The Visual Artists’ News Sheet ISSUE 3 May – June 2016 Published by Visual Artists Ireland Ealaíontóirí Radharcacha Éire
Teresa Gillespie, below explanation (clocks stop at 3pm and existence continues), 2015, installation detail; Wexford Arts Centre
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The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
Editorial
May – June 2016
Contents Cover. Teresa Gillespie, below explanation (clocks stop at 3pm and existence continues), 2015
WELCOME to the May – June 2016 issue of the Visual Artists’ News Sheet.
5. Column. James Merrigan. Where’s Our Marty Baron? 7. News. The latest developments in the visual arts sector.
For this issue, art critic James Merrigan continues as guest editor. In his column ‘Where’s Our Marty 9. Regional Focus. Visual art resources and activity in Meath are outlined by Solstice Arts Centre, Meath County Arts Office, and artists Aileen Hamilton and Aidan Flanagan. Baron?’, he discusses the role of the editor and of the art critic. 11. Seminar. Artist-Led Island. Chris Hayes reports from a seminar at Sample-Studios on artist-led Our regional focus for this issue is County Meath, with features from artists Aileen Hamilton and Aidan spaces. Flanagan, alongside updates from the Meath County Council Arts Office and Solstice Arts Centre. 12. How is it Made? Overlooked Spaces. Declan Clarke talks to Tom Watt about his work. 14. Residency. The Artist Observatory. Lucy McKenna describes her residency at the Armagh ‘Seminar Report’ articles come from Chris Hayes on ‘Artist-Led Island’ held at Sample-Studios, Cork, Emma Observatory and Planetarium. Dwan O’Reilly on ‘The Value of Criticism’ at the Glucksman Gallery, Gavin Murphy on ‘Proposition: An 16. Career Development. I Hope I’m Funny. Teresa Gillespie talks to Jonathan Mayhew. Art of Ethics’ at the Burren College of Art and Rebecca O’Dwyer, who attended Dan Fox’s talk at Spike 17. Career Development. Sticky Slip. Jonathan Mayhew talks to Teresa Gillespie. Island, Bristol titled ‘Pretentiousness: Why it Matters’. 18. Seminar. Re-Interrogating Criticism. Emma Dwan O’Reilly discusses ‘The Value of Criticism’ In ‘Career Development’ pieces, Vagabond Reviews describe their curatorial practice, while Teresa seminar held at the Glucksman Gallery, Cork. Gillespie and Jonathan Mayhew interview each other on their approaches to making art. Lily Cahill and 19. Critique. ‘A Moment Lived Twice’, Crawford Art Gallery; ‘De Profundis’, IMMA; ‘Kindred Spirits’, Rob Murphy introduce their collaborative practice in a ‘How is it Made?’ piece about their recent works. Bailick Park, Midleton; ‘Kathleen Lynn: Insider on the Outside’, across Mayo; ‘Blank’, Fenderesky Gallery. Other articles come from Lucy McKenna, who discusses her residency at the Armagh Observatory and 23. How is it Made? The Leper’s Squint. Lily Cahill and Rob Murphy introduce recent works and Planetarium, and Tom Watt, who talks to Declan Clarke about his work in overlook spaces. In VAI news, discuss their collaborative practice. Noel Kelly summaries findings from the recent survey The Social, Economic and Fiscal Status of the Artist. 24. Seminar. A Little Deleuze Over Smoky Bean Stew. Gavin Murphy reports from ‘Proposition: An Art of Ethics’, held at the Burren College of Art. Reviewed in the ‘Critique’ section are: Martin Healy at Crawford Art Gallery, Patrick Hennessy at IMMA, 25. How is it Made? Looking a Pigeon in the Eye on a Window Ledge. Eilis McDonald talks about Alex Pentak at Bailick Park, Midleton, a group exhibition on Kathleen Lynn across Mayo and David creating art for the internet. Quinn at Federesky Gallery. 26. Seminar. Pretentious Is.... Rebecca O’Dwyer examines Dan Fox’s Pretentiousness: Why it As ever, we have details of upcoming VAI Professional Development Programme, exhibition and public Matters. 27. Career Development. Hy-Brasil: Years of Pilgrimage. Eilis Lavelle discusses her curatorial practice. art roundups, news from the sector and current opportunities. 28. How is it Made? Station to Station. Ailbhe Murphy and Ciarán Smyth detail recent projects they have undertaken as Vagabond Reviews. 30. Festival. The Stone Tapes. Mary Stevens looks at Augustine Leudar’s installation at the Ulster University Festival of Art and Design. 31. VAI. Social, Economic and Fiscal State of the Artist. Noel Kelly summarises VAI’s recent survey. 32. Public Art Roundup. Public art commissions, site-specific works, socially engaged practice and other forms of art outside the gallery. 33. Northern Ireland Manager. Arts Funding NI. Rob Hilken gives an update on arts funding changes
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Production: Curator: James Merrigan. Production Editor: Lily Power. Editorial Assistant: Catherine O’Keeffe. News / Opportunities: Siobhan Mooney, Adrian Colwell. Contributors: James Merrigan, Belinda McKeown, Aileen Hamilton, Aidan Flanagan, Gerardette Bailey, Rob Hilken, Declan Clarke, Tom Watt, Chris Hayes, Lucy McKenna, Teresa Gillespie, Jonathan Mayhew, Emma Dwan O’Reilly, Lily Cahill, Rob Murphy, Gavin Murphy, Eilis McDonald, Rebecca O’Dwyer, Ailbhe Murphy, Ciaran Lennon, Eilis Lavelle, Mary Stevens. A: Visual Artists Ireland, Ground Floor, Central Hotel Chambers, 7–9 Dame Court, Dublin 2, D02 X452 T: 353(0)1 672 9488 E: info@visualartists.ie W: visualartists.ie A: Visual Artists Ireland, Northern Ireland Office, 109 –113 Royal Avenue, Belfast, BT1 1FF W: visualartists-ni.org Board of Directors: Linda Shevlin (Chair), Naomi Sex, Mary Kelly, David Mahon, Clíodhna Ni Anluain, Michael Corrigan, Niamh McCann, Donall Curtin, Richard Forrest. Staff: CEO / Director: Noel Kelly. Office Manager: Bernadette Beecher. Publications: Lily Power. Advocacy Programme Officer: Alex Davis. Professional Development Officer: Monica Flynn. Book-keeping: Dina Mulchrone. Membership Services Officer / Listings Editor: Siobhan Mooney / Adrian Colwell. Editorial Assistant: Catherine O’Keeffe. Northern Ireland Manager: Rob Hilken (rob@visualartists-ni.org).
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The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2016
5
Roundup
COLUMN
wood charcoal”. These “dramatic and expressive drawings” are inspired by SO THROUGH THE SINGING LAND HE the nature which surrounds her in her PASSED home and workplace of County Wicklow.
James Merrigan Where’s Our Marty Baron?
signalartscentre.ie
RETRO SPECTRE Francis Quinn’s ‘Retro Spectre’ ran at Custom House Studios, Westport, 7 – 20 Mar. Quinn, the press release stated, aims to “execute projects whereby the space and audience impact on the outcome of the exhibition in meaningful, tangible ways,” adding that, “site specificity and a multimedia expression of ideas form the fundamental root of his practise”. This has resulted in a large, diverse body of work, which comprises oil paintings, sculptures, drawings, animations and zines.
Maimie Campbell, The Death of Cuchulainn, 1929 Email screenshot; photo courtesy of James Merrigan
IN Spotlight (2015), the film dramatisation based on the true story of the Boston Globe’s investigative team of journalists who uncover systemic clerical sex abuse in Boston, the newly appointed editor in charge, Martin Baron, is the instigator and the driver for uncovering the story. The actor Liev Schreiber plays Baron as a somewhat joyless and aloof character. We don’t get much of a back-story for Baron’s character in the film either, only that he has left a job as executive editor of the Miami Herald after just 18 months. The lack of characterisation and this one nugget of information about his short stint at the Herald give Baron the presence of a man with no friends to accommodate and no ties to place, two things that can compromise the journalistic profession. As guest editor of this and the previous issue of VAN I was obviously drawn to Baron’s character. He represented for me the ideal for what an editor can be, and what – in a connected profession – an art critic could aspire to be under an editor like Baron, who isn’t afraid to tackle touchy subjects. If you look beyond the zombie characterisation of Baron in Spotlight (which somehow makes him even more enigmatic in the role of editor) you discover that the real ‘Marty’ Baron – according to testimonials from his peers in a recent feature on the editor for Esquire magazine – is a rarity. Digging deeper into the editor’s career you notice that after a long formative period of reporting and then editing for the Los Angeles Times (1979 – 1996), Baron became something of a mover and shaker, taking up high-ranking but short-lived editor positions at the New York Times (1996 – 2000), the Miami Herald (2000 – 2001) – where he led the paper to a Pulitzer Prize in just 18 months – and a longer run at the Boston Globe, where a further six Pulitzers were won under his editorship. Of course newspaper journalism is a different animal to visual art coverage. There is a tendency in the latter to understandably place advocacy and sympathy for an art community beset by struggles ahead of straight talk. In his column ‘Cheese on Wry’ in the previous issue of VAN, Peter FitzGerald (the editor of Circa Art Magazine for 13 years) described how the interlinked art community of art workers, institutions, patrons and general “psychosocial factors” hinder the role of the editor and criticism, leaving the “potential reader... confused or just fleeing”. We all know the obstacles to straight talk around visual art locally, and to list them here would just echo the reader’s thoughts and ignite cynicism. In a recent article in the Washington Post (where mover and shaker Marty Baron has been executive editor since 2013) Philip Kennicott asked the question ‘Can an art critic fairly review an artist friend’s work?’ In what is ultimately a watery read, Kennicott comes to the conclusions “that mixing friendship with criticism” doesn’t cloud “judgment” but “increases it immeasurably”, and that “the ideal state of affairs would be for critics to befriend every artist, to better see their work in all its
intimate detail”. My personal rule of thumb for reviewing is: if I have spent more time with an artist socially than with their work in the gallery I won’t review their work. In my opinion friends and criticism don’t mix. But the reality is that this is the reality, where the reviewer is not a critic but a cataloguer. Kennicott also says something about the “isolated” art critic having no “sympathy” for the art community, which is counter to my point that critical execution and reception is hindered by the ‘perception’ that sympathy for the arts creates a stronger community, and the entrenched belief that criticism only achieves segregation and cynicism which weakens the community. In my experience not being isolated from friends and place in the act of commissioning articles as an editor and reviewing exhibitions as a critic are the biggest obstacles to straight talk. Funnily enough, Kevin Baxter, the Herald’s arts editor under Baron, shares a revealing observation about the compromising nature of friendship in the Esquire feature: “He wasn’t there to make friends. He could be your friend – albeit at arm’s length. But he wouldn’t compromise the journalism to make friends or make someone feel better.” I wonder if Baxter’s use of the word “compromise” here is a type of transference regarding the ‘compromises’ he may have made as arts editor? In the same feature Baxter Holmes outlines the “universal characteristics often used to define great editors: intelligence, determination, fearlessness, news instincts, an unwavering moral and ethical compass, a fierce competitive drive, a tireless work ethic, and even a touch of compassion”. By all accounts Marty Baron is a rarity because he is equipped with all these qualities and is not afraid to use them, which make him the “best editor ever” as the title of the Esquire article states. On a personal note I think I am attracted to Baron’s characterisation in Spotlight because he comes across as the typical ‘big brother’, a big brother who will never praise you in person but will be the first person to have your back when the bully comes knocking on the door, and pull you aside if you have over-stepped the mark. As a practicing art critic I have had my fair share of art writers, curators and art directors come knocking on my door to defend their own positions and values rather than the exhibitions I have critically reviewed. Generally, the blame for the lack of art criticism lands at the door of the art critic, but the blame is systemic. Because the reception to art criticism is the way it is, and art institutions are all about promotion and advocacy and the community, the act of art criticism gets pushed aside into online blogs, where the lack of the editor’s defining characteristic of “compassion” is substituted for mean-spiritedness. At times like these I am left asking: Where’s Our Marty Baron? James Merrigan is an art critic at billionjournal.com.
Curated by Sabina Mac Mahon and in response to the work of Maimie customhousestudios.ie Campbell, ‘So Through The Singing Land’ was an exhibition of new work by ANN MARIE WEBB Michael-John Cervi, Conor Dowling, Caoimhseach Ní Lamhna, Emma O’Brien and Sophia Prendergast (25 Mar – 12 Jun). The exhibition was a collaboration between the Centre for the Study of Irish at the National Gallery of Ireland and Dr Lisa Godson, historian of design and visual culture. The five artists were invited to make new work in response to Maimie Campbell’s The Death of Cúchulainn (1929). Also dis- Exhibition poster for Anne Marie Webb played were a number of original paintings by Campbell and archival materi- Dun Laoghaire Art Gallery exhibited als relating to her life and work. new works by Ann Marie Webb, a thelab.ie County Wicklow painter and a founding member of OutPost Studios Bray (16 OF SHADOW & IDEAS Apr – 14 May). The press release noted Aurélien Froment’s exhibition ‘Of that “Webb’s new work can read as expeShadow and Ideas’ was held at the riential maps created through doing NCAD Gallery, 3 – 30 Mar, and curated and making … informed by emigration, by Anne Kelly. Froment’s installation of poetry, personal history and a testing of approximately 90 unmarked photo- what a sense of place could be”. graphs represents three extensive annmariewebb.com research projects examining the life work of art and architecture autodidact CARNAGE VISORS Ferdinand Cheval, pedagogue and pioneering educationalist Frederick Fröbel and Italian architect Paolo Soleri. In his artworks, the gallery noted, Froment investigates “subjectivity, montage, the experience of images and the spaces in which they exist”. ncad.ie
DRAWINGS
Richard T. Walker, Let This Be Us, 2012; photo courtesy of the artist and Carroll/Fletcher
RUA RED ran ‘Carnage Visors’, a group show featuring Neil Carroll, Amanda Coogan, Martin Healy, Juntae T.J. Hwang, Nevan Lahart, Amanda Rice, Melissa O’Faherty, Lost Song, 2015 Sonia Shiel, Marcel Vidal and Richard T. Wicklow artist Melissa O’Faherty pre- Walker, in Galleries 1 and 2 from 7 Mar sented an exhibition of drawings at to 9 Apr. The show proposed that “art Signal Arts Centre, Bray. ‘Drawings’ (29 can, and artists do, situate themselves Feb – 13 Mar) displays O’Faherty’s, the as never before as a counterbalance to so gallery writes, “individual language of much fleeting and temporary moments marks and drawing techniques using in the world, giving us a slower and materials such as burnt cork and drift- more considered series of propositions
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The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2016
ROUNDUP within which to consider art and the world.” ruared.ie
emancipation of the living relative, achieved by the brave actions of the volunteer.” thecomplex.ie
AS IF SHE HAD A RIGHT TO BE THERE Laois Arthouse Gallery presented ‘As if she had a right to be there’ by Aislinn O’Keefe, 12 Mar – 15 Apr. O’Keefe’s work explored the role of early twentiethcentury revolutionary Irish women through a series of text art and drawings. This evolving series explores women’s involvement in the Irish struggle for an independent nation and the idea of space as gendered and highly politicised.
ROSEBUD
Janine Davidson, War of Lies, 2016
arthouse.ie
INTERCONNECTIONS
Frances Crowe, Blue Reflections
A response to proclamations, manifestos and the power of the printed publication, ‘Rosebud’ at the Library Project in Dublin featured works in a wide range of mediums, including print, tapestry, banners, zines and performance (14 – 30 Jan). Curated by Alison Pilkington and Cora Cummins (The Fold), the exhibition included the artists Michelle Boyle, Janine Davidson, Mary A. Fitzgerald and Emma Finucane, Cathy Henderson and Robert Ballagh, Sophie Carroll-Hunt, Mo Levy, Maeve Lynch, Philip Napier, Marcus Oakley, Sarah Pierce, Sue Rainsford and Lee Welch.
The group show ‘Interconnections’ ran at The Core, Roscommon, 27 Apr – 3 May and featured work by Joan Baxter, Muriel Beckett, John Brennan, Tish Canniffe, Mary Cuthbert, Frances Crowe, pascale De Coninck, Lorna EFFLEUREMENTS Donlon, terry Dunne, Angela Forte, Amanda Gizzi, Fiona Hutchison, Frances Leach, Elizabeth Radcliffe, Katie Russel and Heather Underwood. Organised by Frances Crowe, ‘Interconnections’ presented work in contemporary woven tapestry from Scotland and Ireland.
print.ie
Miriam McConnon, Seamstress and Pin Cushion, oil on canvas, 40x70cm diptych
R E L AT IV E
Image from ‘RELATIVE’
The group show ‘Effleurements’ was held at the Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin 13 Mar – 2 Apr and featured the work of Brad Gray, Claire Halpin, Miriam McConnon, and Freda Rupp. “‘Effleurement’, the press release noted, “is a French word, first referred to the gentleness required to remove a flower from its stem. Its modern usage alludes to delicacy in touch: whether subtle strokes of a brush on canvas or light incisions on clay. Each of the four artists manages to impart deep impressions with minimal manipulation of the surface of their materials.”
The 1916 Four Courts Volunteers and oliviercornetgllery.com their relatives were commemorated in the exhibition ‘R E L A T I V E’, curated by The Complex, with photographer PATHFINDER Steve McCullagh (16 Mar – Dec). Vanessa Fielding, Artistic Director of The Complex, decribed how “Paddy Holohan, grandson of Patrick Holohan, one of the the volunteer leaders, contacted The Complex to collaborate on an artistic piece for the relatives of the 1916 Fourcourts Volunteers”. The Complex, she added “responded to this concept of photographs, showing a living relative alongside a volunteer, revealing the Andrew Carson, image from ‘Pathfinder’, 2016
‘Pathfinder’, an installation of new work by Andrew Carson, ran at Talbot Gallery and Studios, Dublin, 3 – 12 Mar. Carson’s work was an exploration of social structures, systems, possibility and probability, following on from his research into the use and effects of modern means of communication. Looking at the megalithic complex of Nabta Playa in Southern Egypt, first used as a ‘regional ceremonial centre’ around 6100 to 5600 BC, Carson explored the significance of astronomical observance at the site and “humanity’s unwavering attempts to read and understand the structure of, and apply meaning to, the stellar meanderings of the heavens”. talbotgallery.com
ULSTER UNIVERSITY FESTIVAL OF ART & DESIGN The eighth edition of Ulster University Festival of Art and Design (8 – 11 Mar) featured a range of speakers and artists including Gary Younge, Osama Esid, Kitty Crowther, Sean McAllister, Sarah Dwyer, Beth Harland, Jesse Jones and Sarah Browne. ulster.ac.uk
SEAMUS DUNBAR & ROSSA O SNODAIGH As part of Sheachtain na Gaelige, the Leitrim Sculpture Centre exhibited a series of humorous illustrations by artist Séamus Dunbar (4 – 14 Mar), originally designed for Rossa O’Snoddaigh’s recent publication An Foclach Foclac. These 36 illustrations are a sardonic observation of contemporary politics and are playful in the use of Irish language, which Dunbar shares with O’Snoddaigh. leitrimsculpturecentre.ie
from 15 Apr to 6 May. The gallery notes AMERICANA: FUTURE RURAL that “in the era in which provincial maps, geography of politics and nature, ecology, demography, etc. can be read easily due to universally understood codes and symbols, Roxana Manouchehri has tried to produce a new kind of map in an artistic context, of global politics of the nineteenth cenJohn Gerrard, Farm (Pryor Creek, Oklahoma), 2015 tury”. roxanamanouchehri.net From 26 Mar to 30 Apr, The Dock, Leitrim hosted ‘Americana: Future Rural’, curated by Linda Shevlin and FRAGMENTS, METAPHORS, presenting works by Brian Duggan (IE), SMITHEREENS John Gerrard (IE), Kim Shively (USA) and M12 Studio (USA). The exhibition began its development during Shevlin’s time spent on residency with M12 Studio, Colorado and was motivated by her interest in rural representation in international contexts,
Geraldine O’Reilly, Thinking of You
HEM
A three person exhibition of new prints was exhibited at Graphic Studio Gallery, Dublin 2. Opened on 3 Mar by the Canadian Ambassador, ‘Fragments, Metaphors, Smithereens’ explored aspects of Irish history, including the Easter Rising, the Irish College/Centre Culturel Irlandais, and the Curragh Internment Camp. The featured artists Fiona O’Dwyer, image from ‘Hem’ were Geraldine O’Reilly, Margo Fiona O’Dwyer ‘s exhibition ‘Hem’, McNulty and Merijean Morrissey. graphicstudiogallery.com opened by artist and lecturer Maria Finucane, ran 18 Mar – 14 Apr in The Courthouse Gallery, Ennistymon. The AMONGST OTHER THINGS exhibition has its beginning in a “half told” family story in O’Dwyer’s family. The press release tells us that this “Ghost story in allegory … set in motion a meditation through drawing of edges and movement in both external and internal imagined landscapes.” Image from ‘Amongst Other Things’
thecourthousegallery.com
SINCERELY, COLGATE
Andrew McSweeney, image from ‘Sincerely, COLGATE’
‘Sincerely, COLGATE’, the first solo exhibition by Andrew McSweeney, was held at Tactic, Cork (10 Mar – 12 Apr). McSweeney presented formal arrangements consisting of video, projection, neon light and raw materials. “Reaching beyond chromatic value,” the press reelase noted, “McSweeney pursues perfection while simultaneous acknowledging the futility of this endeavour. The joviality of ‘Sincerely, COLGATE’ seeks to contemplate what painting could be rather than should be”. sample-studios.com
ROXANA MANOUCHEHRI An exhibition of artworks by Dublinbased artist Roxana Manouchehri at Assar Art Gallery, Tehran, took place
An exhibition of new artworks by Felicity Clear and Helen Hughes, and curated by Brenda McParland, ‘Amongst Other Things’ marked the artists’ first collaboration together. Showing in the Municipal Gallery, dlr LexIcon, Dún Laoghaire from 30 Jan until 2 Mar, the show drew on the architecture of the library and the urban environment of Dún Laoghaire itself. dlrcoco.ie/arts
CIRCADIAN & EDGE ‘Edge’ by Denis Kelly and ‘Circadian’ by Ben Readman ran at the Municipal Gallery, dlr LexIcon, 12 Mar – 29 Apr. As the press release stated, ‘Edge’ was “a series of abstract paintings with hard edge colour motifs, predominantly painted flat on wooden surfaces” which explored “light, form and space in a playful, unique response to the built environment.” For ‘Circadian’, Readman used traditional techniques and natural materials to make “a collection of intimate two-dimensional works on traditionally prepared wooden panels or linen.” dlrcoco.ie
POWERFUL NATURES Lise McGreevy’s exhibition ‘Powerful Natures’ ran at the Conservatory Gallery, Clothworthy House, Antrim (15 Mar – 23 Apr). ‘Powerful Natures’ marked the creation of a new super council in the region and “takes a fresh, innovative look at the natural and concrete beauty of the two boroughs”, the press release noted. The artworks are all designed from original photographs taken by Lise on location in both Antrim and Newtownabbey boroughs.
OUR KIND
Alan Phelan, still from Our Kind, 2016
‘Our Kind’, a film and installation by Alan Phelan, runs at Dublin City Gallery, the Hugh Lane, 10 Mar – 2 Oct. The works are concerned with the lega-
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2016
ROUNDUP cy of Roger Casement, one of the leaders of the rebellion in 1916, who was executed in August 1916, several months after the other 15 leaders. Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane commissioned Phelan in response to the concurrent exhibition ‘High Treason: Roger Casement’, centred on the monumental Sir John Lavery painting depicting the last day of the appeal trial against the sentence of death for treason before five judges of the Court of Criminal Appeal in London.
1916 PORTRAIT COLLECTION Rod Coyne created an exclusive series of portraits remembering key faces of the 1916 Easter. “The unity of style he achieves,” the press release stated, “underlines the diverse nature of the Risings’ protagonists and how they were bound together in common purpose”. This collection of portraits were premiered as part of the Courthouse Art Centre, Wicklow’s centenary programme.
their recent residency in Facebook HQ Dublin. “Exploring the area between connection and disconnection,” the press release stated, “the work takes a wry and playful look at collaboration, communication, surveillance and identity”.
