with black acrylic sides in a hexagonal format.
LanDwork 16 / rose winDows
transition (FoyLe Boats) Artist’s name: Holger C. Lönze Title of work: Transition (Foyle Boats) Commission type: Public art commission, Percent for Art Scheme Commissioning body: The Holywell Trust, Derry Date advertised: August 2013 Date sited: 29 January 2014 Budget: £6,000 Brief description: The design for three 1.9m high wall-mounted sheet bronze reliefs is based on the lines of the 20ft Lough Foyle Punt – the traditional fishing boat used on the Foyle for centuries. The pieces have distinct anthropomorphic qualities and proportions – a reference to the local legend of Mannanan Mac Lír – while the strakes of the boat gradually transform into breaking waves. The works were fabricated using a combination of repoussé sheet metal, traditional boat planking techniques and TIG welding. The works are internally lit using blue LED lighting and are installed in the facilities of the new premises of the Holywell Trust, Bishop Street Within, Derry.
DeaD on Artist’s name: David Tully Title of work: Landwork 16 (rose windows) Commissioning body: Self-initiated project Date sited: ongoing series, commenced March 2013 Budget: roughly ˆ 1,100 Brief description: Landwork 16 (rose windows) is site-specific series of work by David Tully. The first is (currently) at Sir John Rogerson’s Quay and Lime St, in the Dublin docklands. The second is on Strand Road, Bray, Co Wicklow. Landwork 16 addresses themes of both mystery and reflection through ‘anonymous discovery’. A rose window is an attempt to see / reach the unseen. It is circular like a lens or an eye. It suggests something continuous and questions the building’s inner ambiguity. Tully’s practice includes this ‘anonymous discovery,’ where content is anonymously added to environments, interrupting, re-directing, playing with set psychologies, even going unrecognised or labelled as art.
neLson, BraDBury, heaLy L Ly Artists’ names: Kathryn Nelson, Helen Bradbury and Beverley Healy Title of work: Untitled Commissioning body: Northern Health and Social Care Trust Organ Donation Committee Date advertised: Spring 2013 Date sited: December 2013 (to be unveiled in spring 2014) Budget: approximately £3600 Project Partners: Arts Care, Northern Health and Social Care Trust Organ Donation Committee and the Northern Health and Social Care Trust Brief description: The project was initiated in spring 2013 by Mary McAfee and Joanne Byrne, both specialist organ donation nurses, who contacted Arts Care Artists in Residence Helen Bradbury and Kathryn Nelson. The brief was to create artwork to remember and to thank all of the people who have transformed the lives of others through the gift of organ donation. Kathryn Nelson came up with the concept of doves flying upwards painted on layered clear acrylic. Letters written by the patients and their families played a vital role in Nelson’s concept. Helen selected sentences, phrases and words from these letters to be added to the lower section of the art. The three artists worked together to produce four pieces, two for Causeway Hospital, Coleraine and two for Antrim Area Hospital. The doves have a peaceful nature to them, while the shadows on the wall draw the viewer closer to read the phrases delicately hand painted in pastels. The paintings are spiritual in nature and address great loss as well as the utmost kindness from one family to another. The work is painted on layers of clear acrylic to give depth, and which also creates shadows to give realism and gravity.
Artist’s name: Locky Morris Title of work: Dead On Location: Brooke Park, Derry Commissioner: Void Gallery, Derry Date commisioned: December 2013 Date sited: Spring 2014 Brief description: Dead On was created as part of Void, Derry’s ‘Artists’ Gardens’ project, which extends the gallery’s activities to various locations around the city and its hinterland. Locky Morris focused an elm in Brooke Park, situated a few hundred metres away his current studio (something of the star of the park and like all stars more appreciated after death) that was killed by Dutch Elm Disease. The disease is spread by elm bark beetles, Scolytus Multistriatus Multistriatus, which burrow their way into the dying or dead tree. Drilling and boring has been at the essence of Morris’s approach to Dead On, mimicking the bark beetle’s invasion on the conscious and subconscious level. Many of us have a terror of drilling, often caused by the fear of the dentist’s drill, so much so that we’d rather endure the pain of toothache than go to the dentist. There’s even a term for it: Odontophobia – a state of denial, a terror of invasion even that of a supposedly benign nature. So if we’re afraid of what’s good for us imagine how terrifying the indifference of nature is, how the insectoid, the fungal, the viral care nothing for our civilization or superiority. As we listen to the tree, something is alive in there. The sounds are familiar yet unsettling; something seems to be eating its way out.
