Visual Artists' News Sheet - 2011 July August by VisualArtistsIreland

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet issue 4 July – August 2011 Published by Visual Artists Ireland Ealaíontóirí Radharcacha Éire

Corban Walker at the 54th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, Irish Pavilion, Venice June 4-November 27, 2011 Photo by: David X Prutting/BFAnyc.com

The Problem with Commemoration Provocation and Liberalism ART & Time Galway FOCUS Dublin Contemporary Arts Audiences In Ireland ART & HEALTH The Workhouse Test Corban Walker in VENICE THE WEB, art, ecology and sustainability White Wolf projects Research & Practice Firsty PhotoIreland 2011Outrider Artists Group ‘Still Life’ at Lismore Castle

Major Iconic Public Art / Architectural Commission Donegal County Council and Strabane District Council are working on a cross border Urban and Village Renewal Project for the towns of Lifford and Strabane and wish to commission a major new visual artwork for the Alley Arts/ Library Building Strabane as part of the overall project. The commissioners would like to commission a large Public Art Work that is bold, innovative, timeless, and elegant and fits with the architecture that surrounds it. NATURE OF THE ARTWORK A permanent, large work, which will be robust, safe and relatively maintenance free. The commissioners are taking down the architectural louver blinds normally referred to as breeze soleil that currently cover the library windows. The artist must address the previous function of these breeze soleil, which was to control heat build up as a result of solar gain. The artist’s submission must also address how to treat the lower portion of the window, essentially to give some physical protection to the low level glazing. The technical staff of Donegal County Council are available to support the artist/ architect in addressing this. The artwork may be completely on the building/window or the artwork may also come from the building/window onto the adjacement pavement.

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The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

Join VAI

July – August 2011

Contents 5. Roundup. Recent exhibitions and projects of note.

ALL Artists Welcome

5. Column. Emily Mark-FitzGerald. The Problem with Commemoration. 6. Column. Trease O'Brien Provocation and Liberalism.

Join Us

7. Column. Jonathan Carroll. Time is on our Side. 10. News. The latest developments in the arts sector. 11. Regional Profile. Visual arts resources and activity inGalway. 14 . Art In Public: Roundup. Public art commissions; site-specific works; socially-engaged practices and

all other forms of art outside the gallery.

Membership of Visual Artists Ireland is open to ALL visual artists of all kinds – sculptors, painters, video artists, photographers, installationists, performance artists ...

15. Dublin Contemporary 2011.Rollicking and Rallying. Curt Riegelneg's progress report on DC2011.

Our two categories of membership – Professional and Associate – are open and inclusive. Each offer the same comprehensive level of supports and services from Visual Artists Ireland: listings, news, training, opportunities, information, advice, support and advocacy.

Visual Artists Ireland represents a diverse membership base of artists working in all modes and media; in every part of Ireland and representing a rich generational mix. Visual Artists Ireland is the sum of its parts: Artists. To become a member, complete this form and forward the appropriate membership fee to us – or go to: http://visualartists.ie/join-us/

16. Seminar. Here and Now. Una Carmody, on ‘Here And Now – Visual Arts Audiences In Ireland’ a one-

day symposium held at TBG&S , Dublin (18 May 2011).

17. Issue. Hale and Arty. Sheelagh Broderick, discusses contemporary arts engagement with the healthcare sector and considers some critical frameworks for various ‘arts and health’ practices.

18. Profile. No Scene, No Chair, No Problem. Curt Riegelnegg profiles The Workhouse Test, an artist-led

and space based project in Callan, Co. Kilkenny.

19. Ireland at Venice. Please Adjust. Jason Oakley quizzes Corban Walker, about representing Ireland

at the 54th Venice Biennale (4 June – 27 November).

20. Issue. Networking to Save the Earth. Cathy Fitzgerald, reflects on the role of online technologies in the development and promotion of cultural activities in the art, ecology and sustainability field. 21. Profile.Wolves at the Door. Anne Hendrick and Ciara O’Hara profile White Wolf projects. 22. Seminar. Research & Practice. Seán O Sullivan reports on ‘Articululate’, a symposium considering

notions of art practices as forms of research.

23. Opportunities. All the lastest grants, awards, exhibition calls and commissions. 27. Profile. Play Nice.Inga Hamilton profiles and discusses the founding of Firsty? 28. Regional Contacts. Visual Artists Ireland's regional contacts report from the field. 29. Profile. Collaboration and Change. An interview with the Director and Curator of PhotoIreland 2011. 30. Residency. Local to Local. Maria Kerin discusses links founded between the Clare-based Outrider

Artists Group and Estonian artist's group Liquid and MoKS .

31. Profile. The Lives of Objects. Jason Oakley talks to Polly Staple the curator of ‘Still Life’ at Lismore

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Castle Arts (9 April – 30 September).

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The Visual Artists’ News sheet

July – August 2011

ColUmN

Emily mark FitzGerald The Problem with Commemoration PUBLIC art, perhaps more so than any other form of cultural production, has a dismal history in Ireland. Historically speaking its products have often faced destruction, removal, or ignominy; its artists sidelined and sometimes forgotten. Little wonder that only a small clutch of artists from the early 20th century until recently might be described as working ‘full-time’ in the public domain. Fast forward to the present, and the aesthetics (and management mechanisms) of Irish public art have never been more sophisticated. Some of the most exciting work produced at the moment is in the public arena: collaborative, deeply participatory, and dialogical in conception and execution. Initiatives like www. publicart.ie have successfully foregrounded its development through efforts to document and support public practice, providing practical advice on the nose-to-tail process of creating new work. Yet despite such progress, our public art remains wildly uneven in terms of quality and significance. Programmes like the recent documentary on RTE presented by Joe Duffy (1) only serve to highlight the gulf between ‘public’ discourse on public art and that of its practitioners. Any discussion of the many progressive and thoughtful public works from the last decade must be met with sobering images of our public art failures: works consigned to immediate forgetting, marginalisation and eventually decay. Likewise, though often construed as a conflict between ‘popular’ and ‘elite’ desires and designs, public art ‘controversies’ more often reveal failures in communication, vision, ambition (or all three) affecting both sides of the public/art relationship. The question really isn’t whether public art should be uplifting or challenging (since of course it can be either, both, or neither), but how it can be better: profound and popular, in the best sense of both. For better or worse, the seduction of the monumental remains, particularly in the realm of commemorative public art. Such discussions around commemorative aesthetics will gain greater force as we move forward in what has been termed the ‘decade’ of centenary commemorations, around which seminars, conferences and projects have already begun to coalesce. Ephemeral and/or socially collaborative public artworks, though favoured by many curators and critics, may offer interesting meditations on the flux of memory or community, but they have not replaced strong public preferences towards permanent art (in the form of the statue or other static work). We can pontificate about the suitability of monumental aesthetics in today’s world, but people will continue to desire these fixed and notionally permanent spaces of memory/meaning within their communities. I believe that the challenge for artists and administrators working in the public art arena is not to ignore or attempt to circumvent this desire, but to heed both ends of the word ‘art-work’, and make the art take part in the work of memory, as public sculpture only continues to have meaning insofar as it’s sustained through performative modes of behaviour. There are scores of international examples (both in major cities and small towns) where contemporary artists have been professionally engaged, given creative freedom and support, and consequently have produced public artworks that are aesthetically and conceptually sophisticated, which challenge the viewer to participate in a nuanced encounter with memory and history, yet do not forget their commemorative function. The very best public artworks in this realm recognise that the forces of public memory are fluid and mercurial, even while they respect the deep human needs and desires which have inspired their commissioning. However the forces of political compromise, of funding struggles, of maintenance issues and lack of artistic expertise have all converged to produce much mediocre public commemorative art in this country. Certainly there are examples to the contrary (much of Breaking Ground’s work in Ballymun, for example, has been diverse and thoughtful), but far too often the default position is aesthetic conservatism and an increasing divergence between professional artistic practice and a public art of memory. Likewise, maintenance forms its own kind of public ‘forgetting’—and by this I mean the consequences of civic neglect on the part of county and city councils. I spent four years documenting the memorial output of the Famine commemorative period in this country, travelling to nearly every county in Ireland and viewing close to 50 memorials—and the extent of monumental disrepair (for monuments only a decade old, at most) was truly shocking. Equally the standard of artistic execution was frequently poor, despite the considerable budgets in place for many of these works. Calls for commemoration will continue to echo across a wide spectrum of experiences in the inexorable march towards 2016, and their physical products will occupy central locations within our precious civic space for decades to come. I would note here the Defence Forces monument in Merrion Square that has received a much quieter critical response than is warranted; the same silence also greeted the new Garda memorial recently unveiled in the grounds of Dublin Castle opposite the Chester Beatty Library. We have a responsibility to participate in debate and critique of these sites’ development, to ensure that artists are encouraged to develop their practice within the realm of public memory, and to push the standard of Irish public memorial art to a higher level of artistic accomplishment and transformative potential. Note (1) Whose Art is it Anyway, RTE 1 31 may 2011

Roundup MInor PIeCeS

societies to an outsider, and how they

Hansen, Jess Littlewood, Oscar Oldershaw,

might serve as future archaeological

Hilary O’Mahony, Rafael Perez Evans,

finds of our current civilization.”

Samantha Ratanarat, Philippe Senouci,

The previous show was ‘10,000

Michael Taborda. The press release

Things Every Child Should Know’ by Sue

outlined the projects ambition was to

Morris (10 Mar – 3 Apr). The exhibition

bring “the freshest mix of emerging

comprised of a multimedia installation,

contemporary art and music to Dublin

and was described as “exploring the

city, and present them in a positive and

boundaries of contemporary drawing

welcoming environment”. www.artisit.org

practice” and as reflecting upon “the ability to assimilate information and suspend disbelief and the consequent

SeeIng In BlACk

shift through the passage of time as Guido van der weve Nuumer Twaalf / Number Twelve

childhood gives way to adulthood”. www.customhousestudios.ie

The Model, Sligo presented ‘Minor Pieces’, a solo exhibition by Dutch artist

JoInerY nerY SHoWS ner

Guido van der Werve (16 Apr – 12 June). The show featured two film installations and a series of related photographs – Nummer twaalf, variations on a theme: The orla whelan Seeing in Black oil on Canvas

King’s Gambit accepted, the number of stars in the sky and why a piano can’t be tuned or

Roscommon Arts Centre presented

waiting for an earthquake and Nummer zes:

‘Seeing in Black’ an exhibition of new

Steinway grand piano, wake me up to go to

paintings and drawings by Orla Whelan

sleep, and all the colours of the rainbow. The

(29 Apr – 3 June). As the press release

exhibition was curated by Cate Rimmer

explained the show referenced “art

of Charles H. Scott Gallery, Vancouver.

historical and literary depictions of

http://themodel.ie

whales and whaling ...

this work

investigates connections between images, representation and meaning”.

At SeA In CAv AvA Av vAn brian harte Labryinth

www.orlawhelan.com www.roscommonartscentre.ie

The group show ‘Everything Soon’ (7 – 12 April) at The Joinery, Dublin featured

9 StoneS ArtIStS

three artists working with site-specific installation – Sarah O’Brien, Brian Harte and Reamonn Byrne. As the information text for the show outlined “Without extensive prior collaboration, the artists

Gary Coyle Bacchanal

Gary Coyle’s exhibition ‘At Sea’ was shown at the Bluewall Gallery, Cavan,(7 May – 4 June) presented a body of work based around the famous 40 Foot swimming place in Sandycove, Co. Dublin. The works in the show included, photographs, drawings, notebooks and san installation of bottled sea-water, www.bluewallgallery.com

CuStoM HouSe, WeStPort

came together to curate, experiment and install the show, interrogating approaches and probing connection and relationship both formal and personal”. The next show was Jacinta Jardin’s ‘Streakers’ (27 Apr – 1 May). This solo exhibition

featured

new

video,

photography and interactive media pieces. As the gallery notes explained the works were concerned with “audience participation and contemporary cultural mindsets … this show was heavily

michelle byrne Stone Map

influenced by the almost visual cloud of

As part of the fringe events around

doom which has recently engulfed the

Carlow’s Eigse festival and exhibition of

general public”.

works from the 9 Stones Artists group

Following this, Suzanne van der

was presented at Borris House, County

Lingen presented her show entitled ‘Ark’

Carlow (9 – 15 June). The show featured

(18 – 23 May). This work utilized sound

works by Michelle Byrne, Remco de

and video recordings from private and

Fouw, Rachel Joynt, Annabel Konig,

public

Martin Lyttle, Anthony Lyttle, Jules

sources

alongside

family

documents belonging to the artist. As the

Micheal and Gwen Wilkinson. www.eigse.com/fringe

press release explained the show “drew parallels between the different ways in which experience is attempted to be preserved through stories, objects and Sue morris – work from '10.000 things every child should know' Custom house Studios Gallery, westport.

documents”. www.jacintajardine.co.cc www.thejoinery.org

The Custom House Studios Gallery, Westport recently showed ‘From a landscape’ – a series of recent paintings and drawings by Antonio Julio Lopez Castro (5 May – 6 June). As the press release outlined the exhibition comprised of works derived from an ongoing project by the artist based a collection of manmade objects at different beach locations around Ireland – “the project questions what these objects say about human nature, how they might represent our

Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast recently presented two exhibitions relating to the venues

going

outreach

and

community partnership programmes. ‘WOW: World of Work’ (28 Apr – 21

ArtISIt? ARTISIT? (1 – 9 March) was a cultural event that took place across Dublin and brought together a range of disciplines through a series of visual art exhibitions, gigs, artist talks and film screenings. ARTISIT? was directed and curated by Sandra

gtg SHoWS

McAllister

and

Martina

McDonald. The project featured works by Ida Arentoft, Lydia Costello, Jesse Darling, James Greenway, Gitte Hoetbjerg

May) explored the changing nature of work from the perspective of three generations of workers. ‘Interchange: Sharing the Urban Agenda’ (28 Apr – 21 May) explored a major new road project planned to connect Belfast’s Westlink to the M2 and M3. Both exhibitions also acted as a backdrop to a series of talks and events that were aimed at encouraging further participation.

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

COLUMN

July – August 2011

Roundup

Treasa O Brien

Previously

was

RHA, Andrew Folan RHA. Richard

outlined the show gathered together

‘Intervention’ a solo exhibition by Shiro

Gorman RHA, Amelia Stein RHA and

works that addressed “a plethora of

Provocation & Liberalism

Masuyama, (7 – 23 Apr). The exhibition

Carolyn Mulholland RHA. Invited artists

darker meanings” relating to the

featured documentation of three

include Amanda Coogan, Stephen

perhaps-failed idealism of Sartrian

performance works by the artist –

Brandes, Oliver Comerford, John Devlin,

existentialism – “the concept of

Crossing the Border, Moving and Measuring

Mary Kelly, Bea McMahon, John

humanity as being wholly responsible

the Height of Napoleon’s Nose. As the press

Minahan, Geraldine O’Reilly, Jennifer

for itself, and in control of our future

release noted the works addressed

Trouton, Cristina Bunello, Joe Butler,

with a constant regard to the collective

“notions of travel, the influence of place

Comhghall Casey, Leo Higgins and

good of society”.

and society, and the genuine fascinations

Gillian Lawlor.

Over the last decade, a number of Israeli artists working with moving image have come to prominence (1). At this year’s Oberhausen Short Film Festival in Germany, the Israeli artists Roee Rosen, Yael Bartana and Guy Ben-ner were represented in various programmes. Rather than reductively defining such artists by their nationality, I am interested in how these artists explore Israeli identity. When viewing their work at Oberhausen, I started to think about issues of liberalism in relation to how their work addresses directly or indirectly the subject of Palestine – in particular in relation to Roee Rosen’s work.

show

and desires of the artist”. On 5 May the gallery was transformed into a film studio for one

First of all, I am deducing (from their work and comments made by the artists in

day, as part Maryna Tomaszewska’s

discussions) that these artists see themselves as liberal and critical of the Israeli

video and publication project ‘The

militarization of its state and citizens; its numerous land grabbing wars in the name

Polish Phrase Book’. The project is based

of ‘defence’; Israel’s occupation of Palestine’s West Bank and the complete embargo on

on classic tourist publications and offers

Gaza.

useful phrases to make it possible for its

Rosen’s film Tse (HD, 36mins, 2010), which won the ARTE Prize for a European

readers to negotiate the art world.

Short Film at Oberhausen, is part documentary, part performance, part fiction, and

Visitors to GTG were invited to record

wholly spectacle. The film features interviews with two young women, Ela Shapira and Yoana Gonen, speaking frankly about their participation in the Israeli BDSM (Bondage-Domination-Sadism-Masochism) scene. They then perform a kind of exorcism ritual – with Gonen as a dominatrix spanking the submissive Shapira. The latter’s body has supposedly been possessed by the dybbuk (a malevolent soul in Jewish folklore) of Avigdor Liebermann. Liebermann is Israel’s foreign minister, renowned for his proposals such as the introduction of a loyalty oath for Israeli citizens and the extension of Israel’s borders to include illegal settlements in Palestine’s West Bank (2). In the exorcism scene, ‘he’ (via Shapira) spews out quotes scripted by Rosen from Liebermann’s own speeches. After the spanking, the women are seen relaxing, the ‘sub’ sleeping and the ‘dom’ on her laptop, while two musicians play a Yiddish folk song (3). This absurd ‘ending’

uploaded on the artists website (http:// phrasebook.tempsdimages.eu/) Currently on show is ‘Convergence: Literary Art Exhibitions’ (16 Jun – 6 Aug) an exhibition curated by Dr Christa-Maria Lerm Hayes, which explores the influence of literature on contemporary artists. The show features work by including Julie Bacon, Ecke Bonk, Pavel Büchler, Davide Cascio, Tacita Dean, Cerith Wyn Evans, Maria Fusco, Rodney Graham, Joanna Karolini, Sean Lynch, Simon Morris, Brian

explores free love and sexual freedom as a revolt against communism. Tse also

O’Doherty, Tim Rollins and Andrea

explores sexual freedom as a metaphor for political liberalism in Israel . Presenting

Theis. A series of public talks and events

the victim / aggressor roles as a liberating experience could be construed as an

have accompanied the show. www.goldenthreadgallery.co.uk www.shiromasuyama.net

analogy for how the Israeli power justifies its apartheid policies towards Palestine - its naming of its aggressive army as a ‘defence’ force, and its attitude towards Palestine presented as submissive to its terror.