OUT OF THE BOOTH
Art Brussels, 2016
Irish Artist Brian Duggan was one of 12 international artists selected to present a singular sculpture as part of a new Sculpture parcours in Art Brussels (22 – 24 Apr). As visitors navigated the fair, they discovered 12 sculptures dispersed throughout the building, outside the HOLD THE CANDLE TO YOUR EYE/ gallery booths, at key locations in the LIGHT THE CRISS-CROSS ON YOUR space. These works were by 12 leading international artists working in the CHEST medium of sculpture. artbrussels.com/en
SPRINGS ETERNAL Anthony Weyer Brown’s exhibition ‘Springs Eternal’ ran at Signal Arts centre, Bray (29 Mar – 3 Apr) and featured works in a range of mediums. The galRichard Proffitt, detail from ‘Hold the Candle...’ lery described Weyer Brown’s work as “art that is totally pure, raw … revealed ’Hold The Candle To Your Eye/Light The only through invention”. signalartscentre.ie Criss-Cross On Your Chest’, a solo exhibition by Richard Proffitt, ran at Sirius Arts centre, Cobh, 11 Mar – 24 Apr. SAINTS OR SINNERS? “Re-evaluating teenage drawings, dis- ‘Saints or Sinners?, held at The carded ideas, childhood memory, detri- Courthouse, Kinvara from 25 to 29 Mar, tus and ephemera,” the gallery noted, was an exhibition of 1916 patriot por“Proffitt uses visual, written and aural trait drawings by Christopher Banahan, media to create a ritualistic temple of done over copies of 1916 newspaper history that summons, celebrates and broadsheets that covered the rising annexes a recent past”. The exhibition (including the Irish Times). The patriot also included a digital archive of portraits are sharply contrasted by porProffitt’s recorded music from 2001 to traits of recent and contemporary Irish and international political figures, 2016. siriusartscentre.ie including Charlie Haughey, Enda Kenny, Gerry Adams, Margaret Thatcher, Fidel Castro and Kim JongGOOD CREEPY Un.
I’LL SING YOU A SONG FROM AROUND
The Project Twins, image from ‘Good Creepy’
‘Good Creepy’, by the Project Twins (James and Michael Fitzgerald), ran at Cork Printmakers’ Print Showroom from 3 Mar to 15 Apr. The exhibition comprised a collection of risograph prints made by the Project Twins during
THE TOWN West Cork Arts Centre, Uillin, presented ‘I’ll sing you a song from around the town’ (12 Mar – 20 Apr), a manifestation of Amanda Coogan’s recent exhibition at the RHA, Dublin. A joint publication between RHA, West Cork Arts Centre and Limerick City Gallery of Art was launched at the opening of the exhibition, where Amanda Coogan performed You told me to wash and clean my ears. westcorkartscentre.com
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News
ARRAY STUDIOS EXPANSION Artist Jonathan HS Ross has been JESSE JONES & TESSA GIBLIN TO commissioned by Array Studios to REPRESENT IRELAND IN THE 57TH design and fabricate new studios on VENICE BIENNALE their Belfast site. The six purpose-built The Department of Arts, Heritage and studios will provide warm, secure and the Gaeltacht announced that Culture well-lit professional environments Ireland and the Arts Council had suitable for meetings and studio visits, selected artist Jesse Jones with as well as flexible workspaces. These commissioner Tessa Giblin to represent will be Belfast’s first purpose-built Ireland at the 57th Venice Art Biennale studios and will correspond to the in 2017. Jones has proposed an artwork conditions for artists as outlined by the that has at its core the idea of the studio in last year’s development plan. national representation at Venice as an It is hoped the new spaces will be alternative site of the state. In a project launched in May, with the neighbouring she descrives as a ‘witching’ of the Lunasa Creative Workers co-op café judicial system, her research and providing refreshments. collaborative practice will also see her working together with renowned theatre artist Olwen Fouéré. HIAP/TBG+S Temple Bar gallery and Studios (TBG+S) has announced that artist Anne Maree IVARO DISTRIBUTES RETURN Barry is the recipient of 2016 Helsinki The Irish Visual Artists Rights International Artist Programme (HIAP) Organisations (IVARO) has begun to residency. In April and May this year, distribute payments of €25,000 to Anne Maree Barry will spend six weeks artists and estates. RETURN is an at the HIAP residency facility on the annual service provided by IVARO to Island of Suomenlinna, just outside the distribute royalties to visual creators city of Helsinki, and will develop a new whose works have been reproduced in film project. The selected Finnish Artist books and magazines published in (TBA) will spend July and August Ireland. This year will see more artists working from a studio at (TBG+S) benefit from RETURN than ever before. Temple Bar in Dublin. All claimants receive a minimum Temple Bar Gallery and Studios payment with the average payment and HIAP are now entering their tenth being €90 for 2015. year of partnership. Since the partnership began in 2007, TBG+S and HIAP have supported a total of 17 artists 14 IDA BURSARIES GRANTED and curators from Ireland and Finland 14 deaf and disabled artists from to undertake new creative work in the Northern Ireland have been announced cities of Dublin and Helsinki through as recipients of the Individual Disabled/ the exchange programme. Now a wellDeaf Artists (iDA) scheme, an arts established opportunity, the TBG+S and stream delivered through the Arts and HIAP exchange fosters opportunities Disability Forum (ADF) and funded by for Irish artists to gain experience, build the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, networks internationally and engage in which allows them to develop their an interdisciplinary dialogue with the professional artistic careers. HIAP community. The bursaries, which are for up to £5,000, are awarded annually to allow the chosen artists to produce a new IMMA FUND work or receive training or professional IMMA, the Irish Museum of Modern mentoring. The 2016 artists include Art, today launched a new fund eight visual artists, two theatre designed to support the future of practitioners, one dance artist, a poet contemporary art in Ireland titled and two musicians. The artists have IMMA 1000. As a reaction to the impairments ranging from physical devastating cuts experienced by the disability, visual impairment, mentalarts sector in recent years, IMMA 1000 ill health and learning difficulties. The is initially a three year fundraising iDA scheme’s purpose is to identify, programme 2016 – 2018. The fund encourage and nurture individual launches with €60,000, which IMMA talent amongst disabled practitioners. plans to double in year one through The artists selected for 2016 are: donations of €1000 each from 60 Alice Burns (Portavogie), Paula Clarke visionary individuals. (Belfast), Patricia Downey (Belfast), IMMA Director Sarah Glennie Stephanie Harrison (Bangor), Charissa said: “IMMA 1000 is a new fund Martin (Bangor), Elaine McGinn specifically created to support our work (Newtownards), Shauna McGowan with Irish artists in the drastically (Belfast), Bill McKnight (Belfast), Nikki altered social and economic McLaughlin (Newtownabbey), Mark environment we find ourselves in today. Patty (Belfast), George Robb (East Severe cuts in arts funding since 2008 Belfast), Alan Sheeran (Belfast), Joe have had a devastating effect on Simon (Belfast), and Elvin Simpson supports available directly to (Ballymoney). contemporary artists, and as a result artists simply cannot afford to live and
work in Ireland, creating a huge concern for the future of Irish art, and contemporary Irish culture … Artists tell us about ourselves, they challenge us; they create space for difference, debate and imagination. Their voice is an essential part of a vibrant and dynamic society and it is essential that we value artists and create a sustainable base for them in Ireland. With IMMA 1000 we want to create a support infrastructure for working Irish artists today, securing the ecosystem for the future.” IMMA 1000 will do this in three key ways: supporting artists to live and work in Ireland through bursaries and the IMMA residency programme; supporting artists’ income through commissions and exhibitions; supporting artists’ work through the purchasing of work for the IMMA Collection. IMMA has been supported in this initiative by Goodbody as the exclusive corporate founding partner for IMMA 1000. IMMA 1000 was conceived on behalf of IMMA by businessman John Cunningham, Director CheckRisk, who responded to a talk by IMMA Director Sarah Glennie to a group of business leaders in 2014.
EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE The selection panel of independent experts responsible for assessing the Croatian cities competing to be European Capital of Culture in 2020 has recommended that Rijeka should be awarded the title. The other three cities short-listed after the initial preselection round in May 2015 were Dubrovnik, Osijek and Pula. The formal designation of Rijeka by the relevant Croatian authorities is expected to take place in the coming months. In accordance with the Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council which governs the European Capitals of Culture Union action, Croatia and Ireland are the two member states entitled to host the event in 2020. In Ireland, the preselection took place in November 2015 with three cities short-listed (Galway, Limerick and Waterford for the three Sisters) and the final selection meeting will take place on 14 – 15 July 2016.
VAI WORKSPACES SURVEY VAI is currently conducting two new surveys relating to the inceasingly precarious position of artists’ workspaces in Ireland. For the past year, we have been looking both at home and abroad to see what things are working and how we can learn from them in order to provide concrete suggestions and assistance. What is missing is clear quantifiable evidence of both the supply and the demand. Please visit visualartists.ie to fill in our new surveys for artists and studios/groups.
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2016
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Meath: Resources & Activities Meath County Council Arts Office
Light & Shade
Orla de Bri, Equilibrium, located at Dunshaughlin Civic Offices
Installation view, Nuala O’ Sullivan, ‘A Respectable Woman’, Toradh Gallery
MEATH County Council Arts Office works closely with artists, individuals and communities to increase access to, awareness of and participation in the arts across all disciplines and sectors of society. It achieves this through the provision of an annual series of cultural events which include music, dance, theatre, visual art, literature, arts in education, youth arts and participatory arts projects. It provides a wide variety of funding opportunities for artists and groups of all disciplines, both amateur and professional, and a comprehensive information and advice service. It also acts as a facilitator for arts organisations and plays a major role in the development of good practice for the county. The FEACH (Furthering Enterprise, Arts, Culture and Heritage) artists’ professional development and training programme, involves the delivery of specialised, targeted workshops and training opportunities to artists. These are programmed in partnership with a number of national organisations and artists’ representative groups, including VAI. In recent years we have commissioned many works and projects, with a number of commissions touring internationally. This demonstrates the local authority’s commitment to supporting quality artistic endeavour, provision of employment opportunities for artists and longterm sustainability and durability for the arts in the county. The Private Developer Public Art Scheme, introduced by Meath County Council as a planning condition to certain residential and commercial developments, has increased opportunities for artists and the scope of arts provision in the county. The Arts Office also works closely with festivals in Meath and supports the programming and development of Guth Gafa International Documentary Film Festival, Kells TypeTrail and Hay International Literary & Arts Festival, among others. We also programme and manage the annual Bealtaine Festival, Menagerie Mayhem Children’s Arts Festival, Pucas and Potions Children’s Halloween Arts Festival and the Mary Lavin Season in partnership with County Library Services. Each festival has a strong visual arts element as part of its programme. The Toradh Gallery, located at Ashbourne Library and Cultural Centre, is curated and managed by the Arts Office. It is one of two dedicated art galleries in the county. The Toradh is committed to promoting the visual arts and contemporary arts practice in County Meath and
supports and hosts local, national and international artists. The gallery is spread over two floors and takes full advantage of the natural light provided by the large windows to one side on both floors. Past exhibitions include work by Thomas Ryan RHA, Paul Mac Cormaic, Anthony Pilbro, Katie Sweetman, Marc Corrigan, Noreen Walsh, Aideen Hamilton and Aidan Flanagan, to name a few. Our current exhibition ‘1916 Ireland in Contemporary Art’, from the collection of art collector Larry Lambe, includes work by Robert Ballagh, Sean Hillen, Dermot Bolger, Rita Duffy and Peadar Lamb, and is a partnership exhibition with the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork and the Galway Museum. An important element of the gallery programme is the ‘Meet the Artist’ talks, demonstrations and workshops that accompany each show. We have also developed the Toradh Gallery outreach programme, which brings exhibitions to festivals and alternative venues across the county. ‘Toradh at the Hay’ featured ‘A Beautiful Life’ by artist Ann Meldon Hugh as part of the Hay International Literary Festival’s core programme in 2015. Meath County Council also has one of the country’s finest public art collections. These works are exhibited in libraries and public buildings throughout the county and are accompanied by a schools education programme. It is the council’s policy to acquire new works for the collection on an ongoing basis. We plan to expand the education programme under the next county arts development plan. In 2000 the Arts Office introduced the Going Solo Visual Arts Award. This award is intended to support graduates or recent graduates of art from Meath in the staging of their first solo show. The award comprises a curated show and bursary towards exhibition costs. Celebrating 16 years of this award, ‘Going Solo 16’ will take place November 2016 – January 2017 and is an exhibition of past winners’ responses to the events of 1916. The Arts Office has recently completed the consultation phase of the next county arts plan and we look forward to working with individual artists, arts groups, festivals and communities in the development and implementation of this plan.
EVER since I was a youngster in my hometown of Portlaoise I’ve been captivated by the landscape. In particular, I have always been mesmerised by the effect of light and shade on the Irish countryside and coastal areas. Going to the seaside was always a really a big deal for a youngster growing up in 1950s and 60s (doubly landlocked) Laois. Hence my love for places such as Achill, Dingle Peninsula, Clare, Connemara, Bolus Head and Valentia Island. In my early school years, my love of painting the landscape was nurtured by a teacher who had a profound interest in the arts and the environment. However, when it came to career choice time, I went for my other passion: flying. I spent 34 years flying in the Irish Air Corps (IAC). My time in the air gave me a different perspective on the land and coastscapes of Ireland and elsewhere. During my time in the IAC, I continued with my painting. In the mid 1990s I spent some time working as a Military Observer on the Golan Heights in the Middle East. During this time, I was captivated by a very different landscape there, and in 1994 I was given the opportunity of a solo exhibition of landscape watercolours at the United Nations Headquarters in Tiberias, on the shores of Lake Galilee. On my return from the Middle East to my home in Ratoath, County Meath in 1995, I stumbled across screenprinting. Having no prior knowledge of printmaking, I explored this ‘new’ medium. I bought books and learnt the process through trial and error (mostly the latter). As a result of my landscape painting background and lack of formal art education, I have approached screenprinting from my own unique perspective, and created screenprints that are probably not typical of the medium. In recent years, I have completed several courses with the Graphic Studio Dublin. My thanks to Robert Russell, Studio Director, and to Niamh Flanagan (my very talented printmaking niece) for teaching me all about carborundum, drypoint, photopolymer intaglio and monotype. In 2013, Meath Arts Office gave me the goahead for a solo exhibition at the Toradh Gallery in Ashbourne. This was my first solo exhibition of
Gerardette Bailey, Meath County Arts Officer. meath.ie/arts artsoffice@meathcoco.ie
Aidan Flanagan, Evening Light on Atlantic Drive, Achill
prints, and I really enjoyed the experience. With a long lead-in, I was able to plan and exploit the unique layout of the Toradh Gallery. My thanks to Meath Arts Office for all of the help with the exhibition. It is great to see that the Toradh Gallery continues with a full annual exhibition programme. Further up the county of Meath, the Solstice Arts Centre in Navan provides an annual opportunity for artists to exhibit in a large space. Its annual exhibition, ‘Surveyor’, which presents a selection of current contemporary visual arts practice in the county, has this year introduced an award of €1200 for a “work of distinction in any medium”. The introduction of the new award is very welcome, and should drive a high standard of submissions. Printmaking is a very handy way of getting your art to a wide audience, as it is easy and inexpensive to post unframed prints worldwide. There are plenty of international open submission opportunities each year for printmakers. In 2014 I was fortunate enough to be selected as one of the six winners of the 2014 Miniprint de Cadaques in Spain, which attracts about 650 printmakers from 50 countries worldwide. As a result, I was awarded a solo exhibition of my miniprints in conjunction with the 2015 Miniprint de Cadaques. Amongst my artistic influences are Rowland Hilder, Norman Ackroyd, Barbara Rae and Donald Teskey. As artists, their work presents a diverse mix of styles, but if I was able to create landscape images with a combination of their signature strokes, I would be a happy printmaker/painter. I am currently down in Cill Rialaig on Bolus Head in Kerry as I put together these few words. Thanks to the vision of Noelle and the Cill Rialaig project, I am privileged to be able to step outside of my cottage by the sea and be instantly immersed in this stunning landscape. As I amble up the hill behind the cottages, there is something new to be seen around each turn of the track. I guess that is why I am in love with the landscape. Aidan Flanagan aidanflanaganart.com
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The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
Solstice Arts Centre SOLSTICE is a multi-disciplinary arts organisation based in Navan, County Meath. The building was purpose built, designed by Shelley McNamara of Grafton Architects. It’s ambitious in design, with three superb interconnecting visual arts spaces on the first floor, with the studio, an impressive theatre and a large communal area, which houses our café, situated on the ground floor. For the last 10 years, Solstice, through its dynamic programme, has explored and reflected on its position as a cultural producer in the north east of the country. We curate, develop, produce, collaborate and tour both visual and performance work while welcoming partnerships with national cultural institutions and galleries. Large-scale Solstice-produced shows have included Niamh McCann’s, ‘Just Left of Copernicus’, 2015 – 2016, in collaboration with VISUAL, Carlow and Limerick City Gallery of Art, and ‘The Work of Micheal Farrell’, 2012 – 2013 in collaboration with the RHA and Crawford Art Gallery, Cork. In one of our most recent exhibitions, ‘In Darkness let me dwell’, we investigated a particular path trodden between the great early Baroque composer John Dowland, the Lacrimae and the work of Patrick Jolley, Gary Coyle and Paul Nugent. The title of the exhibition was taken from a through-composed lute song, with musical form which implies a deep melancholia. The sound for this particular inquiry was created by Benedict Schlepper-Connolly, Garret Sholdice and Michelle O’Rourke in a specific curation of the music of Dowland, Simon O’Connor, Schubert and Benedict SchlepperConnolly within the space. There is a subtle sensibility formed through our proximity to the prehistoric Newgrange, Knowth, Dowth and Tara, and sympathetic holistic interconnections can be found within our overall programme. ‘Lost and Found’, curated by Brian Fay, interlinked Professor George Eogan’s study of Megalithic art with the work of Niall de Buitléar, Fiona Hallinan, Anna MacLeod and Sabina Mac Mahon querying the modern day
May – June 2016
A Sense of Movement relation between iconic Megalithic art and sites in County Meath. 2017 marks our tenth full year in operation, and with this we intend to expand our curatorial ambition through artistic expression that is both inspirational and ambitious, raising public participation and awareness of art. We endeavour to create collaborations and support the development of work by both established and emerging artists. Within this, we acknowledge the importance of, and critically provide opportunities for largescale solo exhibitions, as well as group exhibitions. Our ‘Household’ initiative aims to support work of specific professional artists who have or would like to develop a particular longterm project. We provide local support to a variety of practitioners, through mentoring, exhibition and development activities. On 18 June, the annual exhibition ‘Surveyor’ will open in conjunction with a new Solstice Visual Arts Award of €1200 for a Meath-based artist, to stimulate and support the development and work of visual arts practice in the county. This will be followed in July by an exhibition featuring work by Meath Arts Group, which takes its inspiration from reflections of Irish life from 1916 to 2016 and will take place on the tenth anniversary of their formation. July and August will see ‘Irish Destinies: Wedding images of Meath 1916 – 1966’ opening in the foyer. The exhibition will consist of photographs of weddings during this period – records of new beginnings for individuals during a time of new beginnings for the state. The photographs are taken from a collection that has been developed with the support of Meath County Council Centenary Programme.
Aileen Hamilton, Sunset; graphite and watercolour on paper, 36 x 41cm
I am from a rural part of Meath called Boardsmill, just outside of Trim, and my memories of playing outdoors in that landscape as a child – using freshly cut grass, dug up sods, mud, leaves, moss and other seasonal growth to play imaginative games – stir up feelings which never fail to inspire me. It is said that we relate to new things by comparing them to what we know and that, throughout our lives, we continue to set new places against our ‘primal’ landscape. This rural Meath landscape accompanies me and helps me identify with different things. I studied painting in NCAD and graduated in Belinda Quirke is Artistic Director of Solstice 2001. Shortly after that, I met my husband, who is Arts Centre, Navan. from Spain. We lived in Dublin until 2005, before solsticeartscentre.com moving to Bangkok, where I taught art at an international school, and we travelled extensively. Since returning, we have been based between Ireland and Spain. As Bella Lewitzy said: “To move freely we must be deeply rooted,” and I believe that my strong attachment to home is my centre of gravity. In reflecting on the themes and motifs that recur in my work, I recognise how the process of moving between different places has helped to shape them. For example, I am interested in landscapes that are detached from something bigger: ones that appear suspended and pulled from many strands or floating in a fragile or exposed state. I am trying to connect with a core or universal place where I recall cycles, systems and flow; striving to create a delicate balance between chaos and order. While in Bangkok and travelling to neighbouring countries, I enjoyed learning about Buddhism and I was inspired by the Zen idea of the oneness of all things. Later, in 2012, I did a residency in Japan and found the Shinto concept of spiritual essence in nature especially engaging. There is a simplicity and harmony in Japanese aesthetics that appeals to me and I find the use of negative space intriguing. In the same way, nature has helped me appreciate the beauty in purity alongside detail. In fact, I remember making some drawings on Drinadaly Bridge in Boardsmill when it was snowing. The drawings followed the path of the river Boyne as it cut Alan Butler, Psychedelgal, 2015; ink and pencil on paper, with foam and paint; photo by Davey Moor
through the whiteness. Certain features jutted out from beneath the snow and appeared isolated and beautifully complete against the white background. This elegant scene tuned me into the style I was trying to develop. We also lived in Seville in the south of Spain and travelled a lot in Morocco. Subsequently, I became particularly interested in climate and how it conditions the landscape. The heat and harsh sunlight challenged me and I noticed that the washed out colours and muted tones began to influence my paintings. Comparing dusty landscapes to the familiar fields and bogs at home helped me interpret my new environment. By working through a process of contrasting opposites, I started to become increasingly interested in the point in between the two. Certainly, I connect grass with growth and movement in the landscape. I draw from a variety of grass types and the qualities I like most about the plant are that it connects the earth to the sky, that it’s rooted and that it sweeps up gracefully above the horizon. Furthermore, when I observe the wind blowing and spreading through a grassland, I am energised by the sense of movement. With regards to artist support in Meath, I have found the county council, the Toradh Gallery and the Solstice Arts Centre very helpful and encouraging. To begin with, I was lucky to receive the Meath County Council ‘Going Solo’ award when I graduated and that was a positive and beneficial experience. I am also very grateful for their continued support over the years and I am proud that two of my pieces are in the council’s collection. In 2015 I had a solo exhibition in the Toradh Gallery, where I enjoyed working with the gallery staff and having my family and friends at the opening. Overall, I am learning that my sense of self and my relationship to the Meath landscape has influenced my work. In saying this, I am motivated by the feeling of being in between and by making comparisons. Ultimately I am looking for balance, both in the pieces I make and in my life, and I understand that the two are interdependent. Aileen Hamilton aileenhamilton.eu
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2016
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SEMINAR artists. Elaborating on this, Quirke said: “Artists are staying in Cork because of what’s going on here, and I stayed in Cork because of Sample-Studios. Sample-Studios means that people can stay in an affordable workspace; we purposely price the spaces so that somebody CHRIS HAYES, CO-DIRECTOR OF ORMSTON HOUSE, LIMERICK, DISCUSSES THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF ARTIST-LED PRACTICE AS AN INSIDER. on social welfare could afford it.” Artist-led organisations are often defined by the role they play as a ‘resource’ to the wider cultural ecosystem. The resources that artistled organisations offer, not just the art community but the wider community, is less easy to quantify and therefore often overlooked, undervalued and seen as a luxury rather than something necessary for a meaningful quality of life. Just as artist-led organisations are a resource to artists and the wider public, they can play the same role for the voluntary participants of these organisations. The first, more limited, understanding of this is the kind of experience necessary for any career and familiar to every industry: to learn new skills, to gain a better awareness of the sector and to network. The second speaks to levels of involvement, of meaningful engagement with the wider decision making and vision for an organisation. Often artist-led organisations are so small that staff members must take on much more meaningful roles than they would in a larger organisation. Lucy Elvis, who sits on the board of directors of 126, Galway, explained that democracy was at the heart of their organisation’s structure. It’s perhaps the most concrete example of how the practical everyday realities of an organisation feed into its creative vision and vice versa. She stated that to “make decisions based on either a majority vote or a consensus prevents one person’s creative Sample-Studios exterior; photo courtesy of Sample-Studios vision prevailing [therefore] keeping the organisation fresh and risktaking”. Thus far I’ve primarily spoken about the recent history of artistled spaces and the impact of day-to-day realities for the broader debate. Despite having its own character and specificity, the situation with artist-led organisations is by no means unique. There’s a long history of these initiatives, both at home and abroad. Coinciding with their twentieth anniversary, Pallas Project/ Studios has scheduled to launch a book titled Artist-Run Europe – Practice/Projects/Spaces. The book features a thorough list of artist-run spaces in Europe, and a selection of critical texts reflecting on artist-led practice. While timed to coincide with their anniversary, the book sets its sights beyond just one organisation, looking across Europe to address the lack of writing, both critical and historical, on artist-led practices. The ambitions of the project are to address the lack of writing on artist-run spaces, and recognise the value of artist-led practice. Co-Director Gavin Murphy said: “Culture doesn’t just appear fully formed in a museum. It grows from the grassroots up.” ‘Artist-Led Island’, Sample-Studios; photo by Colm Walsh/Clap Media When I spoke with my fellow Co-Director of Ormston House, Mary Conlon, about how the present context of artist-led organisations SAMPLE-STUDIOS is an artist-run space in Cork. To celebrate its fifth been heavily contextualised within the fallout of the recession. So in Ireland feeds into our programming, our discussion quickly turned birthday, Artistic Director Aideen Quirke organised a three-day festival much so that the discussion can feel stifled by cliché. Of course it’s not to how our four-year history – we turn five on the 11 August – is of events. As part of the festivities a panel discussion titled ‘Artist-Led necessarily inaccurate to situate artist-led practices within the shaping the perceptions and expectations of the organisation. Island’ tackled the topic of artist-led spaces in Ireland. The panel economic trajectory of the last eight years. The economic cycles – Conlon remarked: “We had realised last year that there was a shift included Moran Been-Noon from Platform Arts Belfast, Lisa Crowne boom to bust – mirror the waves of energy behind each artist-led in how people perceived us, that we weren’t just an artist-led, from A4 Sounds in Dublin, David Dobz O’Brien from the National space, with each group of people only able to give so much to a project, temporary space. People saw us as something more established, more Sculpture Factory in Cork, Gavin Murphy from Pallas Projects in as they’re often volunteering to execute their ideas on a shoestring permanent.” This is all despite Ormston House not having secure Dublin, Shelly McDonnell, Communications and Advocacy Assistant budget. tenancy or regular funding, and being run on a volunteer basis. Yet, she It’s a story we’ve heard before. Yet, if the best time for artists to get added: “I think some people do see us as an institution and maybe at VAI, and myself, representing Ormston House in Limerick. It was particularly poignant to have the panel discussion held in access to buildings is when commercial enterprise is lagging, the ‘institution’ isn’t such a negative word. Why can’t an institution be Sample-Studios, as the building is set to be demolished and a hotel crucial question that follows is: What role can artist-led practices experimental, be radical and change perspectives?” built on the site. Beautiful and spacious as Sample-Studios is, their expect, seek, and demand once the hotels, shops and cafes come back? While we have serious ambitions to secure to tenancy of the tenancy was always offered on temporary basis. The history behind What is at stake is not simply access to buildings, but the life and building, in an attempt to grow lasting roots, our conversation ended their situation is quite specific, yet it’s a story that resonates with legacy of artist-led initiatives. with Conlon’s reflection on the early days of Ormston House. “What I When interviewing people about the motivations and desires would say to people who are thinking of starting something today, artist-led organisations across the country. The reality of and compromise inherent to insecure tenancy leaves many of us simply that fuel the artist-led movement in Ireland, one of the strongest whether it’s opening a space or developing a project or idea, is to build common links was what artist-led organisations lack. The hows – in a sustainability plan from the onset. And by sustainability I don’t waiting to be replaced by a commercial operation. While it’s important for these conversations to acknowledge the funding streams, administrative burdens, logistical problems – seem just mean the physical infrastructure, I mean the health and wellproblems – the lack of funding, the precarity of space and labour, and inevitably to loom over the whys. Of course, there is no point in being of the staff, of the participants, of the relationships of the people the seeming inevitability of burnout – these aspects of the conversation simply being a poorly funded version of a larger institution, so it is in who are around you.” She added: “We’re not there to satisfy the tend to dominate at discussions about artist-led spaces. To paraphrase those moments of defying the lack of expectations, resisting the architecture; Ormston House is the team”. audience responses I’ve heard throughout the years, it often feels as if pressure to follow convention and straying from the familiar, beaten Chris Hayes is an artist and writer based in Limerick. He is we meet simply to remind each other that nothing has changed since track of the established art scene that artist-led organisations have currently a Co-Director at Ormston House and writes a weekly the last conversation. The artist-led conversation has, in some ways, typically laid their case. arts column for the Limerick Leader. Grappling with the impending loss of the building in which the been exhausted, ironically reflecting the burnout experienced by the chrishayesart.com army of volunteers, CE and JobBridge workers who keep the system discussion took place, Aideen Quirke chose not to focus on the negatives, stressing that there was a need for the organisation to sample-studios.com, 126.ie, ormstonhouse.com, pallasprojects.org, ticking by. Discussions about the economics behind artist-led spaces prevail become more resilient and prepare for the transition. Sustainability is a4sounds.org, nationalsculpturefactory.com at events and this is no surprise. In recent years artist-led spaces have key, of course, to continuing the support that Sample provides to
Artist-Led Island
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The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
HOW IS IT MADE?