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
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Art in public PROFILE
Joanna Hopkins, work from FIND, film / video still
Amanda Rice, research image for FIND, original hat factory tug of war team
Chris Leach, work from FIND
Nuala Clarke, work from FIND
Finders / Keepers GIANNA TOMASSO PROFILES ‘FIND’, A MENTORED SERIES OF PUBLIC ART PROJECTS for Castlebar. FIND, the first iteration of the Mayo County Council Public Art Initiative, presented a series of artworks and events in locations across Castlebar (29 March – 26 April).1 The project was curated by Gaynor Seville, Mayo Public Art Manager, and developed in association with Marie Farrell, Director of the Linenhall Arts Centre. FIND was devised to produce temporary public artworks that engaged with local histories and to function as a developmental platform for Mayo-based artists. Alice Maher and Aideen Barry acted as mentors for the project. The selected artists were: Ian Wieczorek, Amanda Rice, Chris Leach, Nuala Clarke and Crystal Gandrud, Exterus (Alice Dixon and Anthony Champa) and Joanna Hopkins. FIND began in March 2013 with an open call-out to artists based in Mayo, publicised via local press, the Linenhall Art Centre website and the VAI website / e-bulletin. Alice Maher, Aideen Barry and Marie Farrell assessed the submissions. The initiative was funded the via Per Cent for Art scheme and the Linenhall Arts Centre. Each of the selected artiststs were asked to prepare a budget for their proposal including their fee and all materials / installation costs not to exceed €2000. The thematic concerns of FIND focused on ideas around the experience of temporary artworks – including issues of documentation and legacy. Artists were encouraged to consider the idea of creating discrete or hidden works that would be ‘unravelled’ by audiences who would encounter the works on guided tours of the various sites via publically distributed maps and information. In June 2013, prior to the selection process, Gaynor Seville facilitated a series of talks and workshops covering the public art commissioning process and proposal writing. Those whose proposals had been successful were notified in September 2013. Alice Maher and Aideen Barry conducted group workshops and peer-to-peer meetings with the selected artists throughout the initial developmental months. During this process the presented proposals were modified and expanded, working through the scope and possibilities of each idea. Commenting on this developmental stage, artist Ian Wieczorek praised what he felt was a “particular pressure to produce contemporary work of a certain standard,” continuing, “the advice regarding the development and technical practicalities of my video work, Everything That Rises Must Converge, from the mentors gave me a strong sense of confidence and support, creating a feeling of the possibilities within
the project and the possibilities and future of my own practise”.2 FIND’s outcomes encompassed performance, film projection, installation, interactive light display, historical re-enactment and site-specific miniature cityscapes. An accompanying exhibition at the Linenhall Arts Centre (29 March – 26 April) presented the artists’ background work and also functioned as temporary studio space for some of the participants engaged in research relating to their projects. Amanda Rice’s re-enactment of the 1958 All Ladies Tug-of-War at The Mall in Castlebar was the first event on the tour itinerary. In the process of Rice’s research on the Western Hats Ltd Factory – a prominent source of employment in Castlebar for four decades – the artist had unearthed a photo of the winning tug-of-war team. She then set about finding contemporary accounts of the event from relatives, eyewitnesses and participants. Entertaining the large crowd of attendees – as well as drawing in bemused members of the public – Rice’s re-enactment cast a group of students from St Joseph’s secondary school in a tug-of-war battle with Ireland’s strongest man, Paul Roberts. Chris Leach installed miniature paintings featuring aerial views of townscapes in shop fronts and public buildings across Castlebar. Both the siting and creation of these works was devised in collaboration with the owners and staff of these various premises. Each tiny, meticulously crafted image related to journeys undertaken by these individuals. Located in window spaces, lane ways and amongst shop displays, Leach’s work had a ‘treasure hunt’ quality, which really stood out during the opening tour of FIND. Each work in turn highlighted the rich social, cultural and industrial past of Castlebar. Nuala Clarke and her collaborator Crystal Gandruds presented an installation of linen flags, overlaid with text and images, flying over Castle Street. The flags echoed Castlebar’s former historical relationship with the linen industry. Accompanying research by Clarke and Gandrud was displayed at the Linenhall Arts Centre. This material included drawings, flax plants and limited edition booklets for sale. Exterus (Alice Dixon and Anthony Champa) created a sensoractivated light installation, entitled between the raindrops, which transformed the façade of an unoccupied shop in the centre of the