Figure of 8 126 SHOWS

their own scene from the book, to be

references the final scene of Dusan Makavejev’s film, Mystery of the Organism, which (4)

www.motherstankstation.com www.royalhibernianacademy.ie

Tondos and Bi-Products

The closing song performance – filmed in one shot – is especially poignant as the

Ruto Sela & Maayan Amir – work from 'Beyond Guilt Trilogy'.Shown at 126 Galway.

126, Galway recently hosted ‘Beyond Guilt Trilogy’ (26 May – 18 June) an exhibition of video documentary works by Israeli artist Ruti Sela and Maayan Amir. As the press release commented “the series Beyond Guilt addresses the undermining

power

between the photographer and the photographed, men and women, the public domain and the private sphere, object and subject.” More recently 126 presented Darren Barrett’s exhibition ‘Artlessness: The Cultural Logic of Nonceptuality’ (28 Apr – 21 May). In the exhibition collective known as the Nonceptualists. collective

itself

Nonceptuality is to create an alternative Alexis Harding 'Tondos and Bi-products' installation view. Rubicon Gallery, Dublin.

who enjoy a good old shocking from their armchairs (or white cubes) through

Alexis Harding’s show ‘Tondos and

methodologies can breath and cohabit”.

voyeurism. The very liberalism that is being critiqued may be reinforced by the

Bi-Products’ at the Rubicon, Dublin (7

www.126.ie

nodding heads who take this film as criticism of Liebermann only. But Rosen is adept

April – 21 May) featured of over 60 new

at asking uncomfortable questions, and somehow turning in on his own premises.

works on paper and two sculptural

There is no easy resolution here, except perhaps that Liebermann is everywhere, a

works. As the press release explained

a one-off radical malevolent soul but a very real person who is allowed to rule because ultimately Israel, left, right and centre, lets him.

paintings explore the concept of the linguistic form of the unconscious and the acts of transformation, substitution and negation inherent in such a concept.” www.kevinkavanaghgallery.ie

Michael Canning

environment where a proliferation of

Who is this film for? And what does it do? At worst, it could be feted by those

ideals as they think. The provocation in Tse is to ‘out’ the fact that Liebermann is not

release for the exhibition noted, “these

theorists from a multitude of different nationalities. The central objective of

the Israeli left are “transferists” and implies that they are not so far from Liebermann’s

‘Figure of 8’ (7 – 30 April). The press

of belief needed – will they succeed in exorcising Liebermann? And do we even

In her interview, Yoana Shapira who plays the dominatrix / exorcist claims that

Dublin

geographically

well-meaning keener at his funeral? The premise of this film relies on the suspension

part of the Israeli / Jewish psyche, that cannot simply be exorcised.

Gallery,

decentralised network of artists and

dybbuk of Liebermann entered his soul through the exorcism or is the singer just a

believe in dybbuks and exorcism to begin with?

Kavanagh

presented Mark O’Kelly’s solo show

As the press release noted “The composed

room with his hands moving expressively, like a man asking for forgiveness. Has the

Kevin

Barrett attributed his works to an artistic

Nonceptualist

singer seems more possessed than Shapira ever was. The singer walks around the

relationship

Mark O'Kelly Angel (2007) oil on linen, 143 x 108 cm

different

styles

and

working

A Fall of Light on Fabric

the works on show “for over six years Alexis Harding has used the plain

Michael Canning – work shown at the Hillsboro Fine Art, Dublin.

cardboard covers of a 2003 catalogue of his work as drawing boards and

New paintings and drawings by Michael

depositories for the bi-product of his

Canning were recently on show at

studio practice”.

Hillsboro Fine Art, Dublin (28 Apr – 21 www.rubicongallery.ie

May). The show was accompanied by a

To provoke is to deliberately shock, to annoy someone knowingly with the hope

publication featuring contributions by

that it will stimulate their consciousness and change their ideas or morals. Yael

RHA Annual

Bartana will represent Poland at this year’s Venice Biennale with a cycle of films

This year’s Royal Hibernian Academy

exploring the Palestine / Israel conflict, and referencing 1930s propaganda films for

Annual show – its 181st edition – at the

the establishment of the Israeli state. Rosen’s film and those of his contemporaries, are

RHA, Dublin, featured 585 works (24

Fiction or Framed

part of a movement in Israeli video art that is stimulating some soul or dybbuk

May – 30 Jul). Jimmy Deenihan TD,

‘Fiction or Framed’ the Degree Exhibition

searching of the Israeli psyche. As artists and Israeli citizens, they find themselves in

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the

a moment as heirs and perpetuators of a military and oppressive state. It remains to be seen what their provocations will really stimulate. Treasa O’Brien is a filmmaker, writer and curator. Notes (1) For example – ;Trembling Time: Recent Video From Israel; Tate Modern, London (Feb 2010); the dominance of Israeli video artists in major shows such as Documenta, Manifesta, the Venice Biennale; as well as the establishment of a Video Art Centre & Archive at Israel’s CCA in 2000 and the establishment of the Israeli Centre for Digital Art in 2001. (2) Sarid, Yossi, Lieberman’s Dream is Israel’s Nightmare, Haaretz, 14.01.2011. (http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/ lieberman-s-dream-is-israel-s-nightmare-1.336917) and Raimondo, Justin, A Jewish Hitler?, Antiwar.com, 28.10.2006 (http:// original.antiwar.com/justin/2006/10/27/a-jewish-hitler/) (3) Words from the Russian poet Esenin’s Letter to Mother (4) Rosen called it a “loose homage” in a post-screening Q&A in Oberhausen, 06.05.2011

Gaeltacht officially opened the show.

Amanda Coogan and Kieran Cashell. www.hillsborofineart.com

David Haines Reebok Alchemist

2011 for Wexford Campus School of Art (Carlow IT) recently took place (20 – 28

The exhibition is the longest running

‘Going where the weather suits my

May) and was opened by the Belgian

and largest open submission exhibition

clothes… a fall of light on fabric’ was a

artist and curator Els Dietvorst. The

in the country. The exhibition features

group show in Mother’s Tankstation,

show featured work by Ger Davin,

works by Mick O’Dea RHA, Liam Belton

Dublin (13 Apr – 28 May). The show

Emma Doyle, Leigha Dugdale, Tracey

RHA, Pauline Bewick RHA, David Crone

featured works by Ian Burns, caraballo-

Elphinstone, Paula Halligan, Tracy

RHA, Stephen McKenna PPRHA, Martin

farman, Marcus Coates, David Haines,

Holligan, Noelle Hyland, Barbara Kelly,

Gale RHA, Carey Clarke PPRHA, Eilis

Noel McKenna, Richard Mosse, Elizabeth

Ilva Krama, Ethna Monks, Stephen

O’Connell RHA, Alice Maher RHA,

Neel, Deborah Smith and Lynette

O’Neill, Colette Ward and Kate Whitty.

James Hanley RHA, Vivienne Roche

Yiadom-Boakye. As the press release

www.itcarlow.ie

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

July – August 2011

Roundup

COLUMN

Parnell in Berlin

Jonathan Carroll Time is on our Side Time or ‘the moment’ can be a problematic subject. There have been themed exhibitions trying to get ahead of time – 'The Prehistory of the Crisis – I and II', (2008, 2009) at Project, Dublin. There have also been shows seeking to explore the future by looking back – 'Again For Tomorrow' (RCA, London 2006) and those that try to preview future art and artists – for example 'Futures' at the RHA or the annual 'New Contemporaries' in the UK. Jackie Nickerson – work from 'Another Country'

David Beattie White Light

David Beattie’s exhibition ‘A Knowledge of Things Familiar ‘ at Temple Bar Gallery and Studios, Dublin (27 May – 30 June) comprised a series of objects

Eve Parnell Bumble Bee

An exhibition of photographs and drawings by Eve Parnell was recently shown at the Embassy of Ireland in Berlin (8 Apr – 30 June). As the press release

noted,

the

artist

works

transported viewers to “leafy worlds” and “offer another view of the natural

be on the cusp of the now, while also trying to make something that has a more

Another Country

Beattie at TBG&S

and sculptures exploring the theme of vibrations and energy fields. As the press release stated, the show sought to question “our knowledge of ‘things’

These various approaches all tackle the same dilemma – that of attempting to

Millennium Court Arts Centre, Armagh (6 May – 25 June) presented an exhibition Photographer Jackie Nickerson’s works entitled ‘The Past is Another Country’.

durable relivance. And of course it is not a problem confined to the visual arts. The novelist Lionel Shriver commenting on the long road from having a work rejected to becoming a prize-winning writer has said “ I recorded in my journal that my new novel abruptly seems irrelevant and , more dangerously, dated”. These kinds of paradox were nicely encapsulated in the recent exhibition at The

As the press release outlined, the artist’s work

explored

“how

global

Lab, Dublin entitled ‘Public Gesture’ (13 – 19 May) which significantly featured a

homogenisation has affected indigenous

lecture entitled Shaman or Sham? The Myths and Materials of Joseph Beuys given by Dr.

and local culture”.

Ed Krcma of UCC’s Art History Department. This provocatively titled lecture allowed www.millenniumcourt.org

themselves, how we interpret objects in

its audience of students the luxury of questioning the legacy of one of the legends of visual arts; while our pack of eager new art recruits set themselves on the path of

terms of their function, associations and

future success as either visual artists, curators or critics.

meaning”.

‘Public Gesture’ involved four curators and over 13 artists including the usefully

www.templebargallery.com

named Anonymous – all from this year’s intake of the MA in Visual Arts Practices

world”.

(MAVIS) run by IADT Dun Laoghaire. Such a show was bound to contain much conjecture on where we are now – in time; in the moment. The three fairly comprehensive essays included in the exhibition notes, alongside artists’ statments and a map of the exhibition signified the time and brain crunching that went into this exhibition. (Note to self: why is it then that something that takes such effort and Alan Mongey – work from 'Opps Apocalypse'

and supernatural appearance. His

Oops Apocalypse ‘Oops Apocalypse’ a group show curated by Emmet Kierans was recently on show at Occupy Space, Limerick (12 – 29 May). The exhibition featured the works by Beagles & Ramsay, Baldvin Ringsted, Sam Dargan and Alan Mongey that explored the subject of crisis and apocalypse. As the press release pondered “perhaps we have reached the moment Walter Benjamin warned us of, when humankinds self-alienation reaches such a degree that it can experience its own destruction as an aesthetic pleasure of the first order. Or is it the promise of a new beginning that makes the notion of the apocalypse both frightening and strangely

etchings of mutated weeds, brains, birds

appealing.”

Liam O'Callaghan – work from 'Yellow'

Yellow SOMA

Contemporary,

Waterford,

presented “Three Colours – Yellow” the last in a series of exhibitions investigating titled after the three primary Colours and exploring there associated meanings (19 May – 11 June). This show featured works by Aideen Barry, Michael Beirne, Amanda Coogan, Diana Copperwhite, Joe Duggan, Bern Roche Farrelly, Laura Fitzgerald,

Paul & Greg Hallahan,

Jacqueline Johnson, Kevin Mooney, Liam O’ Callaghan, Michael Sieben, Anthony Kelly and David Stalling. www.somacontemporary.com

Peter Surginor – work from 'Seeds from Shelly'

PS SQUARED SHOWS ‘Seeds from Shelley’ Peter Surginor ‘s show at PS squared, Belfast (21 Apr – 4 May) comprised of an installation of ceramic works and prints. The press release observed that “Surginor seems to share Mary Shelley’s gothic and obscure understanding of the world in its natural

Quigley (6 – 13 May). The exhibition was described as exploring “the undertones of society and social exclusion through the medium of drawing”. As the press release further explained both artists work within community contexts and are “influenced by their experiences and encounters with marginalised and at risk groups”. www.madartstudio.com

Japanese earthquake and tsunami of March 11 2011, a mere 2 months before this exhibition. Of course I already expected I was in a ‘news ticker’ exhibition with the inclusion of Anonymous’s Have you signed the Ai Weiwei release petition? If not why not? When placed in this company, Clare-Louise Bligh’s work (a sound piece housed in an ornate birdbox balanced on a well positioned branch) seemed more like a lament either to the nuclear fallout in Japan or the gagging of Ai Weiwei, take your pick. Broadcast throughout the exhibition space, was the humorous / disturbing intermittent grunts and groans of Jessica Conway’s soundbites Ehmm…, adding a lighthearted touch to the idea of a public gesture. Aoife Flynn’s Mike Nelson / Thomas Hirschhorn-like installation, which conjured up a space seemigly left vacant by some unidentified peripheral science inclusion of Paul Klee’s Angelus Novus (1920). I had seen this work similarly included Metzger, a Polish Jewish refugee famous for his Auto-Destructive Art, described his

Previously on show was ‘Give &

exhibition as follows – “Inspired by Paul Klee’s painting Angelus Novus the exhibition

Take’ a group show featuring artists 10

connects Walter Benjamin and Hannah Arendt with Eichmann, and the notion of

artists from the USA, Northern Ireland

history as an angel that looks back through the cataclysms of the past whilst heading

and Scotland (7 – 16 Apr) featuring

towards the future”.

Acitore Z Artezione, Anne Beck, Alexa

Benjamin, Klee and Metzger all had to flee persecution. Benjamin’s plight as he

Hare, Michael Hart, Christine Kesler,

fled over the Pyrenees in September 1940 is of someone running out of a future. But

Vennell.

Spain & Quigley

an exhibition by Jenny Spain and Sarah

Jane Queally’s Polaroid Series happily snapped up the freshest disaster going, the

in Gustav Metzger’s 'Eichmann and the Angel' exhibition in Cubitt, London (2005).

www.pssquared.org

presented ‘The disquiet of the everyday’

stand alone.

beautiful”.

McMullan, Paulina Sandberg, Andrew

MadArt Gallery, Dublin, recently

summation of the various parts made for a greater impact than if the works were to

a new Frankenstein experiment gone

Dietmar Krumrey, Presley Martin, Tonya Jennifer Spain – work from 'the disquiet of the everyday'

The exhibition was well worth a visit, beautifully installed with a cohesion rarely seen in Dublin. This fluency allowed works to blend into each other. The

fiction fan, rather nonchalantly launched us into a completely different era by the http://occupy-space.blogspot.com

and spines made from ceramics are like

time, lasts less than a week as an exhibition?)

Raum at The Goethe The Return Gallery at the GoetheInstitut, Dublin recently hosted an exhibition by Judith Raum (5 May – 17 June). As the press release noted “Since 2009, Judith Raum has engaged in artistic research dealing with the effects of German financial imperialism on the cultural relations between the German and the Ottoman Empire during the early 20th century”. www.geothe.de

Astrid Walsh Seated Woman

Riverbank, Kildare ‘The Counting Prophetess’ Jackie Askew’s exhibition was presented by Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge (7 – 27 May). The show featured a selection of paintings, drawings and photographs made during the artist residency at SIM, Reykjavik, Iceland in late 2010. As the press release outlined, the works explored “the vast emptiness of the Icelandic landscape and the relationship to one’s self that is made possible in it”. The following show was Astrid Walsh’s installation This Was Meant To Be 11 Jun – 1 July). The work incorporated video projection and drawings based on the artists work with the dancer Shelly Nafshi.

Benjamin was constantly concerned with his legacy and the conservation of his archive and writings. He purposely sent on manuscripts, papers and notebooks to friends in many different countries to ensure their survival. With a possible notion of his own time running out, Ai Weiwei used the internet to constantly send out missives on his blog before it was shut down and deleted by the Chinese authorities. He wrote on his blog everyday for four years and said he spent 90% of his energy blogging. Ironically it is the ‘obsolete’ hardcopy publication of this same blog Ai Weiwei’s Blog:Writings, Interviews and Digital Rants, 2006-2009 (edited by Lee Ambrozy, MIT) that has insured its survival. As Public Gesture artist Vukasin Nedelijkovic reminds us in his well presented video work, My Dear Son, “Time passes by it doesn’t wait for anyone”, “we are all slowly but surely perishing”, “fight for status and life” and finally “you have to fight for your place in the sun” Possibly with a notion that this show had too short a lifespan, Siobhan McDonald’s (with Rachel Gilbourne) work 826 is the promised a future performance a month after the closure of the exhibition itself. This perfectly captures that innate desire of contemporary art to always have a forward looking trajectory.

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

July – August 2011

Roundup

www.riverbank.ie

Transforming Ireland

www.clynegallery.com

and Limerick. Des MacMahon, a member

Twenty at IMMA

The Irish Museum of Modern Art is

commented, “There is an honesty about

celebrating its 20th year with an

a city that is quick to inform you if it

exhibition entitled ‘Twenty’ exhibition

doesn’t like you but is equally fast to

and a host of other events (27 May – 31

embrace you if it feels you belong. But it

Oct). ‘Twenty’ features selected works

is people that connect this group of

from 20 younger-generation Irish and

artists to each other and to Belfast”.

The

Ex-Wrestlers

http://exwrestlercollective.com

international artists. Many of these works are being show for the first time,

Carol Anne Connolly – work from 'Transforming Ireland'

Lynch & Hand

having recently been acquired with special funding from the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. As the press release notes, “the new works echo the Museum’s acquisition 20 years ago of works by leading younger artists of the day, many of whom went on to have a close and mutually beneficial relationships with IMMA in the intervening years. In addition to the opening of Twenty, the anniversary celebrations also included poetry readings, artists’

Carol Anne Connolly’s exhibition ‘Transforming Ireland’ was recently on show at Eight gallery, Galway (14 Apr – 22 May). The show took the form of an installation that gathered together an ongoing body of work focussed on the subject of planning and development. The show was described as being concerned with “the misuse of language in development policies” and commented on the “hollowness of official rhetoric vis-à-vis its actualisation”. www.eight.ie

talks, open studios, electro music / video

The Good Hatchery – publicity image for 'Lodestar' Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray.