Tom Watt, TENT, installation view, artist’s home, 2013
Overlooked Spaces DECLAN CLARKE TALKS TO TOM WATT ABOUT HIS HABITATIONS OF OVERLOOKED SPACES.
Tom Watt, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, 2014, Catalyst Arts, Belfast
May – June 2016
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2016
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HOW IS IT MADE?
Tom Watt, Ramp, Galway Arts Centre, 2015; part of the group exhibition ‘Product Recall’ curated by Anne Mullee
Tom Watt, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, 2014, Catalyst Arts, Belfast
Declan Clarke: The first time I encountered your work was in
articulate precisely what that tone is, but it’s very clearly there,
spaces’ that intrigues me.
2010. At the time, you told me about a work you were planning to
and it’s something very innate in the work. It seems to me that
make under the floor of your parents’ house, but you weren’t sure
the tone of your work is another significant aspect.
Galleries are different. I find them harder to make work in because they are designed not to have a tone, or to have a very neutral
when you’d be able to make it. The problem was, you said, that
I remember your graduate exhibition in NCAD and found it
tone. Sometimes I like to just look at the prominent features of the
you didn’t want your parents to know about it. What you wanted
singularly impressive. Each area had a different atmosphere and
space and try and react to them. Or, if a gallery doesn’t have any
to do was wait until they went away on a holiday, go to their
a set of qualities that were being emphasised or drawn out. This
interesting features then I think about it as a container, like the
house, take up a section of the floor, and, if I recall correctly, paint
notion of tone is to me a central one in your practice because
concrete pipe.
something under the floor, and then replace the section and leave
there is no overriding ‘theme’. Rather, you explore certain
no trace of your activity.
possibilities that a particular environment suggests. These Centre (2015) was a pretty plain structure, though you could walk possibilities can then be transformed by others after your initial underneath it. I felt as though it was never properly activated and sort
Thinking through recent works of yours, such as ‘Tent’ (2013) and the accompanying video work ‘No.6’, I recalled a
intervention.
The ramp I built to divide the upper galleries in the Galway Arts
of served as a bookend for the show, whereas I had hoped it would
conversation with you around the idea of inaccessibility, or at
Does tone – whether it is an existing quality in a space, or one
work as a transitory space to pass through. I had an idea that the
least, limited accessibility. This seems to be a very strong current
you augment or create – play a significant role in how you
underside of the ramp could house the other participating artists’ dud
in your practice. This, aligned with the temporary nature of your
develop your ideas? Leading on from that, what is it about
artworks that didn’t, for whatever reason, make it into the show.
work (something that is particular to the installation medium),
overlooked spaces that intrigue you so much and how do you
I plan on working collaboratively with my friends Tanad
opens up a discussion about how necessary it is for art to be
discover them? Are there particular qualities that you look for or
Williams and Andreas Von Knobloch on a similar project in which we
viewed. I am not suggesting here that you are indifferent, or
are drawn to?
build a structure together, then individually programme or activate
resistant to the role of an audience in terms of your work, but it
TW: For a while I had a problem with people reading my work as
the structure over the course of three weeks, taking one collaboratively
does seem to be an ongoing fascination for you as an artist. An
‘sinister’: it felt too Gregor Schneider. I think his work is fascinating
made work in three different directions.
individual seeking out your work could quite easily miss it, or
but I wouldn’t like to be put in that category. This interpretation may someone could be living with an artwork of yours without be due to the spaces in which I’ve worked in the past: an attic, under realising it. This aspect of your activity is both enigmatic and my parent’s house, etc. But the sinister tone isn’t necessarily what I was
DC: When last we spoke you mentioned that you had discovered a space in Donegal on the Fanad peninsula. How is, or how do you
uncanny. How does this relationship unfold for you in the working to keep or preserve. studio? I think, when you try and force a tone on a space that is not Tom Watt: My sister played this trick on me once. She was in the already there, you’re dealing with theatre. I don’t want to use props for
anticipate, this work unfolding?
driver’s seat of a car and, as I approached her, she opened the window.
the sake of setting up a certain feeling. The objects I insert are intended
beside a lighthouse. It’s really nice up there and quite isolated. Every
She did that awkward winding movement as if she was winding down
to be functional and correspond to their surroundings. The tent I
time I go up there I think it would be great to fix it up: put some
the window, but the car had electric windows. She just wanted to see
installed in the attic was a simple way of making an uninhabitable
windows in, a door, a wood burner and maybe a solar-powered neon
if I’d notice. I like those kinds of jokes that are, at the time, just for the
room habitable.
sign. It’s just big enough to fit one or two people, a bedroom and a little
person telling them.
I had this idea that I wanted to make a show in a section of a
TW: Yes, I’ve had my eye on that for a few years now. It’s a small military lookout post at the most northern point of the peninsula,
studio with a desk. It reminds me a bit of a mountain bothy in
Similarly, my way of working out what I am going to do in a
concrete sewer pipe, the ones you sometimes see in fields or on
space is, as you say, ‘resistant’. It challenges the notion of give and take
construction sites. I heard about this database for an art collection
I see it as a place that could be used for short residencies in
between the artist and the audience. The way I begin a new work is by
where you can search for artworks by their colour, shape, dimension,
conjunction with ‘Resort Projects’, an initiative that myself and some
addressing a space that I’m interested in, but yes, the spaces I’m
etc. You can borrow the artworks as long as you pay for shipping and
friends have been working on together since 2012. ‘Resort Projects’ is a
interested in are often the ones that are generally overlooked. insurance. The idea would be to fill the pipe with artworks that fit in Sometimes the audience is invited, but I think there is value in doing real nice, like circular objects of the same circumference as the inner
series of off-site residencies focused on ephemerality and isolation. I
something out of view and waiting to see if it’s discovered. Maybe then
dimensions of the pipe. I like it when things fit exactly into things;
but I hope to make a move on this soon.
it becomes a completed work.
there is something satisfying about it, like a tent in an attic.
Scotland.
haven’t figured out the logistics of this project yet, or who to talk to,
For my degree show I made a series of hidden spaces between the
I tend to end up making works in spaces where I already spend a
Tom Watt is an artist born in Belfast, currently living and
partition walls in the sculpture department. There were about seven of
lot of time. The reservoir where I made the film in the storm drains is
working in Dublin. Upcoming projects include a collaborative
them, but some were harder to find than others. I had hoped that, if
somewhere I would walk my dog. I kept seeing these tunnel entrances
participation with Tanad Williams for the ‘In A Fair Land’
someone found one or two, they might become curious and search for
around and I wondered how they were all connected. I still haven’t
residency at IMMA (August 2016).
the others. One of them is actually still there.
explored all of them. There’s one entrance that is behind a waterfall. I
tomdavidwatt.com
haven’t been able to convince anyone to accompany me yet. I wouldn’t the overall intention of the artist. This can manifest itself in a
go in there on my own. I’ve heard you can request maps of the tunnel Declan Clarke is an artist currently living and working between ` is exhibition ‘The Hopeless End of a Great systems from the water service and they are obliged to give you them, Dublin and Berlin. H
number of ways. For example, I find the paintings of Sergej
but I’d like to slowly make my own maps over time.
DC: For me, generally speaking, the tone of an artwork outlines
Jensen to have a very striking tone. I’m not interested in trying to
Dream’ runs at Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin (22 April – 18 June
Maybe it’s the discovery of what you described as ‘overlooked 2016).
14
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
RESIDENCY
Sunshine recorder; all photos by Lucy McKenna
Troughton equatorial telescope
UKSC sky survey
Plate camera
The Artist Observatory LUCY MCKENNA DESCRIBES HER RESIDENCY AT THE ARMAGH OBSERVATORY AND PLANETARIUM, WHICH TOOK PLACE IN EARLY 2016.
May – June 2016
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2016
15
RESIDENCY
Armagh Observatory grounds
IN January of this year I was invited by Catalyst Arts, Belfast to take part in the second edition of their new alternative residency programme ‘The Artist Observatory’. At a time when the resources and facilities for artists’ research and work are increasingly limited, Catalyst Arts remains committed to creating unique opportunities for artists that are tailored to their specific practice and field of research. My visual art practice broadly revolves around the ways in which we develop different techniques to process information in order to better understand our existence. This can take the form of science, religion, folklore, storytelling and much else. I have recently become fascinated by data collection: its visual manifestations, the tools we have invented to aid its collection, the meaning we can draw from it and how information is changed from one form into another. A residency at Facebook’s Dublin HQ in summer 2015 gave me a tantalising glimpse behind the curtain of a global data machine and accelerated my interest in the area. When Catalyst Arts offered me this opportunity at the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium I jumped at the chance, as it seemed a perfect fit with my practice and research interests. The residency took place two days a week for approximately six weeks, and I was conscious that the time would pass quickly. I realised that I would only be scratching the surface of what the observatory had to offer. On our initial visit, myself and two of the Catalyst directors had an inspiring meeting with directors of the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, Mark Bailey and Colin Johnson. They took us on a tour of the planetarium and demonstrated their impressive film-screening dome. From the outset the staff were incredibly welcoming and open to the idea of an artist in residence. They had previously worked with Leverhulme artist in residence Sally Walmsley and also artist Robert Jarvis on his beautiful permanent audio piece, aroundNorth, which was installed in the observatory grounds. In my first week I was assigned a desk inside the monumental Georgian Observatory, which glows with a distinct pink hue due to the sandstone from which it is constructed. I was introduced to the staff: administrators, technicians, astronomers and PhD students. Soon I found myself in meetings with astronomers telling me the specifics of their observations of the Sun and its flares, and PhD students explaining how colder brown dwarf stars have magnetic fields (which
Hyper cube
is unexpected). I got used to hearing phrases like: “most of my days are taken up with asteroids”. I was struck by the coexistence of the very old and the very modern. Brand new computers sit side by side with equipment that is hundreds of years old. 300-year-old records of astronomical objects are compared with current ones to see how those same objects behave today. Each day, a Campbell-Stokes sunshine recorder, dating from 1853, is used to take measurements of sun intensity, which are then sent on to the Met Office. This is a daily tradition that has continued at the observatory since 1885. Just before my residency began, some of the PhD students had used the 130-year-old Grubb Telescope to observe the Moon and Jupiter. Photographs were taken through the eyepiece with mobile phones and tablets. The staff respect the methods and ingenuity of their predecessors and are at ease mixing classical tools and modern technology. Observing objects that are millions of years old seems to have given them some perspective on the comparatively short time in which humans have been gathering information. I took particular interest in the photographic archive room, a nook that houses boxes of astronomical plate photographs, or astrographs, dating from the 1800s to the 1960s. These small, precious glass plates are layered with a photographic emulsion, which is exposed to light through the eyepiece of a telescope. This light is then captured as a photograph on the surface of the glass and can take the form of moons, planets, stars, comets etc., depending on the astronomer’s particular point of focus. I discovered that this dry-plate process had mostly died out by the 1970s as film became more popular and Kodak stopped making plates. The delicate nature of the glass plates meant that they were difficult to both store and transport. Over the coming weeks I set out to discover as much about this photographic method as possible in the hopes of reviving it for myself. I was also keen to use the residency to continue my ongoing project on Irish astronomer C.E. Burton. I became interested in Burton after learning about his part in the international Mars canals conversation of the 1880s. He was exceptionally talented at drawing and telescope making, and had great clarity of thought during his short career (he died aged 36), yet he has remained obscure, save for scraps of information here and there in various records. I have recently
undertaken detailed astronomical drawings in my own art practice and have a newfound respect for the nineteenth-century astronomers who spent hours outdoors at night, in the freezing cold, drawing stars and planets through eyepieces. The methods were developed to try to better understand our place in the universe. They pushed the limitations of both mind and body. At the Armagh Observatory I found several publications and books, such as the Royal Astronomical Society’s monthly journals, which contained copies of Burton’s papers. Leafing through these books and others (such as a second edition of Newton’s Principia Philosophiae dated 1499) was a rare and rewarding opportunity. As part of a longer-term project I hope to make a body of work through a collaboration of sorts with C.E. Burton, which crosses the boundaries of time, distance and death. During the residency I was also introduced to local wet-plate collodion photographer Paul Eliasberg, who inspired me to build my own plate camera to attach to a telescope. Eliasburg decided to try this with his own telescope after our meeting and we plan to share information. After sourcing some 1960s Kodak plates I hope to make my own plate photographs with the help of the observatory staff and their Grubb Telescope, which we will try out during clear weather. I have had fascinating conversations about stars, satellites, asteroids and space debris; I have seen how robotic as well as period telescopes operate and are still used; and I have discovered equipment in the observatory archives with uses that can only be guessed at. It was rewarding, too, to be followed into the basement archives by members of staff interested in my work. I watched them become engrossed for hours in objects which have sat in storage below them for years. There is a sort of give and take when an artist residency occurs in an institution, and what better word to describe this experience than ‘catalyst’. lucymckenna.com Note This residency was made possible by Catalyst Arts with the support of Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Council and the generous collaboration of the staff at Armagh Observatory and Planetarium. The residency launch coincided with NI Science Festival on 18 February and will continue throughout Spring 2016.
16
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2016
CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Jonathan Mayhew, detail of For A.T., 2015; torn photo pieced back together attempting to fix a past action; photo print, sellotape; images courtesy of the artist
Jonathan Mayhew, My Head is in My Hands, 2015; digital print
Jonathan Mayhew, All Flowers in Time (close up), 2016
I Hope I’m Funny TERESA GILLESPIE TALKS TO JONATHAN MAYHEW ABOUT THE EXISTENTIAL NATURE OF HIS ART-MAKING PROCESS Teresa Gillespie: I read a text you are working on concerning
possibly can, as quickly as you can, which ends up being sort of empty
Swartz. Knowledge is power and now whoever controls the access
some upcoming projects. Before I even started reading, a few
and unfulfilling. Like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, you can escape
points, like Google, are the most powerful. Twitter has been used in
words jumped out as referencing your current location, Norway.
time, the ‘daily grind’, and try to improve the future. As Judith Butler
revolutions. Like Emmet in The Lego Movie, who uses the ‘instructions’
The text then moves into more abstract notions concerning day
says, the thing to work out is: “What kind of life do I want to live with
as a way to get inside Lord Business’s headquarters so that it can be
and night, vision and thought, hand and mind. It seems to me,
others?” rather than “Who do I want to be?”
changed from within.
however, that location is hovering in the background, seeping
All Flowers in Time explores Butler’s choice of options. You’re
I’m interested in what the future might hold. In his book Petite
into your thoughts and gently influencing their orientation. Do
faced with the reality of death through the sympathetic symbol of the
Poucette (2012), the French philosopher Michel Serres talks about mov-
you think your location is significant to your working process? I
imprisoned flowers. If you really wanted you could influence the
ing from the head into the hands: your phone, laptop and tablet have
am not only thinking physically, but also culturally.
future by breaking into the hut and adding water to the flowers so that
access to all the knowledge in the world. Serres sees this as a benefit for
Jonathan Mayhew: Physically, location always has an effect on my
they live rather than die. The accompanying three texts for that pro-
future generations, freeing up the mind to be more creative. Gertrude
working process; it sets the tone for thinking. It gives me access to
ject are meant to speak like the three ghosts in Charles Dickens’s A
Stein, on the other hand, said: “Everybody gets so much information
things, objects, books and experiences that I wouldn’t ordinarily have.
Christmas Carol: not morally, but in the sense that they ask you to influ-
all day long that they lose their common sense”. I’m interested in how
But being away from home also limits me. I have to find new ways of
ence the future when it seems impossible. All you have to do is break
we deal with and use these new platforms. We adopt new things rap-
working as I don’t have access to tools or know where to get things
conventions.
idly and change them to suit us, but in turn we are changed.
made. Southern Norway is incredibly bright during the winter daylight
TG: Your work emerges through books, but there is something
TG: In your recent shows you have included photographs of pho-
hours. Snow amplifies the low sun, so there’s no escaping its intense
quite romantic, innocent and melancholic about your texts, as if
tographs. Not just any photographs but portraits of intellectual
light. This forced me to think more about darkness. The notion of
you are trying to construct a voice that will fit with what you feel.
icons from the past or from their pasts. Can you say a bit about
darkness as an abstract space helps me to clear the clutter of reality;
Perhaps you could shed light on your relationship to the writings
how the image plays out in your work? And also your particular
the dark is a better place in which to think. I can open my eyes in the
of others and how your work draws on their words? Your appro-
relationship to the portrait, which somehow seems connected to
dark rather than being overwhelmed by the sun. I am informed and
priations strike me as respectful, reverential even, rather than
a form of self-representation through association that is common
intrigued by questions: In the darkness does time exist? If you can’t see
the violent splicing and extracting that might be associated with
on social media? Is there a subtle performative element going on?
time how do you know how to measure time?
‘cut and paste’?
JM: It goes back to what I said earlier about ‘appearing’ to have a suc-
Culturally, however, I am still in Paris. The Nouveau Roman writ-
JM: Writing is very important to my practice, and I treat all writing
cessful life. Using others’ portraits for me is a way to get closer to them,
ers Alain Robbe-Grillet and Marguerite Duras, along with an abun-
equally whether it is philosophy, fiction or song lyrics. Appropriation
channel them, as a way of absorbing their thoughts and works. I
dance of French philosophy, haunt my work. It’s hard to escape that
is at the core of my art-making process and I borrow American experi-
recently appropriated portraits of Alan Turing and Thomas Pynchon
city’s influence. Here I’m limited by the few available English transla-
mental novelist Kathy Acker’s refined version of cut and paste. In a
for different reasons. Turing died from cyanide poisoning after he was
tions of Norwegian cultural works. I came across Tor Ulven’s wonder-
similar way I filter materials, texts, images and sounds through me to
chemically castrated following prosecution for homosexual acts. My
ful book Replacement (2012), published by Dalkey Archive, which lin-
create something ‘new’. Words are collected from various sources,
portraits were an attempt to put Turing back together again, to fix this
gers in my thoughts and actions. I also have to read Jon Fosse’s
some at odds with one another. Through all this confusion a voice
horrendous deed in some way.