Alice Dixon and Anthony Champa, research image from FIND
town. At twilight the windows of this building were transformed with raindrop shapes illuminating as passers-by triggered the sensors. Dixon and Champa’s accompanying work in the Linenhall Arts Centre featured remnants from inside this unoccupied building, including two framed pieces of exquisite wallpaper. Artist Joanna Hopkins conducted research for the FIND project, which included a history of the Star Picture Palace, a silent cinema on Main Street that closed in 1923. As one of the outcomes of this research, Hopkins commissioned an original piece of music from Deirdre Gavin, the great granddaughter of the cinema’s pianist Grace Delaney. The commissioned piece was performed and filmed in the old cinema, referencing the eviction scene from the 1918 Irish film Knocknagow, the first film that was screened in the Star Cinema in 1919. The video piece was then installed in the shop front where the cinema once stood. The video could only be viewed through a star-shaped screen in the shop window, encouraging viewers to peer deeper to access the work. The artist’s on going research, including large-scale photographs and other process works, was presented in the Linenhall. Ian Wieczorek video / audio work was displayed in the passageway linking the foyer of the Linenhall Arts centre from Linenhall Street. Beginning at 6pm daily and running until 11pm the video appeared to show a billowing flame – in actuality torrents of water – and evoked notions of alchemy and dynamic force. The siting of Wieczorek’s work in the confined passageway location, added to the visual and aural intensity of the piece. Commenting on FIND Alice Maher stated: “I’m not a fan of permanent public art works, as the process toward their completion is often so tortuous and riven with compromise for the artist. So this use of public funds to make temporary art interventions in our local town was an ideal way for people to encounter up to the minute contemporary work, for young artists to get funded to make their work and for the arts centre to have contact with new ideas and movements in art. FIND was possibly one of the most positive public art experiences I’ve had. Here you had artists, art and the public – all three at long last involved in real and meaningful dialogue.” Aideen Barry echoed these sentiments, and expressed the hope that the she’d like to see FIND “rolled out as a public art initiative scheme by local authorities nationwide”. Gianna Tomasso is a Scottish visual artist based in Co Galway. Notes 1. www.findartproject.com 2. All quotations from conversations with the author
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The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
VAI WesTT of IrelAnd represenTATIVe
Moving the discourse AIdeen BArrY HIGHlIGHTs THe IMporTAnCe of reAl World ConTeXTs And THe ConTrIBUTIon THAT ArT World professIonAls CAn MAKe To T VIsUAl ArTs edUCATIon.
2014 DCC / VAI Critical Art Writing Award ‘fesTIVAls & CITIes’ DCC / VAI Critical Art Writing Award was launched in 2012 and is a developmental opportunity for writers. The award reflects the commitment of Dublin City Council Arts Office and Visual Artists Ireland to encouraging and supporting critical dialogue around contemporary visual arts practice. Festivals, biennials, high profile cultural events / designations and creative industry gatherings are an important feature of any capital city’s cultural identity. For the 2014 DCC / VAI Critical Art Writing Award, art writers are invited to consider the significance of cities as contexts for festival-type visual arts programming. Writers are asked to propose an abstract that considers issues around ‘festivalisation’ – nationally and internationally – with an emphasis on Dublin as a context in terms of history, current events and / or future potential. For submission dtails and information on previous winners please see www.visualartists.ie.
Application closing date 5pm, Friday 4 July 2014 Applications should be addressed to: jason@visualartists.ie Late applications will not be accepted; applicants will receive confirmation of receipt
Alan Casey, Rubbing, Frozen Notebook (research photograph)
The DCC / VAI Critical Art Writing Award is supported by Dublin City Council Arts Office, The LAB and VAI’s Professional Development training programmes.