Everything Must Finally Fall and Nothing

Lodestar ‘Lodestar’ at Mermaid Arts Centre, Wicklow (31 Mar – 5 May) was a collaborative work by The Good Hatchery – artists Carl Giffney and Ruth E. Lyons. The show, which featured a sculptural video installation, was inspired by maritime infrastructure and the landscape of industrial boglands that surround the artist studios in Co. Offaly. As the press release noted ‘Lodestar’ was “an investigation into the magnetism of light, youth culture, Kish lighthouse, destiny and what the artists describe as

Human is Alien to Me. The press release

the ultra-ordinary”.

three of Clarke’s video works: Red Moon,

described Clarke’s work as “thoughtful

www.thegoodhatchery.wordpress.com www.mermaidartscentre.ie

and nostalgic, exploring the fleeting symbols and derelict statues of power, particularly the iconography of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc”. The next show in the space was ‘Hammer and Feather – Experiments in Space’ a group show, curated by Mary Conlon (10 Jun – 2 July) featuring contributions from Tim Acheson, David Beattie, Karl Burke, Cecilia Dannell,

McMorrow and Victoria McCormack. www.engageartstudios.com

FIACH The Hunt Museum, Limerick hosted ‘Fiach’ the annual second year student show from Limerick School of Art and Design (6 – 22 May). The show featured of artworks from the students from LSAD painting department. As the press release stated, the show focussed on the themes of “memory, history, humour, notions of architectural space, celebrity status, identity, location, landscape, light and text” www.huntmuseum.com

of a month-long residency undertaken by the artist at the studios. The works in the show were realised through lensbased media, found imagery and text, the work explored ideas associated with

explored the subject of the spectrum utilising

insights

from

science,

psychology and various philosophies. www.suewalsh.wordpress.com www.ormondstudios.com

David Folan – work from 'Flight Test', Clyne Gallery, Dublin.

CLYNE GALLERY The Clyne Gallery, Dublin recently showed works by Italian born painter and graffiti artist Danilo Quo Vadis in the exhibition ‘Anomalya II’ (4 – 18 June). The show featured a variety of portrait based works, which – as the press release noted – depicted “characters that are left out of society”. Prior to this, the venue presented ‘Flight Test’ a solo show by David Folan (19 – 31 May) featuring sculptural and installation works. The themes explored in the show included the ethics of the commodification of animals and its symbolism for society.

Brian Hand – work from 'Anachrony'

Exhibitions Sean Lynch and Brian Hand were recently on show at The Dock, Leitrim (8 Apr – 4 June). Sean Lynch’s ‘Dear JJ, I read with interest...’ featured an array of artefacts, slide projections, photographs and video work, brought together in a reflection up an unofficial monument to Flann O’Brien’s The Third

AT GAC ‘Strangely Familiar Shades of Gray’ Mary-Ruth Walsh’s exhibition at Galway Arts Centre, presented new video, photographic and sculptural works by the artist (30 Apr – 20 May). As the press release outlined, Walsh’s work explores “ideas pertaining to human interaction with space and more specifically the manner in which architecture affects the way we move and behave within it”. Showing at the same was 'Unfolding Collections’, a group show featuring work by Russell Hart, Isabel Nolan, Aoibheann MacNamara, Sinéad Ní Mhaonaigh. The following show in the space was ‘Post- Fordlandia’ – a collaborative work by Tom Flanagan and Megs Morley. As the press release explained “Fordlandia is a rubber plantation and town constructed in the heart of the Amazonian rainforest and exists as the most poignant existing monument to Ford’s attempt to export his puritanical model of capitalism and the American way of life and assembly line into other parts of the world”. www.galwayartscentre.ie

Policeman located on Carauntoohill, Ireland’s highest mountain.

Brian

Hand’s ‘Anachrony’ looked at a day in the life of Mary Leigh/Miss Morrison a suffragette activist who visited Ireland in the summer of 1912 and was sentenced to 5 years hard labour in Mountjoy jail. As the press release noted, Hands concern

was

re-imagining

with hidden

“mining histories

and of

revolutionary movements”. www.thedock.ie

Michele Horrigan The Belltable, Limerick recently presented a solo exhibition, comprising of three video and photography works by Michele Horrigan (11 Apr – 7 May). As the press release outlined “Horrigan’s work has, for several years, revolved around interpretations of environment and site”. For example the 13-minute video In Ruin Reconciled was based around the ruin of Curragh Chase house. www.michelehorrigan.com

Green on Red Jane Fogerty – work from 'Painting' Talbot Gallery and Studios, Dublin

Painting Talbot Gallery and Studios, Dublin recently presented a solo exhibition by artist Jane Fogarty entitled ‘Painting’ (12 May – 14 June). Fogerty was the 2010 winner of the venues inaugural Most Promising Graduate Award, which comprised of a residency and exhibition. The press release remarked that the artists work “roots itself in the realm of painting, exploring the ontology and materiality of the medium while placing a strong emphasis on the process of creation”. www.talbotgallery.com

Angela Fulcher, Dana Gentile, Ann Maria Healy, Clare Lymer, Laura

and Martina McDonald, was culmination

exhibition featured Walsh’s installation, A Biography of Light that

www.imma.ie

Fall’ (12 – 28 May). The show featured

The exhibition, curated by Kevin Kirwan

Susan Walsh (19 – 22 May). The

Cyprien Gaillard and Dennis McNulty.

Clarke entitled ‘Everything Must Finally

artist James Greenway (14 – 17 April).

several future series’ a solo show by

Jeremy Reed; Itchy Ear; Koudlam &

recently presented a solo show by Declan

‘Pacific Overture’, a new body of work by

Progression of Light: the beginnings of

Gerald Barry, the Crash Ensemble;

gallery venture, The Niland Gallery

Ormond Studios, Dublin presented

The following event was ‘A

Barr; Yasuko Yokosh & Masumi Seyama;

Galway based, Engage Art Studios new

Ormond Shows

Japanese Tsunami Disaster.

from Orla Barry; Jodi Melnick & Burt

Niland Shows

James Greenway – work from 'Pacific Overture'

the Pacific Ocean in light of the recent

performance – featuring contributions

Declan Clarke – work from 'Everthing Must Finally Fall'. Niland Gallery, Galway.

Collective

Inside-Out Photographer and painter Louise Barr’s show ‘Inside-Out’ was presented at The Higher Bridges Gallery, Fermanagh (4 – 27 May). As the press release explained, the exhibition featured works that explored “the idea that images can contain different realities, shown through layers of light, space and time”. www.fermanagh.gov.uk

Distance Platform Arts, Belfast presented ‘Distance 172’ an exhibition by the Limerick based collective Ex-Wrestlers (6 – 14 May). The works in the show focused on the theme of parallels between the cities of Belfast

John Cronin Augmented Reality 2010 (Oil on Aluminium

Blindgänger The Butler Gallery, Kilkenny recently presented Vera Klute’s a solo show ‘Blindgänger’ (7 May – 19 June), which featured a body of work created by the artist over the last two years. The show includes video installations, kinetic sculptures, paintings and drawings. As the press release outlined Klute’s works were concerned with “patterns of behaviour, as well as social and psychological mechanisms” and aimed to address “the human habitat from the viewpoint of a natural scientist attempting to classify and categorise – to find pattern in chaos”. www.verklute.com www.butlergallery

Ronan McCrea 'Autodidact' installation view. Green on Red, Dublin.

Green on Red Gallery, Dublin recently presented John Cronin's exhibition of new paintings entitled ‘Augmented Reality’ (19 May – 19 June). The press release quoted comments by the critic Donald Kuspit on the artist work “Cronin continues to make oil on stretcher paintings of compelling visual force and complexity" Previously on show was Autodidact’ by Ronan McCrea (15 Apr – 14 May), which featured new photographs, audio works, and a slide projection piece. The exhibitionwas described as being concerned with “themes of play and educational institutions, in relation to the photographic and cinematic image”. www.ronanmccrea.com www.greenonredgallery.com

BELFAST EXPOSED ‘The soil and the atmosphere: a civil history according to Mervyn Smyth, Sean McKernan, Gerry Casey and others’ was a group show at Belfast Exposed, that focussed on the early days of the organization – which was founded in 1982 (7 May – 18 June). The press release explained that the images selected for the show “reflect upon the aesthetics of protest and revolution, the power of photography to give individuals a voice and illuminate lived experience within the historical moment”. The following show was ‘ Unseen Women: Stories from Armagh Goal’ by Jolene Mairs (14 – 18 June). The show featured audio and video works that

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

July – August 2011

Roundup

showcased the stories of seven women –

films capture the minutiae of daily life,

one prison officer, one loyalist prisoner,

infusing them with gentle grandeur”. www.derryvoid.com

two teachers and three republican prisoners. www.prisonsmemoryarchive.com www.belfastexposed.org

Haphazard The exhibition ‘Haphazard’ At Catalyst Arts, Belfast (19 – 22 May) showcased the

KERLIN SHOWS

work of 23 emerging artists working in video, sculpture, photography, drawing and installation. The exhibiting Artists included; Josephine Bonner, Stephen Clements, Dave Common, Patrick Creighton, Elizabeth Ann Curistan, Andrew Martin, Hannah McBride, Jennifer McConnell, Caroline McCusker, Claire McKervey, Janice McMullan, Sean

Brian Maguire Apartment House 2010, acrylic on canvas, 81 x 116 cm

The Kerlin Gallery, Dublin presented Brian Maguire’s latest solo show entitled ‘Notes on 14 Paintings’ (8 Apr – 14 May). As the press release noted “Maguire continues to deal with the persistent

O’Sullivan, Niall Owens, Eamon Quinn, Rose Quinn, Rachel Regan, Jade Tracey, Jonny Shields, Laura Wilson, Rebekah Wilson, Victor Wilson and Louise Younger. www.catalystarts.org.uk

inequalities inherent in societies across the globe two elements characterise and define this exhibition”.

Genealogies

The following show at the gallery was ‘Repo Man’ (20 May – 25 June) a group show featuring works by Fiona Hallinan, Sam Keogh, Ruth E. Lyons and Joseph Noonan-Ganley. Second Burial Alex Martinis Roe – publicity / research image for 'Genealogies, Frameworks for Exchange.

Alex Martinis Roe’s show ‘Genealogies; Frameworks for Exchange’ was recently presented at Pallas Projects, Dublin (6 May – 4 June). As the press release explained “Roe’s practice is concerned

Sarah Brown 'Second Burial at Le Blanc' installation view. Project, Dublin

with the performative efficacy of art and facilitating feminist relations both

Sarah Browne’s ‘Second Burial at Le

within the art encounter and its

Blanc’ At Project Arts Centre, Dublin (5

historicization”. The show featured pre-

May – 25 June) was focussed on the

recorded Skype conversations between

small French town of Le Blanc, where

academics, a workshop facilitated by

local people still use the French Franc.

Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, a

As the press release noted “Produced

box-file entry into the library of Dublin’s

against a backdrop of extreme economic

Goethe Institut, a publication and an

vulnerability, both internationally and

exhibition at Pallas Projects. www.pallasprojects.org

in Ireland, Browne’s project hones in on a community story that becomes the lens through which to examine the depth of emotional investment, and resistance to change, in economic systems”. www.project.ie www.sarahbrowne.info

Get into The Roundup

News

society, by breaking down the barrier

as members of the new curatorial panel.

DC2011 Line Up Dublin Contemporary have announced the full list of participating artists in the programme for the international art exhibition to be held in Dublin from 6 September – 31 October 2011. The new announcements feature a wide range of both established and emerging artists from Ireland as well as international artists. The full list is as follows: David Adamo, Alexandre Arrechea, Kader Attia, Nina Berman, Anna Bjerger, Jorge Méndez Blake, Alberto Borea, The Bruce High Quality Foundation, Tania Bruguera, Fernando Bryce, Ella Burke, Alan Butler, Matt Calderwood, Ludovica Carbotta, Jota Castro, Catalyst MULTIPLE, Chen Chieh-jen, Mark Clare, Declan Clarke, Cleary and Connolly, James Coleman, Amanda Coogan, Mark Cullen, Dexter Dalwood, Alain Declercq, James Deutsher, Alberto di Fabio, Braco Dimitrijević, Willie Doherty, Graham Dolphin, Wang Du, Brian Duggan, Masashi Echigo, Maarten Vanden Eynde, Omer Fast, mounir fatmi, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Doug Fishbone, Claire Fontaine, Fernanda Fragateiro, Nicole Franchy, Kendell Geers, David Godbold, Goldiechiari, Assaf Gruber, S Mark Gubb, Patrick Hamilton, Thomas Hirschhorn, Katie Holten, Ciprian Homorodean, Simona Homorodean, Jaki Irvine, Áine Ivers, Mark Jenkins, Kysa Johnson, Patrick Jolley, Wendy Judge, Jannis Kounellis, Nevan Lahart, Jim Lambie, Brian Maguire, Kathryn Maguire, Teresa Margolles, Maser, Stefana McClure, Siobhan McGibbon, Carola Mücke, Bjørn Melhus, Miks Mitrevics, Christine Molloy & Joe Lawlor, Richard Mosse, Alice Neel, Liam O’Callaghan, Manuel Ocampo, Brian O’Doherty, Mairead O’hEocha, Eamon O’Kane, Niamh O’Malley, Claudio Parmiggiani, Alejandro Almanza Pereda, Dan Perjovschi, William Powhida, Wilfredo Prieto, Fred Robeson, Ciara Scanlan, Mathias Schweizer, Marinella Senatore, Guy Richards Smit, Nedko Solakov, Superflex, Jeanne Susplugas, Jorge Tacla, Javier Téllez, Vedovamazzei, Corban Walker, Ishmael Randall Weeks, Lisa Yuskavage, David Zink Yi.

between the private and the public”.

TBG+S wishes to thank Aoife Tunney

Speaking about the work purchased

and Mary Cremin for their contribution

through the award, Noel Kelly, CEO of

over the past year and welcomes Paul

Visual Artists Ireland commented

McAree to the organisation.

www.dublincontemporary.com

University and a member of the National

“Ruth’s work ‘Private Thoughts, Public

Paul McAree is an artist and curator.

Spaces’ displayed a keen awareness of

He is founder of Flood Dublin (www.

staging, framing, and lighting. Her topics

flooddublin.com), a contemporary art

have a resonance for everyman, and the

project in Dublin city, which has

pared back presentation ensured that a

commissioned new works from artists

wide range of audiences could engage

including Theresa Nanigian, Flávia

with her work.’

Müller Medeiros and Terry Atkinson.

Further details on Ruth’s work can

Flood aims to develop its presence in

be found on her website at http://www.

Dublin city, building on its commitment

ruthconnolly.com

to present artworks in alternative ways, from printed projects to organising

Dublin Design Capital?

exhibitions in temporary locations.

Dublin is one of just three cities

McAree is also currently Exhibitions &

worldwide to be short-listed to become

Events Coordinator for Lismore Castle

World Design Capital 2014. The

Arts, Co Waterford. He was co-founder

International Council of Societies of

and curator of Colony Gallery in

Industrial Design (ICSID) announced

Birmingham, which ran from 2005 –

that the prestigious designation, awarded

2008. Additionally, McAree was Project

biannually to cities that use design to

Manager for ‘Breaking Ground’ the

benefit people socially, culturally and

Ballymun per cent for art programme

economically will be awarded for 2014

from 2005 to 2010.

The winning city will be announced this autumn. The Dublin bid, ‘Pivot Dublin, Turn Design Inside Out’ is a collaboration between

the

four

Dublin

local

authorities. www.pivotdublin.com

New Arts Council Director The Arts Council has announced the appointment of Orlaith McBride as its new Director. The appointment was approved today by the Arts Council following an applications and interview process run by the Public Appointments Service. Orlaith will take up her position in September.

VAI Directors Award

the roundup to the editor

Ruth Connolly, Limerick School of Art &

VOID SHOWS

(jason@visualartists.ie).

Design, is the winner of the Visual Artists

‘Park Ave and resident’ Ackroyd and

■■ Your text details / press release

Ireland Director’s Award 2011. Visual

Harvey’s show at The Void Gallery, Derry

should include: venue name,

Artists Ireland is pleased to announce

(31 May – 15 Jul) considered themes of

location, dates and a brief

Ruth Connolly, Limerick School of Art &

ecology, architecture, sculpture, and

description of the work / event.

Design Graduate Show 2011, as the

photography. The exhibition was curated

■■ Inclusion is not guaranteed, but

winner of the Visual Artists Ireland

by Gregory McCartney. As the press

we aim to give everyone a fair

Director’s Award 2011.

release outlined their show made

chance.

“explicit

McBride has worked in the arts for Visual Artists Ireland’s information is

organisations including local authorities,

also available through Twitter (@

arts-in-education, youth arts and theatre.

VisArtsIreland),

She has produced the National Youth

Artists Ireland), an eMailing list, and

Theatre at the Peacock Theatre since

Newsfeeds so that people can easily

2007. She is the President of the National

find out what is going on around the

Youth Council of Ireland, a member of

country.

served as a member of the Arts Council for over 7 years, was a member of the Dublin City Council Strategic Policy Committee (Arts and Youth) from 20042009 and was a member of the Arts Council Special Committee on the Arts and Education. www.artscouncil.ie

TBG+S Curatorial Studio Award

■■ Our criteria is primarily to

recognizes the work of a student who

Temple Bar Gallery + Studios is pleased

political ecologies by highlighting the

ensure that the roundup

through their presentation at their

to announce the recipient of its Curator/

temporal nature of processes of growth

section has a good regional

graduate show is showing ability and

Critic’s studio award for 2011/12. Following an open call and a panel

with

urban

and decay in sites of architectural and

spread and represents a

also a keen awareness of presentation

ecological interest”.

diversity of forms of practice,

selection process, curator and artist Paul

The previous exhibition ‘Company’

from a range of artists at all

and professionalism. The winner receives €1000 in prize money that

a solo show by Margaret Salmon (12 Apr

stages in their careers.

includes the purchasing of a work to be

occupancy of studio 27 at Temple Bar

– 13 May) was curated by Susanne Stich.

■■ Priority is given to events taking

placed in the Visual Artists Ireland

Gallery + Studios from 1st June.

The gallery notes explained, “Margaret

place within Ireland, but do let

collection. With

McAree was selected to take up

In 2010/11 the award was given to a

mix

mounted

Salmon creates stylized portraits that

us know if you are taking part

weave together poetry and documentary.

in a significant international

photographs, neon signage, and slide

independent

Focusing on individual characters in

event.

projections, Ruth Connolly’s work “deals

contributed greatly to the exhibition

with creating a common bond within

programme at TBG+S over the past year

their everyday habitats, her slow-moving

Facebook

(Visual

the Governing Authority of Dublin City

In its second year, the award

connections

VAI ONLINE EVENTS CALENDAR Visual Artists Ireland launched a new events and deadlines calendar feature in its comprehensive guide to what’s on in the Visual Arts in Ireland on 11 May. The new calendar features details on forthcoming deadlines, visual art exhibitions, events, festivals, talks and conferences across Ireland. The calendar is broken down across regions, and provides details of exhibitions openings and what’s on across Ireland on a day to day basis. The feature is yet another free service provided by Visual Artists Ireland to increase awareness of the visual arts across Ireland.

over 15 years across a broad range of arts

Youth Work Advisory Committee. She

■■ Simply e-mail text and images for

www.templebargallery.com

to either Dublin, Bilbao or Cape Town.