Melancholy (1996) (he’s Norway’s Beckett), but again we’re back to the
emerges. These days we experience the world in a very disjointed way,
Pynchon was interesting to me because he’s famous for being a
influence of Paris.
information coming at us from all angles. I carry this thought with me
recluse, but also plays with this isolation as a form of identity. He’s
as I work. To paraphrase the American poet Kenneth Goldsmith: ‘All
appeared in The Simpsons twice, where he wrote his own lines. He has
TG: In your video work ‘Early in my life it was already too late’
these words have been with me for so long, I no longer know who they
written album sleeve notes for bands and made cameo appearances in
(2015), we are faced with an endless ‘Groundhog Day’ loop featur-
belong to’.
films. The folded portraits I made of him are more about identity than
ing a bedside clock that moves between 5.59 and 6.00 at a pain-
about his work.
fully slowed-down pace. The unending back and forth between
TG: I have been surprised a few times by the representation of
It’s said that writers reveal themselves partially through their
5.59 and 6.00 and 5.59 becomes the metaphorical fall of a guillo-
technology in your work. I always expect that you are going to
works, in the same way we reveal ourselves in new ways through
tine signalling both the end and the beginning. In your off-site
embrace it more than you do. There is a hint of dystopia rather
social media and what we present to the world online. Pynchon put
project ‘All Flowers In Time’ we observe, through a window, a
than a celebration of technological progress. It seems you are
himself in the spotlight by stepping out of the beam of celebrity. His
vase of flowers locked up in a hut without the promise of water.
submitting to technology but not fully embracing it. Your use of
absence became intriguing in a world obsessed with fame and grab-
Here, we are forced to experience a slow, drawn-out death. What
technology is quite restrained, but you seem interested in our
bing public attention. He has a controlled identity, much like someone
is this obsession with time in your work?
everyday engagement with it. You seem to be concerned primar-
cultivating an online persona through their social media ‘likes’. In
JM: There’s a kind of sadness within both those works you mentioned.
ily with how we engage with one another or experience the
some ways, through my work, I want to escape this reality by offering
Early in my Life is a reflection on societyal values. I think it has some-
world, rather than issues of power, politics and science?
a poetic one in its place.
thing to do with being raised in an era when core values revolve
JM: The ‘hint’ of dystopia in my work is probably because I see aspects
around the notion of a ‘successful’ life, which generally includes
of George Orwell’s 1984 coming true: people are using it as a manual
Jonathan Mayhew is an artist currently based in Lillehammer. He
money, an attractive partner and, ultimately, fame. But once you have
rather than seeing it as a warning. You can see how worried govern-
has recently shown in Dublin, Bergen and Los Angeles.
all these things, what then? Experiencing as much pleasure as you
ments are about people like Edward Snowden and the late Aaron
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2016
17
CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Sticky Slip JONATHAN MAYHEW ASKS TERESA GILLESPIE ABOUT THE VERBAL AND VISUAL SLIPPAGES IN HER SPOKEN-WORD PERFORMANCES AND INSTALLATIONS. sculptural material. Both have a visual style that is very much your own, even when you’re borrowing from other sources. Can you expand on these differences? TG: The former is a method of working with the camera that evolved from the production of inside an outside (tracing the shadows of a strange attractor, 2013). I wanted to draw attention to the camera as an object among the objects visually captured. The camera was primarily handheld and became an extension of my arm moved by my body rather than my eye. For large parts of the recording I wasn’t looking through the camera at all, but responding to its weight and the push and pull of the surfaces it came in contact with. The camera follows surfaces closely and in moments gets lost in open space before quickly finding the floor or wall. In the case of inside an outside I was primarily working with a sense of disorientation and blindness. In an attempt to become familiar, the camera obsessively traces the environment, but the space remains strange, or the camera a stranger. Since then I have become more aware of my dog’s manner of approaching people, other dogs and places, leading to an increasingly animalistic perspective. JM: Art always strives for an endpoint, such as an exhibition. You seem to have a tendency to rework/mutate/refine your work so that there is no fixed endpoint and so that the objects are always in flux. In a sense you are removing yourself and your objects from commodification because you can’t sell what’s not complete. Are these conscious choices to remove your self and to not be Teresa Gillespie, below explanation (clocks stop at 3pm and existence continues), 2015, video still; Wexford Arts Centre
pinned down? TG: For me the end point is not the exhibition, but after the show is over. What then? If we’re dealing with sculpture or installation, the burden of the artwork as a material object, multiple objects or a heap
of matter becomes evident. Where does it go? Which form of economy JM: I want to ask about the rhythms in your work. Your written does the work move into: financial capital or excess waste? Perhaps it’s ‘moot’ (2015) in a removed way, through photographs. I was texts and speech-acts have a beautiful rhythm of onomatopoeic bubble wrapped and put in storage as a closeted object that may be intrigued by the way you inserted your body between the viewer words corrupting the regular metre of communication. I also feel shown elsewhere, or will promote one’s posthumous legacy in the Jonathan Mayhew: I experienced your most recent performance
and the image and spoken text. Your pose seems natural yet
this in your installations, in which looping videos dance or fidget future. Or, maybe it leaves the gallery as the material excess of a vulnerable in the photographs. Could you describe what was around sculptural objects. These rhythms create an overall completed process such that it becomes available for re-appropriation. happening and elaborate on the meaning behind the experience in your installation of being temporally in between, I make little distinction between picking up an object from a performance? neither day nor night. previous show to work with and picking up a brick. My work is made Teresa Gillespie: The room was dark, aside from the light of a projector. TG: The onomatopoeic rhythms in my texts are what I consider from base materials that are sometimes reworked, mutated or refined, I sat on the floor between the projector and the image on the wall, ‘visceral escapees’, equivalent to the wet seepages from dry objects in but often they are reabsorbed into something else. In some cases there directly facing the audience with my legs open and knees up. The text the installations. The meaning of the words is subsumed by their are works within works, like a Russian doll. The same goes for the texts lay on the floor between my feet and I spoke into a microphone held sounding out, the sticky slip between one word and the next. They I write or recycle. I make no distinction between quoting or rewriting between my legs. have little punctuation and no capitalisation – until some categorical something I wrote or something someone else wrote. I’m fascinated by The position I adopted was a continuation of my interest in the demand stops the flow. body as a conduit, a site of holes through which ‘affects’ and voices
the idea of the found object: when is an object not found?
Within the installations the video pieces partially aim to disrupt
However, I would be lying if I said that there aren’t objects that pass. In moot, the other end of my mouth was my sex. The manner in the petrified objects by creating an audible rhythm throughout the escape my work’s self-cannibalisation. After a show there are pieces which I sat could be perceived as vulnerable for a woman, yet the space, which is heard before you see the visual source. Generally, that point to something I want to hold onto. I hate the idea of being casual and decisive manner I adopted was perhaps closer to a man’s multiple videos are playing simultaneously but not synchronously, attached to an object, but sometimes, not that often, I do get attached. spread legs. I was subtly airing my sex as I spoke while the gender of creating a subtle dissonance with moments of harmonious These transitional objects are put aside, but not in bubble wrap, so the voices shifted around and out of my mouth.
convergence. The screens tend to be embedded among the objects, eventually they get scratched and broken. Then one day when they moot was influenced by research into hysteria, and how it has again disrupting the stillness, but through moving and mutating have lost their veneer of charm another work gobbles them up or been perceived from physicians to psychoanalysis: from being the images. The camera is often too close, as if it suffered some form of strips them apart. gender-specific symptom of a ‘wandering womb’ to the symptom of a pathological myopia, fumbling over surfaces that collapse into other Removing myself from commodification has been at play and trauma irrespective of gender. I also looked at how it has been surfaces. perhaps initially behind my tendency to shift between practices and textually approached in modern literature. While moot skirted around
Your suggestion of a space that is neither night or day brings me styles. However, such critique is not the primary reason for the way I themes of alienation, trauma and rage, the voices negotiated the right to an ongoing interest I have in twilight as a drawn-out moment of work. It’s a side effect rather than a focus. Not being pinned down and to speak without shame. reorientation, or turning – I am thinking here of metamorphosis and not pinning things down is closer in its broader implications. Hence, In my performances I prioritise the speaking mouth and the act Rorschach Inkblot Tests. Twilight is when bodies submerge and my repeated use of the word ‘slip’ – it constantly escapes the hand that of reading. So far I have not been interested in learning lines although emerge from each other. It’s a space of uncertainty where boundaries grasps. I generally know the text off by heart. For me reading helps displace dissolve through visual decay. the subject somewhere between the mouth and the page. I guess I don’t believe that words come from within us, but rather pass through JM: You have two distinct styles within your video practice: one us, which is hugely influential to how I write. I mix a manner of free feels animalistic, exploring environments from an inhuman association with appropriated texts, one constantly disrupting the perspective, roaming and sniffing round objects; the other seems other. Writing is performative for me and as such my ideal performance to be examining the medium itself, producing a different would be a manner of ‘live writing’.
relationship to time, space and causality, playing with film as
Teresa Gillespie is an artist based in Dublin. teresagillespie.com
18
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2016
SEMINAR
Re-Interrogating Criticism EMMA DWAN O’REILLY REPORTS ON ‘THE VALUE OF CRITICISM’ SYMPOSIUM, WHICH TOOK PLACE AT THE LEWIS GLUCKMAN GALLERY, CORK, ON 26 FEBRUARY 2016.1
value of criticism is only determined by its ‘use’. She dismissed the idea of criticism being evaluated by ‘use’ and ‘being read’, explaining that these stem from the professionalisation of the field and the belief that it should “do something”. O’Dwyer emphasised the value of both reading and writing in gaining a greater understanding of art and considered how criticism could be for the critic. She came to the conclusion that the act of writing criticism is largely for her, as a writer, while also being “for no one and, at the same time, everyone”. Brian Fay also considered the idea that writing is a creative process for the writer. He responded to the question of who with “whoever needs it”, proposing that art criticism audiences are heterogeneous, and shifted the question to identifying who those people might be and why they would want it. Identifying practicing artists as a group that consistently and actively engaged with criticism, with it often informing art production, he presented a model of three stages, from production, to exhibition,
Keynote by Patricia Bickers; photos courtesy of the Glucksman Gallery
Lucy Dawe-Lane, Sarah Kelleher, Caoimhin Mac Giolla Leith, Cristin Leach
IN Ireland, practices of art criticism have continued to develop in a changing landscape. Although things remain unsettled with regards
writing vary,” she stated, “the critic still occupies this role of this model failed to take into account that stage three could inform ambassador, advocate, analyst and appraiser and a contributor to the stage one, referring to it as a “twisted cylinder loop”, with criticism,
to establishing publications and securing funding, there exists a
first draft of art history”.
vibrant energy around writing on art in Ireland in recent years. New publications, writers and editors have emerged with fresh initiatives
Taking art ‘personally’ was at the heart of Cristín Leach’s production”. Fay also discussed the review of finished work, emphasising how contribution to the symposium. She emphasised the importance of
and ideas, and there has been an increased interest in developing new
“being in the moment with the art”. While she recognised that the
artists require resistance, and advocated for the value of criticism as
spaces, publishing platforms and audiences, and in cultivating
critic has many roles, she stressed that their main role is to take art
dialogue rather than merely as validation.
alternative approaches to writing about art.
personally. She emphasised that “the only thing worth writing is the
to the final stage in which the works invoke a response. He argued that
interpretation and evaluation “embedded, entwined in the act of
‘The Value of Criticism’ symposium examined the role of art
thing only you can write,” explaining that this influences why certain
PANEL THREE – THE FUTURE OF CRITICISM
criticism and the critic in determining both the historical and
writers become our favourites, that their distinctive style stems from
Chaired by Chris Clarke
economic value of art. The role of the critic in the changing landscape
taking art personally, which comes through to the reader in their
Opening the third and final panel, Clíodhna Ní Anluain considered
of art criticism and publishing was also explored, with particular focus
unique response. Leach suggested that while writers wear a
how radio and television are often seen as ephemeral and noted the
on how writers, editors, curators and broadcasters approach and
professional mask, thoughts and feelings from their personal lives
absence of any reference to either in the earlier proceedings of the
evaluate their subjects and influence public understanding and
could materialise in their writing in an invisible way and speak to the
symposium. She emphasised the importance of story on radio and
appreciation of art.
reader on a personal level.
television, and the power that a broadcasted discussion can have in
Leach argued that the skill in imparting this personal connection
changing the perceptions of both the contributors and the audience.
KEYNOTE
or reaction is to do so without using the first person or even the second
She considered the significant historical legacy of the spoken archive
Editor of Art Monthly, Patricia Bickers, tackled the definition of
or third person. “The ‘I’ must be invisible, but always ever present and
that RTE has built through its interviews and recordings.
criticism, speaking about the historical, temporal jurisdictions that
always taking it personally.” However, later, there was some debate on
Central to Gemma Tipton’s contribution was the idea that art
separate art criticism and art history. She dismissed the idea that art
whether specific circumstances of a particular show could warrant
crosses worlds. She advocated on behalf of writing that brought art
criticism exists merely to provide a service to art history: “Art history
occasional use of the first person pronoun.
and artists’ ideas into other disciplines and conversations. While
and criticism are part of a continuum, inseparable and of equal value
Caoimhín MacGiolla Leith acknowledged the difficulty in acknowledging the lines within disciplines and the multitude of categorising the current state or future prospects of the field of art contexts in which writing can sit, each with different mandates and
as in any good relationship but they are all too often forced apart.” Bickers also raised the issue of class and hierarchy between
criticism, proposing that criticism and the critic had not one role but
audiences, she encouraged separating the idea of the specialist and
history, art history and art criticism, explaining that the entrance of art
many. He considers the audience central to writing on art and spoke
universal audience.
history into the academy divided art history and art criticism, and,
about the difference between writing about work that was unknown
consequently, the former was referred to as a discipline, and the latter
and work that has already been reviewed many times.
Tipton emphasised the importance of inclusivity in both language and discourse as the future brought more cross-disciplinary
as a practice, a categorisation that “smacked of trade ... the market”. She
He suggested that criticism could fall into different categories
ways of thinking and making. While she understood that specialisms
argued that this categorisation was based on the assumed impartiality
and cited Elkins’s seven categories. Acknowledging that, while this
have their own languages, she proposed that technical jargon can be
of scholarship, a view that’s no longer relevant, as all commentary on
system of classification is still useful, he felt it could “easily be updated,
used to hide poor writing, which poses a major threat to art criticism.
art has the potential to be used by the market.
augmented or expanded to accommodate those recently emerging or
Tipton considers the future of criticism bright and advocated
Bickers discussed how writing has helped to shape understanding
resurgent forms of art writing that disengage from description,
“continuing to push for excellence on the specialist side, for cutting
and appreciation of art, and how theory has further informed art and
analysis, evaluation and contextualisation in favour of more novel
through the noise and getting rid of the insecurities, remembering the
criticism, contributing to the evolution of both. She closed by stating
and eccentric modes of address”. Kinds of writing that (here referencing
idea of pleasure”.
that criticism has been subject to much analysis and that its conditions
Gertrude Stein), “coexist with the artwork on a parallel plane, rather
are perpetually evolving in response to changes in art and society:
than just serve it”.
Nathan Hugh O’Donnell described criticism as an exchange, mediation between art and some kind of public. The future of art criticism, he argued, lies with magazines, and stated that magazines
“New art begets new forms of writing, which in turn inform art and PANEL TWO – WHO IS CRITICISM FOR?
(including those online) are important because of the way in which
Chaired by Fergal Gaynor
they construct publics and have appeared, historically, at every
PANEL ONE – THE LEGITIMACY OF CRITICISM
Declan Long opened this panel by stating his own personal addiction
moment when publics have expanded. He contended that publics are
Chaired by Lucy Dawe-Lane
to criticism, detailing the stylistic characteristics that draw him to
heterogeneous, that there is no definitive public: “Most people are
our understanding of it and its place in our lives.”
Sarah Kelleher opened the ‘Legitimacy of Criticism’ session by certain critics and the learning that can be garnered from reading crossing disciplines and specialisms.” ‘The Value of Criticism’ symposium built on the legacy of similar referring to art criticism as an “increasingly an anxious genre of criticism. He discussed how, in specialist publications, there are writing”. She referenced the many events where the anxieties of expectations, “not just of shared vocabulary but of shared enthusiasm, events that have attempted to determine the purpose of art criticism shared responsibilities, collective cultural preferences”. He suggested
as it fractures and evolves at a time when traditional definitions,
debated, and included James Elkins’s proposal that criticism is that the writers could be their own first audience: “Perhaps it could massively produced and massively ignored. also be for me as I write it … I write something I think I want to read”.
functions and approaches hold less currency. The symposium had a
criticism, its sustainability, influence, rigor and relevance have been
more optimistic feel to other pulse-checking sessions on the subject.
Kelleher questioned the relevance of criticism in the online era,
Long went further towards answering the question of who criticism is
Thankfully, the contributors steered away from the well-rehearsed
arguing that much of the anxiety within criticism arises from its lack
for, asking who criticism is advocating on behalf of, rather that who is
discussion of the perpetual crisis and towards conversations of
of influence and authority as well as the uncertain position of the
it against. He concluded that “criticism is against the already decided,
inclusion and the value of criticism, giving a sense of a bright future,
critic. She emphasised the importance of judgement and accepted that
the dogmatic”.
with space for more voices, audiences and writing. Emma Dwan O’Reilly is a writer and researcher based in
authority and influence might no longer apply in the same way, seeing
Rebecca O’Dwyer steered away from ‘audience’ as a response to
this as an opportunity for critics to evaluate their own role more
the question ‘who is criticism for?’ She peeled away layers of the
Tipperary.
rigorously. “Though influence of criticism may wane and quality of
question, arguing that the ‘who’ is centred on the supposition that the
Note 1. Twitter proceedings at #VOC16
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
Critique Supplement Edition 25: May – June 2016
Martin Healy, still from A moment lived twice, 2016
Martin Healy, detail from The long afternoon of eternity, 2016
Martin Healy ‘A Moment Lived Twice’ Crawford Art Gallery, Cork, 4 March – 7 May 2016 facing walls. Late eighteenth/early nineteenth century landscapes depict the early industrial period, an era of tentative visual and physical colonisation of the natural environment. Despite this, most of these scenes are peopled by figures who seem diminutive and powerless before hills, woods and cliffs, physical features which would recall the sublime in another visual context. However, a James Arthur O’Connor painting of a man in the foreground contemplating a wide moonlit lake under the night sky more obviously conveys a reflection on the passing of time and the vast universe. A vanitas self-portrait by Nathaniel Grogan reinforces the theme. In another work recently re-attributed to the painter, a group of brigands are illuminated by firelight at night at the base of a woody knoll. In the foreground, with his back to us, one of the group animatedly relates a tale to the others with outstretched arms. This provides the entry point for the film upstairs, A moment twice lived. The central character of the film, an elderly woman, enters a panelled room and is drawn to the Grogan painting, which inspires in her a sequence of reflections on the passage of time and her desire to grasp its meaning. The narrative refers to J.W. Dunne’s book An Experiment with Time (1927), and enables the woman to reflect on the dreams and experiences of temporal dislocation. Wishing to stop time and grasp hold of as many incidents in her life as possible, the narrator feels she has seen all this before in her youth. She decides there is no depth to the image in the painting; it’s not real enough. Doubting the realness of the image, she feels that something else, which she cannot quite grasp, is preventing her from understanding time. Past, present and future time are confused. There is an anxiety to her reflections, a sense of resigned helplessness in the face of this dilemma. She concludes that there is no such thing as time, that someone out there knows the future and it might be possible for time to stop, if only for projection in similarly muted tones, is situated at a second. Most of this scene occurs inside an old stone the rear of the space. It shows a gardener setting up a measuring device in a palm house to record the warehouse. As the camera pans discarded household sound of plants as he waters them in silence. The furniture and effects, the woman closes her eyes to rhythmic sound of watering pervades the space block out the present and recreate past images in her mind. A succession of other elderly people enter with a sense of durational listening. One of the sculptural works installed in this the space. Attempting to reach out to the woman, area is a dark palm leaf, which lies on the ground in they try helplessly to communicate and make a corner. They lay listening to the dark earth gather itself physical contact. Filming the openness of lived (2015) is made of fibreglass but has the leathery experience on older faces is a well-used device, yet appearance of a natural form which has solidified here it reinforces very successfully a sense of over time. The emphasis on material over natural peaceful resignation at the inevitable passage of form in this piece is consistent with the unnatural time. Filmed from behind, to the sound of a fire appearance of the leaves in the photographs. Here, crackling, the woman eventually succeeds in raising nature itself is subservient to the overarching her hands to recreate the image, to get back to that particular moment in the Grogan painting if only environmental themes. In the bright annex space, The long afternoon of for a brief second. Gradually, the fiction created around the eternity (2016) consists of a specially made garden bench placed at an angle in the middle of the floor characters is interrupted as the staged nature of the and facing an illuminated neon text piece higher performance is revealed. The camera recedes from up. A small print of a tree trunk is also hung here. the group revealing floor rails and lighting uprights, The bench supports are made of fused cast iron and leaving the cast isolated and exposed. The story has an iron meteorite, an artefact, we are told, from the been sabotaged somewhat and the dream-like furthest stretches of the universe. We can sit and possibilities of the narrative grounded firmly back contemplate the text piece, A white light still and in the present. moving, an effective and refreshing experience in the Colm Desmond is an artist based in Dublin who context. has also written reviews for Enclave Review and On the first floor, several small paintings from recirca.com. the Crawford collection are elegantly arranged on EXPLORING the notion of time across a range of media, this exhibition occupies the spacious ground and first floor spaces in the Crawford, with the film A moment twice lived (2016) installed on the second floor. A series of photographs, Terrain (2015), are hung throughout the dimly lit ground floor space. In black and white they show gently illuminated, dark palm leaves, which convey a slightly eerie feeling that they are not ‘real’. Harvest (2015), a film
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet CRITIQUE SUPPLEMENT
May – June 2016
Patrick Hennessy ‘De Profundis’ 24 March – 24 July 2016, East Wing Galleries, IMMA, Dublin
Patrick Hennessy, Boy and Seagull, c. 1954, oil on canvas, 52 x 38 cm; courtesy of IMMA Collection, Gordon Lambert Trust, 1992
Patrick Hennessy, Portrait of the Artist, 1936, oil on canvas, 53 x 36 cm; private collection
THE current Patrick Hennessy exhibition at IMMA is the first in the IMMA Modern Masters series, which, as Director Sarah Glennie explains, aims to “shed light on artists [of the post-war period] who have been critically neglected”. It is a comprehensive survey, offering six rooms plus an alcove of Hennessy’s work, clearly annotated and supported by a thorough and beautifully presented catalogue. Everything the viewer might want to know is there, and yet this exhibition raises questions, from the technical through the theoretical, and, most pertinently, as to why this artist is considered a master in the first place. Let’s start with the more clear-cut issues. Hennessy’s work demonstrates technical mastery. His rendition of landscape, sky and stonework is at times breathtaking: you see the plasterwork peeling before you; you feel the heat of the sun. He is confident; there are areas on the canvases where the brushwork is minimal, the canvas faintly discernible, and yet the sea glimmers and the flesh seems tangible. But then you are thrown by a skewed perspective. In Still Life with Newspaper, is the painter looking at the subject matter from the horizontal plane or from above? How about the hands in Portrait of a Woman – is this a nod to Goya, or simply lack of technique? More blatant still in this piece is the rendering of the woman’s shoulders, which are jarringly disproportionate. This surely cannot be other than deliberate? Yes, Hennessy was homosexual, and so it is not surprising that he painted far more men than women, but still. If you can capture the male anatomy so competently, why should a woman’s shoulders be beyond your skill? The portrait of Elizabeth Bowen suggests that he could paint women well – but then she was a friend. The impression the viewer is left with is that when presented with the personal or the painterly, Hennessy tended to opt for the former. The catalogue and textual descriptions in the exhibition make it unapologetically clear that Hennessy needed to make a living, and therefore took on commissions. This is a choice many, if not most, artists are faced with, and not up for criticism, but it does have implications for the work. One of the most challenging pieces in this respect is the portrait of Liv Hempel, the daughter of Hitler’s envoy to Ireland. When looked at beside comparable
works (Portrait of a Girl, Portrait of a Young Girl) the Hempel painting seems less attentive. Was this merely a matter of chronology – it was painted in 1939, the others in 1941 and 1945 respectively – or of Hennessy’s political position, albeit possibly subconscious? Hennessy could clearly paint landscapes. His self-portraits are arresting. His still lifes are supremely competent. Here and there are hints of other genres: of trompe l’oeil in Portrait Figures (SelfPortrait), of surrealism in The Parrot. And yet there is no strong sense of his having chosen a direction, of developing a personal style. The conclusion you are led to is that Hennessy played it safe, and while you can argue that this was prudent for the times in which he lived, that doesn’t totally hold up. Yes, the subject matter of many of his paintings was controversial, perhaps even dangerously so, but the choice of subject is not the only way in which a painter makes their mark. Over time, you can see the work developing, the technique becoming more confident, the painter exploring their medium as much as their matter. With Hennessy’s work, there is no strongly visible chronology; you often feel that any piece could have been painted before – or after – any other. Does this matter? For Hennessy, no: he lived, and painted, we assume, as felt right to him. To his collectors, no: if a work appeals, for reasons aesthetic or financial, then the rest is irrelevant. To the visitor to the exhibition, perhaps: ‘De Profundis’ is being offered as the work of a master, and the viewer may wonder why. That the viewer wonders is perhaps the raison d’être of an exhibition such as this. Hennessy’s male gaze on male subjects was not the only provocative element in his work; his images of religious icons in uninviting landscapes are also quietly, but effectively, challenging, in particular when they are ‘read’ for the viewer by curators such as Seán Kissane. To understand Hennessy’s work – as opposed to Hennessy, person or painter – we need institutions such as IMMA, with the expertise and the infrastructure to produce a show of this nature. Whether or not we agree that he is a master is always going to be a personal decision, but seeing ‘De Profundis’ ensures that it is an informed one. Mary Catherine Nolan a Dublin-based artist with a background in linguistics.