Martha llewellyn, Dress Dance 1935, digital video still, 2014
shauna shanahan, Exploration (research image), 2014
Over the last few years the fine art departments and art colleges in the West and South of Ireland have been moving their ‘discourse’ from the campus out into the real world. It’s been especially evident with undergraduate students occupying studio spaces outside of the colleges and curating projects in redundant / make shift sites. In 2011 third year students from GMIT memorably showed work at The Shed complex in the docklands area of Galway City, presenting eclectic mix of performance, video and sculptural installation work. The Crawford College of Art in Cork has been especially successful in facilitating offsite projects, with student projects occupying some of the city’s prime locations, such as the former FÁS Training building on Sullivan’s Quay in 2012. More recently, MA students created a series of very visible public projects in and around Cork city centre. Likewise, students of Limerick School of Art & Design have been taking ownership of the cityscape. As a staff member at Limerick I’m hugely supportive of such initiatives – I applaud the ambition and inventiveness of students who re-imagine or reconfigure sites for artistic use. This year LSAD’s curator-in-residence Eilís Lavelle has been working closely with the students to orchestrate ‘Recurrence’ (1 – 5 May), a project in the former Krups Factory at the Roxboro Industrial Estate, Limerick.1 This is certainly a challenging role for a curator – trying to find a cohesive direction in the conceptual mass of diverse student work. In the case of ‘Recurrence’ Lavelle has considered the work of over 20 students. In addition, the turn-around time for this project was less than three months. Lavelle has a wealth of experience as a curator: she was Gallery
Manager / Curator at Mermaid Art Centre for eight years, devised her own independent offsite projects, and recently completed the ‘Dig Where You Stand’ curatorial residency project in Clonmel. As Lavelle put it to me, a key issue was how to “translate a developing or new studio art practice into a resolved artwork, that considers contemporary display strategies while understanding the role of the viewer and the situation of the exhibition. Exhibition making is a complex activity, and for undergraduates to present work that has clarity of intention in a coherent form can be a minefield. It takes time to develop the necessary skills and it’s a learning process, but considering the role of the viewer and context of the site where the work will be received are concepts best introduced early into the curriculum”. Bringing practicing professionals into the teaching environment is a two-fold strategy. Not only do students get the benefit of professional viewpoints and advice about their work, experienced practitioners also contribute massively to students’ understanding of their own professional development, along with insights into current critical and contextual issues. These tremendous benefits for students can only happen with the generous support of professionals like Eilís Lavelle. As a tutor in LSAD I’ve seen many other visual arts professionals contribute value to projects of this nature – it’s something that shouldn’t go without praise. Aideen Barry VAI West of Ireland Representative Note 1. ‘recurance’ artists – Helen Carey, Alan Casey, Joe de Burca, Aileen nix, niamh ryan, emma Healy, Cira Huwald, laura Walsh, robyn long, emma Mc namara, shauna shanahan, Brendan finnerty, ethan o’Brien, sara dowling, Martha llewellyn, Claire rayner, Claire redmon, Aran Crotty, nicole roche
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
Opportunities courses / training / workshops Stained Glass Weekend Taught by experienced glass teacher, Linda Mulloy, this course will give you all the skills you need to make your own stained glass, and you can always contact Linda after the course if you need support or more information. 17 – 18 May, 10:00 am – 3:00pm. Contact Linda Mulloy Website www.blueglasshouse.com Telephone 0877981123 Address The Glasshouse, The Quay, Westport, Co Mayo Continuing Education at NCAD Continuing Education at the National College of Art and Design offer short courses in July for adults and school leavers interested in three and five day courses. The wide range of courses includes: jewellery design, painting, drawing portfolio preparation, bronze-casting, letterpress, digital photography and creative sewing. Courses cater for beginners and advanced students. Applications are on a first come basis with bookings up until late June. Experienced tutors lead the courses, which are located on the NCAD campus. Email cead@ncad.ie Website www.ncad.ie Telephone 016364214 Address NCAD, 100 Thomas Street, Dublin 8 The Constant Knitter The Constant Knitter will offer several courses in May and June. The Five Week Quilt Course will teach participants to make their own beautiful patchwork quilt in five weeks. The class is limited to six students. Some sewing know-how is an advantage. Tuesdays: 6, 13 and 27 May; 10 and 17 June . 6:00pm – 9:00pm . Cost: €245. Beginners Creative Embroidery is a three-hour hands-on workshop that explores the creative techniques of hand embroidery using traditional stitches with a contemporary approach. Saturday 3 May, 10:30am – 1:30pm. Cost: €35 (includes all materials). The Sewing Workshop aims to help participants reinvent themselves and their wardrobes. It caters for first timers and those who want to further their skills with commercial patterns, cloning garments, alterations, upcycling or making patterns. Sewing machines are supplied can be brough alongr. Small classes limited to six or eight students. Saturday 3 May, 2:00pm – 6:00pm.