Mary Cremin and Aoife Tunney, two curators

who

have

ANGLO ART DONATED TO IMMA The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan, TD, recently (Wednesday 25 May 2011) welcomed the donation of 18 important artworks from Anglo Irish Bank to the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA). The donation comprises works by Sean Scully, Elizabeth Magill, Barrie Cooke, Mark Francis, Stephen McKenna, Nick Miller, Edward Delaney, Cheung Eun Mo, Charles Brady and Kim en Joong. Speaking during an advance visit to IMMA’s ‘Twenty’ exhibition, Minister Deenihan said: “This very generous donation represents the ideal birthday present for the museum, which opened its doors exactly 20 years ago today. In that time the museum has done an extraordinary job of building up the scale and scope of its collection, which now comprises more than 2,350 works”. Mike Aynsley, Group Chief Executive of Anglo Irish Bank, said: “A decision was taken by the Bank that it would be appropriate to begin the

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

July – August 2011

ERRATA

news process of reducing the Bank’s art collection and making these pieces available for public viewing. I am delighted to present these pieces to IMMA, one of our most innovative national cultural institutions. .” Commenting on the donation, IMMA Director Enrique Juncosa said: “The gift of 18 works by such distinguished and well loved artists will provide a tremendous stimulus for new and exciting exhibitions from our collection, from large-scale shows like 'The Moderns' to more focused exhibitions such as 'Twenty.' It will also greatly extend the choice of work available for the many exhibitions which we organise all around Ireland each year as part of our unique National Programme and for our frequent loans to sister institutions abroad.” www.imma.ie

COW HOUSE STUDIOS Cow House Studios is pleased to announce their 2011 Artists in Residence. Hilary Wilder (USA), Sabina Mac Mahon (Ireland), Antony Clarkson (UK) and Shiro Masuyama (Japan) will participate in the residency from 18 September until 27 November. During the autumn of 2012, all four artists will exhibit in a group show that will travel to the Wexford Arts Centre and Monster Truck Gallery, Dublin. www.cowhousestudios.com.

MUTE MEADOW Following six years of planning and months of construction work, the largest public artwork on the island of Ireland is almost complete. Located on the banks of the River Foyle, the sculpture Mute Meadow will change Derry / Londonderry’s skyline . Designed by London based artists Vong Phaophanit, a former Turner Prize Nominee (1993), and Claire Oboussier, the £800,000 iconic artwork marks the regeneration of Derry / Londonderry as it gets set to become the first UK City of Culture in 2013. When completed, Mute Meadow will be accessible via the new Peace Bridge which will stretch across the River Foyle linking the city centre with Ebrington, a former British military site. As Derry / Londonderry unites to shed its image as a divided city, Mute Meadow is a dramatic symbol of its transformation from a city of conflict to a city of culture. Stretching out across the waterfront, the sculpture is made up of 40 pairs of angled steel columns, lit at the base to resemble a shimmering ‘forest of light’. The paired structures begin at the old army parade ground, running down to the River Foyle. The columns range in height from 6 metres to 10 metres. A specially designed lighting programme will convert sound data collected from the residents of the city into gently animated projections of coloured light, giving local people an unmatched opportunity to contribute directly to the project. Through a community engagement programme, facilitated by the Verbal Arts Centre, residents have been invited over recent months to capture their sounds of the city. Recordings, including poetry

recitals, traffic noise, music and conversations, will now be collected on an ongoing basis, to be transformed into light waves. These will create the distinctive patterns of coloured light which will be used to illuminate the light installation. TBG&S NEW LOOK A new phase at Temple Bar Gallery and Studios was ushered in by Jimmy Deenihan TD, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht on Thursday 12 May. A new look website and visual identity and details of an ambitious artistic programme for 2011 / 2012 were unveiled to a significant gathering from the arts and business communities. Artist Rhona Byrne created a new, site specific sculptural installation entitled An Internal Other, a large inflatable sculpture made out of transparent pink plastic. This monumental work was made specially for the launch, and was situated over four floors of the TBG+S building, snaking through the large central atrium vent and outside the into Temple Bar. Established in 1983 by a group of artists, Temple Bar Gallery and Studios has played an important role in Ireland’s visual arts infrastructure for 28 years now. Today, with a new management team, new look identity and website and an ambitious new artistic programme for 2011/2012, Temple Bar Gallery and Studios has put last year’s 35.5% Arts Council funding cut behind it and emerged with a new confidence and vigour. A capital grant from the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism in 2010 allowed for redevelopment works for the gallery. Speaking at the re-launch, Minister Deenihan said: “Temple Bar Gallery and Studios has played a central role in the cultural life of Dublin since it was first established in 1983. It is both encouraging and inspiring to see this organisation moving forward with a new vision and a determination to consolidate its critical position in the visual arts. It seems a particularly apt time, as this year marks the 20th anniversary of the development of Temple Bar”. “This is a very positive moment for TBG&S. We are pleased to present the fruits of the energy and hard work of the last year to you, our important stakeholders and supporters. Our vision is to continue to develop and grow TBG+S, as a national arts organisation in providing subsidised artists’ studios and a vibrant and relevant contemporary exhibitions’ programme. We have an ambitious programme of activities planned for 2011/2012 including solo exhibitions of new work by Irish artists David Beattie, Martin Healy and Liam O’Callaghan. In the year ahead, we look forward to building-up a strong community of support for TBG&S, developing new audiences for our work and opening our doors to possible new collaborations,” said Claire Power, head, Temple Bar Gallery and Studios. TBG&S’s artistic programme for 2011-2012 will feature seven exhibitions, a weekend Art Book and

Magazine Fair in December and a schedule of visiting international artists and curators. Exhibiting artists include (Group Show) Aleksandra Domanovic, Joel Holmberg Parker Ito, Eilis McDonald, Jonathan Rafman; (Solo) David Beattie (IRE); (Group Show) John Stezaker, Maurizio Anzeri, Ruth Claxton and Mariana Mauricio; (Solo) Martin Healy (IRE); (Group) Karl Burke (IRE), Dennis McNulty (IRE), Aoife Desmond. (IRE), CULTURSTRUCTION: Jo Ann Butler & Tara Kennedy, The Good Hatchery – Ruth Lyons and Carl Giffney, Rhona Byrne; (Solo): Liam O’Callaghan and the final exhibition of 2012, ‘Lights, Camera, Action’ will explore cinematic in art. www.templebargallery.com

FIRE STATION BURSARY Fire Station has awarded the Sculpture Workshop Residency & Bursary for June – December 2011 to artists Ruth E. Lyons and Christopher Boland. For January – June 2012 this residency and bursary has been awarded to Eva Walsh and Niall de Buitlear. The artists will have full access to the sculpture workshop, part time workshop manager, workshop equipment and other resources in the Fire Station along with a bursary of E500 each. Digital Media Residencies for the period June – December 2011 have been awarded to the following visual artists: Ruth Clinton & Niamh Moriarty, Jennifer Brady, Caroline Campbell, Lisa Marie Johnson, Stephen Gunning and Maria McKinney. Each artist, over a four month period, will have full access to the Resource Centre, digital editing suite, part time resource area manager and access at a subsidised rate to all the digital media equipment at Fire Station. www.firestation.ie/facilities.

PRIX DE ROME 2011 Priscila Fernandes has been Short-listed for Prix de Rome 2011 for her show at SMART Project Space, Amsterdam. The Prix de Rome exhibition features new work by four shortlisted artists (Priscila Fernandes, Ben Pointeker, Pilvi Takala and Vincent Vulsma), shown alongside works from long list nominees (Gwenneth Boelens, Mark Boulos, Petra Stavast, Edward Clydesdale Thomson, Guido van der Werve, Katarina Zdjelar). The winning artist will be announced at a celebratory event on 9 June 2011. The Prix de Rome award is €85,000 with€45,000 going to the winner, €20,000 to the second prize and €10,000 each for the other shortlisted artists. Priscila Fernandes studied at the National College of Art and Design – BA Hons Painting (Dublin, 2006) and exhibited in several Irish galleries such as: Green on Red Gallery, The Lab, Ashford Gallery, Cavanacor Gallery and Four Gallery. After graduating from a Master of Fine Art at the Piet Zwart Institute (Rotterdam, 2010), she is now living and working in the Netherlands. www.prixderome.nl / www.smartprojectspace.net

HIAP & TBG&S RESIDENCY Independent curator, cultural programmer and artist Jon Irigoyen, based in Helsinki and Barcelona, has

been selected for the curatorial residency at TBG&S in Dublin. The residency will take place in September 2011. This collaborative residency is organised by HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Programme, FRAME – The Finnish Fund for Art Exchange, the Finnish Institute in London and TBG+S. The upcoming curatorial project at the Temple Bar Gallery and Studios in Dublin, carried out with the participation of Finnish and Irish artists, works with the concept of heterotopia – Foucault’s dream of a “science” of “other spaces” – and its relation to mythical and real situations in which we live. The Irish artist selected for the HIAP residency in August – October 2011 is independent curator and artist Alan Phelan.

March / April 2011

Kristina Huxley, Work created and exhibited at 'Mark Rothko International Plein Air')

Apologies to Anne Harkin-Petersen and Kristina Huxley. In the article entitled Honouring Rothko, that appeared on page 29 of the March / April 2011 edition of the Visual Artists News Sheet; the images were incorrectly captioned and cropped. Here are the correct details and configurations for these images –

www.hiap.fi / www.jonirigoyen.com

STUDIO VISIT BLOG From the Studio of…, is a new contemporary art blog featuring studio visit write-ups from around Ireland, is up and running. The online journal presents the work of contemporary visual artists as seen in their studios. Through studio visits, which may take the form of interview, conversation or an informal presentation of work by the artist, the blog hopes to provide an insight into the processes, research and practice behind the work made in the artist’s studio.

Anne Harkin-Petersen Work created and exhibited at 'Mark Rothko International Plein Air'

fromthestudioof.com/artists/emma-roche

VISUAL & Eigse Visual Centre for Contemporary Art have collaborated with Éigse Carlow Arts Festival to present a series diverse exhibitions this summer (10 June –21 Aug). ‘In a Place in Time’ comprises a diverse range of works primarily from the AIB Collection, many of which have not previously been exhibited. The artists and works chosen have been combined to reflect the themes of construction, habitats and movement. This loose thematic offers a diverse exhibition which initiates new dialogues between works from the AIB Collection. ‘Constellations’ features works selected from the Éigse Open submission. Curated by Emma Lucy O'Brien, the show includes work by Twenty artists including Susan Connolly, Remco de Fouw, Gareth Jenkins, Maggie Madden, Fiona Mulholland and Magnhild Opdøl. Bridget O'Gorman’s solo show ‘Calling 059...’ is descrived as presenting “an intimate micro museum of objects, delicately dealing with human natures capacity to continuously reinvent itself”. VISUAL is also collaboration with Éigse on the presentation of ‘A Space For Learning’, an educational project initiated and delivered nationwide by the Irish Architectural Foundation. This interactive exhibition questions received ideas of spaces for learning, inviting visitors to engage with the students designs. www.visualcarlow.ie

Sarmite Teviane, and Farida Zaletilo at the Rothko Memorial, Dubavpils

March / April 2011 In response to Seán O Sullivan's article Practice that appeared on page 18 of the March – April 2011 edition of the Visual Artists News Sheet, the Good Hatchery have contacted us with the following comment and clarification – “The Good Hatchery would like to clarify that we do apply for, and have received, capital investment from both public and private bodies. It is not our policy to refuse any funding from anyone. It is crucial to the development of The Good Hatchery and we are extremely grateful for all the support that has been generously given to us by many bodies and individuals. This has included direct funding from The Irish Arts Council, Offaly County Council, Visual Artists Ireland and The Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport. Further funding for publishing and exhibition making has been generously given by Waterford City Council, Next Door Off Licences, Smart Ply, the Callan Community Network, the Callan Co-Op and the many galleries that we have worked with including Soma Contemporary, The Irish Museum of Contemporary Art and Place gallery. The many investments made by Eileen Hanlon and our other friends and families can not be understated."

The Visual Artists’ News sheet

July – August 2011

REGioNAl PRoFilE

Visual Arts Resources & Activity: Galway Process & Pattern

Temporary & Permanent

Redress 2010, stills from video installation by Vivienne dick and Áine Phillips, photographs by declan Sheridan.

ben Sloat,Packages from China, April 2010

126 is Galway’s first artist-led exhibition space. A non-profit organisation, it was first established in 2005 by local artists Austin Ivers and Ben Geoghegan in response to the urgent need for more noncommercial gallery spaces in Galway. The goals of 126 are to provide local, national and international artists with a platform to develop new experimental artistic projects and exhibitions. 126 aims to create and develop new channels of communication through projects on location, as well as gallery exchanges. 126’s collaborative working process aims to be: open-ended; debatable; involve several individuals; gives identity to the group, create a system, a process, a pattern; make visible the invisible; represent national collective identities; formed around a unique set of relational terms; involved in activist concerns; a group collaboration united around a common set of practices and values; a collective which challenges and parodies bureaucratic structures. As a non-profit, publicly funded gallery space, 126 makes decisions on an artistic rather than an economic basis. As such, 126 has been gaining recognition and support as a place of cultural innovation in Ireland and is becoming an integral part of Galway’s cultural fabric. Each exhibition differs conceptually. Each show adds to the definition of contemporary art in Ireland today. As a result the gaps between the West, East and South of the country are reduced and opened up by 126. Our dynamics vary in comparison with the established art institution in the way 126 curates each individual show. The board strives to stand outside the capitalist mainstream of the institution and believes in Habermas’s theory of the ‘free public sphere’. 126 goes against the grain of the commercial and institutional remit, seeking to develop one working methodology. Networks and partnerships are created with the institution of 126, while remaining independent. Member artists contribute to the success of 126, as they offer a vital, alternative for the creation of an experimental programme that challenges the norm and questions our social, economic and political ideologies in Ireland today. 126’s ethos is based on the membership and the democratic curatorial strategy, as well as the healthy turn around of the board over a two-year period. This is vital to maintaining fresh opinions and ideas, which prevents stale repetition. Currently on the board are six practising artists: Vicky Smith, Siobhan McGibbon, David

Finn, Jereon Van Dooren, Zulaikha Engelbrecht and Tadhg Curran. 126 have just taken part in Influx Art Fair in a magnificent four storey building which Occupy Space, Limerick have successfully inhabited. This feeds into the current vision for 126 while developing healthy networks, exchanges and an exciting display of artist led experimental board of artists. This space is an asset for local artists in Galway. 126 provides resources for its members, artists and recent graduates. This develops a strong base for artists to meet, take part in events, talks, open submissions, members shows and attend the annual general meetings where new board members are voted in. By doing this they add to the vision of 126. The activities of 126 are generously supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, Galway City Council and its membership. Our current exhibition ‘Beyond Guilt Trilogy’ is a new international exhibition by Ruti Sela and Maayan Amir who showed last year at the sixth Berlin Biennale. The Beyond Guilt addresses the undermining power relationship between photographer and the photographed, men and women, the public domain, the private sphere, object and subject. As the film’s directors Sela and Amir take an active part in the event. They seduce the interviewees on the one hand, and turn the camera over to them on the other as part of the relationship between the photographer and subject. Recent shows include ‘Darren Barrett: Artlessness: The Cultural Logic of Nonceptuality’; ‘Community Scratch Games’; ‘Let’s See What Happens Part 2’, ‘Maria Hannon: 126 Residency’; ‘Wishful Thinking’, curated by Matt Packer from The Lewis Glucksman Gallery; a travelling programme of selected 16mm film by contemporary international artists: Luke Fowler, Jaki Irvine, Ursula Mayer, Rosalind Nashashibi, Roman Ondak, João Maria Gusmão & Pedro Paiva, Deborah Stratman and Moira Tierne. The future of 126 is exciting. 126 aims to develop its programme internationally through exchanges, publish a 126 journal and expand the premises in the future by developing links with a new arts development ‘The Laundry’ in Galway. 126 may then develop experimental residencies, night schools and touring exhibitions. 126 decides its route. Vicky Smith 126 Chairperson and board member

gALWAY has always been known as a city of

This usually consists of screenings of films and

festivals and culture, but it seems to me that in

videos, live art, installation work and music –

recent years there has been a marked increase in

including sound installation. The evening is free

contemporary art events, new gallery spaces and

and is generally well attended. Each curator

experimental film in the city. The main

introduces a new set of artists’ work, a new approach

contemporary arts festival is Tulca, which takes

and emphasis, which results in a very eclectic and

place throughout the city each year. Throughout

lively mix which has simply taken off on its own

the year, The Galway Arts Centre showcases new

energy.

work by artists from the West of Ireland and elsewhere.

We make sure the equipment is there and set up correctly and try to help the artists source what

Other long established galleries like Kenny’s

they require. We have found that the evening works

and Norman Villa have always had painting and

best with a programme, which is not over long,

print exhibitions but aside from these venues, there

when there are breaks between performances or

are a number of other active temporary and

screenings so people can talk and go to the bar and

permanent spaces and centres of activity such as

we try to have it start on time. Guest curators have

Mart, Enso Live Art Project, Artisit, The Engage

included Michele Horrigan, Tom Flanagan, Alice

Studios, Lorg Printmakers and Ard Bia gallery. 126 is

Maher, Ruby Wallis, Alan Lambert amongst others

an example of an artist-run gallery which has

and in the past three years hundreds of artists have

managed to survive well and new spaces continue

shown or performed there. People have been very

to appear with the recession – the dock shed being

generous with their time and energy and equipment

an example of an excellent space used by GMIT

loans. Jim Ricks has designed many of the posters

sculpture students for their recent degree show.

for the events. Tom Sheridan of Eight Bar has

We are somewhat deprived in Galway where

supported the event since the beginning, providing

cinema is concerned. We thought when the Eye

the venue and much of the equipment. We have

opened it might provide an alternative programming

also been supported by Tulca, 126 and have received

but that was not the case. We do have a programme

some funding from Galway City Council and the

of screenings on Sundays at the Town Hall during

Arts Council. We are hoping to take Live @ 8 on

the academic year, but this can be very selective and

tour this year. We already had a successful outing at

bypass many interesting films, which reach Dublin.