Alex Pentek ‘Kindred Spirits’ Bailick Park, Midleton, County Cork DRIVING on the N25 from Cork to Midleton, it’s possible to see Alex Pentek’s most recent large-scale public artwork, Kindred Spirits (2015) on the left through the gaps in the trees. The artwork is made up of a circular arrangement of stainless steel feathers, which reflect the light that dances across its various surfaces. This visually impressive sculpture is perceived at its best from this vantage point on the road, as Pentek’s clever use of scale captures the fineness and delicacy of each frond. Kindred Spirits is one of many public artworks by Pentek, whose formal sculptural language combines metal fabrication with a lightness of touch that turns ephemeral natural forms, such as feathers and flowers, into monumental artworks. Another example is Make a Wish (2008), a six metre high bronze dandelion sited outside Omagh community house. This towering flower combines the medium of bronze with optic fibre LED lighting that mimics the fine hairs of the ‘blowball’ or ‘clock’ head of the dandelion. Both of these works exemplify Pentek’s practice, which translates the fragility of natural objects, light enough to be carried on the wind like the dandelion seed and the feather, into permanent and weighty large-scale sculptures. Viewing Kindred Spirits up close reveals it to be much more durable than it appears from the road. Eight large feathers are arranged in a circular formation. Each stands on its quill and bends out and upward, creating a bowl. They rest on a circular concrete base fitted with white lights that provide illumination at night. Pentek has meticulously handcrafted each feather by welding uniform stainless steel square bars to the middle shaft. Traces of the object’s fabrication are obvious as each vain, or hair, of the feather was joined to the structure using six welds. In its entirety the work comprises 20,000 welds and the intense process behind the fabrication of the work is left visible. The forms of each feather have been rolled and tapered at different angles and this gives the hard steel the illusion of softness, while lending each feather its individuality. There is space to walk between the feathers and to stand inside the bowl. From every angle the viewer can see through and around the feathers into the surrounding views of the Midleton estuary. Kindred Spirits is in harmony with the landscape and the feathers are in dialogue with the waterside, which is populated by many different species of birds. The motif of the feather is not employed specifically to evoke the natural habitat of the site, but rather pays homage to a moving gesture. In 1847, during the Irish Famine, the Choctaw Nation, a Native American tribe, heard of the plight of the
Alex Pentek, Kindred Spirits
Irish and donated $170. Although this was a relatively small amount of money, even at the time, the donation remains poignant, as it was made when the Choctaw people were themselves facing huge adversity and persecution. After signing a treaty in 1830 to give their native Mississippi lands to the US government in exchange for lands in the southern section of what is now the US state of Oklahoma, the Choctaw people were forcibly relocated. Thousands of Choctaw were forced to walk the Trail of Tears from their homelands in Mississippi and Louisiana to Oklahoma. More than 2500 Choctaw perished during this journey due to starvation and sickness. Empathising with the suffering of the Irish people during the famine, a group of concerned tribal members rallied around to raise and send these funds from over 4,000 miles away. Kindred Spirits remembers this act of kindness. The shape of the empty bowl makes reference to the famine and to hunger, the most fundamental of human needs. Feathers generally evoke both warmth and flight. In the context of this narrative they signify the warmth of the Choctaw nation and the way that their generous gesture transcended geographical distance, cultural boundaries and the monetary value of the donation itself. Arguably, the use of feathers as a tribute to the Choctaw is somewhat literal. Feathers have become a motif associated with the stereotyping and appropriation of Native American culture. However, those used in this artwork are based on eagle feathers used in Choctaw ceremonial dress and the gesture feels thoughtful. The sculpture is accessible for a broad audience, while remaining in line with Pentek’s wider practice. The significance of feathers in the ancient culture and traditions of many Native American tribes are inextricably tied to the belief that birds, as spirit guides, walk through different stages of life with a person, teaching, guiding and protecting them. Pentak’s tribute as the Choctaw’s generous gesture teaches us that a little can mean a lot. The title of this work, Kindred Spirits, also aligns the generosity of the Choctaws with the charitable spirit of the Irish, who repeatedly score highly in the World Giving Index. Pentek’s loaded yet empty bowl of feathers memorialises a friendship forged through famine, suffering and tragedy. It is a poignant reminder of both the frailty and fragility of life, embodied by the delicate feather, and the opposite of this frailty: the strength gained through a sense of shared humanity. Kirstie North is currently lecturing at University College Cork, where she has just completed a PhD thesis entitled ‘Pedem Referens: Art Historical Memory and the Analogue in Contemporary British Art’.
May – June 2016
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet CRITIQUE SUPPLEMENT
‘Kathleen Lynn: Insider on the Outside’ ‘Blank’ Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar; Custom House Gallery, Wesport; Linenhall Arts David Quinn Centre, Castlebar; Ballina Arts Centre, Ballycastle; Áras Inis Gluaire, Belmullet, 26 Fenderesky Gallery, Belfast, 3 March – 1 April 2016 March – 30 April 2016 THE Mayo Arts Collaborative is a project that links five publicly-funded visual arts spaces in Mayo. The current edition, a tribute to Mayo-born Dr Kathleen Lynn (1874–1955), is a multi-venue exhibition curated by Catherine Marshall and featuring work by 13 artists: Michelle Browne, Gary Coyle, Patrick Graham, Mary Kelly, Joanna Hopkins, Deirdre O’Mahoney, Margo Mc Nulty, Janet Mullarney, Seamus Nolan, Conor O’Grady, Will O’Kane, Geraldine O’Reilly and Dermot Seymour. I only recently heard of Lynn and her prodigious achievements from an eminent gentleman at one of the national centenary commemorations. He mentioned that she had saved his life in St Ultan’s hospital 60 years ago, and his was not the only life rescued by this woman of courage: a political and medical activist, a nationalist, a suffragette and a leader. Through paintings, drawings, photographic works, video projections, sound installation and performative social practice, the works in this exhibition present a moving homage to Lynn’s life and her contribution to Irish political and social history. In the Custom House Gallery, Mary Kelly presents monumental digital tapestries comprising hundreds of portraits of historical and contemporary women. She punctuates these multiple prints with graphite drawings of women in 1916 and its aftermath. The centrepiece of the show is a layered collage fusing the digitised drawn portrait of Lynn with these images that speak of intersubjectivity and entwined human experience. The Linenhall Arts Centre features Margot McNulty’s photographic documentation of Lynn’s personal letters, ingenious diaries (displaying on each page, the same day over multiple years) and personal objects, revealing with tender intimacy her originality and perseverance. Conor O’Grady’s black and white video-loop, projected onto hanging bed linen, depicts a woman draping laundry in front of Ffrench Mullen House, the social housing that Lynn developed in Dublin, raising questions about continuing gender imbalance. Geraldine O’Reilly’s bold drawings are at once humorous and poignant, in particular the astonishing image of Lynn with an armful of tiny undernourished babies arranged on a billowing white cloth. This image captures Lynn’s nurturing work to ameliorate the violence of poverty on the bodies of innocents. Dermot Seymour produces a reliably hilarious and unsettling painting of the environmental consequences of a chemical plant in Lynn’s ancestral home. The celebration of Lynn’s relationship with her partner Madeline Ffrench Mullen is effected through a generous act of exchange in Joanna Hopkins’s multi-media installation, where visitors can take home a flowering plant at the show’s end. In Ballina Arts Centre Deirdre O’Mahony’s bold political posters address the forlorn legacy of Lynn’s socialist ideals 100 years later. Janet Mullarney’s composite sculptural work also references Lynn’s political campaigns, using a clotheshorse as the central motif. Gary Coyle’s brooding charcoal drawing depicts a tree, the one remaining object on the site of the aforementioned block of flats on Charlemont Street in Dublin, now demolished, that Lynn built under the auspices of her hospital. Will O’Kane’s fragile porous paintings on plaster bandage (adhered directly onto the wall) offer a metaphor for Lynn’s deep relationship to the medial profession, her faith and her estranged paternal
relationship. Patrick Graham’s monolithic painting Famine (Mayo Series) (1995) is both earnest and satirical, projecting an expressionistic belief in historical revisionism licked with irony. The textual notation on the surface of the painting declares: “We, the dead of that time, apologize for the famine, and we promise never to do it again, thank you”. At Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Michelle Browne presents a series of frank interviews that she conducted with 24 Irish women politicians. The recordings are played in the gallery flanking a large kitchen table engraved with an article from the constitution that emphasises the role of Irish women within the home. In her work we are confronted with the polarities of women’s experience within the domestic sphere and outside of it, and how these two co-exist At Áras Inis Gluaire, Seamus Nolan compares the story of Kathleen Lynn’s involvement with the 1916 Rising and Cumann na mBan with a contemporary politically radical organisation run by women in Kurdistan. He makes the salient point that struggle against hegemonic ruling powers that do not serve the people is often misjudged, even if it is necessary. Through visual and relational means, he explores the story of one persecuted militant for the Kurdish struggle, Silhan Özçelik, to reveal what it means to be a good and active citizen, especially when that citizen revolts. This multi-venue exhibition highlights a long overdue survey of Kathleen Lynn’s life and work and is aimed at a broad audience across the county. The retelling of her story in various visual, conceptual and formal ways serves to entrench her profile as one of the central figures in Irish history. Áine Phillips is an artist and writer based in Clare.
Geraldine O’Reilly, Kathleen Lynn with malnourished babies
Michelle Browne, Mná na hÉireann, 2016
David Quinn at Fenderesky Gallery
CANVAS hasn’t always been part of the visual artist’s staple diet. Historically speaking it is, in fact, a relatively recent development. Canvas was invented in Venice during the renaissance, but, prior to this, artists painted on heavy units of wood or directly onto walls. With an increased commercial demand for paintings came a need for exportable works and thus the lighter and more portable hemp canvas became the dominant base throughout Western Europe. This move from wood to canvas was not immediately agreeable to all, however, and wood remained the preferable surface for artists throughout Northern Europe, in particular Belgium, Holland and Germany. Today the dominance of canvas is almost universal, though, as David Quinn’s recent exhibition at the Fenderesky Gallery demonstrates, there are still exceptions. In ‘Blank’, Quinn exclusively uses wood as his foundational painting surface. This confident solo enterprise consists of 33 works of varying dimensions. The wooden works benefit from being different shapes and sizes. Although the majority of the works are produced on small uniform rectangular cuts of plywood, there are larger works that do not comply with any regulation size. Angel (2015), for example, was clearly formed using a jigsaw, the effect of which can be seen in its rounded top corners and the left hand side of the work. It looks as though someone had intended to cut five circles out of a single piece of wood but gave up half way through. In another work a 2 x 5 inch section is missing from the top corner of the painting, seemingly dismembered with a handsaw or maybe a chisel. This has the unique effect of blurring the line between the material from which the work is rendered and the painted surface. Quinn’s destruction of the wooden blocks is not restricted to the perimeters. One work features tiny circular indentations systematically laid out in a grid format. As a result the layers of grey paint that inhabit the surface of the painting are interrupted by the exposure of wood underneath. This process of exposure characterises many of the works. In some the lines are scratched into the surface, often in a loose grid format. They remind me of school desks that have suffered years of compass scratches
at the hands of children. In other works a similar effect is formed by a top layer of paint, which has been scored with a blunt instrument while wet. In one particularly strong work, Sheaf (2015), another additional layer looks as if it has been rendered by an intoxicated plasterer. At the bottom of the work, where the multi-toned paint has been applied more thickly, an opaque solid surface is achieved. Across the rest of the work this extra layer of paint has been applied more minimally, and is largely confined to the cracks of the underlayer. This technique means that an array of textures and a broad range of whites abound on the finished surface. Small sections of the painting that haven’t been painted show the original pale wooden surface underneath the multiple layers above. I saw a number of parallels between Quinn’s exhibited work and Matthias Grunewald’s grotesque portrayal of the crucifixion of the Christ. It is not just the wooden foundations on which both are painted, but Quinn’s habit of removing the top corners of his works, which mimics the alter piece in Grunewald’s Crucifixion. In Grunewald’s work the lacerated Christ is covered in scratches and incisions; the exaggerated definition of his muscle is somewhere between body builder and anorexic. Quinn’s work presents a similarly hyperbolic account of texture and surface disruption. There is much to delight in here. The unconventionally sized works are refreshing when regulation sizes have become a universal convention. Also refreshing are the works that feature missing chunks, disrupting the set formula of quadrilateral paintings. My only criticism is that there are not more of these. These disfigured works represent only a small number of the total works on display, the majority being small identical rectangles. Quinn’s choice of wood as his base surface lends a weight to each piece before he has even applied any paint. Then with the paint applied there is a wonderful intercourse between the painted surface and the base material. Iain Griffin is a visual artist and writer based in Belfast.
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2016
23
HOW IS IT MADE?
Lily Cahil and Rob Murphy, The Leper’s Squint
Lily Cahil land Rob Murphy, The Leper’s Squint
The Leper’s Squint LILY CAHILL AND ROB MURPHY INTRODUCE THEIR COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE AND SHARE THE FREEING FAILURES OF THEIR ART. AS collaborative practitioners we engage in filmed experiences that
outdoor endeavour would be to make a sound work that generated
‘stage’ and we felt it was a perfect location for engaging in some sweet
focus on spiritual and anomalous histories. Edging towards the vis-
itself naturally, so that we wouldn’t need to use really long plugs. We
corn pyrotechnics. This work was titled The Leper’s Squint.
ceral, these filmed experiences are intertwined with recurring themes
had also wanted to make some kind of performative work for quite
We have an interest in how the history or culture of a space is
of melancholy, comedy-horror, hysteria and profound confusion.
some time but had never hit on the right way to go about it. We had
conveyed to the public through things like open-topped bus tours.
We present our work in the form of single or multi-channel pro-
previously organised strange meetings with actors that we couldn’t
Limerick has a brief two-line tour, featuring tidbits such as: “Manhattan
jected installations with sound being a key element of either disrup-
afford to pay and failed bookings for karaoke performances in The
is somewhat in debt to Limerick City with regards to its famous grid
tion or cohesion. The audio and visual prompts used in the works are
Clock on Thomas Street. There were multiple occasions when we had
system” and “A prince of Montenegro is buried in St Mary’s Cathedral”
all sourced from our shared reality – seaside towns, public toilets,
tried to have a ‘live’ thing happen during an exhibition but for various
(though this was never elaborated on), alongside the usual museums,
museums – but through the jarring way in which they’re presented we
reasons this hadn’t worked out.
monuments and folk songs. As part of our research during the resi-
attempt to display a substratum of lurking horror or humour.
So we decided to blow up cans of sweet corn on a campfire as our
dency we engaged in every tourist opportunity Limerick has to offer,
The process usually begins with informal discussion. Recently,
contribution to the exhibition. The sound of the sweet corn ‘popping’
travelling on both lines of the bus tour, gaining knowledge of the city’s
our reflections on the deep weirdness and gentle horror of growing up
inside the can, building up in a crescendo of glorious yellow, was our
historical, cultural and colloquial underpinnings. The Leper’s Squint
in Ireland have become the scar tissue of our work. Sometimes it’s
attempt at a naturally occurring sound work. The exploded sweet corn
was a hole in the church wall where it is believed those afflicted could
about responding to a feeling from one of those memories: a trip to the
was reminiscent of an abstract expressionist painting. Making videos
peek at proceedings. The fence and Limerick’s apparently troubled
chipper while talking about hospital cadavers, or using gold rings as a
look like paintings was a visual goal for us, but this was never elicited
history of leprosy provided the grim backbone to our frivolous specta-
security deposit on a pushbike. At other times we are trying to come to
in any of the responses to our work. Nonetheless these visual cues had
cle.
terms with it all: the memory, the feeling, the work. But we are doomed
a useful generative aspect for us. As a complimentary element to this
At the concluding open evening of the residency we sat behind
to fail on multiple levels. This may be due to the pathetic nature of the
‘tended sculpture’ we planned to sit beside the simmering corn cans,
the fence, ignoring the viewers and our exhibiting peers. We drank
undertaking, although there is sincerity and meaning behind our
poking them with sticks, drinking cans of beer, smoking and just gen-
and smoked while exploding the sweet corn on the campfire. We hid
endeavours.
erally ‘fitting in’ with the exhibition environment. “Prodigy 96” and
behind bin bags to protect ourselves when the cans exploded, while
Our ventures might entail the two of us riding the twisted ghost
“FATHEAD” were spray-painted on a wall at the location. The word
the corporation fence protected spectators (for the most part) from the
trains of Bray, singing 1970s love songs at dead pandas or placing a
‘prodigy’ proved formative and we later be used it as a title for our solo
shrapnel. Because of the beers we had to take breaks from the perfor-
garland on an Oscar Wilde statue. We often find ourselves grappling
at Broadstone Studios, Dublin.
mance to go to the toilet. In order to do this we had to make our way
with the equivocal nature of what we are trying to convey with our
Unfortunately, this particular iteration of the group exhibition
through a gap in the fence, walk around the side of the Sailor’s Home
camera and recording equipment, our subjects and our actions. We
was never realised due to the unavoidable presence of real young peo-
to use a portaloo in the front garden while still ignoring everyone, add-
attempt to channel the deep tragedy of everything, but there is no
ple enjoying their mid-term break and drinking real cans in the
ing a further element of necessary mystery to the proceedings.
controlling it, and something in the work that we thought humorous
intended secluded location of the exhibition. The project was stalled
A rogue can of sweet corn bounced off the roof of the Sailor’s
can become horrific and vice versa. As a result our work inherently
and eventually went ahead in a different location, due to the decisive
Home and hit an exiting bystander on the head. They remained
deals with failure, and the ways in which failure can be inherently
action of the inestimable Ruth and Niamh, who secured a disused
unscathed.
freeing.
hotel for the exhibition. The new location’s resplendent yet eerie set-
In the spring of 2014 we were asked by two of our most respected
ting required a different, classier response from us.
Lily Cahill and Rob Murphy completed BA Degrees in Visual Arts
peers, Ruth Clinton and Niamh Moriarty, to participate in a group
The sweet corn work was temporarily shelved until that summer
Practice at IADT, Dun Laoghaire (2011), and MA Degrees in the
exhibition that would take place outside in an overgrown and some-
when we participated in ‘Stone Soup’, a group residency with Basic
Art in the Contemporary World programme at NCAD, Dublin
what ‘degenerate’ area of posh-suburban-seaside-Dublin. Up to this
Space (by invitation of Ormston House) at the Sailor’s Home in
(2012/2013). They have participated collaboratively in a number
point we had been making video installations, which necessitated the
Limerick. The Sailor’s Home is a semi-renovated old building with a
of talks, residencies, curatorial projects, group and solo exhibi-
use of plugs, adaptors, extension leads, speakers, external hard drives,
weedy rock-filled back garden, which features a seemingly unneces-
tions. They live and work in New York City.
ceilings and patience. We thought a useful approach to take for this
sary standard-issue corporation fence. The fence provided a natural
24
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2016
SEMINAR
A Little Deleuze Over Smoky Bean Stew GAVIN MURPHY REPORTS ON THE SYMPOSIUM ‘PROPOSITION: AN ART OF ETHICS’, HOSTED BY THE BURREN COLLEGE OF ART, 11–12 MARCH 2016.
‘Proposition: An Art of Ethics’; photo by Lisa Newman
Suzanne Walsh at ‘Proposition: An Art of Ethics’; photo by Lisa Newman
‘Proposition: An Art of Ethics’; photo by Lisa Newman
I had an image in mind prior to this event. Luc Tuyman’s painting Panel (2010) depicts a panel discussion framed from the perspective of an audience member seated on the upper right margins. The panel figures are rendered anonymous under a harsh, eerie light, placing the presentation format and its inherent power structure under scrutiny. The chairperson administers proceedings and the experts demonstrate their expertise. The internal hierarchy within the audience is affirmed in the discussion that follows – from the opening question by the person who could/should have been on stage, through to the aspirant with a wacky unanswerable question (was it actually a question?) to signal that things have inevitably drawn to a close. Yes, you can tell I have reservations about attending such events. “No, it wouldn’t be like that,” co-organiser Michaële Cutaya assured me, “it’s a symposium anyway”. Cutaya organised this two-day event along with Katherine Waugh and Conor McGrady, inviting artists, dancers, educators, filmmakers, musicians, philosophers and writers to participate. The symposium’s proposition – an art of ethics – took Gilles Deleuze’s reading of Spinoza as its starting point. This was outlined in the accompanying publicity: “For Deleuze, Spinoza’s ethics was a ‘a long affair of experimentation’ which re-conceptualised the relationship between life, thought and practice, and this symposium will attempt to foster such an ethos of experimentation in its content and structure – proposing ethics as a methodology in contrast to the rigid principles of morality.” The promise was for a “continuous dynamic of responsiveness”, where fruitful engagement between participants and attendees would flourish through an open-ended approach. The event subsequently eschewed a strict running order and embraced the moment. The circulation of two texts further developed these ideas. Deleuze’s Spinoza and Us calls for a mode of living (a “symphony of Nature”) generated from “unformed elements and the intensive states of an anonymous force apprehended for itself”. Walead Beshty’s Towards an Aesthetics of Ethics outlines an approach attuned to artistic efficacy rather than social efficacy alone. Together, the texts suggest that the good life is to be found in spontaneity, passion and joy in shared moments of creation, taking us to challenging realms of the unknown. The contrast between the two opening events ensured that this would be no easy goal. Suzanne Walsh’s performance blended fractured extracts from wildlife documentaries and delivered them in an Attenborough-like voice. The descriptions left the audience wondering if it were several different animals or one grand mythical beast called into being. It was a playful start. Glenn Loughran’s talk explored forms of praxis emerging from recent pedagogic and artistic practices. He focused on examples from his ongoing work ‘Hedgeschoolproject’, which engages with “disadvantaged or marginalised learners in facilitating participant-led education”. In Literacy House, Loughran worked with different Traveller families in various sites, looking at literacy and self-education. He set
up The Prekariat Academy outside the Kaunas Biennale in 2009 to help local textile workers explore and voice ideas around notions of the good life (to the distaste of the factory owners of course). Each project was viewed against a backdrop of the marketisation of education and the neoliberal decimation of the arts. Subsequent discussion veered towards and away from this, testifying to the uneasy tension that exists between idealism and the reality of what can be achieved in dour circumstances. As if on cue, David Burrows introduced Plastique Fantastique, the performance collective he developed with Simon O’Sullivan and others. He showed Welcome to the Neuropatheme Feedback Loop, which intercuts documentation of a performance event at the ICA with a mutant-amalgam figure pouring out a thick theoretical diatribe on dark becomings. The visuals were matched with densely layered sound that contributed to an excessive aesthetic and an intense dystopian vision. The work drew upon traditions of mumming and the wilder reaches of sci-fi so as to figure unknown forces in the desire to overcome present states of being. Plastique Fantastique’s second piece, Green Skeen, stretched towards the comical. Again, it documented a long performance in which participants manage to squeeze themselves into a lift alongside a dressed-up mythical creature. The creature was created with postproduction techniques. The participants finally exit the lift and make their way slowly up a dark street. There was a time in my experimental youth when such a task would indeed have constituted an odyssey, and perhaps the charm of the piece lies here in its low-fi epiphanic trip. If the day started with a hint of animism, it ended with the lure of the primitive. Vivienne Dick’s film Red Moon Rising focuses on performances by four artists situated in artificially lit overgrowth. The performances are varied, from the Bacchanal writhing of a contemporary dancer to the soft crooning of a 1940s-style R‘n’B singer. The piece is prophetic in tone and alludes to the notion that what lies within and beyond can surface as different forms of innate promises. Maria Kerin and Alexandra Rafferty’s improvisational dance echoed this idea. They opened proceedings on the Saturday, silently weaving through space. This was followed by Suzanne Walsh’s rendition of a ‘border ballad’ selected by Iain Biggs. Originating on the Anglo-Scottish border, these songs are often dark in nature and lean towards the apocryphal and the supernatural. This interest in subversive folk traditions was an underlying theme of the weekend, as indeed was the value of listening as an active noticing, a theme characterising Biggs’s talk. This latter point was explored further in Ciaran Smyth’s presentation of recent Vagabond Reviews projects. Temporary Institute (One): the Bio-Archives at Workhouse Union, Callan, gathered reading material together in anticipation of forming a library. Participants engaged with the legacy of the workhouse and considered books that had helped them endure various forms of systemic violence. Scientia Civitatis: Missing Titles was an exhibition of imaginary books, the titles of which were gathered from various contributors who considered the
city as a planned entity and books that had not, but perhaps needed to be, written on this topic. The results were often humorous: Ghettopia, or, The City which Mistook its Crisis for a Plan, to take two examples. Vagabond Reviews emphasised the potential of a lived investment in reading as a vital source of collective knowledge. Interestingly, Aislinn O’Donnell’s talk drew upon Beckett’s Molloy and Coetzee’s Life and Times of Michael K as sources of inspiration for a revised pedagogic practice. It was unfortunate that the main discussion of the day occurred prior to Seamus McGuinness’s presentation. Foucault’s influence on psychiatry and the relationship between (non)productivity and prescription drugs were mulled over and informed by Smyth’s experience as a psychologist and his interest in anti-psychiatry. McGuinness gave an overview of ‘Lived Lives: Materialising Stories of Young Irish Suicide’, a project that spanned five years in which McGuinness worked with families dealing with suicide. The project tracked the grieving process through an engagement with art. Its mode of presentation, however, raised questions touched upon in Beshty’s call for an aesthetics of ethics. The tension between artistic and social efficacy became clear in the filmed extracts, which repeatedly homed in on agonising shots of grieving parents and then proceeded to use slow-motion framing to accentuate the moment of a parent touching a shroud-like image of their lost one. The desire for impact was uncomfortable, almost voyeuristic, and raised the question of whom exactly these images are for. Here was a crucial point where ethics and aesthetics crossed, and it went unexamined. Susan Stenger gave an overview of her practice to close the symposium. She has worked with John Cage, Phill Niblock and Nick Cave, among others, and has more recently explored sound installation and film soundtrack. There was an ease to Stenger’s presentation that was beguiling, particularly given the experimental nature of her work and the various turns her journey has taken. She performed a section from Cage’s Fontana Mix, where she played in and between a prerecorded soundscape with deft economy. No doubt the presentation edited out the struggles, doubts and setbacks of the process, but it did stand as a fine exemplar of a rigorous practice that related back to the grander theme of the symposium. If the pleasure of the creative moment is to take us to challenging terrain, it is a pleasure bound by rigour and commitment that should, by necessity, be fraught. By extension, for a symposium to seek a “continuous dynamic of responsiveness”, it is also necessary to eschew the traditional format, with its hierarchical posturing, and to allow participants to weave between commitment, doubt and reservation. At the end of each day, everyone was invited back to the house where many participants were staying. Conversation was embellished by a rich, smoky bean stew and fine wine. This ensured that such engagement occurred. If the symposium produced its own fraught moments of hesitation (and it did), this will certainly be the stuff to dwell on for the time being. Gavin Murphy lectures in Art History and Critical Theory in Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology.