Email mariakarintapper@gmail.com Website www.theconstantknitter.ie Telephone 0877690873 Address 88 Francis Street, Dublin 8 Commonplace Drawing Group New members can enroll in the Commonplace Drawing Group from Saturday 24, Wednesday 28 or Saturday 31 May. Workshop sessions take place every second week, so paying in advance for four weeks will bring you to the end of July 2014 when the next enrollment will take place. Young members are welcome to join the group during the summer months. The drawing workshops are a fun way to experiment with materials while exploring and generating creative ideas. Rather than being a skills class, the group uses materials to think in a visual and creative way. Portfolio preparation / tuition for college entry will be available at Commonplace during the summer months also. Please get in touch for further info. €36 for four workshops over eight weeks. Website www.commonplace.ie/news Telephone 086 3963845 Beginners Stained Glass This is a beginner course for those wishing to learn the basics of stained glass. The course will be run over two days, Saturday 31 May and Sunday 1 June from 10:00am – 5:00pm in Mary’s stained glass studio in the picturesque foothills of the Slieve Mish mountain outside Tralee. The course will cost €180. This covers course materials and lunch. Places are very limited; please book by email. The course content will include: introduction to stained glass, safety issues, technical considerations; stained glass design; layout and drawing of your design; glass cutting; glass grinding; leading; soldering; presentation of stained glass. Website www.maryjleenart.com Email artistmaryleen@gmail.com Life Drawing Professional life model Clare Broome runs regular long-pose life-drawing sessions in her dedicated life studio in Belfast. Sessions run every Sunday from 10:30am – 4:30pm, with a single pose being held for the whole day. The sessions are intended for experienced artists so there is no tutor, although peer interaction is encouraged. Backdrops and directional lighting are provided along with tea and coffee. Clare’s life studio is fully equipped with easels, art horses and boards; artists bring their own canvas and paints. Sunday sessions cost £40 pp
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and numbers are limited to allow every artist sufficient space to work. For those wishing to work on portraiture or the complete clothed figure, Clare Broome provides long-pose, costumed workshops each Wednesday in her dedicated life studio in Belfast. Sessions are untutored and run from 10:30am – 4:30pm. Email info@clarebroome.co.uk Website www.clarebroome.co.uk
funding / awards / bursaries Emerging Visual Artist Wexford Wexford Arts Centre and Wexford County Council announce a call for submissions for their annual Emerging Visual Artist Award. The award is a partnership initiative between Wexford Arts Centre, Wexford County Council and the Arts Council. The initiative supports promising visual artists in Ireland with an award of €5,000 and a solo exhibition at Wexford Arts Centre. It is aimed at recognising and supporting the development of committed emerging artists, kick-starting their career and achieving professional recognition. The successful recipient will be required to create a new body of work during the period December 2014 – December 2015, which will be exhibited at Wexford Arts Centre during January – February 2016. Submissions must be emailed and include the following: up to date CV; work statement detailing themes, working methods and medium – 300 word limit; proposal in relation to the body which will be undertaken – 350 word limit; timescale breakdown – research, production, delivery; budget breakdown – materials, travel, studio hire, etc; examples of work to date ie documentation in the form of 10 jpeg images. Full details for each image is required, ie title, medium, measurements, date of work. Three copies of each film, video or audio work can be sent by post. Deadline 4.00pm Thursday 15 May Email emergingvisualartistaward@gmail.com Website www.wexfordartscentre.ie Address Wexford Arts Centre, Cornmarket, Wexford Town RDS Craft & Student Awards The Royal Dublin Society (RDS) is now calling for entries for its 2014 RDS National Craft Awards (formerly RDS Crafts Competition) and its RDS Student Art Awards. Regarded as one of the largest competitive platforms for craft in Europe, the RDS brings an international panel of judges to Ireland to adjudicate its 20 category RDS National Craft Awards. Open to craftspeople living in Ireland and Irish makers abroad, the competition has a prize fund of €24,000 and sets the standard for craft on the island of Ireland to the highest possible level of skill
and design excellence. The RDS Student Art Awards has a prize fund in excess of €17,600 and includes the €5,000 Taylor Art Award, which has been awarded since 1860. The RDS Student Art Awards is open to full and part-time art students at degree and postgraduate level registered in art colleges in Ireland. Entries are open to students whose artwork ranges from digital film, to the more traditional disciplines such as drawing, painting and printmaking. There are two new awards this year; the RDS Lens-Based Art Award of €2,200, open to film and photography based entries and the RDS Monster Truck One Year Studio Award (non-cash prize worth €2,500) open to graduate and post graduate students completing their studies in 2014. For more information visit the website. Deadline 12 May (craft), 18 May (student) Website www.rds.ie/arts