Occupy Space in Limerick recently and plan to go to

There are plans for a new repertory cinema right in

The Trades Club in Sligo on August 5th, and to The

the centre of the town opposite the museum.

Guesthouse in Cork in September and Exchange in

Hopefully, whatever is obstructing the completion

Dublin in December. See the blogspot at http://live-

of this building will be resolved soon. The Film

at-eight.blogspot.com for updates.

Fleadh takes place each year in July and for a

I moved back from London to live and work in

number of years it supported an experimental

Galway about 11 years ago. It can be challenging to

programme, several of which I was happy to

be making the sort of films I make without the sort

programme. Enso continued with this and

of community of like-minded filmmakers one finds

expanding to include a series of outdoor screenings

in cities. I have integrated myself more into the art

by the Spanish Arch. For the past number of years

world here and found the support I need there

we have had Different Directions, an excellent

instead. That has been very productive in terms of

weekend experimental film festival organised by

moving in other directions. An example of this

Fergus Daly, Katherine Waugh and Tom Flanagan

would be my work with Áine Phillips on her recent

and in June last year Julian Dorgere organised a

‘Redress Project’. Currently I am working with

Super 8 festival which was a great success.

Olwen Fouéré and Jennifer Walshe and others on a

Live @ 8 has been running since 2008. It is a

new film which I am in the process of making and

contemporary bi-monthly art evening which has

which has been funded by an Arts Council Project

been taking place in Galway at Bar 8 on Dock Road. Áine Phillips, Maeve Mulrennan and I administer it

Award. The film will be about war, vulnerability and

and have curated some of the evenings. We also

Vivienne Dick

invite curators from all over the country – and sometimes from abroad, to programme each event.

otherness.

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

July – August 2011

REGIONAL PROFILE

Art at the Centre

More Means More

Declan Clarke Everything must Finally Fall 2011. NIland Gallery. Intallation view. Photo: Jim Ricks.

Simon Flemming Same but different 2011

Knee Jerk 'Fort Building Workshop.' January 2011

The aim of Galway Arts Centre’s visual arts policy is to have sustained meaningful engagement with the people of Galway City through various activities. This means enabling artists and arts audiences of all ages to take creative risks and pursue new opportunities in an accessible, engaging and challenging environment. The gallery programme is supported by auxiliary events such as talks and

Not Abel Credence

screenings. The current policy focuses on three

received funding to work with teenagers in the last

areas: engagement with audiences, partnerships

three years, which has enriched our programme.

and education; support for artists; exhibitions that

We are currently working towards having a youth

place innovation and risk as their main objectives.

Forum that works with us on programming for

The ethos of our visual arts programme is to

young people in GAC.

put the artist first. However, this is getting

The plethora of artist-led activities now taking

increasingly harder with budget restrictions and

place in Galway, have made us feel like we are part

cuts. We have to find more inventive ways of

of a wider visual art community. We try to support

spending our funding and working with artists.

recent graduates such as the A-Merge collective

One example of this is converting our storeroom

and are fully supportive of Adapt, an umbrella

into a 24-hour access artist’s studio. The curatorial

group working towards using slack spaces for

strategy aims to be as open as possible, allowing for

production and exhibition purposes.

the artist to consider how they want to respond to

Long term investment and changes in

the gallery. As well as our open submission (this

perception about the role and value of the visual

year’s deadline is 30 November), artists are also

arts, are needed if we are to keep up with our peers

directly invited to exhibit. There is usually a

in other Irish cities. Galway christened itself the

decision made between the artist, and us as to how

‘culture capital’ of Ireland a long time ago, but

to respond to our Georgian building.

nothing significant has developed since. There is a

Our activities are primarily gallery-based, with a new exhibition every six weeks. We aim to be

new generation of visual artists who want to change this.

flexible and incorporate once off artist-led events

It is essential that art is not seen as something

into our programme – for example ‘Performance Is

to merely attract tourists and to add ‘colour’ – it is

…’ curated by Victoria McCormack, Knee-Jerk’s Fort

something that every person living in Galway has

Building

forthcoming

a right to access. GAC have been working with the

‘Contemporary Art and the Moving Image’

National Campaign for the Arts and our aim is that

screenings in July. We also work with festivals, such

the government understands that the arts are an

as Tulca and Galway Arts Festival on major

important element of the city. It can get quite

exhibitions.

disheartening constantly having to defend your

workshop

and

the

A growing part of our programme is our

right to practice but our ethos is that if we receive

audience development and engagement policy.

taxpayers’ money, then we have to justify what we

Since 2005 we have run ‘Burning Bright’, a large city

do. It is hoped that it is a realistic, and not naïve

and countywide project, where artists work with

assumption that the government will accept the

older people in residential care and day centres on

importance of the arts in Galway and in Ireland.

processed based art workshops. We then exhibit the

Maeve Mulrennan,

work; and have a party afterwards. We have also

Visual Arts Officer, Galway Arts Centre

The Niland Gallery is a new visual arts space in Galway City centre. The gallery is a large, converted disused commercial space that is in use for the remainder of 2011. It is an Engage Art Studio project that has been made possible with the generous support of Oliver Niland and an Arts Council Project Award. I should begin with a little background to explain how this endeavour came about. It doesn’t take much digging to demonstrate that there is a lack of visual arts infrastructure in Galway city. The demand for visual arts exhibition space is consistent since I’ve moved to the area six years ago, as on a nearly annual basis groups of local artists come together to form collectives, projects, spaces. Some have succeeded in becoming pillars in the visual arts community. Others have moved on or produced successful one off projects. And the demand for more, bigger, better remains. In recent years myself and other artists have gotten together to try and capture the public’s attention with proposals for major exhibition and working centres like Féach and The Laundry. But these projects take years and cost significant sums of money. And there is always today and the more immediate needs for additional venues and artistrun projects. The Galway Arts Centre runs a strong contemporary programme. It offers itself as an important venue for artists, but as an institution housed in an old listed building it cannot be as flexible, spontaneous or experimental as the local community demands. And it is only one space in a city of the arts. My own interest and involvement in working on the development of visual arts infrastructure began after graduating from the Burren College of Art in 2007. I approached the then infant organisation of 126 and offered a helping hand. A few days later I was on the Board. While I was drawn to the new gallery for its anti-commercial methodology and democratic structure, it became clear that its location in an industrial estate was working against its aims. I spearheaded the successful efforts to relocate the gallery in the city centre. After much looking, negotiating and discussion it ended up in an old bike shop around the corner from Eyre Square. Looking towards urban gallery spaces abroad, the space was renovated accordingly. As my two years came to a close, it was clear that now that Galway had an Arts Centre and 126 in town, it needed another exhibition space to support experimental contemporary art. My belief is that more means only more and that everyone benefits from a vibrant creative community. The investigations involved in moving 126 gave me a working knowledge of Galway real estate, but I was interested in a bargain and became inspired by the innovative solutions the City of Limerick was

supporting with the likes of Occupy Space. Adapt Galway was formed by myself of Engage Art Studios and Emer Hughes of Groundworks Studios to open up discussion amongst existing visual arts groups. Calling for a Creative Limerickstyle plan for the creative re-use of slack spaces was quickly agreed upon. The practicalities of insurance and limited available locations, coupled with an ambivalent community of landlords have delayed this avenue for the time being. The conversation with Oliver Niland began over a year ago. I built up a rapport with him and discussed at some length my vision for a gallery in town. I learned that this was the same Niland family involved in collecting paintings in Sligo and for which the Model Niland had been named. I saw the windowless storage space in the Niland House building, offered to name the space after him and suggested a plan to use the space for Culture Night, Tulca and to run the space for 2011. I outlined the benefits to him as the prospect of housing a successful, rent paying, gallery in the future and supporting the arts in his hometown, carrying on the family legacy. I also suggested that Engage Art Studios be the body that takes the responsibility of running it. Following some minor renovations, such as the removal of piles of debris, building of partitions, painting of walls and floors, repairs made to the front door, etc., and a beautiful show of Engage members for Tulca, in March Mr Niland gave the go ahead for the project and The Niland Gallery was born. Our programme for the space is largely based on the Project Award we received for a curatorial programme that brings young, innovative curators from Limerick, Belfast and Dublin to Galway to organise exhibitions and to work, in some way shape or form, with Engage’s artists. This is proving to be very exciting way of creating real relationships with local artists and ambitious curators. We are also working with existing festivals in the city like the Colours Festival, the Galway Arts Festival and Tulca, as well as other arts organisations like Groundworks and Adapt (our first show included 126, Artspace, Groundworks, Engage and Lorg). Additionally, we are finding ways to engage with new audiences and enable new arts projects to be shown in the space for short runs between the larger exhibitions. All this in less than a year! Engage has extended their public liability insurance to aid this project and we hope to make a case for its continued use based on a successful year of exhibitions and material improvements to the space. To do this, we hope to continue our partnership with the Niland family and Arts Council, but also to begin working with Galway City Council as well. Jim Ricks

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

July – August 2011

REGIONAL PROFILE

artists & creators

Space for Art

RETURN 2011 Claim Your Share! IVARO, the Irish Visual Artists Rights Organisation, is preparing to distribute royalties from the copying of visual works contained in published books and periodicals. This service is called RETURN. If your artwork or photograph has been published in Ireland in a book or periodical you may be entitled to claim a share of RETURN royalties.

Artspace at Supermarket Art Fair, Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden. February 2011

and as a result challenged us to look at alternative

Application forms may be requested by emailing info@ ivaro.ie or by calling us on 01 8722296. Distribution of this reprographic royalty will be in Autumn 2011.

value systems. This idea was developed further as a proposal for the artist-run ‘Supermarket Art Fair’ in

See www.ivaro.ie for further details.

Stockholm, Sweden in February of this year. Instead of trading work, we offered it to the public free. We asked the audience to write a compelling email stating why they wanted the particular piece. Keen to stress that this wasn’t an essay writing competition, we aimed to encourage the interested party to express their thoughts, ideas or associations and or emotional, intellectual, visual reaction to the particular piece. The overall response was very good and we received a number of interesting, beautiful, heartfelt and sometimes strange emails. Like any experiment with an unknown outcome the process in and of itself was interesting. It forced us as makers to reassess our own value Artspace Studios – Galway Culture Night. September 2010

systems - if you were giving work away free would

Artspace Studios was set up by its founding

you submit your best work? When you offer

members 25 years ago. In many respects the original

something free(ly) does that imply it is worthless

aims and ethos of providing studio space for local

and if so, does that worthlessness go beyond the

artists, as well as developing supporting group and

monetary to contaminate the inherent/potential

individual exhibitions for its members, has

artistic value? Does something become less

remained the same. From the outset Artspace’s

desirable when it’s free? Why is desire so closely

policy has been to strengthen the ideal of an artists’

linked with monetary value? These are interesting

collective by upgrading working conditions while

questions to ask - especially now, at a time when

initiating and developing exhibitions – both in

the country seems to have become obsessed, yet

Ireland and further afield. The recent reduction in

again, with money or rather the lack of it.

funding across the visual arts sector, along with

While it’s easy to see on a daily basis the

increased competition has encouraged the group to

financial crisis that grips the country, it is

reassess individual artists’ needs along with

interesting to see how the various arts groups in

redefining what a collective is – or perhaps more

Galway have responded in positive ways – creating

accurately – what it can be.

artistic and cultural initiatives and taking

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New initiatives within the group include

advantage of new opportunities. In stark contrast

holding creative meetings each week for members.

to the newspaper headlines – that continue to

These informal meetings have not only created a

paint black blacker – groups such as Adapt Galway,

platform to discuss the potential for collaborative

a coalition of the various local visual arts

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ideas, alternative exhibitions and projects – but

organisations, continue to develop opportunities

have also created a more social atmosphere within

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the group. The general feeling is that – despite the

space and it’s potential for creative purposes. In

recession and the general malaise that the country

many respects this recession has propelled

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local and national, into new, exciting and very

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promising directions - challenging us to become

“nobody expects much during a recession” we are

even more resourceful, adaptable, creative and

eager to test and develop ideas such as ‘Trade Show’

determined.

– an exhibition of work by artists for artists held at

The studio is currently preparing an exciting

the studio on some very cold Winter nights. A

exhibition for our 25th anniversary show in

somewhat simple idea, whereby studio members

August at the Galway Arts Centre.

would submit work that they were prepared to swap or trade. It took money out of the art equation

Paul Maye

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The Visual Artists’ News sheet

may – June 2011

July – August 2011

ART iN PUbliC: RoUNdUP

Art in Public

eCho AGAiN

PUbliC ART CommiSSioNS; SiTE-SPECiFiC woRkS; SoCiAlly-ENGAGEd PRACTiCES; ART oUTSidE ThE GAllERy.

BALLyki ALL NLeR ViLLAGe ALLyki eF FAiR

The FRee seAs

LosT AT seA Title: Sound (Lost) At Sea 11111. Artist: Danny Mc Carthy. Medium: Sound Installation. Carried out: April 2011. Venue: The grounds of the Crawford Gallery Emmett Place, Cork. Description: The work took place in the area around the Crawford Gallery, where the artist sounded a foghorn at regular hourly intervals during daylight hours during the month of April.

PS Squared, Belfast recently organised the

The work concerned the artist’s interest in acoustic

‘Ballykinler Village Fair’ (28 May) a project initiated

ecology – and specifically refers to cessation of the

in conjunction with local artist and activist Anne-

use of foghorns in Irish coastal waters which took

Marie Dillon. The fair took place at the Ballykinler

effect from 11 January 2011. The work was carried

Cultural Centre and the local football pitch and

out as part of McCarthy’s residency on the ‘Strange

featured local craft and food stalls, kids fun, tombola,

Attractor’ Project at the Crawford Gallery.

car boot sale, music, cinema, art and more. Since February 2011, the PS Squared have

CARe

Belfast artists Paddy Bloomer, Phil Hession, Duncan Ross and the London based group public works. As the press release noted “ together, they have converted a scrap car into a limousine bicycle; developed a local souvenir; produced a newspaper and constructed both a cinema caravan and the film to be shown within it”. ‘Ballykinler Village Fair’ was supported by the National Lottery through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

Artist: Vivienne Roche. Location: Kilkelly, Co. Mayo. Unveiled: 26 May 2011. Materials: Corten steel, cast bronze and stone. Dimensions: 2.5 metres high by 3.6 metres wide. Description: The work features representation of lily and anthurium flowers rendered in cast bronze and cut steel. Funding: Percent for Art hoPes ARRiVAL

organised community art workshops, in which villagers of all ages have taken – assisted by the

Title: Echo, Again.

Áine Ivers and Kathryn Maguire collaborative project The Free Seas was presented at The Five Lamps Arts Festival, Dublin (7 – 9 April 2011). Their work was sited on the waters of Dublin’s Royal Canal. The was inspired by a story told by the folklorist Terry Fagan, in response to which the artists undertook to build a raft and float it on the Royal Canal. The work was described by the artists as “exploring Ireland’s identity as an island – the physicality and the psyche of such an existence”. Fagan’s story relates how, as a young boy growing up in the Five Lamps area, he and his

dReAmiNG PLACe Artist Claire Coté and Anna Keleher recently spent 40 days and 40 nights undertaking their action, research and experimental project Dreaming Place above and belowground at Marble Arch Caves Geopark in Fermanagh (3 June – 12 July). During the course of the work they encountered “people, places and things of these ancestral homelands”. Commenting further on the project

friends once built a raft near the canal as they dreamed of escaping 1960’s Ireland. Ivers and Maguire saw links between this story and the mariner’s concept of ‘Mare Liberum – The Free Sea’ whereby one is free to journey on the sea without permit or passport, in contrast to the bureaucracies of land travel.

Back in April 2010 Belfast Trust and Arts Care unveiling of The Care Project Project, a large artwork on the front of the Mater Hospital, Belfast. The art work was created by groups of patients, including those from general and mental health facilities, and was facilitated by Patricia Lavery, Arts Care Artist in Residence at the Mater Hospital. The participants in the project each created

www.fivelampsarts.ie

collages on the theme of water. Approximately 70

the artist explained that they had devised “a special

images in total were made and merged together by

tool-kit of adventurous processes, novel techniques

Alan Diver, Arts Care’s graphic artist, to make a

and gentle interactions to gather data from the

photo montage, spelling the word ’care’. This

borders of the unknown”

graphic was then affixed to the front of the hospital www.dreamingplace.eu www.marblearchcaves.net

building. Arts Care is an organisation publicly funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

Artist: Sara Cunningham-Bell. Title: Hope’s Arrival. Commissioner: Gemini Homes. Budget: £12,000. Location: Coleraine Town Centre Commission Type: Housing Development. Partners: Bell Architects and BB Engineering.

http://artscare.co.uk

art students & graduates WhAT AT is youR NexT T sTeP? the visual artists ireland student pack hAS ThE ANSwERS The VisuAL ARTisTs iReLANd: sTudeNT NT PAC PACk has been put together for the benefit of visual and applied arts students and recent graduates making the transition into professional practice in ireland. The Visual Artists ireland: Student Pack covers a wide range of topics and features a range of detailed texts and articles including: The business of Art; Artist profiles; top tips for students; Career development; Copyright; Careers Paths; Postgraduate Education; Training & Scholarships; Exhibiting with Galleries; Applying for Awards, bursaries & Grants you may avail of a copy of the pack for free by joining Visual Artists ireland (student membership is just ˆ 25 per year) or for the y nominal fee of ˆ 5. membership information www.visualartists.ie To purchase an individual copy of the pack contact Visual Artists ireland T: 01 8722296

f VA ree m i S wi em Tu Th Be De rS nT hi P

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The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

July – August 2011

Dublin Contemporary 2011

Jim Lambie, Installation view Eight Miles High, ACCA, Melbourne, 2008. Photo: John Brash, Courtesy of The Artist and The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow

Richard Mosse, We Hate it When Our Friends Become Successful (Infra series), 2010. digital c-print, 40 x 50 inches, Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, NY

Alexandre Arrechea, Someillan, Aluminium, 330cm tall, 2010. Courtesy of the artist and MagnanMetz Gallery.