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2016
25
HOW IS IT MADE?
Eilis McDonald, WHAT IS MY DEFAULT SETTING, screen shot: 2016-04-04 at 10.54.39
Eilis McDonald, HOW OLD WERE YOU WHEN YOU GOT YOUR FIRST COMPUTER, screen shot: 2016-04-04 at 10.52.20
Eilis McDonald, image from ‘Is This a Test, newhive.com
Looking a Pigeon in the Eye on a Window Ledge ARTIST EILIS MCDONALD GIVES A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE ON HOW TO MAKE AN INTERNET-BASED ARTWORK. YOU might be reading this article in a hardcopy of VAN, but chances are you’ve read more articles online this morning than you’ll read in this entire issue. Every artist that isn’t strictly using traditional media could benefit from knowing how to make an artwork for the internet. Even if it’s not the primary place you want to locate your work, it can be an easy, fun, quick and a satisfying way to express the smaller ideas you might have been saving up while waiting for your next big gallery show. Last summer I was invited by Lindsay Howard, curator at creative publishing platform newhive.com, to create a piece of work for the site. I already had a number of deadlines at the same time the piece was due to be launched. In a panic I thought of turning down the opportunity – I wasn’t convinced I wanted to take on another commission. Once I was told the artist’s fee (which was more generous than the production budgets I’ve been offered for most gallery shows) I said: “Yes, of course”. I really wanted to work with Lindsay. I first met her in 2010 when I took part in a group show at 319 Scholes, a Brooklyn-based gallery with a focus on technology and new-media art, where she was curatorial director. She’s been consistently involved in interesting netbased projects, and gives a lot of her time and support to female artists in the genre. So how did I deliver a commission while juggling deadlines and chronic anxiety? I broke the process down into five steps. Step 1: HOW OLD WERE YOU WHEN YOU GOT YOUR FIRST COMPUTER [Using the internet to choose titles] I knew I wanted to make a large series of works – NewHive works that way, like a book you can flick through – and I knew that each piece would need a title. The internet can be a busy place, attention is precious, and a good headline produces clicks. So first I set out to choose my titles. I thought of those clickbait articles we all find when we end up searching the internet for an answer to a question. Searching is a quest, and the internet is based on questions and searches: Yahoo Answers, eHow articles, OkCupid, personality tests, security questions. Everywhere I looked there were quests for knowledge, big and small. When I listened to people speak online it was all questions. Even when there was no actual question there was ‘upspeak’, making everything sound slightly unsure. I took all the questions I was coming across and
I removed the question marks so the upspeak became rhetorical and zen-like. Sometimes all those questions don’t even need an answer; it’s enough to know that so many questions are being asked. Step 2: WHAT KIND OF LIPSTICK GOES WITH LIGHT BROWN HAIR [amassing content – animals, numinous images] Amassing content was easy. I keep several collections online and offline on my computer: banks of images I find that resonate for unknown/mysterious reasons, playlists of short amateur videos on different themes, .txt files full of ideas, concepts and now some questions. One of the main elements of the work I made for NewHive is the inclusion of videos from a YouTube playlist I’d been working on for a few years. The playlist is called Animal Research and the criteria for inclusion in the playlist is: 1) there are very few or no humans visible on screen; 2) the non-human creature is interacting with human-made objects or environments; 3) the shot is well composed, preferably accidentally/subconsciously; 4) the being is not performing for acclaim or attention. Sometimes it feels like my reliance on technology has ‘urbanised’ my mind. Scrolling through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds multiple times a day, consuming content, it’s easy to feel really busy even if you’re not actively producing much except advertising revenue and analytics for others. Gathering materials and ideas during this daily time-wasting has been very productive for me. Step 3: WHAT IS MY DEFAULT SETTING [using intuition] So, now we’ve amassed a bank of content we can draw on. How do we know which content to use? What will it look like? How will it feel? This is where intuition comes in. When I was first setting out to make Is this a test for NewHive, I had already planned to use some of my collections of images, videos and text. I knew I wanted ‘the artist’s hand’ somewhere in there too, so I looked to the floor of my studio. At the time of working on the piece for NewHive I shared a studio space with artist and experience-designer Mark Durkan. We were hoarding materials for years, so the studio sometimes felt more like a shed, a dump or a treasure trove (depending on the mood). One day in the treasure trove I came across a big old bottle of red fountain pen ink. Red has never been my colour, but some unknown combination of
factors meant that this particular red seemed to be the most exciting colour I’d seen in a while. The colour started to feel like Sriracha sauce as I worked with it – something you might think you don’t like (“too spicy”) but once you get into it, it can become addictive. There were big red permanent markers too, and they had the same aura of immediate, pigmented importance as the ink. So I got into making these big meaningless red ink drawings on paper, just for the joy of it. Something I’ve learned from the internet is that if it’s joyful for one person, it will be joyful for others (as they say: “if you can think of it, there’s porn of it”). So I translated the red on red on red drawing process to the NewHives drawing tool. I used the colour #FF0000, a very ‘default’ red. Step 4: IS THIS A TEST [making intuitive decisions quickly] Once I had the structure down, and chosen the content/theme, time was getting tight. How could I turn it all into a deliverable work quickly and without being overly literal or obvious? As above, intuition was key. I needed to pick the title, get the feeling I wanted from the drawing, and then choose the content elements. When I was growing up I used to watch Frank Clarke’s Simply Painting and he had a mnemonic for landscape painting: Have Some More Fun – Horizon, Sky, Middle, and Foreground. I subconsciously followed something similar as I made the pieces: title/question, red drawing/expression, animal action and decorative elements. NewHive makes it simple to place and move content around, so it was really a very painterly process. And like painting, when a piece was done I just knew. Step 5: WHAT IS THE ULTIMATE SUBSTANCE OF ALL REALITY [putting it all together] So the hard parts are done, and you’re putting it all together... You have to accept when making art for the internet that some people just won’t get it, like all art. Haters are always going to hate and slow-coaches will eventually catch up. Disregarding the audience is often an important step in ‘getting things done’. It means I only need to worry about what works for me. I like it better when I don’t fully understand my own work – it means I can appreciate the work as an outsider with intimate knowledge. On NewHive you can create individual ‘expressions’ or pages, and you can also create collections based around tags. I tagged 20 of my favourite expressions ‘quest’, and the work was done. Next I emailed Lindsay to let her know that the piece was finally finished. She sent out the PR. I took a day off in bed and then I moved on to the next deadline. CONCLUSION It’s the sharing of knowledge that progresses our species. I can’t see any reason to try to keep an idea to myself anymore. eilismcdonald.com
26
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2016
SEMINAR
Dan Fox speaking at Spike Island; photo courtesy of Spike Island
Pretentious Is.... REBECCA O’DWYER REPORTS FROM DAN FOX’S TALK AT SPIKE ISLAND, BRISTOL ABOUT HIS BOOK ‘PRETENTIOUSNESS: WHY IT MATTERS’, WHICH TOOK PLACE ON 11 FEBRUARY 2016. IN 1976 Jonathan Richman of the American rock band The Modern Lovers sang that “Pablo Picasso never got called an asshole”. And although he may well have been an asshole, I guess the implication was that he could back it up somehow. Pretentiousness, by contrast, is at first glance best surmised by empty-talk and vain posturing. Nonetheless, when you Google the words ‘pretentious is…’ the sentence concludes with ‘…a pretentious word’. It’s a revealingly vacuous semantic loop. And though we may well agree that the word implies something ostentatious or affected, all fur coat and no knickers, pretentiousness isn’t quite captured by those words either. And so, as distinct from not-quite synonyms like showy or snobbish, what do we really mean when we call something pretentious? Critic and Frieze editor Dan Fox’s recent book, Pretentiousness: Why it Matters, works to get to the root of this question. This past February I happened to be in Bristol and took the opportunity to hear him speak on the topic at the Spike Island gallery. Whilst he conceded that the word might never be fully rehabilitated in positive terms, Fox nonetheless de-familiarised the term, widening its remit, and effectively redefining it as something both positive and necessary. In the concluding Q&A, Fox stated that he tries to avoid using the word, and I left similarly hesitant to use it. Initially, the very thought of attending a talk about pretentiousness seemed somewhat fatuous, inasmuch as our attendance there appeared almost as a supreme embodiment of pretentiousness itself. However, over the course of Fox’s impassioned – and, for what it’s worth – totally unpretentious talk, pretentiousness itself seemed to assume a space of genuine urgency. Defined in Fox’s rather more generous terms, it names a central motor of art. Reaching outside of itself, pretentiousness allows art to intrude into the places and conversations from which it is typically excluded. The central tenet of Fox’s argument is that pretentiousness – and, more particularly, its eschewal – embodies a particularly blinkered conception of authenticity. In lieu of this assessment, he says, to be pretentious is not necessarily to be inauthentic. Instead, pretentiousness often delimits an effervescent space for creativity, risk-taking and disruption, marked by “the courage and curiosity” to extend oneself. By this understanding, when the term is used negatively, in a throwaway, unthinking manner, it works to undercut any kind of striving outside of oneself, intractably rooting the subject “to the circumstances in which they were born”. For Fox, this denial exists alongside a
Fox argues that being pretentious is rarely harmful. However the aforementioned anti-intellectualism that causes us to view it in negative terms is often harmful. Such a mode of understanding defines problems as heroic fairy-tales, endorsing a black and white view of the world and inhibiting any kind of constructive complication. In never risking pretension, then, we are denied the possibility of living differently, or better. A prioritisation of authenticity over pretension, as Fox put it, means that we are ineluctably bound to the circumstances and class in which we are born; in such a way, society reproduces itself without any upset. In light of waning governmental support for the arts, this is a particularly worrying prospect. Writing about pop music in the New Statesman recently, Stuart Maconie argued that the art is becoming the domain of the wealthy, “a rich fellow’s diversion, a pleasant recreation for those who can afford it, rather than the cultural imperative it should be”. In such a way, art can be seen to reproduce the yawning inequality that defines the contemporary moment, while simultaneously limiting the broad range of perspectives that art should provide. Within such a context, it seems jarring, even counterproductive, to endorse pretentiousness as a viable point of resistance. And yet to be pretentious means to reach outside of yourself, to yearn and to become someone – or some class – that you’re not. Pretension and art are a matter of social mobility, and of breaking into closed worlds. Perhaps Fox’s take-home message was this: if everyone were afraid of pretentiousness, it’s likely that no one would be an artist. There would be little vitality or outlandishness, and no surprises. No one would make contemporary art, no one would read theory – or maybe even literature – and certainly no one would listen to obscure drone music. Most likely we would all drink instant coffee and scoff at the idea of salads. In short, the world would be a much shittier place. At the start of his talk, Fox rattled off a long list of activities that might be termed pretentious, which included beekeeping, running and birdwatching. Anything, in short, might feasibly be called pretentious – slipping into this categorisation, somehow, by dint of the zeal or pleasure that sustains them. This doesn’t seem like a helpful way of seeing the world. What is needed, Fox argues, is a greater precision of language. Calling something pretentious doesn’t really mean anything, but instead smacks of a lazy and demeaning view of art, almost bringing it to heel. Of course it is justifiable to not like something, but – at least for this pretentious writer – damning it in such reductive terms just isn’t enough.
denial of social mobility, and is rooted, first and foremost, in the discourse of class. Initially, this argument may seem somewhat far-fetched. And yet on further consideration, the charge of pretentiousness carries a definite shade of self-aggrandisement, of ‘getting too big for your boots’. In an Irish context, the word ‘notions’ has become its shorthand; the hipster, itself a similarly empty signifier, is its archetype. Under this logic, the same applies to performance art, pinot noir, barrel-aged stouts, AeroPress coffee, French postmodern theory, beards, thricecooked chips: notions. Sometimes, of course, such derision is understandable, and yet, as Fox rightly asserts, what unites our denials of something as ‘pretentious’ is the unsophisticated assumption of its bad intentions. What we forget is that most of what is derided as pretentious is made in absolutely good faith, with a lot of love and a courageous disregard for public opinion. Without the risk-taking inherent to pretentiousness, our culture industry would surely be a tedious and static one. A key aspect of this debate revolves around the question of authenticity. This, for me, is the most insidious element in calling someone or something pretentious. Here, a particularly wrong-headed and possibly destructive dichotomy is being articulated: namely, that performance or pretension is bad, while authenticity is good. By this understanding, the fact that authenticity in art is also constructed is glossed over. The “salt of the earth” pose, as Fox describes it, is also a pretension. Thinking about contemporary politics, it’s clear that this dichotomy is often mined to the hilt. Politicians strive to appear authentic, ‘one of the people,’ and this is often carried out through anti-intellectualism, coupled with a kind of easily digestible, soundbite politics. Increasingly, this idea of authenticity feeds into popularism. The problem here is that such ‘authenticity’ is shallow and presupposes a barely weaned and passive public. Furthermore, this so-called authentic politics is often too good to be true. We can sense this, for example, in the unfathomable rise of Donald Trump as a viable presidential candidate. Such anti-intellectualism, Fox states, is just another breed of snobbishness. The simplicity of this viewpoint is determined by a Rebecca O’Dwyer is an art critic currently based in Wexford. rebeccaodwyer.wordpress.com similarly reductive, and far more worrisome, process of exclusion. In place of easy solutions, then, complex political issues demand correspondingly complex, and even pretentious, thinking.
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2016
27
CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Sven Anderson, Near and Far, 2015; ‘Years of Pilgrimage’, Glebe House and Gallery, December 2015; photo by Orla Mc Hardy
Evie Hone, Untitled, Killybegs carpet and carpet design, gouache on paper; ‘Years of Pilgrimage’, Glebe House and Gallery, December 2015; photo by Orla Mc Hardy
collector, a portrait painter, an expert in Islamic architecture, a curator and a gardener. His early career as a stage designer greatly influenced his collection and the rich decoration of his home. Orla and I had visited Glebe House as art students in the early 1990s and it always remained CURATOR EILÍS LAVELLE DESCIBES SOME OF HER RECENT PROJECTS. a cultural beacon, bringing the wider world of art history, craft and IN the past my independent curatorial projects, even when they were County Council, and Adrian Kelly, Curator of Glebe House and Gallery visual culture in closer proximity to Donegal. The artist’s collection is research-based, have tended to relate to specific sites. I worked as in Churchill, who allowed me access to Glebe House and to Derek eclectic and is playfully displayed in his home, much as he left it. The Regency-style house is decorated with William Morris textiles and curator in Mermaid County Wicklow Arts Centre for eight years, Hill’s collection and archive. wallpaper and features Hill’s extensive collections of Islamic and curating over 70 exhibitions and working with a wide variety of Japanese art. The art collection includes over 300 works by leading artists. Some of these projects and relationships extended beyond the FOR THE HILLS gallery into independent curatorial or site-specific projects. I had worked with Orla McHardy on previous projects. She is an artist twentieth-century artists such as Pablo Picasso, Evie Hone, Auguste In 2010 I co-curated the ‘Unbuilding’ project with Clíodhna based between Donegal and Richmond, Virginia, where she is an Renoir, Jack Butler Yeats, Oskar Kokoschka, Charles Brady, Hokusai Shaffrey and Rosie Lynch. With a group of artists we installed a bold Assistant Professor of Animation at Virginia Commonwealth Katsushika and Hiroshige. As a young art student I was struck by the temporary architectural intervention within the gallery and supported University. Her work for the exhibition ‘For the Hills’ included HD bold display of art in the house: a Picasso print hung in the bathroom 11 new commissions. These artworks responded to diverse locations digital projections, 2D animations embedded into objects, found and stacks of paintings in gilded frames piled on chairs and beds. In early December, Orla McHardy, Adrian Kelly and myself including a field abandoned by development and a NAMA-owned objects, sculptural and sound installations. office block. In the collaborative project ‘Dig Where You Stand’ (2011), Orla had returned home to Donegal, letting the place function as co-curated a one-off evening event that included a series of temporary we launched a publication at Bay Lake high up in the Knockmealdown backdrop and generator for the work, making sense of a place at once installations for Glebe House. Normally closed to visitors in the Mountains in Tipperary. My work is about responding to sites, familiar and strange. Her work explored themes that include specifics winter, we lit the house with Hill’s collection of glass and Tiffany bringing people on a journey and making visible the connections of place and language, as well as memory and emotional connection lamps. Four new artist commissions, by Sven Anderson, Ian Gordon, Orla Mc Hardy and Stephen Vitiello, were presented in the gallery between local histories, objects, traditions and texts. and disconnection. Having also recently returned to Donegal, I was able to space alongside collection artworks by Ben Russell, John Cage, Bill accompany Orla in this research process and we worked closely to Viola and Mishka Westell. Orla created a new commission that CURATOR IN RESIDENCY SCHEME During the summer of 2014 I moved back to my home county of curate the exhibition. In a conversation we hosted in the gallery, the incorporated Hill’s collection of nineteenth-century Staffordshire Donegal. The move prompted me to question the sustainability of an discussion was dominated by questions of artistic agency in Donegal. pottery dogs alongside their locally made plaster replicas, broken independent curatorial practice in rural Ireland. I was keen to The local context of the work’s reception definitely influenced the poodles’ heads and Jeff Koons’s Puppy Vase (1998). ‘Years of Pilgrimage’ reconsider my practice and to reflect on the research-based outcomes, parameters and meaning of the work, and that allowed some was a restaging of Hill’s collection which explored the slippage of alongside the production and exhibition-making aspects of my interesting conversations to unfold around the socioeconomic identity that occurs when an artist’s home becomes a museum and a gallery. conditions of producing visual art in rural areas. practice. Since finishing the residency in December I have continued to I was always drawn to the landscape and atmosphere of the work with Marie Barrett as a guest curator with North-55. Our current county where I grew up and, with that in mind, I wanted to work with FATHOM artists that were exploring Donegal as a context in their work. I was Marie Barrett’s ‘Fathom’ was an ambitious collaboration between project is a continuation of ‘Fathom’ that will culminate in a new film keen to generate future projects, research and ideas through artistic North-55 and a community of interest, Inishowen-based divers and commission, an exhibition and a public programme at the Maritime collaborative processes. underwater filmmakers Dive North. Together they explored the Museum in Greencastle in August 2016. In June I am moving to Callan to join Rosie Lynch and Hollie Outside of the city I noticed that the rural is often overlooked as history and legacy of post-war disarmament of German submarines a site of complexity, especially as a site for artistic production. I was during Operation Deadlight, when German U-boats were sunk off the Kearns to work with Callan Workhouse Union – another unexpected interested in the concepts of ‘community of interest’ and ‘place’ in coast of Donegal in 1946. The exhibition featured archival and new outcome of the residency. Over the next few years we will be working together to build a sustainable curatorial organisation, continuing to contemporary art and society, and the question of social responsibility, footage of the U-boats. particularly in relation to how we live together. My move to this An informal seminar was organised to explore rural curatorial develop projects across architecture, visual arts and participatory wildly beautiful county with its social and political complexities, arts practice in Ireland. The morning was spent in the Regional design in the social realm. For a small rural town Callan has a diverse and lively arts combined with its history of socially-engaged practice (North-55 and Cultural Centre with presentations by Askeaton Contemporary Arts, the Donegal County Council’s Public Art Programme, which has been Callan Workhouse Union, North-55. The second half of the day we community, where in recent years artists, curators and various active since 1991), gave me the opportunity to consider these ideas travelled by bus to Greencastle, a fishing village for lunch, followed by initiatives including KCAT Art and Study Centre, Fennelly’s and with other artists, curators and local residents. a conversation with members of Dive North and Marie Barrett, which Abhainn Rí Festival have contributed to a burgeoning arts scene. Callan is a town with a vision for its social and civic activity and the In January 2015 I began a yearlong curatorial residency funded was moderated by Ailbhe Murphy, director of Create. type of community in which I next want to live and work. by The Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon, working collaboratively
Hy-Brasil: Years of Pilgrimage
with two venues and two Donegal artists, Orla McHardy and Marie Barrett. I was fortunate to get support from Shaun Hannigan, Director of the Regional Cultural Centre (RCC), which is run by Donegal
YEARS OF PILGRIMAGE Glebe House was home for nearly 30 years to artist Derek Hill (1916– 2000). He had a rich and varied life as a traveller, a stage designer, an art
Eilís Lavelle is a curator currently based in Donegal and Kilkenny.
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The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2016
HOW IS IT MADE?
Vagabond Reviews, Scientia Civitatis: Missing Titles, 2014, Hugh Lane Gallery; 48 dust jackets, 302mm x 210.5mm, digital ink prints on archival paper; photo by Ros Kavanagh
Station to Station ARTISTS AND RESEARCHERS DR CIARAN SMYTH AND DR AILBHE MURPHY DISCUSS SOME OF THE PROCESSES INVOLVED IN THEIR COLLABORATIVE ARTS AND RESEARCH PRACTICE AS VAGABOND REVIEWS.
Vagabond Reviews, Bio Archive conversational event; image courtesy of Brian Creggan
Vagabond Reviews, Fatima, A Cultural Archaeology, 2009, NCAD Gallery; timeline wall and archive table; photo courtesy of NCAD
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2016
29
HOW IS IT MADE?
Vagabond Reviews, Bio Archive; image courtesy of Brian Creggan
Studio and research base, Callan Workhouse Union; photo of courtesy Vagabond Reviews
“I, who had always thought of paradise, in form and image as a library.” Jorges Luis Borges
the potential for re-imagining place and history as an interrogation of
conceptual fissures without imposing upon them any unifying
the present.
principle. For Temporary Institute that device took the form of an
We proposed Temporary Institute as a research device that would
invitation to the keepers of those libraries of lived reading. We invited
CO-FOUNDED in 2007 Vagabond Reviews is an interdisciplinary art
harness the historical and contemporary resonances of the Workhouse,
contributors to draw on their lived investment in reading in order to
and research platform. We are interested in engaging broader publics
following a few distinct lines of inquiry. Thematically, Temporary
select the texts which had influenced them and helped them endure
in alternative forms of cultural participation and knowledge
Institute was concerned with the notion of systemic violence at the
in relation to struggles with forms of systemic violence. We called
production. In our practice we have moved from situation to situation,
level of the carceral institution, the state and of post-industrial capital.
each of these selections a bio-archive. A bio-archive privileges the
establishing transitory research stations as we go. Often the situation
In short, the project focused on what Slavoj Zizek calls: “…systemic
books that arrived and saved us when we needed them over the
is delineated by the idea of territory. For example, in 2014 we spent a
violence or the often catastrophic consequences of the smooth
theoretical coherence of our readings.
week in Fingal, North County Dublin for ‘Resort Residency, Case Study
functioning of our economic and political systems” (2009).