commissions Dunclug Partnership Tender to commission the appointment of an artist to design, produce and install an artwork in the public realm. Dunclug Partnership seeks expressions of interest from experienced and suitably qualified artists or design teams in developing a new public artwork. The total budget available for the artwork is up to £45,000 (inclusive of VAT). Details can be found via the VAI website listing. Deadline Friday 23 May Address c/o Rosalind Lowry, The Braid Arts Centre, 1 – 29 Bridge Street, Ballymena, BT43 5EJ St Francis National School This newly constructed primary school is commissioning an artist through the Department of Education and Skills Per Cent for Art scheme. The school is interested in receiving proposals that will place a distinct emphasis on working with pupils over a period of time resulting in a work or works that reflect the school ethos. It is envisaged that the finished work or works would engage the children on an ongoing basis. The piece should be suitable for outdoors and incorporate St Francis and his love for animals and birds. Budget, €24,000 inclusive of all costs, expenses, VAT, insurance and other charges. Deadline 30 May Email stfrancisnsblackrock@gmail.com University Hospital Limerick University Hospital Limerick, Dooradoyle is being transformed into a major university hospital and the major acute centre for the mid-west region with significant capital developments being pro-
gressed at the site. The HSE is now inviting artists to tender for the provision of original art work(s) for public display at the main entrance internal roundabout at the Hospital, under the terms of the government Per Cent for Art Scheme. The available funding is €51,000. Please note that the HSE is not obliged to accept any proposal submitted and should the standard of work or insurance or proposals be deemed unacceptable then no art work commission may be awarded. Details can be found via the VAI website listing. Deadline 3pm on Friday 16 May
conferences / lectures / talks Higher Education & the Arts Jimmy Deenihan TD, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, and Ruairí Quinn TD, Minister for Education and Skills, will host a day-long symposium entitled ‘Engagement between the Higher Education and the Arts Sectors – Why is it important, how does it happen, and how do we benefit?’ This symposium – organised with the assistance and support of the Higher Education Authority – will involve a range of speakers, including those drawn from the higher education and arts sectors. The symposium will examine the engagement between the higher education sector and the arts sector and pose three core questions: Session 1 – Arts in Higher Education: Why is it important? Session 2 – Arts in Higher Education: How does it happen? By sharing positive experiences, can we learn from each other? Session 3 – Arts in Higher Education: How can Ireland benefit from the Creative Europe 2014 – 2020 programme to deepen the engagement between the Higher Education and the Arts Sectors? Space is restricted and early registration is advised. Website www.artsunit@ahg.gov.ie Telephone 064 66 27213 Visual Arts Workers Forum Project Arts Centre is proud to present the 3rd conference of the Visual Arts Workers Forum. Designed to engage and give a platform for debate to workers across the visual arts – artists, writers, curators, educators, funders, gallerists, shippers, framers to name a few – the VAWF is a day packed full of stimulating debate, presentations and networking. Key issues for the 2014 forum include a session devoted to the case for artistic leadership, a session aimed at accounting for the visual arts’ contribution – artistically, structurally and economically – and a session devoted to analysing good governance. The forum is ticketed, includes lunch, and booking in advance is essential. Tickets are limited so early booking is advised. Booking opens Wednesday 9 April, online or by calling the number below. Tickets are €10 for independent practitioners and €20 for those institu-
34
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2014
opporTuniTies tionally affiliated. Proceeds from ticket sales help to fund independent speakers’ participation. Email contact@vawf.ie Website www.vawf.ie Telephone 018819613
Jobs / opporTuniTies Artist F FAcillitA cillitAtor Ator Belfast City Council wishes to recruit an experienced artist facilitator or facilitation team to carry out community consultation and creative engagement to inform a re-imaging project for Belfast City Cemetery. Interviews will take place in Belfast City Hall on Thursday 15 May 2014. The Building Peace through the Arts – Re-Imaging Communities Programme themes are community cohesion, regeneration through the arts, positive relations at the local level, peace and reconciliation, connecting communities. For more information on the programme including the guidelines refer to thewebsite below. Submissions must be returned in an envelope and addressed to: Lisa Mackle, Parks and Leisure Department, Belfast City Council, 2nd Floor, Adelaide Exchange, 24-26 Adelaide Street, Belfast BT2 8DG. Deadline 12 noon, Tuesday 6 May Website www.artscouncil-ni.org Dlr librAries Dun Laoghaire – Rathdown Libraries announce an opportunity for artists, lecturers and facilitators to submit proposals and coordinate projects suitable for festivals such as Bealtaine, Children’s Book Festival, Science Week and a wide range of one-off events, series of themed talks / events or more long-term projects. Projects can include artistic, cultural and educational forms and target user groups can be children, young people or adults. A panel will be formed for programmes taking place from Autumn 2014 – Spring 2016. Creative practitioners and facilitators will work within the dlr branch library context, including the Central Library & Cultural Centre. Further details and submission information is available on the website below. Deadline Noon, Friday 9 May Contact Maeve McElligott Website www.dlrcoco.ie Email mmcelligott@dlrcoco.ie Telephone 012147970 Address: Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Public Libraries HQ, 1st Floor, Harbour Square 1, Crofton Road, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin
resiDenCies iMMA resiDency In 2014 IMMA’s onsite residency is expanding its actvities to complement the many ways that art practitioners develop and research their practices. The residency comprises of both invited and open strands of programming and supports arts projects within the museum, nationwide and internationally. Through the provision of excellent working and living conditions at IMMA the residency works to intersect and connect with arts practitioners such as visual artists, critical writers, curators, architects, creative institutions etc etc. From short research trips to long studio-based projects it covers a wide range of activities all vital to the growth and expansion of individual and institutional development. The wide range of opportunities for arts individuals and groups on offer includes: IMMA Open Call, the yearly open call from national and international arts practitioners (closing date 30 June); the studio award; IMMA Invited, a programme of artists nominated through professional recommendations from partner institutions and projects; IMMA Emerging, featuring a selected recent undergraduate; National Production Residencies; International Residency Partnerships; the Fellowship Residency: In collaboration with NCAD; and the International Visitors Programme. See website for more information. Website www.imma.ie Telephone 016129900 Address Irish Museum of Modern Art, Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin 8
Visual Artists ireland
Professional Development A ThE GET ToGEThER iRiSh muSEum ART, AT RT, FRiDAY 23 mAY 2014 RT VAi’s professional Development programme will present a series of short professional practice talks in the Common room area at Get Together 2014.
arts council oF ireland The Arts Council’s visual arts team will talk about the funding available to individual visual artists and groups of artists. The team will discuss making an application for each of the awards and schemes, including the purpose of each, who is eligible to apply and assessment and decision making processes.
Maurice Ward art Handling Mary McLoughlin, Director of Maurice Ward Art Handling, will talk about MWAH services to artists and offer advice and information on what artists can do for themselves when packaging and transporting work.
axis WeB Axisweb will be leading a discussion on how you can present your practice online, develop an audience, and use social media.
rua red RUA RED offers a range of residency opportunities for visual artists, dance artists and curators. Rebecca Fitzpatrick will give a short talk about RUA RED’s residency opportunities, studio spaces and gallery programme, followed by a short Q&A session.
dónall curtin Dónall will present on corporate governance in the Little Theatre space. This will be of particular interest to artists who sit on boards, are forming studios or other groups, and those within arts organisations. Dónall will also be available for oneto-one financial advice sessions, available for you to book with him on the day.
iMMa residencies Janice Hough, the IMMA Residency Coordinator, will talk about the programme, and the facilities and supports available to artists undertaking a residency, discussing what artists should consider when applying for a residency at IMMA’s. Fire station artists’ studios Fire Station Artists’ Studios will give a talk on their residential studios, skills programme, sculpture workshop and digital media facilities for visual artists. Burren college oF art Conor McGrady, Dean of Academic Affairs and Dr Áine Phillips, Head of Sculpture at the Burren College of Art will talk about ‘Artist Engagement in a Rural Context’, covering aspects of their work, including making and showing work as part of BCA Art & Ecology programme and the Emerging Artist Residency, open to recent graduates and emerging artists as part of the Burren College of Art’s twentieth anniversary celebrations. Burren College of Art is a not-for-profit independent art college specialising in graduate fine art education. (www.burrencollege.ie.)
arts council oF nortHern ireland Deirdre Robb, Arts Council of Northern Ireland Development Officer in Visual Arts, will talk about the funding and other supports offered by ACNI to visual artists including SIAP and travel awards. centre For creative Practices Monika Sapielak, Director of CFCP, will talk about the organisation’s programme and supports for migrant artists working in a range of art forms. She will discuss: integration, promotion and mentoring for migrant, experimental and emerging artists; CFCP artistic training; and ArtConnected, the innovative tool for artists, arts organisations, venues and service providers. artclasH A presentation on how artists can become Art Clash tutors – an initiative whereby ’night classes become night life’. Art Clash fuses night life with night classes, presenting workshops in underground live art and music venues, in a multitude of disciplines such as: film, performance art, illustration, animation, fashion and street art. (www.artclash.net.) Book a place at the Get Together now! www.visualartists.ie
forThCoMinG VAi Professional Development events:
Caution! We strongly advise readers to verify all details to their own satisfaction before forwarding art work, money etc.