Richard Mosse, Nowhere to Run (Infra series), 2010, digital c-print, 72 x 90 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, NY

Rollicking & Rallying CURT RIEGELNEG OFFERS A REFLECTION AND PROGRESS REPORT ON DUBLIN CONTEMPORARY 2011. If Jota Castro’s mother doesn’t like Dublin Contemporary, then she doesn’t like it. Before anyone gets the wrong idea, I should say Castro isn’t talking about his real mother, but more of a hypothetical fingerwagging caricature who may not entirely condone some of the decisions made by the Dublin Contemporary 2011 team. This was Jota Castro’s idiosyncratic way of summing up the aims and ambitions of the show – and in particular the ongoing discussion element of the project, entitled ‘The Office of Non-Compliance’. Significantly, the Dublin Contemporary 2011 curators Jota Castro and Christian Viveros-Fauné describe The Office of Non-Compliance – and the exhibition’s overall framework – as aspiring to be “radically democratic” (1) – with equal emphasis on both descriptors. In particular, the term ‘democratic’ can be seen as functioning here on multiple strata. Firstly, it is an appeal to the viewers of Dublin Contemporary 2011 – ideally an estimated 150,000 visitors – Irish, European, or otherwise. The works selected for Dublin Contemporary 2011 will, largely, require minimal contemporary art background to comprehend. And certain public aspects of the show will be situated so as to be viewed by passersby, who may not be planning to enter the Earlsfort Terrace exhibition venue. The team has even gone so far as to promote work for children – a highly unusual move for an international festival. But ‘democratic’ is more than a buzzword for audience outreach and inclusiveness. Perhaps in the Western world of market oriented electoral rule, the term has long outlived its bite. But in substantial sections of East Asia, Latin America, Africa, and, of course, the Middle East, democracy is still a privilege bought and maintained with blood and vigilance – if enjoyed at all, among trenchant Mugabes and

deposed Mubaraks. The curators hope to set art that documents these struggles in contested zones beside the contemporary art of more ‘stabilized’ regions. Quite a lot of the art on show in Dublin Contemporary 2011 will be located outside in the public realm. All of it easy to see, some of it difficult to avoid but with a stated aim to avoid ostentatious flash and sparkle. Instead, viewers and casual amblers can expect the urbanthemed transfigurations of Cuban Alexandre Arrechea and Italian Ludovica Carbotta, and the British Graham Dolphins’ tongue-in-cheek aggrandizement of martyrs and celebrities. A key stage of the exhibition consists of the local partnerships –with the Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, The Royal Hibernian Academy. Dublin Contemporary 2011’s Curatorial Manager Aideen Darcy explains that, “we asked ‘what is the work of the Hugh Lane, or the RHA, or the Douglas Hyde?” (2)– to ensure a good match with the purposes of Dublin Contemporary 2011. Alice Neel’s work will be shown at the Douglas Hyde; Willie Doherty for the Hugh Lane, and, in the RHA, Lisa Yukavage and the James Coleman. The exhibition’s main site is the Earlsfort Terrace. The Terrace, which has been lately vacant, is the former campus, along with the conjoining National Concert Hall, of University College Dublin, and has a surprisingly robust exhibitions history. It was the location of the modern art survey Rosc 80, and, a good few years before that, of the science and industry spectacle of the Dublin International Exhibition of 1865. Though its architecture has transformed to accommodate its change of mission, the space is still quirkily effective at filtering viewers through its languorous corridors and unlikely interstices, and

the team made it clear that they don’t plan to overload their ample space. Another component of the main exhibition, the section of sound works, is located in the indoor tennis courts across from the Earlsfort Terrace building. It is titled, after one of the Beatles’ more anthemic outings, All Together Now. Castro observed – “The title is beautiful because it’s naïve”. However, he also indicated that it references the “cacophony of good intentions” that he sees as a major obstacle to social change in the world. One could say that a healthily cynical streak runs through the rollicking and rallying of the sound site, cutting through the boisterous radicalism and unity of its title. This is not to suggest the curators are content to wallow in the futility of social and political engagement. The Office of NonCompliance has been specifically envisaged as a space where constructive discussions and outcomes will take place. Castro explains, “This is probably the most experimental part of the show, where we’ll be trying to talk about serious issues. But we offer information, not morality.” Ideally, the Office then is where the open forum stretches its legs, an informal congregation that will take the artistic projects in the Terrace as fuel for the discursive fire. If I speak abstractly, it’s because very little of the project is yet concrete, and according to the curators, won’t be until it’s already in progress. That the most uncertain segment of Dublin Contemporary 2011 is also its ideological core is, I think, indicative of how much Castro and Viveros-Fauné are embracing risk and ongoing revision. The overall selection of artists largely represents what ViverosFauné terms “new realism”. With artists from 34 nations at last count, Castro also stresses an attention to the “fringe representation” of countries. Examples would include Taiwanese artist Chen Chieh-Jen’s criticism of Western immigration law; or Cuban artist Tania Bruguera’s works, which re-evaluate the dictums behind political art. Bruguera is currently in residence at the Queens Museum of Art in New York developing her long-term project, Immigrant Movement International, a multi-faceted and loosely structured series of events that aim to raise awareness and solidarity around immigrant rights. An artist like Bruguera could easily be seen as typifying the cultural barometer of the global biennale-and-festival scene in general. The growing attention to both women and Latin Americans in Europe is a trend that Castro rather caustically commented on – “thinking in a Machiavellian way, this is a way of tapping into a new market, especially in big art fairs.” The curators’ alertness to such phenomena is acute, and they are adamant in their desire to revisit post-colonial issues without falling under the sway of financially driven trendiness. The inclusion of young Irish photographer Richard Mosse in Dublin Contemporary 2011 provides a counterpart to such fringe internationals as Chen and Bruguera. Viveros-Fauné feels Mosse represents “a micro-trend of artists who bring images out of the world, made at some degree of personal risk” – and back into their respective (and relatively safe) corners of the world, and the art sphere. Infra, Mosse’s recently completed body of work, was showcased a short time ago in the Guardian (May 28, 2011). For this project he photographed Congolese soldiers and the landscapes around them with infrared film. The warriors pose sternly in uniforms that, in the developed prints, glow like wilting lavender, harmonizing with the magenta savannah grass around them. Mosse’s work exemplifies a co-existence of documentation and aestheticisation that the curators of Dublin Contemporary 2011 find fascinating. Around thirty Irish artists will be featured in Dublin Contemporary 2011. This group was only selected after Castro and Viveros-Fauné felt they had properly exploited their presence in Dublin; and had gotten a chance to properly delve a bit more into the Irish scene. For the purposes of Dublin Contemporary 2011, Castro and Viveros-Fauné are, to an extent, viewing Dublin and Ireland through its global parallels with Latin America, Taiwan, and other regions that share conditions the curators seek to emphasize. This is largely due, in Viveros-Fauné’s words, to Ireland’s sharing of the “colonial experience”. Castro describes the Republic of Ireland as being “in the margins of the Occident” – signifying its alternating attachment to and repulsion from the waning imperial and economic powers. In the current economic and cultural climate we might say that Ireland’s sense of itself in the world is suffering a bout of indecision. It thus seems more than appropriate that Dublin Contemporary 2011 seeks to unabashedly confront the issues in terms of ‘radical democracy’ – albeit in shifting and diverse ways. In light of the current state of the world, Dublin Contemporary 2011 illustrates that there is very little sense in being apolitical. Neutrality, after all, is the luxury of the isolated, and islands aren’t what they used to be. Even Jota Castro’s mother would agree there’s some truth to that. Curt Riegelnegg Notes (1) All quotations – discussion with the author. (2) discussion with the author.

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

July – August 2011

Seminar very clear, in an environment with good resources, is that Tate Modern never stops refreshing its marketing offer, has a defined audience strategy with clear aims and initiates programmes, as well as marketing materials, to meet those aims. Anja Ekelof from The Science Gallery and Roise Goan of Absolut Dublin Fringe Festival then made presentations designed to tease out some of the questions about what the visual arts could learn from other art forms. Anja talked about the clear marketing aims of the Science Gallery in terms of general and specific audiences, and how this translates into marketing strategies. Information about audiences is key, which must be gathered as well as taking advantage of new methods of communication to the way in which the Science Gallery communicates its message. Roise talked about the relationship that the Fringe Festival has had with visual art, which has been difficult at times and also about how the audience is key part of programme, indivisible from the artistic impulses, which drive the Fringe’s programming. In her summing up of the morning, mediator for the morning sessions Mary McCarthy talked about the focus on audience evident from the opening remarks of both the Chair of The Arts Council and the Minister, and the honesty and pragmatism inherent in the presentations. Questions from those in attendance stimulated some very interesting discussion, ranging from social exclusion to how to ensure that an organisation has an online tone of voice. Mary also talked about the search for knowledge about audiences, and how certain tools can help. It was noted that talking about “audience” is a sign of change in itself, as the visual arts would have normally used “visitor” to describe the audience. In the afternoon, the four institutions that will take part in the next phase project outlined, under the guidance of Heather Maitland, Minister Jimmy Deenihan TD, Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs, speaking at 'Here and Now" Visual Arts Audiences in Ireland' TBG&S 18 May 2011

what they currently know about audience and what some of the challenges they face are. Claire Power of TBG&S talked about the

Arts Audiences

process of renewal, which they are undergoing, outlining the results of the visitor survey they undertook last year. I was particularly interested

Una Carmody, Director OF Arts Audiences Reports on ‘HERE AND NOW – VISUAL ARTS AUDIENCES IN IRELAND’ A ONE-day symposium held in Temple Bar Gallery and Studios, Dublin (18 May 2011) and jointly promoted by Arts Audiences and TBG&S.

to hear about the particular challenges of place and space faced by the gallery but cheered by the insistence that audience concerns in relation to the gallery were paramount. Anna O’Sullivan of the Butler Gallery in Kilkenny talked about the knowledge gained about audiences and their origins through their work with Heather through Arts Audiences

Claire Power of Temple Bar Gallery and Studios, Dublin approached

online and are designed for those working in the Irish arts to get up to

and her hope that the gathering of data and the marketing can be more

me in late 2010 asking if we could work together on a programme,

speed with all aspects of online marketing. The programme is here

focussed on outcomes. The Butler Gallery is participating this year in

which addressed the question of audiences for the visual arts in Ireland.

www.artsaudiences.ie/marketingtraining

the Cultural Insights programme run by Failte Ireland. Seamus Kealy of

TBG&S had, in common with many visual arts galleries and institutions,

I began the morning with a presentation on what we know about

The Model and Fiona Kearney of the Glucksmann also outlined their

been facing particular issues in this respect over a number of years and

Irish adults who report that they attend at art galleries and exhibitions

audiences, and the challenges they face in respect of local audiences

as part of its renewal wanted to look at the whole question with others

to the Target Group Index (TGI), which is a large-scale single source

and how they address these.

in the sector, and see what people could learn from co-operation. Arts

survey carried out each year. The slides from my presentation are on

Audiences is an initiative, which aims, amongst other things, to build

www.artsaudience.ie

Aoife Flynn and Heather Maitland both them made practical and fascinating presentations about good marketing practice, in Aoife’s

capacity in the arts sector to develop audiences and increase the quality

This was the first time that anyone had taken a close look at art

of engagement with them, and so this approach from the sector itself

gallery attenders from the Target Group Index and a very distinctive

The final session strove to wrap up some of the learning or

was very welcome.

case in relation specifically online marketing.

picture emerged of what is a large group of people within Ireland. The

suggestions from the day and a number of very interesting ideas were

It has proved difficult to get a unified picture of audiences for the

demographics are interesting, showing a slight bias towards people in

put forward including a suggestion from Mary McCarthy that the

visual arts from within the sector itself. Arts Audiences had organised

older age groups, but nothing stark. I identified only one demographic

session should reconvene during Dublin Contemporary in the autumn;

as part of its 'Build Your Audience' project in 2010 a really good project

difference between attenders in Dublin and in the rest of the country,

a number of people were struck by a remark of Pete Gomori’s where he

with the Butler Gallery in audience research (the report is here: http://

being that there is a higher proportion of attenders in the 25 – 34 age

had outlined that London galleries have a common visitor survey so

artsaudiences.ie/?s=butler+gallery) but other than that had not really

group in Dublin. All other reports were carried out on all art gallery

that everyone is collecting the same information for the purposes of

engaged with visual art. In part our symposium was aimed at looking

attenders as a consequence. In terms of media consumption, art gallery

comparison. As a consequence of this, and the audience information

at what some of the issues are, and also trying to spark off some

attenders are more likely than the general population to: be heavy or

questions, it was clear that there is an appetite for progressing the

thinking amongst those working in visual art about what can be done

medium users of the internet (heavy is defined as 30 hours per week or

gathering of specific audience information and statistics in the manner

in marketing specifically, particularly online.

more); respond to direct mail (not junk mail); take a lot of holidays and

of a benchmarking report.

We had always envisaged that the symposium could be a starting

short breaks; be educated to degree level or above. They are slightly

The day has garnered some very positive feedback and it will

point for some project work with a small group and that we would

more likely to be female and in the ABC1 social category, but 44% of

become the beginning of an ongoing process to include a project and a

continue the work in a meaningful way between TBG&S, Lewis

art gallery attenders are not ABC1. They are slightly less likely than the

further set of discussions. The purpose of the day was to touch on areas

Glucksmann Gallery, The Model and The Butler Gallery Kilkenny.

general population to watch television and they consume a fair bit of

and there was acknowledgement of a real need for more detailed work

radio.

on a number of areas and the setting of priorities. The mood and spirit

The day itself, which was attended by over 60 people from institutions, education, galleries, and venues, kicked off with an

This was followed by a presentation from Pete Gomori, Marketing

of the day seemed to be of equal importance with the content; a

introduction from Pat Moylan, Chair of The Arts Council who

Manager of Tate Modern who gave a much-anticipated presentation on

willingness and openness in engagement was evident as well as a spirit

underlined the commitment of The Arts Council to audiences. She

some marketing techniques used by Tate Modern to drive its astonishing

of resilience and optimism about the processes to be undergone. Watch

talked about the fact that audiences are the third key element of the

visitor numbers, including how they capture data and audience

this space.

arts ecology and need to be foregrounded and thought about in that

information and the kinds of online and other techniques they use.

I would like on a personal note to thank Claire Power and Rayne

way. Her remarks served as an introduction for Minister Jimmy

One of the most memorable elements of the presentation was when he

Booth of TBG&S; as well as Claire Doyle of The Arts Council, all of

Deenihan TD, Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs who

outlined that, among other things, Tate Modern used spectacles with a

whom worked hard on the symposium; Arts Audiences is an initiative

spoke about his own relationship with exhibitions and his knowledge

small camera attached to assess how visitors are using the space and

of The Arts Council and Temple Bar Cultural Trust and I would like to

of the importance of the audience. His links with the art world are

the exhibition; reading information, moving between spaces etc.

acknowledge their key contributions also.

clear; what was new was his signalling by his presence the importance

However, apart from that, what was most interesting to me about his

Una Carmody

he attached to the whole audience agenda. He also gave a great plug to

presentation was how achievable and capable of replication all the

www.artsaudiences.ie

Arts Audiences Digital Arts Marketing Training materials, which are

techniques were; audience surveys, email newsletters, personalised and sent from the curators , use of new media and endorsements. What was

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

July – August 2011

ISSUES

Jennie Moran Infection Control 2010. Hospital regulation pillow case, embroidery thread.

Liminality installation shot. Photo: Marcel Vidal.

Hale and Arty Sheelagh Broderick, a Phd artist researcher at GradCAM, Dublin, discusses contemporary arts engagement with the healthcare sector and considers some critical frameworks for various ‘arts and health’ practices. Contemporary arts engagement with healthcare issues – and indeed the healthcare sector – in Ireland has increased dramatically over the past 20 years. Such ‘arts and health’ practices are now a significant field of pursuit for artists, with projects taking place across country. Despite this, there is a dearth of critical comment on this particular form of interdisciplinary and socially engaged practice. This struggle to gain critical traction, is in part hampered by poor visibility of projects, but also by what can be understood as ‘hegemonic knowledge’ claims – in other words, rather fixed and limited ideas of what the fields of art and healthcare comprise of and can pertain to. In fact the subject domains of ‘arts’ and ‘health’ do not exist as concrete entities, but are shifting, amorphous and contested, subject to competing knowledge claims within their own disciplines. In my PhD research at GradCAM, I have adopted an approach that specifically does not accept arts practices in health care settings, as simply a new artistic genre; but instead explores the complexities and problematics of a practice that can be or both art and health related. Within the philosophy of medicine and the sociology of health and illness the concept of ‘health’ actually generates lively debate. What exactly might be a natural or healthy state is open to debate. Conditions that formerly were pathologised or regarded as ‘illnesses’, are now accepted within the normal range of human behaviour, such as homosexuality; while other conditions and syndromes are now medicalised, such as obesity. Equally the role of healthcare institutions is not fixed. It has changed rapidly consequent to increasing affluence in ‘developed’ countries. Health services are no longer predominantly providing interventions to acute episodes and infectious diseases, rather they now concern the provision of services for people with chronic and degenerative illnesses. Emergent themes in healthcare research point toward a social model of medicine in distinction to the interventions of the medical model, which was based on the belief that for every disease there is a single and observable cause that can be isolated. In contrast, the social model emphasises multiple and interrelated factors that influence health and points to changes that can be made in society to make a population healthier. Public health advocates have established a body of literature, which emphasizes the lifelong importance of the social determinants of health on health outcomes (1). One of the key determinants of health is equality, the more equal a society is, the better are its health outcomes, the more unequal a society is, the poorer health outcomes will be for all citizens independent of individual affluence. Investment into particular pathologies, illnesses and conditions has been shown to be less effective than investment in improving the determinants of health, thus health has become less a corporeal concern, and more a social issue. This recognition of the social determinants of health, has been one of the key incentives for health services to engage with artists, while at the same time new trajectories for arts practices, in terms of social engagement and interdiscplinarity, have led artists to situate themselves in these contexts. The Arts Council's Arts and Health Handbook (2003) pointedly makes a distinction between arts therapy – whose primary goal is therapeutic; and arts practice – whose primary goal is the experience of art or the production of art. How these differences are made manifest in practice was the subject of a collaboration between artist Marie Brett and arts therapist John McHarg. One of the outcomes of Brett and

McHarg’s collaboration was an analysis of the role of the artist and the arts therapist. To outsiders their work might have seemed quite similar, but for themselves and their professional practice they adopt entirely different approaches. Their analysis highlights important differences such as work practices, duty of care, supervision and support, and aesthetic vs. therapeutic concerns (2). Situating arts practices outside the gallery or studio contexts presents many different challenges for artists and audiences, foremost among them is a tendency to crudely instrumentalise practices in terms of social or health gain. This approach led in the late 1980s and 1990s to what could be characterised as the ‘method wars’, in which different methodologies were offered to measure outcomes, social impacts etc. These encounters have been carried over into the domain of arts and health in an even more extreme fashion. Evidence based medicine (EBM) applies research evidence to medical practice in an attempt to standardise practices and manage uncertainty. It is the hegemonic mode of producing and validating knowledge within bio-medical disciplines. Randomised control trials are the basis for validating medical knowledge and rank highly in the hierarchy of evidence-based medicine. When arts practices infiltrate these contexts attempts are often made to apply the same analytical frames. In late 2010, the Behring Institute for medical research invited submissions of placebos for art in a ‘double- blind’ study to investigate the healing power of art on public health. A placebo is a simulated medical intervention that can produce a (perceived or actual) improvement on health, called a placebo effect. The placebo for art therefore had to simulate art: it had to look, sound, feel, or in any other way manifest itself as art but, not actually be art. The research strategy involved giving a target group extra ‘real’ art in their houses and in their jobs, while a control group got the same amount of extra’s but in the form of placebos. Are the alarm bells ringing yet? In fact, Placebos for Art was an artwork by Martijn Engelbregt, commisioned by the Dutch foundation SKOR, driven virally through internet blogs and arts resource agency websites (3). It was so successful in its call for submissions, over 200 were received that a report of proposed placebos was compiled and published on its website. Placebos for Art functions best as an artwork, not as a clinical trial, for all kinds of reasons, not least of which is that Engelbregt has ramped up the stakes for critical arts practices in healthcare contexts by formulating an entry point for institutional critique in the sphere of arts and health Arts practices in healthcare contexts exist in a ‘grey zone’, because they are not amenable to techniques of methodological verification (nor are intended to be so), making other sources of validation through peer recognition and critical discourse an essential factor in developing practices. Critical discourses in contemporary arts practices share concerns with critical discourses in health that challenge conventions of knowledge and authority, offering rich opportunities for interdisciplinary exploration. Health as one of the emblematic referents of everyday life provides a context that has resonance for many artists, some of whom who will make their careers particularly within this zone and others who will add it as part of their overall portfolio of practices. Irish artist Jennie Moran recognises this potential (4). When asked in an interview, what do you think a hospital can bring to an arts practice? She responds that hospitals, “provide a new context, create new audiences… a place where artists can set up a very intense dialogue”.