I’, where the research base was an end-of-season mobile home and the
At the Workhouse a new shelving system was under construction for a bespoke library designed by Lid Architecture. We installed the
territory was the village of Portrane and its surrounding coastlands. On
ENCOUNTERS
bio-archive series as self-selected micro-libraries in that nascent
the other end of the scale in terms of duration and distinct territories
In our practice the studio-research base becomes the site of recording
library. Honouring the ephemeral nature of our institutional formation
for encounters with the territory. In Callan we gathered photographic project series that began in 2008 with community development material and artifactual elements in the former dormitory of the organisations Fatima Groups United and the Rialto Youth Project in Workhouse, which is now a studio. It became a generous site for
and the transient status of its collection, each bio-archive was installed
Dublin south central.
accumulation, display and reconfiguration over the course of the
transient collection of the embodied local ecology of readers and their
residency. The defining encounter within this residency was with
lived lives of reading.
of place, we have established long-term creative collaborations in a
on plate glass extruded in front of the shelves using a cantelever system. As such, they were not received but hovered temporarily as a
CYCLE OF EXPERIENCE
curators Hollie Kearns and Rosie Lynch. We came to understand the
We like to meet each new situation without the imposition of
depth of their thinking and ambition for the Workhouse itself, as a
CONVERSATIONAL EVENT
preconceived ideas around approach and resolution. Nonetheless,
cultural space in the community, a place that holds its heritage not as
It is also typical within our practice that, towards the close of each
each time we inhabit a new territory there’s a certain shape to that
a darkness but as a creative interrogation of the present.
project cycle, having moved through anticipations, encounters with
experience, a way of moving through. Usually there is a portal into the
Other vital encounters included those with fellow participating
the territory, invitations and the assembly of the trace, that we open up
territory via the residency framework or the curatorial vision. The
artists on the residency such as Katherine Waugh, who shared many
the process via a conversational event. That moment brings
mode of entry is seldom without those conceptual and historical
insights from her fearless ethnographic forays into the town, its
contributors into dialogue with the public and brings the heuristic
orientations. That point of entry is like the moment at the edge of the
hinterlands and the documented traces of its very particular histories.
device into language.
pool, poised before the water: the domain of anticipation. Diving in is
There were also significant encounters of the material kind. On arrival
On the concluding weekend of Workhouse Union we hosted
the moment of encounter: a domain of experience which has its own
at the Workhouse our attention was drawn to a collection of texts
Temporary Institute (One): The Bio-Archives. The event brought
structure. And then, when you find that you have survived, it’s the
recovered from the dis-established library of the St Bridget’s Convent
contributors together to speak through the arc of their self-selected
School. Rescued by local activist and curator Etaoin Halohan, with encounter and critical revision) loosely corresponds with our texts spanning from 1906 to the 1980s, they inspired us to engage with ethnographic imaginary. Our recent Workhouse Union residency in the ecology of the library at the Workhouse and further afield.
bio-archive. There is a great pleasure, born out of curiosity, in such
Callan, Kilkenny, demonstrates how this cycle of experience helps us
knowledge, a library culture in its offical and incidental form.
domain of critical revision. This cycle of experience (anticipation,
navigate and shape our situational encounters.
encounters with the reading lives of others. The collective effect of artists, activists and local figures created a momentary ecology of
LIBRARY CULTURE Earlier that summer we had spent six weeks as the Jackman Goldwasser
CONCLUSION
ANTICIPATING WORKHOUSE UNION
Residency artists at the Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago. There, library
We have shared here some observational notes on how the cycle of
In 2015 we were invited by curators Hollie Kearns and Rosie Lynch to
culture was a key feature of our research process. It followed naturally
experience punctuates our practice as we move from situation to
propose new work for their artist in residence programme. Based at
that the outline of a library culture, both official and unofficial,
situation. We have attempted to illustrate that ‘experiential cycle’
the partially restored site of the Workhouse in Callan, the programme
became a distinct focus for our research in Callan. We came upon
with particular reference to the Workhouse Union residency to
comprised “open discussion events, publications, film screenings, personal book collections, small libraries of unofficial archival community gatherings, research residencies and artist commissions”. testaments to the reading life, such as the library room at Fennelly’s
suggest some navigational coordinates that have shaped our
We had already encountered Kearns and Lynch’s pioneering
guesthouse where many of the residency artists were hosted.
situational encounters. Philosopher Gilles Deleuze once claimed he was trying to get out
vision for the Workhouse when we were invited to give a talk at the
Typically, at a certain point in our encounters with a particular
of philosophy through philosophy. In our own practice we identify
annual Abhain Na Rí festival in 2014, so we anticipated an exciting
place, we try to formulate a mode of invitation that functions as a sort
with the spirit of that constructive discipline: to get out of the
opening up of possibilities. There was a sense of fit here with several of
of heuristic device. Our aim is to extend the kind of invitation that can
situation via the situation.
our own preoccupations, such as modes of institutional violence and
collect and assemble certain thematic lines, ecological features or vagabondreviews.org
30
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2016
FESTIVAL
The Stone Tapes MARY STEVENS DISCUSSES AUGUSTINE LEUDAR’S SOUND INSTALLATION ‘THE STONE TAPES’, WHICH WAS COMMISSIONED FOR THE 2016 ULSTER UNIVERSITY FESTIVAL OF ART AND DESIGN AND LOCATED AT THE GIANT’S RING, BELFAST.
Augustine Leudar, The Stone Tapes, installation shot; photo by Paul Moane
THE Ulster University Festival of Art and Design 2016 comprised a variety of multi disciplinary events, art exhibitions, talks and workshops across Belfast, Derry-Londonderry, Ballycastle and Coleraine. Curator Sarah Tuck aimed to “provide a space within which different perspectives and different intellectual and artistic trajectories meet, generate new ideas and new ways of engaging with the world”. A focus on socially engaged projects prevailed, with other events like ‘Making Conversations’ in association with Aberrant Architecture and Spectrum Centre, Shankill on Wednesday 9 March, which featured a pop-up music booth where participants could record their own 7-inch vinyl record. Augustine Leudar’s single night sound installation event, The Stone Tapes, took place on the evening of Wednesday 9 March 2016 at the Giant’s Ring in Belfast. The project was a collaboration between curator of the 2016 Ulster University Festival of Art and Design, Sarah Tuck, the Ballynafeigh Community Development Association (BCDA) and Augustine Leudar. Taking place around the ancient site in south Belfast, the event was intended to initiate a sense of community stewardship through the inclusion of community volunteers and students who assisted visitors on the night. Community workers Peter Morgan Barnes, Sheelagh Colclough and Amy Sidiropoulos worked with the BCDA to integrate the project with the local area. Augustine Leudar is a sound artist who has worked on projects nationally and internationally, exhibiting at the National Gallery of the Czech Republic as well as in Florence, Peru and Glastonbury. In 2010 he created the “largest walk-through multi- channel sound installation in the world” at the Eden Project in Cornwall. He specialises in immersive sound environments that stimulate the participant’s imagination. Pre-recorded sounds from far-flung places such the Amazon rainforest make up the body of Leudar’s work, imbuing it with an ambient sense of exploration and intrigue. Leudar is also the artistic director of production company Magik Door, who produce 3D sound environments. The project at the Giant’s Ring began to evolve following conversations between Leudar and Tuck at
The Giant’s Ring sits close to Shaw’s Bridge in the south of the city. It is an awe-inspiring landscape and a textbook example of a ‘henge’ monument, built around 2700 BC during the Neolithic period. The ambient noises came from eight speakers placed in a circle at the edges of the ring. Visitors wander through this ancient space, noise coming form all directions in a half-light, creating the most surreal, otherworldly experience. The combination of the Giant’s Ring and its unique history, combined with the ultra modern sound design creates, as Lauder describes, something new. “Whilst there was some historic and acoustic research informing the piece, on the creative side it’s mostly subconscious. However, afterwards something occurred to me. [T]he event has been presented almost as a ‘recreation of the past’.” Around 600 participants attended the one night only ‘event’, although it feels like an inappropriate term to describe what happened there. As a participant, it felt more like a gathering, to remind us what a community could do when they came together in ancient times and what they can still do today. The Ballynafeigh Community Development Association disseminated the information and acted as guardians of the site throughout the project. The Stone Tapes drew attention to the natural history of our city at a time when urbanisation often feels overwhelming. The Giant’s Ring is very accessible, yet few (myself included) visit it regularly. What I took away from the event was the wonder, the excitement and the feeling of ‘gathering’ that I experienced. It felt like an ancient ritual brought about by contemporary technology. Leudar notes that mythology often plays a part in his work, but this is the most ancient site at which he has worked. The installation seemed suited to the magic of the Giant’s Ring. Leudar’s technology and composition colludes with the setting to evoke an almost mythological landscape. The Stone Tapes has drawn attention to our history and made us re-imagine it within the context of today’s communities. Through their participation, the Ballynafeigh Community Development Association have responded to an ambitious project that embraces the fabric of their home. Leudar stated that “the response from the public has been phenomenal, from local farmers to archaeologists, artists to dog walkers, kids to old folk who came up with their walking sticks”. People engaged with the project because it involved and intrigued them. The Giant’s Ring belongs to the community of Belfast and has done so for 4,000 years. Augustine Leudar’s work for the Ulster University Festival of Art and Design, and the community created through the Ballynafeigh Community Development Association, have breathed a whisper of new life into this treasured ancient corner of our land. As we walked back down the lane after this ethereal experience, there was the feeling that we had witnessed something fleeting and beautiful. Tonight at the Giant’s Ring you won’t find a new age sound installation. This is the beauty and the uniqueness of projects such as this.
a time when he was travelling internationally working on other projects and recordings in South America. Participants were advised to dress warmly when visiting The Stone Tapes and I was unsure about what to expect at the end of the short journey through Belfast. We arrived at the complementary buses feeling the nervous expectation experienced when confronted with the unknown. We were dropped off at a small lane at the bottom of a field and walked up to the ancient site, emerging into one of the most geographically generous public artworks I’ve seen. Measuring a massive 6.9 acres in area and surrounded by an 11ft-high bank, the scale of the installation site alone is impressive. At 7pm on a weekday evening the site was quiet and invoked a hushed reverence from those of us arriving to witness the event. The sun was setting, the trees silhouetted against a pale rose sky. The sound was already playing, although it was not overwhelming. We were encouraged to walk around the perimeter of the ring, where little lanterns guided the way, facilitated by stewards from the community groups. It felt as though Mary Stevens is a writer based in Belfast. we had simultaneously gone back in time and into the future, as the Notes sound activated the imagination. 1. https://www.ulster.ac.uk/festivalartdes/about After circling the outside, we walked down into the middle. The 2. augustineleudar.com 3. http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/Giants-Ring-Belfast-P2791 sound immediately became louder, the edges of the ring acting as 4. Augustine Leudar, March 2016 amplifiers to direct the sound and the participants into the centre of 5. http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/Giants-Ring-Belfast-P2791 6. Augustine Leudar, March 2016 the space where the ancient stone passage tomb sits. This stone tomb is thought to be more than 4,000 years old. There was a very real sense of being directed, both by the ancient monument and by the various movements of Leudar’s music. We gathered unconsciously as a group in the centre, the sense of anticipation and expectation building. Rather than following a narrative, however, the installation is simply experiential. For Leudar, this gathering notion is a natural human impulse. “It’s like that with culture… something to do with people gathering and transcending identity, time and space. I felt the installation was occupying that gap.”
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2016
31
VAI
Social, Economic & Fiscal Status of the Artist VAI DIRECTOR/CEO NOEL KELLY SUMMARISES KEY FINDINGS FROM THE SURVEY ‘THE SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND FISCAL STATUS OF THE ARTIST’, WHICH WAS RELEASED THROUGH THE VISUAL ARTISTS IRELAND WEBSITE ON 14 MARCH 2016.
A new Visual Artists Ireland survey shows that although 98% of visual artists work in their main area of practice. Out of the 480 respondents, only 32% have the ability to make this a full time job. 76% of visual artists live under the poverty line with clear disparities based on gender and age. Since 2008, during one of the worst financial crises to hit the state, government funding of the arts sector was significantly reduced, despite the overall departmental budget seeing an increase in its budget. The Department of the Arts, Heritage, and the Gaeltacht reports show that central funding increased from €245,000,000 in 2008 to €310,000,000 in 2016. During this same period Arts Council reports show a fall in their funding from €81,620,000 to €59,100,000. This has resulted in a fall in supports to the individual artist, on whom the sector rely in order to maintain Ireland’s reputation as a place known for its living culture and the arts. Artists have expressed simple aspirations: they wish to make work and to have the work seen in Ireland and abroad; to be able to put bread on the table; and to feel as if Ireland values them for their creativity. In direct conflict with these aspirations, VAI’s 2016 report clearly shows that time, funds and
Figure 1: Annual budgets for DAHG and the Arts Council of Ireland
opportunities continue to be the main issues for artists. In 2008, the first year of the survey, 67% of visual artists in Ireland earned less than €10,000 from their creative income. With the successive cuts, which have resulted in the reduction of opportunities for visual artists, this figure is now at 80%. This rose to a high of 83% in 2013. In the intervening years the Arts Council and Visual Artists Ireland have placed high emphasis on ensuring that visual artists are paid in an equitable manner for the work that they undertake. This has resulted in an increase in the area of payments that fall into the ‘Education and Outreach’ category and for other forms of work. However, the continued decline in exhibition opportunities around the country means that earnings have fallen in this key area. In 2013 the midpoint earnings for exhibition making was €200, with an overall average of €1,045. In 2016’s report, this has fallen to a midpoint of €2 with an average of €831. This is clear evidence that venues and spaces are trying to make ends meet and are still struggling to pay artists for their work. There has also been a severe decline in overall earnings. Artists undertake two or three other jobs to ensure that they can maintain their lives and their creative practice. These have traditionally been in academia and the hospitality industry. In 2008, we reported that 33% of visual artists earned less than €10,000 from their creative and non-creative work combined. This figure now sits at 76%, which reflects a collapse in the available job market. The disparities between female and male artists continue to raise concerns. It appears from our results that in terms of income from creative work the median is equal for both sexes at €3,000. We can see the
Figure 2: Effects on individual artists’ incomes
difference arise at the upper income levels when the income is an average of €6,867 for female artists and €8,327 for male artists. One of the most surprising results from this year’s survey has been the income levels based on the number of years spent as a professional artist. Support structures are mainly aimed at younger artists and it is known that the number of opportunities diminish as artists get older. Only 27% of artists with 20 – 30 years of experience earn more than €10,000. With the decline in opportunities for visual artists further on in their careers, we can see that the figure for those with over 30 years experience falls to 9%. The overall context for this is simple. Artists are living under the poverty line. Although 98% of visual artists work in their main area of practice, only 32% have the ability to make this a full time job. Taking the 2014 definition of the poverty threshold of €10,926, we see that 76% of visual artists fall under that amount. The reality is that support for the visual arts is in severe decline. The Arts Council continue to work strongly in providing support as widely as possible, but there is much work still to be done and one of the key elements is for the new government, as it is forming, to appoint an experienced expert as Minister for the Arts. Developing a formally constituted advisory group of the mandated representative bodies is a matter of urgency, so that the new minister is fully aware of the depth of the needs of visual artists. This way they can become a bridge to other government departments who may not normally consider artists part of their remit but who play a key role in the ongoing support of the individual artist in Ireland. Noel Kelly, Chief Executive Officer/Director, Visual Artists Ireland
Figure 3: Income based on experience
The full 2016 survey, The Social, Economic, and Fiscal Status of the Visual Artist in Ireland, is available at: visualartists.ie
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The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2016
PUBLIC ART ROUNDUP
Public Art PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS, SITE-SPECIFIC WORKS, SOCIALLY ENGAGED PRACTICE AND OTHER FORMS OF ART OUTSIDE THE GALLERY. FLOW
school’s architect created an open and spacious centrepiece. The inten-
ed something of the sensory experience of being underwater amongst
tion was to reinforce this space by developing the fourth side, as it was these ghostly remnants of past conflicts with archival footage of the only side with no buildings. A line of timber benches were set
Operation Deadlight, the code name for the scuttling of U-boats sur-
against the concrete planters to create a thickening of social space, one
rendered to the allies at Lisahally Port at the end of World War II.
which would belong primarily to the students. A spatial relationship is created between the wooden structures and the school building with its pitched roofs, while a pattern of
THE MEN’S COLLECTION
enclosing sculptural elements become less intense moving towards the street, where students begin to approach the wider world. Since humans began to form social communities they have built structures to enable the activities of daily life. The new structures, like a fallen tree, offer a gathering point for the communal interactions of Newpark Comprehensive. Extending up into the sky, the Irish oak columns are firmly anchored to the ground, bolstered by a wide stance. The compositional elements of the structures are expressed while an awareness of how they were built is also preserved, imbuing it with a sense of honesty and material presence. The solid oak benchArtist’s name: Orla de Bri
es retain the feeling of having once been part of a tree but are refined
Title of work: Flow
to reveal the presence of human hand, symbolising how ideas now
Commissioning body: Private commission, Sabanci Family, Turkey
cast began with the thoughts of a primordial forest settlement.
Date sited/carried out: November 2015 Brief description: This site specific, 7.5-metre sculpture comprises a stylised female figure seated at the edge of a vivid blue steel arc. She is FATHOM suspended over the centre of the river. Her elongated legs end in drops Artist’s name: Marie Barrett of water.
Title of work: Fathom Commissioning body: Create – National Development Agency for Collaborative Arts
QUADRANGLE
Date advertised: Summer 2014 Date sited/carried out: 2014 – 2015 Budget: €10,000 Commission type: Artist in the Community Scheme Project Partners: Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny, The Arts Council of Ireland; curated by Eilis Lavelle Brief description: ‘Fathom’ was a collaboration between North-55 and a community of interest: divers and underwater filmmakers (Dive North). Collectively they explored the history and legacy of the postwar disarmament of German submarines at the end of World War
Artist’s name: Anne Ebeling
II. ‘Fathom’ exploited surveillance and underwater imaging technolo-
Title of work: The Men’s Collection
gies, making visible what remains below the sea. There are more
Commissioning body: axis:Ballymun Date advertised: January 2016 Date sited/carried out: Ballymun, February 2016 Budget: €1800 Commission type: Arts development project Project partners: Health Service Executive (Healthy Ireland) and LiFT Youth Arts Festival Brief description: The Men’s Collection was born out of an arts development project entitled Creative Space: a two year project developed by axis:Ballymun exploring young men, creativity and mental health (2014 – 2016). In response to and following a number of workshops with the Creative Space participants, Anne Ebeling created a series of portraits of the young men taking part in the project, which were
Artist’s name: Alan Meredith Title of work: Quadrangle
German U-boats sunk off the Donegal coast than anywhere else in the
projected onto various buildings around Ballymun. The portraits were
world. ‘Fathom’ features new and archival footage of the sunken
accompanied by text, expressing the young men’s own words, ques-
U-boats off Malin Head.
tions and thoughts. The 15 piece series of images (5 digital projections
The work began with a collaborative research phase, which
and 10 portraits) were exhibited in axis gallery until the end of April.
examined archival material, documentary footage and publications.
Showing the young men’s images projected in large format on
Commissioning body: Newpark Comprehensive School, Blackrock, The artist took a number of research trips to Inishowen Maritime Museum, Greencastle in order to explore their collection of related Dublin; curated by Aisling Prior
buildings in a number of public spaces is Ebeling’s attempt to oppose
Date advertised: December 2013
artefacts, which include photographs documenting the fleet’s surren-
traditionally disadvantaged areas. The projections are a call out to our
Date sited / carried out: February 2015
der. The museum was also a pivotal connection point with wider
culture, questioning our perception not only of young men but of
Budget: €55,100
communities of interest. The group then selected primary ‘dive sites’
everyone around us. This project unmasks the reality of these young
Commission type: Per Cent for Art
for filming in the waters off Malin Head. This collaborative process
men’s struggles and insecurities but more importantly is a visible cel-
Project partners: Alan Meredith Studio with input from structural resulted in the development of a series of immersive films which draw engineer Jim Mansfield (Kavanagh Mansfield and Partners), school on an age of subterfuge and surveillance. architect Martin McKenna (Smith and Kennedy Architects), main contractor Duggan Brothers and photographer Ste Murray
the ignorance, prejudice and frequent stereotyping of young men from
ebration and harnessing of their creativity. It is hoped that The Men’s Collection will reappear as a summer
‘Fathom’ culminated in an exhibition of film installations at the
projection series across Dublin City buildings in June/July 2016. The
Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny and a seminar in November
Men’s Collection is part of axis’s #yescreativity campaign, a yearlong
Brief description: The proposed layout of a quadrangle by the 2015. The exhibition of film and sculpture installations communicat-
celebration of creativity in 2016.
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2016
33
NORTHERN IRELAND MANAGER
OPPORTUNITIES
Arts Funding NI
Opportunities
NORTHERN IRELAND MANAGER ROB HILKEN GIVES AN UPDATE ON RECENT CUTS TO ARTS STUDIO AWARDS FUNDING IN NORTHERN IRELAND. ty, economic development and tourism generation, these must not be the only drivers of government policy. The arts must be allowed to exist, thrive and excel for their own sake if they are to have any impact on other governmental priorities. Over the last year, Belfast City Council (BCC) have also been working on a new Cultural Framework for Belfast and an Action Plan: 2016 – 2020. There has been extensive consultation with the sector during the development of the draft and earlier this year there was a final opportunity for organisations and individuals to submit a written response before the draft is presented to council. There is much to admire in the draft document: it endorses skills development, it shows international ambition, it recognises the value of the arts and it demonstrates innovation in Protest sign at the November March on Stormont; photo courtesy of David Bunting/Images NI
IN October last year 32 arts organisations in Northern Ireland received word that they would each receive an in-year cut of 7% to their budget. Given that the core costs of an organisation are mostly fixed, and that much of the budget had been spent in the first half of the year, many of the organisations were looking at a cut of almost 20% to their ability to deliver their artistic programme in the second half of their financial year. This in-year cut was on top of ongoing cuts made over the past five years. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) are currently only distributing just over two thirds of the public money they had in 2011/2012. ACNI also distribute funds from the National Lottery each year. In November over 300 artists, musicians, writers and actors marched on Stormont to protest. The culture minister, Carál Ní Chuilín, later met with some of those protesting to listen to their very real concerns about an arts sector under threat. The in-year cuts were shortly overturned and the sector felt a mild sense of relief, but deep down remain very worried about the future. This year Northern Ireland faces big changes at Stormont that will have a direct impact on the arts sector. The Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) has been merged with the Department for Social Development (DSD) under the new name of the Department for Communities. A March 2016 statement has said that the new department will “also take over DEL’s Employment Service and DOE’s responsibilities for Local Government and Built Heritage. In addition, this Department will assume a range of OFMDFM delivery and operational functions in relation to the Social Investment Fund, racial equality, United Communities and Good Relations, disability and poverty, gender and sexual orientation, and North West sites and strategy”. Many within the sector are worried that the arts will become just a footnote within the remit of this mega-department, which no longer includes the words ‘art’ or ‘culture’ in its title. Not only will the arts have to compete with the traditional party political powerhouses of sports and language within ‘culture’ (as has been the case within DCAL) but now also with social development as a whole. However, some see this time of change as an opportunity to stake a place for the arts at the heart of government. Earlier this year individuals and organisations were asked to provide feedback on the DCAL draft Strategy for Culture & Arts 2016 – 2016 for Northern Ireland. The sector responded with a massive effort that saw over 2000 responses submitted to the consultation.
its actions and targets. One area in which both draft policy documents fall short, however, is in explicit support for the individual artist. The ACNI response to the DCAL consultation stated as its number one key point that “support for artists must be at the heart of an arts strategy”. Our own research in 2016 into artists’ earnings and living conditions highlighted the fact that most artists do not earn a living wage from their professional practice. There is a critical need for local and national government policy to create a climate where having a sustainable career as an artist is not just desirable, but is crucial to delivering strategic goals. The BCC draft Action Plan included a general target to support 300 full time jobs by 2020 as well as a separate action point to support 8,000 artists’ contracts per year. It seems evident that there is still some disconnect in understanding that providing more paid contract opportunities will help artists sustain a full time career through their practice. Despite the cuts to the ACNI budget, they still provide a number of excellent opportunities for individual artists. Their Support for the Individual Artist Programme (SIAP) has a number of strands, including grants of up to £2000 through their General Award, grants of up to £5000 through their Artist Career Enhancement Scheme (ACES), grants of up to £5000 through their International Development Fund and grants of up to £15,000 through their Major Individual Awards programme. There are also awards that support travel and residency opportunities. Most of these grants will be opening for applications during the summer. The Rosie James Memorial Award is administered by ACNI and awarded to one artist or maker each year who demonstrates excellence and has materials at the heart of their practice. This award of £15,000 allows the artist to make a new body of work that would otherwise not be possible. There are awards available for artists at all stages of their career and we encourage individuals to speak to arts officers at ACNI to discuss applications in advance of submission. VAI also provide support and guidance in developing applications. Other support for individual artists includes the Paul Hamlyn Foundation under the objective of “nurturing ideas and people”. This includes the new Ideas and Pioneers fund for artists whose projects deliver social change. The Elephant Trust provides grants of up to £2000 for artists wishing to develop ‘imaginative’ new work, and the Fenton Arts Trust provides grants for early-career artists. Note All of the documents referenced in this column are available publicly online, however, if you would like to receive copies of any of the documents by email, please contact rob@visualartists-ni.org.
COURSES / WORKSHOPS / TRAINING
DIT GRANGEGORMAN
LIMERICK PRINTMAKERS
SUMMER STUDIOS
Intro to Letterpress Using Poly Plates: 7
The Dublin School of Creative Arts in
May, 10.00 – 18.00, for beginners/improv-
DIT Grangegorman is inviting applica-
ers/refreshers. This course focuses on the
tions from artists and curators for its
technical process involved with prepar-
Summer Studio programme, which has
ing both the image and the plate for been developed to assist the chosen printing and using the letterpress itself. applicants in their consideration or com- Course tutor Brian Fitzgerald is an expepletion of a body of work for exhibition.
rienced artist, tutor and printmaker, who
The successful applicants will be given a
runs fine art editioning company Parallel
rent free studio space from 20 June to 1
Editions. Cost: €80. 10% discount for
September, and expected to give three
student/seniors/those not in full-time
masterclasses to fine art students over
employment.
the academic year. Applications should
Poly/Smart Plate Lithography: 25
contain: a project plan for the specified
June, 10.00 – 18.00, for beginners/improv-
work period (July – August 2016); a letter
ers/refreshers. Lithography is a printing
of confirmation/invitation from a venue
technique using oil based inks and either
for exhibition (the artist must have a
a stone or a metal plate. Lithography is a
developed professional practice); CV;
very versatile technique and can be suit-
portfolio of images (max. 10) submitted
ed to the needs of an artist’s style. Course
as jpegs or as a URL to the artist’s website. Deadline
tutor Fiona Quill is an experienced print-
Friday 20 May 2016 Web
LSAD and Mary Immaculate. Cost: €80.
dit.ie/creativearts Email
not in full-time employment.
brian.fay@dit.ie Address
Course: 21 – 22 May, 10.00 – 17.00, This
maker, practicing artist, and lecturer in 10% discount for student/seniors/those Intensive
Silkscreen
Weekend
intensive weekend workshop will bring Dublin School of Creative Arts, DIT you step-by-step through creating a silkGrangegorman, Dublin 7 screen print, from preparing your initial sketch or image, using software packages PROJECT 24 STUDIOS
to finalise your image, transferring your
Located on the Queen’s Parade seafront
image onto a screen right through to
in Bangor, Project 24 is an innovative
learning how to print multiple copies of
project consisting of 12 studios, a com-
your image. This course is ideal for begin-
munity garden, a green area and an event
ners and refreshers. Tutor Derek
space, The Hub, where creatives can
O’Sullivan is an experienced artist, tech-
meet and work alongside each other
nician and teacher with a high level of
while engaging with the public. The stu-
knowledge of all things silkscreen! Cost:
dios are customised shipping containers
€150. 10% discount for student/seniors/
measuring 2.8 x 4.6 x 2.4m and come equipped with a sink, desk, chairs and shelving. Artists are provided with business mentoring, a variety of relevant training and promotional opportunities. In exchange they are required to participate in public events, attend artist meet-
those not in full-time employment. Web limerickprintmakers.com Email limerickprintmakers@gmail.com Address
ings, provide public liability insurance
Limerick Printmakers, 3 Johns Square Telephone
and arrange so that one artist or repre-
061 311 806
sentative is in each studio for six hours a day, six days a week. During this time
F.E. MCWILLIAM: GLASS BEAD
artists must be accessible to the public.