RoSCommoN – RoSCommoN ARTS CENTRE Presented in partnership with Roscommon Visual Artists Forum. Developing Proposals Annette Moloney (June ) Presenting Yourself Kerry McCall (Autumn) Presenting your work Alan Raggett (Autumn) Creating opportunities for Your Work Geraldine O’Reilly (Autumn) Places: 10 per session Cost: FREE to visual artists in Roscommon PoRTlAoiSE – DuNAmAiSE ARTS CENTRE In partnership with Dunamaise Arts Centre Web & Social media Strategies for Visual Artists Mary Carty (Fri 5 Sept) Places: 10 per session Cost: ˆ 80 / ˆ 40 (VAI Members)
DuNDAlk – louTh CREATiVE CommuNiTY huB Events in partnership with Creative Spark Louth Socially Engaged Visual Art Practices Niamh O’Connor (Wed 10 Sept) Presenting Yourself & Your Work Kerry McCall (Autumn) Creating opportunities for your Work (Autumn) Places: 10 per session Cost: ˆ 80 / ˆ 40 (VAI Members) BookiNGS / DETAilS northern irelAnD www.visualartists.org.uk/services/professionaldevelopment/ current republic oF irelAnD www.visualartists.ie/education/register-for-our-events
Art Research Collaboration MA The Institute of Art, Design & Technology (www.iadt.ie) is currently developing a two-year taught Master of Arts Programme, titled Art Research Collaboration MA (ARC), to commence in September 2014. The programme will be delivered by IADT teaching faculty such as Dr. Maeve Connolly and Dr. Sinead Hogan. This innovative programme will incorporate research groups developed in collaboration with project partners such as Dublin City Council Arts Office, led by the LAB (www.thelab.ie), the Irish Film Institute (www.ifi.ie) and the Irish Museum of Modern Art (www.imma.ie).
The ARC MA programme is open to artists, writers and curators, or those whose research focus identifies art thinking and practices as a significant component. The course intends to support a strongly interdisciplinary enquiry into areas that through research might be related and/or be applied to art, such as philosophy, psychology, media production, film, education, history, literature, archaeology, geography, publishing, design and architecture. Modules will be taught primarily off-campus but students will also have access to art production workshops and the extended facilities on the main IADT campus. In year one, students complete a series of taught modules, participating in tutorials and critiques designed to support the development of their chosen research projects, and also work in small groups toward the realization of public-oriented projects. In year two, they can either work independently, supported by regular meetings, or as part of the research groups developed in collaboration with the Dublin City Arts Office, IFI and IMMA.
Applications should be received by IADT’s Admissions Office by
4pm Friday May 9, 2014. Subject to places remaining available, late applications may be accepted. Please note that as this is a new programme it is subject to validation. For entry requirments and application details see: www.iadt.ie or contact celine.blacow@iadt.ie.
Re-Framing the Domestic in Irish Art 29 April – August, 2014 Open: Monday - Saturday 10.30-5.00pm, Closed Sunday. Admission free, donations welcome William McKeown Cloud Cuckoo-Land, 2004 Detail of an installation for The Paradise, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin: wallpaper and Hope Painting. Courtesy of the Estate of William McKeown and Kerlin Gallery, Dublin
Highlanes Gallery, Laurence Street, Drogheda, Co. Louth, Ireland T.+ 353 (0)41 980 3311 | W. www.highlanes.ie | E. info@highlanes.ie
Leslie McNicholl
inviTATion To ExhibiT The Alley Arts and Conference Centre invites applications for exhibitions to be programmed within our gallery space Selection will be based on a consideration of an artist’s CV, exhibition proposal and 6 – 12 examples of previous work (which can be submitted in hard copy, slide or CD format).
Deadline for receipt of submissions: 4.00pm on Friday 13 June 2014
To receive an information pack including gallery dimensions, programme schedule and terms & conditions please contact Jacqueline Doherty: Alley Arts & Conference Centre Strabane Co. Tyrone Northern Ireland BT82 8EF T: +44 (0) 28 71884760 E: jdoherty@strabanedc.com W: www.alley-theatre.com
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Arts Council of Northern Ireland, MacNeice House, 77 Malone Road, Belfast BT9 6AQ. T: +44 (28) 9038 5200. W: www.artscouncil-ni.org. E: info@artscouncil-ni.org
Image: Brendan Jamison, Green JCB bucket with holes. Arts Council Collection
Arts Council of Northern Ireland Developing the arts in Northern Ireland
The LAB, brought to you by Dublin City Council, is pleased to present
supErnATurE Linda Shevlin Preview: 19 June, 6 – 8pm Exhibition runs: 20 June – 30 August
The LAB A: Foley Street, Dublin 1 T: 01 222 5455 E: artsoffice@dublincity.ie W: www.thelab.ie T: @LabDCC