These comments flow from an interview Jennie Moran conducts with herself subsequent to completing Auxiliary Hospital Equipment: Personal Effects (2009), at Merlin Park Hospital Galway in which patient narratives prompted Moran to subvert ward apparatus. A hospital bed is revisualised as a playground slide and then embroidered on a pillowcase to subtly reconfigure the hospital landscape. The project had a number of beginnings and endings eloquently documented on the artists website which allows a view of the work that is uncommon in arts and health projects. This intense dialogue is played out in private and in public in the recent work of Ciara McMahon (5). The Leaky Self (2010) was a multiplatform collaborative art project by the community based Living Gift Transplant Support Group (6) and McMahon that reflected on themes of subjectivity and embodiment. This project led iteratively to a number of outcomes concluding with a performance installation and accompanying series of seminars at the NCAD Gallery. A specific aspect of this project, entitled Liminality deployed the experience of waiting for a transplant and shifted it to the gallery environment, to explore the creative tension between a waiting subject – dependent on others to release them from a form of confinement – and that of the seeking subject, actively looking for answers through theory. McMahon spent a week in a hospital bed in the NCAD gallery. An open invitation was extended to gallery goers to inhabit the role of (hospital) visitor and/or to conditionally donate their physical presence, their self, to the project by substituting their body for that of McMahon, meanwhile, in the same gallery space and only separated by a screen, parallel discursive seminars explored theoretical analyses related to the work. With Liminality McMahon stretched the possibilities initiated through the Leaky Self project, by critically engaging with emergent themes and unusually for an arts and health project crossing over into mainstream art spaces. She succeeds in positioning the project on the edge of many territories extending the ambit of the project to the spaces in between theory and practice, between conventions of what is inside and outside. The visibility of the project and the associated blog, which documents the process from Leaky Self to Liminality, also sets this project apart from many others, which either by virtue of the context of project locations, subject matter or participants, remain invisible. Claire Bishop has remarked that the paradox of participatory art is that the more participatory an artwork is the more it forecloses spectatorship and the less open it is to future audiences, (Exhibitions of Contemporary Art in the 1990s, Art and the Social , TATE Britain 30th April 2010). This is a crucial challenge for artists, who in finding strategies to document their work publicly can stake a claim for alternate knowledge practices. Sheelagh Broderick www.sheelaghnagig.net Sheelagh is a Phd artist researcher with GradCAM. Her exhibition ‘MAC’ will open at the Jennings Gallery, College of Medicine and Health, University College Cork on 22 September 2011. Notes 1. Social determinants of health include factors such as poverty, working conditions, unemployment, social support, good food and transport policy. 2. McHarg et al (2011) Working on the Edge, Journal of the Irish Association of Creative Therapists). 3. See www.egbg.nl for information on the artist and www.behringinstitute.com to download the report 4. www.jenniemoran.com/personaleffects / vitalsigns.artscouncil.ie/exhibition 5. Both Moran and McMahon were supported by the Arts Council through the Artist in the Community Scheme managed by Create. 6. livinggift.ie/leaky-self/

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

July – August 2011

Profile

No Scene, No Chair, No Problem Curt Riegelnegg profiles The Workhouse Test, an artist-led and space based project in Callan, Co. Kilkenny. admission to the project space, and the three remain light-hearted about their tendency to bewilder the locals. Strain related a morbidly comic tale about an incredulous bishop who came to bless their flagship exhibition, ‘Kinetoscope Parlour’, but, with feet planted firmly in the project space, was distressed that he couldn’t find an exhibition to bless. The clergy’s lack of appreciation for experimental video art notwithstanding, the Testers do seem to consider their endeavour a success. That inaugural exhibition was well attended, featuring artists Matt Calderwood of the UK, Eilis McDonald and Tessa Power of Ireland, and Brad Troemel of the US. As their next project, ‘Trans Formidable’, is planned to, ‘Kinetoscope Parlour’ ran during Abhainn Ri, the yearly festival in Callan and Kilkenny, which drew many of the Workhouse Test – exterior view.

less-than-insider types from the region and elsewhere. The works were all video or web-based, and played on a series of monitors throughout the room. Having a lingering interest in the work of Troemel, they invited the young artist and dabbler in theory back for 'You Are Here', a conversation with young Irish artist Sam Keogh in mid-January, which also featured the work of Lorraine Neeson. Troemel’s recent work, and his supporting polemics, posits the internet as the exclusively ideal mediator of contemporary art, referencing the supposedly open nature of web use. Seizing the opportunity to divorce themselves partially or wholly from the regular gallery network, or simply to experiment with a new medium, many artists have begun basing much of their work on the web, where it is just as accessible as any other searchable website or Youtube video. Troemel, a young artist based in Brooklyn,

'You Are Here', with Sam Keogh and Brad Troemel, 15 January 2011

Tessa Power, Channel, video, 2010, shown during 'Kinetoscope Parlour'.

My introduction to the Workhouse Test team was more vaudeville

leading member of the Callan Community Network who also

than you might imagine. During the event ‘What Do You Stand For?’

facilitated ‘Commonage’, is cheerily supportive of the Test, and has

at NCAD, which I was writing on for the last issue of the VAN, Bridget

influenced and encouraged their running in tandem with other events

O’Gorman, Kate Strain, and Etaoin Holahan livened it up a bit with a

in town.

three-way exchange that both made light of and succinctly fulfilled

While it doesn’t exist in a vacuum, the Workhouse Test’s presence

the task of providing a brief mission statement. “What do we stand

in the town-hamlet, might still be its most defining characteristic.

for?” asked O’Gorman, at one point in the trialogue. “Because we don’t have a chair,” replied Strain (1).

Callan proper is quaint, but troubled, a few narrow streets that dip and

It was a nice enough touch for me to want to investigate further

many not. In one shop, a hobbyist entrepreneur occasionally manages

the workings in the Workhouse. So I came out one sunny, warmish

a small café where she resells pastries she buys from the bakery down

Friday afternoon, past saffron fields and through lousy traffic, to take

the street. Such quirks salvage a bit from the gloom of the many

in the scenery.

darkened shop fronts, and it’s funny to reflect that, to many locals, the

The project space of the Workhouse Test is endearingly modest.

twist through rows of rustic houses and storefronts – some operational,

projects of the Test may be likewise a tolerable strangeness.

Situated at the tip of what once was a famine workhouse, it has been

The formation of the trio and their use of the project space

preserved a bit better than the rest of the weather-beaten building.

happened a bit by accident. O’Gorman was one of the artists in

When Strain showed it to me, she did it with a bit of a “Well, this is it”

Endangered Studios, which Holahan still directs. Strain, who is

shrug. The potential of the bare space notwithstanding, it could be, if

currently working through her Masters degree in curating, lived in

not for the dirt lot and patches of green outside, an office or a personal

Callan briefly, and joined to contribute to the Workhouse Test’s first

studio-it’s about twice as big as a decent bed-sit. Knowing what it is

exhibition. Collectively, they’ve got mixed feelings about being

used for, there’s an unintentional (or maybe not) witticism in the

stationed in the village, but the style of the Workhouse Test is in a large

relatively institutional quality. Given the frequent, and sometimes

part due to being bounded by Callan’s idiosyncrasies. For one thing,

under-thought, efforts at getting out of the gallery space and into the

veteran Callanite Holahan’s contacts and niche knowledge allow them

something-or-other, it’s of characteristic understated insouciance for

to scrounge up resources and reinforcements wherever needed, even

the Workhouse Test that, excepting the colourfully ragged walls,

on short notice. When, just hours before the opening of ‘Kinetoscope

they’ve set up a fairly traditional-looking exhibition space in one of the

Parlour’, one of the computers that the Test had sourced failed to read

last places you’d expect. While in this case it’s more of a rusty grey, the

the artist’s file type, they managed to borrow a spare from the offices of

white cube in the wilderness is a hardy, breezy little declaration in its

the Kilkenny Collective for Arts Talent, and keep it for the duration of

own right, more serious than it first appears.

the exhibition.

Though the workhouse’s conversion to artist studios and a

As with start-ups anywhere, funding for the project space has

project space is, of course, an interesting transformation, it’s only the

been unsteady, and improvisatory. The Testers paid the participants of

latest of many re-purposings that the space has undergone. As the

their web-talk ‘You Are Here’ by selling dinner afterwards at a local pub

Workhouse Test’s website will tell you, the building, since its erection

that they have ties with. Though they do not decline turning to

in 1840, has boasted “a 69-bed fever hospital, ‘idiot cells’, stables, a

external methods of funding – renovation of the project space was

wash-house, a bake-house, as well as a knit-wear factory”. A record of

made possible by an Arts Council grant obtained through the VAI, and

170 years worth of changing times, it’s no wonder the space appears as

the Test, under the umbrella of the Callan Community Network, has

broken in as it does.

received an Arts Council Small Festival Award to help pay for their

Use of the building is being provided to the Test, and to the

upcoming project, ‘The Trans Formidable’. Even so, things will run on

adjoining Endangered Studios, by Camphill Communities, the

a “shoestring budget,” according to Strain, for the foreseeable future,

Anthroposophical group that operates out of the other side. Camphill

with the group relying on donations and continuing to court good

was founded by Patrick Lydon under the pedagogical philosophy of

relations around the region.

Rudolf Steiner, and is one segment of the general support system that

These necessary associations go beyond material provisions.

has grown up in Callan in years previous. The Test also benefited, in its inception, from its concurrency with ‘Commonage’ (2), a curated series

Local affiliations, the initial piggy-backing on long-running events and

of architectural projects that is an offshoot of the community-oriented

Test, in its infancy, received local visitors just for putting something

Abhainn Rí Festival, which takes place yearly in Callan. Lydon, a

on. Granted, familiarity with contemporary art is not a prerequisite for

its coordination with other groups and projects has meant that the

has distinguished himself by building a manifesto around what was otherwise an undefined and partly unconscious trend. Troemel’s work is part of a brand of half-whimsical, half-sincere internet-based artwork that has become a prevalent trend in the US in recent years. While older (by comparison) practitioners like Cory Archangel and Jacob Ciocci, formerly of Paper Rad, prefer to manipulate the intricacies of the web by hacking and exploiting the mechanics of things like file compression and web links, Troemel advocates a grander, more ideologically driven co-opting of the internet. Previous to the conversation at the Workhouse Test, he has written and spoken about the notion of ‘Freeart’, and strategies for liberating artwork from the gallery setting on his website, in interviews, and on a college campus. (3) Keogh, as his counterpart, was positioned as the die-hard gallery artist, the material trickery and norm skewing of his sculptural and painterly work necessitating a more conventional physical presence of the viewer than would be possible over the internet. Their conversation, which Strain admits began a bit less lively than she might have hoped, was complicated by a recurring breakdown in the Skype connection. The technical failure of that link, however, became the serendipitous third participant, contributing to the debate a clear illustration of the boundaries and pitfalls of dependence on connectivity. It is the kind of memorable accident the Test hopes to run into more often, a rare and exhilarating outcome when staging experimentation. Web-based work continues to be of consistent interest to O’Gorman, Strain, and Holahan, as the nature of internet communication factors predominantly into their exhibition ethos. Their presence in a small town hours away from metropolitan areas allows them to place their enterprise in a larger framework of access. They cannot be reached by as large a group of people as might generally enter a centre city Dublin gallery. Conversely, much of the work they have so far shown, and intend to show, and the projects that they’ve presented, relies on a very different sort of access, a kind which has a connotation now of circumventing the need for travel. That being the case, it’s both characteristically self-assured and curious that the Test still feels it crucial to have a physical space, and to make a concerted effort to bring in visitors. It’s indicative of a fearless nesting in contradictions, and of the scrapping of seriousness and levity that caught my eye at NCAD all those weeks ago. Curt Riegelnegg Notes 1. The entire conversation can be read on the website of the Workhouse Test- http:// theworkhousetest.wordpress.com/what-do-you-stand-for-march-2011/ 2. http://www.commonagecallan.com/ 3. Some of Troemel’s work, words, and projects can be found at http://bradtroemel.com/

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

July – August 2011

ireland at Venice

Corban Walker Modular, 2011. Courtesy The Pace Gallery. Photo: Giovanni Pancino

Corban Walker. Installation view, Venice exhibition. Foreground: Please Adjust, 2011 160 stainless steel frames 16" x 14" x 14" (40.6 cm x 35.6 cm x 35.6 cm), installation dimensions variable. On windows: Modular, 2011 vinyl. installation dimensions variable. Courtesy The Pace Gallery. Photo: Giovanni Pancino

Corban Walker Please Adjust, 2011. On windows: Modular, 2011. Courtesy The Pace Gallery. Photo: Giovanni Pancino

Please Adjust

Jason Oakley quizzes Corban Walker, about representing Ireland at the ‘ILLUMInations’54th Venice Biennale (4 June – 27 November). Jason Oakley: How and where does this questionnaire find you? Corban Walker: I find myself in Lucca on the eve of the Vernissage. I came down here from Venice for a short break before the Biennale preview. We finished everything last Wednesday and the crew flew back to New York the following day. JO: Are you showing all new works or a mixture of old and new? CW: Yes, I am showing all new work for the Biennale. The curator, Eamonn Maxwell was very keen that I present new work at Venice and I agreed completely. JO: Could you briefly outline and describe the works you will be showing? CW: I am showing three works. The main piece in the pavilion is called Please Adjust and is made up of 160 interlocking open steel cube frames. There are two vinyl drawings applied to the glazing in the space. One is a modular of my height and the other is an AutoCAD drawing that plays on the perception of the space.

CW: Yes it has. One of the interesting aspects of the pavilion is the approach to it. You can enter it from a small street, walk through a garden and enter the Pavilion before leaving from the other side of the building that opens out onto a canal. Likewise you can enter from the canal and walk through the Pavilion and out into the garden. I like the fact that there seems to be no front or back to the building. Light enters the space at both ends, which is a very important element of my work; working with Light manipulates your perception of scale. I have used the glass in the building by applying vinyl to the windows, so the whole installation is very transparent yet the materials and indeed the viewer are not. The relationship of the minimalist sculptural installation with the 14th Century building is oddly compelling and new for me in this instance. JO: Could you talk a bit about your working relationship with

JO: Have you found making and installing work for the Biennale different from your usual way of working or experience of exhibiting? CW: One thing I like about a lot of my recent work is that it has to be built onsite at every installation. Like the glass stacks, this work has been made by adding one piece to the next and so on, in order to achieve the full manifestation. Interestingly, I had no idea what “Please Adjust” was going to look like until it was actually installed in the pavilion. I assembled it in New York but it was a different piece then in that sense, as it will be in the next installation. JO: How much have you been conscious of the context of the Biennale’s overarching theme of illumination and enlightenment (1) ? CW: The themes are similar in some ways but I haven’t really been conscious of it too much extent.

the curator for this show Eamonn Maxwell and the Commissioner Emily Jane Kirwan. What have been the most interesting dialogues and conversations that you’ve had between you in

JO: Could you expand upon some of the key issues you will be exploring? CW: When I went to visit the site in Venice last autumn, the economic crisis in Ireland was beginning to unfold. I knew I wanted to work directly with the venue in some way and it became clear that that would be a great challenge given the nature of the architecture, it is quite ornate. When I returned to my studio in New York the Irish crisis was in free fall and I really felt it was necessary for the work to be connected to the economic climate we find ourselves in now. The only other time I have made work directly related to an actual event was in 2008 after the global crash then. I made three interlocking steel cube frames. I invited the viewer to interact with the sculpture so when it was moved into another shape each element shifted dramatically and in some cases quite abruptly. I was concerned with how people take responsibility for their actions. The result of these actions can find oneself in a very different environment. By comparison the Irish crisis now seems to be a far greater catastrophe than the crisis of 2008, hence the (160) number of cubes for this piece. Because of the size of the sculpture viewer will be unable to reconfigure the sculpture but each installation of the sculpture will be unique.

terms of ideas for and possibilities around the show?