MAKING
The cost is £50 a month towards utilities
13 and 14 May, first session: 10.30 – 13.00.
and rates. Deadline
Second session: 14.00 – 16.00. Maggie
Rolling, April 2016 – March 2017 Web
individually tailored workshop, where
project24ni.com Deadline
ing with Murano glass rods, including
Napier of Glass-i Studio will lead this participants will learn the basics of work-
demonstrations in marveling, gravity carly.mcmullan@ardsandnorthdown. shaping, stringer and grit decoration. By gov.uk the end of the sessions participants will Address have a range of their own glass beads to
Ministerial Arts Advisory Forum (MAAF) and ACNI acknowl-
Project 24, Signal Business Centre, 2 use in jewellery making. All beads proInnotec Drive, Balloo Rd, Bangor duced in the session will be kiln annealed
edged that, while the arts can play a big role in tackling pover-
for durability and cleaned and posted to
Responses from lobbying group ArtsMatterNI, the
34
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2016
OPPORTUNITIES
Opportunities
Dublin City Council, in partnership with
grounds of the Stud farm at Tully, Kildare.
accepted and computer generated work
Fáilte Ireland, is seeking applications Inspired by the title ‘Invincible Spirit’,
must include at least one hand pulled
from interested parties for a public art
the project should be innovative in element. Image size must be 20 x 16cm,
their makers after the workshop. This is a
Web
commission in the Liberties area of nature and maintain the highest level of
on paper size strictly 26 x 22cm. Prints
double (two torch) workshop. Booking is
firestation.ie Address
Dublin. This is a two stage open competi-
artistic excellence. Although Invincible
must be on archival quality printmaking
tion aimed at any artist who is interested
Spirit is a highly successful stallion
papers. Prints on cartridge paper will not
in making proposals for a series engaging
standing at the Stud, the artwork does
be included in the exchange. In order to
sculptural flagstones to be located along
not need to be a representation of a cover the costs involved in this exchange
01 806 90 190
the thoroughfare that runs from High
horse, and could instead be an allegorical
there will be a fee of €15 per entry. All
info@femcwilliam.com Address
Street to James Street in Dublin 8. These
expression of what the words evoke.
prints should be numbered, titled (or
PERFORMATIVE CURATING
works form part of a programme of pub-
Expressions of interest are sought from
not) and signed. Please put the following
F.E. McWilliam Gallery and Studio, 200
The FSAS Summer School, ‘Performative
lic realm improvements to these streets
suitably qualified artists. Following the
information on the back of your prints in
Newry Road, Banbridge, Co. Down
Curating: its social and political possibili-
which are now part of the Dubline – a
first selection process, a shortlist of no
pencil: artist’s name, workshop or studio,
Telephone
ties’, will run 19 to 22 July and be based
major discovery trail through the city.
more than five artists will be made. Site
medium. Prints must arrive at the
The total amount available for this com-
visits will be arranged and a fee of €500
mission is €75,000 including VAT. This
paid to shortlisted artists to develop their
Galway Print Studio by the deadline. Deadline
essential. Cost: £40 per session. Web femcwilliam.com Email
028 406 23322
9–12 Lower Buckingham Street, Dublin 1 Telephone
around performativity as a methodology of incorporating theatre-inspired meth-
FIRE STATION ARTISTS’ STUDIOS
ods into the curating process. How can
Mould Making Level 1: 10.00 – 17.00, 20
the creation of temporary communities,
– 21 May, with Ciaran Patterson. This
the impact of time and space, the tactics
two-day workshop introduces the vari-
and strategies of theatre, dance and per-
amount is fully inclusive of all costs proposal further. The proposed total including fees to the artist, any necessary
budget for the final work is up to €75,000.
Conway. Participants will be brought
galwayprintstudio.ie
ance, documentation and VAT. All short-
Address
listed artists will be paid an honorarium
film screenings, collective exercises, Email group discussions. Participants will have publicart@dublincity.ie
through all aspects of working in con-
the chance to collectively explore the
crete, from mixing concrete to casting
research questions, bringing in their own
and carving concrete. The workshop will
sensibilities and practices, as well as
cover working with various mixes such
reflecting on and developing new work-
as crushed stone and cement mixes, as
ing methodologies. The school will be
well as casting thin shell objects with
hosted by Florian Malzacher and Joanna
glass reinforced concrete. Cost: €120.
Warsza. To apply, submit an updated CV
Web
research, production/realisation, insur- The INS will carry the costs of groundworks and installation. Deadline
ous stages and materials used in the formance contextualise artistic work? mould making process. There will be an The school will take the form of of €1,000 for completing the stage 2 sub- Tuesday 31 May 2016 opportunity to discuss and cast in differ- working groups centred around ques- mission / application process. To access Web ent materials such as wax and resin. No tions of the relationship of performativi- or download the full brief please visit the irishnationalstud.ie Email experience of mould making is required. ty to the spatial, social, environmental DCC or VAI website. art@irishnationalstud.ie Deadline Cost: €120. and political reality, and will be supportStage 1: 9 June Working in Concrete: 10am – 5pm, ed by a series of activities, i.e. readings, 25 – 26 May or 20 – 21 July, with Agnes
Wednesday 8 June 2016
SUBMISSIONS / OPEN CALLS
Enterprise Centre, Ballybane, Galway FINGAL FILM FESTIVAL Fingal Film Festival is now open for film submissions in animation, feature, short, student, documentary, scannán Gaeilge, international and 1916 related. The festival will take place in Movies@Swords from 30 September to 2 October 2016.
Web
dublincityartsoffice.ie/news-event
Galway Print Studio, Unit 8, Ballybane
PHOTOGRAPHIC REVIEW DAY
There are awards in nine categories for
In partnership with the Lewis Glucksman
2016: Best Animation, Scannán Gaeilge
Gallery and as part of Cork Photo 2016,
the Kenny Gallery, has announced an
is Fearr, Best International Film, Best Source Photographic Review will be Short Film, Best Feature Film, Best holding a Review Day with photogra- Documentary, Best Student Film, Fingal
open call for Irish artists and artists resi-
phers and artists working in photogra-
Newcomer
dent in Ireland to submit maquettes and
phy in the Lewis Glucksman Gallery on 2
Outstanding Achievement in Media
drawings of potential public sculptures.
July 2016. The meeting is an opportunity
A panel of adjudicators will select five
for artists to directly introduce a new
Award. Submission entry fee: €15. Deadline
piece of work to one of the editors and an
making and casting objects for a foundry.
including lunch/refreshments for the leading entries and eachwill be awarded €500 to develop their ideas further. This four days.
More advanced mould making processes
Deadline
Mould Making Level 2: 10.00 – and cover letter outlining your interest 17.00, 24 – 25 June, with Ciaran Patterson.
in the workshop with “Summer School
Building on Level 1, this two-day work-
2016” in the subject line. Cost: €200
shop focuses on the process of mould
– 9 July, with Suzannah Vaughan. A twoday glass fusing introductory class for
Galway City Council, in association with
opportunity for the editors to identify
Media
Award,
and
3pm, Thursday 30 June Web
will be followed by further consultation
new work which may be profiled within
with Galway City Council and Kenny
the ‘Portfolio Pages’ of Source magazine.
fingalfilmfest.com/2016-submissions Email
Gallery and will lead to the commission
If you are interested in attending please
pr@fingalfilmfest.com
of at least one proposal as a public work.
email a pdf with up to eight images and,
A shortlist of the entries submitted will
contained within the email, up to three
CALL FOR PROPOSALS : CIT GRADS
artadmin@firestation.ie Address
form an exhibition to be held in the
paragraphs of text providing background
CIT Wandesford Quay Gallery invites
Kenny Gallery in August/September.
to your new work before the deadline.
exhibition proposals from CIT Crawford College of Art and Design alumni of all
will be discussed and demonstrated. Friday 27 May 2016 Requires some experience of mould mak- Web ing. Cost: €120 firestation.ie Glass Fusing Level 1: 10.00 – 17.00, 8
SCULPTURE FOR GALWAY
Entries may be commemorative,
to provide all participants with an over-
9 – 12 Lower Buckingham Street Telephone
Include your name, contact phone num-
memorial, celebratory, functional, deco-
ber and web address. Files must be no
faculties, who graduated between 2008
all understanding of fused glass and the
01 806 90 190
rative, provocative, emotive, emblemat-
more than 20MB. Deadline
and 2013, for the presentation of recent from individual artists, makers, curators
of Galway. They may relate to a particu-
5pm, Friday 17 June 2016 Web
lar place: the Claddagh, the Promenade,
source.ie/main/submissions.html
exhibition during October 2016. In the
the market etc. or to writers, sportspeo-
case of group or curated exhibitions, the
beginners. The goal for this workshop is
ic, symbolic or conceptual, but they
various techniques involved in the creation of some basic pieces. Cost: €120. The Image and Glass: 10am – 5pm,
COMMISSIONS
12 – 16 September, Deirdre Feeney. This experimental, concept-based, five-day
COLÁISTE POBAL NAOMH MHUIRE
should all be specific of and for the City
john@source.ie workshop will explore glass and the Coláiste Pobail Naomh Mhuire, ple, musicians, participants in the 1916 Rising or the War of Independence to the image. Participants will look at how glass Buttevant, County Cork invites applicaEXCHANGE OF PRINTS as a material has been so influential in tions for a Per Cent for Art commission Famine, theatre, oysters, horse racing, Galway Print Studio has announced their certain histories of the image and how arising from the construction of a new etc. All successful entries must be delivinaugural Exchange of Prints, open to these ideas can be creatively applied to post-primary school building. This is a ered to the Kenny Gallery. printmakers across Ireland. Participants glass in contemporary art practice. It will two stage competition. The value of the Deadline are asked to produce an edition of 12 5pm, Saturday 6 August 2016 include technical demos using found commission is €35,000 inclusive of VAT. prints. In return they will receive 10 ranContact Further information and application and up-cycled glass objects. Cost: €250. domly selected prints. Galway Print Tom Kenny/Dean Kelly 3D Printing Workshop: October forms are available on the school webStudio will retain one print for their Email 2016. This practical hands-on, two-day site. archive and one print will be exhibited in tomk@kennys.ie, dean@kennys.ie workshop will guide participants Deadline The Tribune Printworks Gallery in Telephone through hardware, software, 3D design- Registration on Tuesday 15 March 2016; August 2016. There is no theme. You do 091 709 350 ing and printing of 3D objects. It will submissions by 12 noon, Friday 13 May not have to be a member of a printmakinvolve working collaboratively between Web ing workshop to take part, but group THE IRISH NATIONAL STUD new advancements in 3D technologies, buttevantcolaiste.ie/arts-commission The INS wishes to commission an out- applications from workshops and print design and printing, with contemporary door sculpture to be sited within the studios are welcomed. All print processes DCC PUBLIC ART craft making.
or new works. Proposals will be accepted or those wishing to organise a group
curator and all artists must have graduated from CIT Crawford within the designated timeframe. An artist fee of €500 will be provided to support the making of the exhibition. This call is supported by Bank of Ireland and CIT. Deadline 5pm, Tuesday 24 May 2016 Web ccad-research.org Contact Nicola Carragher Email ccad.gallery@cit.ie
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
May – June 2016
35
VISUAL ARTISTS IRELAND operates a wide range of professional development training events throughout the year. The delivery of this programme is greatly supported by our relationship with local and international visual art professionals and partner organisations throughout the island of Ireland. Visual Artist Ireland works in partnership with local authorities, visual arts venues and others, combining resources to support the professional development of visual artists at regional level.
ROI Dublin City LEGAL ADVICE CLINICS FOR VISUAL ARTISTS WITH BRENDA TOBIN LASA In partnership with the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland. @VAI, Dame Court, Dublin 2. Wed 11 May (16.00 19.00). Individual 20-min time slots. Places: 10 – 12. Fee: €60/€30 (VAI and DCCoI members). VAI & BEALTAINE FESTIVAL: SUSTAINING YOUR PRACTICE @ The LAB, Foley St, Dublin 1. Thu 26 May (10.30 - 15.00). Places: 20 – 30. Fee: €7. Talks supporting mature artists. Speakers include IVARO on Legacy Planning for Visual Artists, Gaby Smyth on Tax and Pension Entitlements for Artists 65+, Gilane Tawdros, DACS on Art360, and Dr Loren Duffy on Physical and Mental Wellbeing. Keynote by artist Robert Ballagh. CURATOR TALK & PEER CRITIQUE WITH JOSEPH WOLIN @VAI, Dame Court, Dublin 2. Thu 9 June. Talk (10.30 - 11.30). Places: 10 – 20. Fee: €5 or FREE (VAI members). Peer Critique (11.30 – 16.30). Places: 6. Fee: €60/€30 for VAI members. WORKING WITH DIGITAL IMAGES WITH TIM DURHAM @VAI, Dame Court, Dublin 2. Thu 16 June (10.00 - 16.00). Places: 10. Fee: €60/€30 (VAI members). DOCUMENTING YOUR WORK WITH TIM DURHAM @VAI, Dame Court, Dublin 2. Thu 14 Sept (10.00 17.00). Places: 10. Fee: €60/€30 (VAI members). CHILD PROTECTION AWARENESS TRAINING WITH TOM KENT @VAI, Dame Court, Dublin 2. Sat 17 Sept (10.30 – 15.30). Places: 10 – 20. Fee: €40/€20 (VAI members). ARTIST TALK & PEER CRITIQUE WITH ARNO KRAMER @VAI, Dame Court, Dublin 2. Talk: Wed 28 Sept (18.00 – 19.00). Places: 10-20. Fee: €5/FREE (VAI members). Peer Critique: Thu 29 Sept (10.30 – 16.30). Places: 6. Fee: €60/€30 (VAI members). VAI & RDS VISUAL ARTS AWARDS CAFÉ In partnership with the RDS, Visual Arts Awards. With talks from previous Taylor Award winners and a curator from the 2016 selection panel. @RDS, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. Wed 26 Oct (11.00 – 16.00). Places: 40+. Fee: €10 or €5 (VAI members). HEALTH & SAFETY FOR VISUAL ARTISTS WITH VINCENT KIELY @VAI, Dame Court, Dublin 2. 1 Sept (10.30 - 16.30). Fee: €40/€20 (VAI members). MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA FOR VISUAL ARTISTS WITH EMMA DWYER @VAI, Dame Court, Dublin 2. Thu 6 Oct (10.30 – 16.30). Fee: €40/€20 (VAI members). WRITING ABOUT YOUR WORK WITH JOANNE LAWS @VAI, Dame Court, Dublin 2. Autumn date TBC. Places: 10. Fee: €60/€30 (VAI members). TOURING EXHIBITIONS @VAI, Dame Court, Dublin 2. Places: 20+. Fee: €5 or FREE (VAI members). A series of presentations and case studies of successful touring visual art exhibitions. PRESENTATION SKILLS FOR VISUAL ARTISTS WITH
ANDREA AINSWORTH In association with the Abbey
ARTISTS’ BOOKS WORKSHOP
Wolin is a curator and critic based in New York. He has
Theatre. @VAI, Dame Court, Dublin 2. Date TBC (10.30
In partnership with Cavan County Council and Town Hall
organised exhibitions at Rubicon Gallery and The LAB
– 16.30). Fee: €40 or €20 (VAI members).
Cavan. @Town Hall, Cavan. Date TBC (10.00 – 16.30).
in Dublin, and his exhibition of the work of Tom
Places: 12 – 14. Fee: €40/€20 (VAI members).
Molloy was seen at the Aldrich Contemporary Art
DEVELOPING
CREATIVE
PROPOSALS
WITH
ANNETTE MOLONEY @VAI, Dame Court, Dublin 2. Date TBC (10.30 – 16.30). Fee: €40/€20 (VAI members).
Clare
Museum in Connecticut in 2010. He co-curated the exhibition ‘The Royal Art Lodge: Ask the Dust’, which
PEER CRITIQUE JANET MULLARNEY @Visual HEALTH & SAFETY FOR VISUAL ARTISTS WITH travelled to six venues in four countries, 2003 – 2005. A Artists Ireland. Early Nov: date TBC (10.30 – 16.30).
VINCENT KIELY In partnership with Clare County Council.
frequent contributor to The New Yorker and Time Out
Places: 6. Fee: €60/30 (VAI members).
@ venue TBC. Wed 8 Jun (10.30 – 16.30). Places: 15 – 20.
New York, he teaches at Parsons School of Design.
Fee: €20/ €10 (VAI members).
FILMMAKING MASTERCLASS WITH DECLAN
VAI ARTISTS’ CAFÉS AND SHOW & TELL DATES FOR
CHILD PROTECTION AWARENESS TRAINING WITH
CLARKE @Belfast Exposed. TBC June. Fee: £10/£5 (VAI
YOUR DIARY
TOM KENT In partnership with Clare County Council. @
members).
Sat 3 Sept, Fri 28 Oct, Sat 3 Dec. VAI has scheduled the
venue TBC. Sat 10 June (10.30 – 15.30). Places: 15 – 20.
above dates for Café events during 2016 and invites
Fee: €20 or €10 (VAI members).
touch if interested in hosting a Café. Email: monica@ visualartists.ie.
Kerry ARTIST-LED FESTIVALS AND EVENTS: THE ROLE OF ARTIST-LED EVENTS IN URBAN AND SOCIAL RENEWAL In partnership with Kerry County Council and Kfest. @Killorglin. Sat 4 Jun (12.00 – 13.30). Fee: €5. Speakers: Tricia O’Connor/PAUSE PLAY Collective; Townhall Cavan Arts Space; Jonathan Carroll/Art LOT and Abhainn Ri Festival of Inclusion Callan (TBC).
Fees VAI members receive preferential discount of 50% on fees for all VAI, Training and Professional Development events. Fees range from €5 – €40 for VAI members. Tell us about your training needs! If you are interested in training please do get in touch with us directly or forward an expression of interest in a topic/s through the Professional Development Training web page. We often repeat workshops when there is a strong demand for a topic. Artist & Tutors Panel Visual Artists Ireland has an ongoing open submission process for artists and arts professionals interested in being part of an available panel of tutors contributing to the VAI Professional Development Training Programme. For details go to our training registration page and click on Register for the PDT Artists’ Panel.
SHOWING AND SELLING DIGITAL MEDIA &
BOOKINGS/INFORMATION Monica Flynn Professional Development Officer Visual Artists Ireland T: 01 672 9488 E: monica@visualartists.ie
INSTALLATION WORKS WITH NIAMH O’MALLEY.
visualartists.ie/professional-development
Chaired by Annette Moloney.
Fingal
Derry DEVELOPING CREATIVE PROPOSALS @Void, Derry.
interested artists groups, venues or partners to get in
Sat 21 May (13.00 – 16.00). Fee: FREE. This session will discuss the dos and don’ts of targeting opportunities, including the different issues you may need to consider when approaching different opportunities, such as those of the Arts Council, local authority or public gallery calls for submissions. Topics covered will include writing style, formatting, imaging and presentation and examples of good and bad proposals will be provided. VISUAL ARTISTS’ CAFÉ: ARTIST SPEAK @Void, Derry. TBC June. Fee: FREE. This event will introduce you to three established local artists working in a range of visual arts disciplines. The artists will speak about their work and how they established their professional careers as artists. A panel discussion will follow, and after lunch participants will get the chance to both share their work in a ‘Show & Tell’ and partake in dis-
COSTING & PRICING & BUDGETING FOR YOUR
NI
cussion.
€20/10 (Fingal artists).
Bangor
VISUAL ARTISTS’ CAFÉ: ARTIST SPEAK @Ards Arts
POSITIONING AND NETWORKING YOUR PRACTICE
VISUAL ARTISTS HELPDESK @ Project 24, Bangor. Sat
Centre, Newtownards. Sat 11 Jun. Fee: £5/£3 (VAI mem-
WITH ARTQUEST’S NIC KAPLONY AND CURATOR
14 May (12.00 – 16.00). Places: 6. Fee: FREE. With VAI NI
bers). This event will introduce you to three artists
BEA DE SOUSA In partnership with Fingal Arts. @
Manager Rob Hilken. Six one-to-one 30 minute sessions
working in a range of visual arts disciplines. Charlotte
Malahide Visitors Centre, Malahide Castle. Thu 23 June
for advice and support on topics including career devel-
Bosanquet, Liam Crichton and Susan Connolly will
opment strategies, networking, online marketing,
speak about their work and how they established their
financial systems and basic tax.
professional careers as artists. A panel discussion and
WORK WITH ANNETTE MOLONEY In partnership
with Fingal Arts. @Malahide Visitors Centre, Malahide Castle (10.00 – 16.00), Thur 22 Sept. Fee:
(10.00 – 16.30). Fee: €20/€10 (VAI members).
Laois DOCUMENTING YOUR WORK WITH VERONICA NICHOLSON In partnership with Dunamaise Arts Centre. @Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise. Fri 13 May (10.00 – 16.30). Places: 10. Fee: €40/€20 (VAI members).
Newtownards
Q&A wil follow, and after lunch participants will get
Belfast VISUAL ARTISTS CAFÉ: INTRODUCING BELFAST
the chance to both share their work in a ‘Show & Tell’ and partake in discussion.
PRINT WORKSHOP @Belfast Print Workshop. Sat 28 May (13.00 - 18.00). Fee: FREE. This networking event
VAI SHOW & TELL DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
will introduce Belfast Print Workshop. Approximately
Please email rob@visualartists-ni.org if you are inter-
10 members will present their work in a ‘Show & Tell’,
ested in taking part in any of the following Show & Tell
COSTING & PRICING YOUR WORK WITH PATRICIA
and master printmaker Nigel Oxley has been invited to
events: Sat 28 May, 13.00 – 17.00. Belfast Print Workshop
CLYNE-KELLY
present a portfolio of prints made during his time at
(BPW members only). Sat 11 Jun, 11.00 – 16.00, Ards
In partnership with Cavan County Council and Town Hall
White Ink and Kelpra, including examples by Piper,
Arts Centre, Newtownards. TBC Jun, 13.00 – 17.00,
Cavan. @Town Hall, Cavan. Sat 11 Jun (10.00 – 16.30).
Pasmore, Frink and Paolozzi.
Void, Derry.
Cavan
Places: 12 –14. Fee: €40/€20 (VAI members).
SUSTAINING YOUR PRACTICE: PEER CRITIQUE
WRITING ABOUT YOUR WORK WITH JOANNE LAWS
WITH JOSEPH R WOLIN @Belfast Exposed. Fri 3 June.
In partnership with Cavan County Council and Town Hall
Curator Talk (13.00). Fee: FREE. Peer Critique (14.30).
Cavan. @Town Hall, Cavan Town. Sat 25 Jun (10.00 –
Limited places. Fee: £10/£5 (VAI members). Joseph R.
16.30). Places: 10 – 12. Fee: €40/€20 (VAI members).
BOOKINGS/INFORMATION Rob Hilken, Northern Ireland Manager E: rob@visualartists-ni.org
join/renew at: www.visualartists.ie
The LAB Gallery is pleased to present:
WOULD YOU DIE FOR IRELAND? John Byrne
co-produced with the Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris 24 June – 10 August 2016 Preview: 23 June, 6pm – 8pm
1916 REVISITED Chad Keveny
24 June – 10 August 2016 Preview: 23 June, 6pm – 8pm The LAB A: Foley Street, Dublin 1 T: 01 222 5455, E: artsoffice@dublincity.ie W: www.thelab.ie T: @LabDCC F: facebook.com/TheLABGalleryDublin V: www.vimeo.com/dccartsoffice Open Monday – Friday 10am – 6pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am – 5pm
NEW PROJECTORS AT VAI! VAI will soon have a new Infocus IN124STA short throw projector for rent. The InFocus IN124STa combines short throw, high brightness and networking, making it perfect for situations where the space to project is tight.
See visualartists.ie for details and prices.