JO: Has the particular site and context of the Irish exhibition space at Venice had any bearing on the work you are showing and making there? (I’m asking this in relation to your ongoing architectural / ergonomic concerns with your own scale etc ...)

JO: Has the Venice exhibition given you the opportunity to

CW: The relationship between us all has been interesting as two of us are based in New York and Eamonn is based in Lismore Castle. Skype has played a critical role in the development of the work over the last year. There have been many different ideas for the work in Venice and we have come a long way from where we started with my initial ideas for the show. We all travelled to the venue together along with my studio assistants and Eamonn visited the studio earlier in the year to review the developments being made. JO: You’ve had an App produced in conjunction with show, that

JO: How conscious have you been of showing work in the context of the Biennale be that the context of Venice in general or the specific characteristics of the biennale and the particular audiences and attention it gets. CW: This will be the biggest audience viewing my work and that is very exciting and very important in establishing a strong international profile. JO: How conscious are you of the notion of representing your county is it of relevance or not to you? CW: It is a great opportunity to represent my country particularly at this time and I am delighted and honoured to be doing it. Other than that I feel more about the integrity of the work than the nationality of the flag.

besides offering basic information, the installation shots and videos of the models of the show offers a kind of virtual experience of the show. What was your thinking behind this? Is this a another kind of ‘sculptural’ space that you might be exploring more in the future? CW: Possibly. Essentially we made the App as an alternative to producing a catalogue. The App will be updated in June so that people

JO: Do you have any strong thoughts about the Venice Biennale or Biennales in general as contexts for showing work and hubs for debate, knowledge production, reflection and overview? CW: I strongly believe that the Irish Government and the art organizations should do more internationally to support Ireland’s participation in future biennales. www.irelandvenice.ie

will be able to download the complete exhibition for free. We have also produced a pamphlet with the exhibition that includes an essay by Brian O’ Doherty. realise works that otherwise wouldn’t have been possible? CW: Not necessarily, although I have made these works especially for Venice, but they could easily have been made for a future show.

Note 1. This year’s Biennale curator, Bice Curiger, summarises the key themes of the Biennale exhibition thus: “Illuminations emphasizes the intuitive insight and the illumination of thought that is fostered by an encounter with art and its ability to sharpen the tools of perception. ‘Illuminations’ will focus on the ‘light’ of the illuminating experience, on the epiphanies that come with intercommunicative, intellectual comprehension. The Age of Enlightenment also resonates in ‘Illuminations’, testifying to the enduring vibrancy of its legacy. Despite the fact that, in recent years, the idealization of enlightened reason and a specific brand of European western scholarly practice have come under fire, we cannot help respecting and even defending their value particularly in regard to the debate on human rights.”

The Visual Artists' News Sheet

July – August 2011

issue

Martin Salinas Save the Humans (2010) Flickr - creative commons.

Networking to Save the Earth Cathy Fitzgerald, an artist based in rural Carlow, reflects on the role of online technologies in the development and promotion of cultural activities in the art, ecology and sustainability field. Despite vast amounts of scientific evidence gathered over the last few decades indicating the serious effects the globalised industrial age has had on the ecosystems that support life on earth; and the almost total scientific consensus on climate change evidence revealing alarming biosphere instability – it has to be said that the mind-set and practices of a great many visual artists and institutions have been surprisingly slow in addressing these realities for themselves and their audiences. The reasons for this situation are complex – and realistically beyond the scope of this article. However, there are small but growing numbers of cultural practitioners and organisations engaged in these concerns – both in terms of practical and conceptual activities. Some of these endeavours build on previous artistic engagement with our relationship to the land and ecology, such as the Land Art movement that arose 30 years ago, alongside the beginnings of the environmental movement. Yet, much contemporary art practice concerned with ecology and sustainability find itself relegated to the margins of contemporary cultural discourse and arts education, as its practitioners are effectively working against or outside of current cultural trends. The stark reality is that scientists estimate that we have four decades – at most – to make planet-wide changes to live sustainably on this one finite planet. This fact has reinvigorated cultural activity in this area, which can be loosely grouped under the heading of ‘art and ecology’. However, the knowledge of the urgency and scale of change needed has not been communicated or understood in the wider cultural sector. Professor Maziak writing in the leading art and science journal Leonardo, has strongly argued that “the strengthening and coordination of this movement has never been more urgent, and its reinvigoration by the critical mass of scientists and artists has never been more sorely needed … understandably, scientists and artists may be the least willing to be involved in politics, and many, rightly so, consider such involvement to be a distraction from creativity and inventiveness. Unfortunately, the luxury of devoting one’s whole self to probing into the wonders of science and the arts is one we can no longer afford. Neither art nor science can thrive in an unstable, depleted world” (1). The use of internet technologies such as web-streaming, teleconferencing, podcasting and online social networks have emerged as a very important means to both rapidly share knowledge; and provide the means reduce the art worlds carbon footprint. In terms of my own research and practice I am the web administrator for the global culture and climate change initiative and network, culturefutures.org. Other examples would include, RANE – Falmouth University’s Research in Art, Nature and Environment group, which features a growing online audio archive of visiting leading art-ecology-science practitioner’s talks.

Last year the UK Open University created an iTunes podcast series of free downloadable talks, entitled Mediating Change: Culture and Climate Change. Similarly the international labforculture.org’s website has organised a section on their site to display online video interviews from curators and leading arts practitioners engaging with climate change – giving those working in the area a valuable means to further their understanding and connect with leading artists and curators working in this area. I recently joined a web-streamed online conference, held by the UK Arts Catalyst organisation (artscatalyst. org) reflecting on recent art and science projects that reflect on climate science and then later joined the conference conversation on Twitter – connecting with practitioners and others that I have been following in this area. Web technologies offer a relatively simple, low cost and significant means to connect with others, side-stepping the high ecological costs of air travel. Cultural practitioners engaging in ideas of more sustainable futures frequently recognise that their own actions – especially travel – must be examined. Cornelia Parker, a leading UK visual artist and one of the first to respond to Oxford scientists’ call for the culture sector to conceptually engage with climate change in 2005, recently commented on the leading UK culture sustainability site Juliesbicycle.com “I think it’s essential with the rapid expansion of the contemporary art world globally and with more and more people travelling from one art fair, biennial or exhibition to the next, that we examine our behaviours more rigorously... on a larger and more philosophical scale I have been questioning the amount I travel internationally both in accompanying works and also in terms of committing to exhibitions abroad.”(2) Cultural sustainability sites and networks such as juliesbicycle. com, and culturefutures.org are valuable resources detailing information, ideas and inspiration from leading cultural practitioners. Also there is a growing realisation that globally, the cultural sector will have an exciting, diverse and vital creative role in envisaging sustainable lifestyles – engaging audiences, which scientific and political sectors have so far struggled to connect. While online art /ecology / sustainability websites can be a very useful means to quickly gather and absorb some of the key thinking in this area, the recent development and availability of low-cost customisable social media networks has further allowed those working in this area to create artists’ networks specifically on these topics. Members of such networks can view others work and upload their own ‘rich media’ content (video, photographs, audio etc.) to share knowledge of their practice, enter discussion forums, form subgroups and post event notices to others across the network. Such networks are forming important, participatory knowledge-banks of contemporary

artists practice and ideas, in a context that acknowledges that culture itself must sustainably re-invent itself. Online social networks have also considerably added a new dimension to the very limited number of text publications that have been produced over the last decades on art and ecology practice and themes. Such networks and interactive website blogs have given practitioners with relatively basic online skills, the means to selfpublish their activities instantaneously. Suddenly these interactive networks and sites have made visible growing numbers of practitioners, projects and programmes engaging with these concerns. Many working in this area have found, perhaps for the first time, that they are not so isolated and now have relatively easy tools in which to connect and share with others’ practices and experiences. The grassroots, informal and more non-hierarchical nature of social networks appears to have been particularly popular with artists working in this area, as many of these practitioners would not subscribe to the dominant structures and themes of the art market, art education institutions or trends in contemporary curating. The ability to connect with experienced practitioners working in this manner has also been greatly improved. Increasingly art / ecology / sustainability practitioners and organisations are recognising the popularity and power of online network platforms, using them in preference or in conjunction with static information websites or more interactive blog sites. However, while initial benefits from online art and ecology social networks have been encouraging – with cultural practitioners enthusiastically having added their profiles, links to their own websites, uploaded photos, videos and articles on their work – what has resulted on some less strategically managed networks, are little more than informal online directories of artists. In some cases network administrators and / or network members seem unaware or lack the network skills to see the potential to transmit their ideas, knowledge and new practices across such networks. Often, after initial interest, activity in some networks has fallen away. This may also be due to users informal experience of other social networks sites, such as Facebook, that encourage only shallow and short interactions. Many have not considered that an important part of their practice may now encompass online networking that may include forming their own special interest subgroup(s) on such networks, leading or actively participating in online discussions, sharing knowledge and experience or more widely distributing their work or writings through such networks. Recently I have undertaken a comprehensive review of online activity in the growing numbers of art and ecology networks that have formed worldwide and have offered observations and strategies from other fields to explore these under-realised aspects of these social network technologies. I have also examined new ideas about how and why these networks work and the often-overlooked high energy costs that these technologies themselves use. Personally, online art and ecology networks have offered me very useful platform to showcase my own work and an important means of keeping in touch with people who I have met in the field and with others that I have never met but with which I share common interests. Some of the networks have in varying degrees brought examples of leading and current art and ecology practice to my desk in rural Carlow; and in return I have seen my ideas and artworks, from blog posts to short films, travel and engage with others in many other parts of the world. My website posts have recently been syndicated with the US Centre for Sustainable Practice of the Arts (cspa.org) allowing my ideas and the slow art practice that I is focused on my small backyard sustainable permanent forest, to connect with larger online audiences in North America and beyond (3). There has been a certain freedom and power to ‘self-curate’ my practice online, responding to ideas and practices that are happening now. Relatively quickly, and outpacing most institutions and printed publications, these networks are beginning to create an important sphere of globalised activity, in an area where there is much co-ordinated potential to be realised. While many may see activities associated with online social networks as trivial, the rise of ever more web-fluent users and audiences and their role in affecting real change as witnessed in the middle east in recent months, may help us collectively work together to imagine ecological futures, that in the end might help ‘save the humans’ too. Cathy Fitzgerald Notes 1. Maziak W. On the Verge of Avalanche, Leonardo April 2006, Vol. 39, No. 2: 95–95, LEONARDO THINKS 1968 - 2011 Contemporary Opinion by Wasim Maziak. 2. Commenting on the well regarded UK arts sustainability resource site www.JuliesBicycle.com 3. Cathy Fitzgeralds’s research paper Networking the arts to save the earth (2011) can be downloaded at www.ecoartnotebook.com This site also has a comprehensive listing of art and ecology networks on the resource links page. Cathy is a PhD research student at GradCAM.ie/NCAD and her initial research on experimental artists cinema and ecology can be found at www.ecoartfilm.wordpress. com

The Visual Artists' News Sheet

July – August 2011

profile carry this project forward. Conditions of accepting Arts Council funding meant we were required to register as a company, open a bank account and put in place other legal business structures. This was a learning curve for us, but also exciting as it solidified White Wolf Projects as a legitimate entity. Securing Arts Council funding was the main catalyst in acquiring further funding benefactors. As Tubergen is American we felt the US Embassy Dublin would be interested in our project, and approached them with the view that they might fund her visit to Dublin in order to give an artist’s talk. The embassy felt that “by granting this funding, we will support the outreach efforts of the American artistic community, strengthen our contacts in the Irish arts community, and support crossborder initiatives through the use of soft diplomacy.” We approached the British Embassy in the same vein, and they then redirected us to the British Council – Ireland; who “create opportunities that enable talent and ideas to be shared freely across national boundaries”. They therefore agreed to support Green’s artist’s talk in Cork. The support from these two bodies was hugely beneficial and enabled us to bring an educational element to the tour, which was a key element of our original plan. Neither artist had been to Ireland before so this opportunity helped us to develop our curatorial dialogue, the artist’s direct insight into their own practice as well as the audience’s interaction and understanding of the work. Without this educational element the project would have suffered. We also approached potential drinks sponsors for our opening

‘Funambulism’ installation shot, Lombard Street Studios, Belfast. Photo courtesy White Wolf Projects.

Wolves at the door Anne Hendrick and Ciara O’Hara profile their joint initiative, White Wolf projects.

receptions and were delighted when Absolut Vodka expressed an interest. This was an appropriate partnership given Absolut’s wellknown support of the arts. This support also included Absolut’s own promotion of the tour and this relationship was mutually beneficial; Absolut accessed a new market for the brand and brought an additional audience to ‘Funambulism’. A large portion of the initial stages of the project was then spent negotiating the confirmation of partnering venues. The tour had to run in a logical and timely manner, incorporating each venues’ own programming concerns. We specifically approached not-for-profit artist-led spaces, in keeping with White Wolf Projects’ ethos. The common thread between the three participating spaces was their personal energy, enthusiasm and dynamic programming. Monster Truck Gallery, Temple Bar, marked the first leg of the tour and was the official launch for White Wolf Projects. Monster Truck’s well-established reputation coupled with us being based in Dublin saw a great turn-out for the launch. Elizabeth Tubergen came to Dublin from New York, was involved with the installation and was present for the opening reception. A few days after the opening she gave an artist’s

Elizabeth Tubergen, Egg Race (detail), 2009, Found objects with egg and spoon, dimensions variable, Photo Ciara O’Hara, courtesy White Wolf Projects.

'Funambulism’ opening reception Feb 10th, Monster Truck, Dublin. Photo Mark Earley.

In late 2010 White Wolf Projects was born out of both of our practices,

this meant that new interpretations of the work and interesting

through discussions surrounding work we’d made, work we’d seen and

dialogues developed throughout the tour. The artwork exhibited in

work we would like to see in Ireland. The timing of our first project

each space varied due to curatorial decisions but also for practical,

came with the economic downturn and subsequent funding cuts. We

installation and transportation reasons. Monster Truck Gallery, Dublin

saw this decline of the commercial art market as an opportunity for

required a sensitive approach due to the large double height window

new and innovative visual art projects to develop.

and the unusual architecture of the space. Here the work was

Both of us are artists, and see White Wolf Projects as an extension

predominantly floor based which balanced the ceiling height and

of our own practices. Between us we have experience of working in

actively mapped the audience’s negotiation of the gallery. Basement

public, commercial and artist-led spaces. For a period in 2009 we

Project Space, Cork differed from Monster Truck with its low ceilings

worked together in a commercial gallery in Dublin, this collaboration

and below street level light. The smaller space and the literal proximity

prompted our mutual and ongoing curatorial interest. We feel that the

of the artworks by both Green and Tubergen triggered a new dialogue

not-for-profit model was the right direction for White Wolf Projects to

between the works and an alternative reading of the show as a whole.

take, given our own artistic and curatorial sensibilities and the current

Lombard Street Studios, Belfast varied greatly from the previous

market.

venues as this was a former domestic space and is not continually used

Our first project ‘Funambulism’ which brought together the work of two young international emerging artists – Laura Green and Elizabeth

as an exhibition space. Using the space’s existing furniture as plinths and supports gave the work an added layer of meaning.

Tubergen and toured their work to venues in Dublin (11 – 22 February),

As part of the project we also produced a free folded publication

Cork (19 – 26) March and Belfast (8 – 16 April). For us the title –

featuring information about the tour, curatorial concepts, artists’ bios

meaning the art of tight rope walking – represented the balancing act

and statements, and a short essay by each curator on their selected

between all participants in this project, the artists, curators and artist-

artist. This was an integral aspect of the tour especially from an

led spaces. The notion of balance and harmony is also a common thread

educational point-of-view.

in both artists’ work. A key aim of this project was to work in a

Our initial idea was just to exhibit the work of UK artist Laura

collaborative manner, which meant tailoring the show for each

Green and US artist Elizabeth Tubergen together. As they are both

individual gallery, devising the education programme with the spaces

international and the work had to be transported here from abroad we

and the two curators selecting the artists and artwork through various

felt it would then be worthwhile to curate a touring exhibition.

discussions that took place over a period of time. This in turn led to a

Considering this key factor we then approached the Arts Council and

dialogue between the curators and artists, as both artists are based

were successful in securing funding.

abroad it meant a different form of communication and discourse was necessary in order for the project to succeed. Each of the three spaces was quite different from one another and

The main issue we found at this stage was a chicken-and-egg type situation – in order to secure funding we needed confirmed spaces, but in order to confirm spaces we needed to know if we had the budget to

talk in the gallery. Our connection to the space meant that logistically this leg ran particularly smoothly. The following month the exhibition travelled to Basement Project Space, Cork. We were responsible for the transportation of the artists’ work and the opening reception drinks. Terminal Convention coincided with the opening of the tour in Cork, which resulted in an atmosphere of palpable enthusiasm towards visual art in the city. The audience in Basement Project Space was informed, with international as well as local people attending. Laura Green gave her artist’s talk on the final day of the exhibition, the higher than expected attendance figures made this a busy conclusion to the end of this leg of ‘Funambulism’. The concluding leg of the tour took place in Lombard Street Studios, Belfast. Again we were responsible for transport. Our opening here took place on the first Thursday of the month which is Belfast’s ‘Late Night Art’, an initiative designed to garner wider audiences and create a buzz in the city. Many of Belfast’s established galleries and art centres take part and this meant that attendance for the opening reception was high. While in Belfast we met many individuals involved with other artist led spaces, artists and independent curators. In carrying out this project we learned that we must be extremely flexible, able to multitask, communicate well and manage lots of different types of relationships. The touring aspect of this project was something new for us as well as the artists involved. It opened up new audiences to us and hopefully was successful in bringing this small island’s art community closer together. This project proves that from chance encounters and brief conversations an idea can grow and be cultivated into a feasible and successful project, with some hard graft in between. Anne Hendrick and Ciara O’Hara http://whitewolfprojects.com

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

July – August 2011

SEMINAR

Research & Practice

price tag. The audience received a page of Naomi Sex’s prepared

Seán O Sullivan reports on ‘Articululate’, a symposium considering notions of art practices as forms of research, THAT TOOK PLACE AT Newman House, Dublin on 25 March 2011.

her hand gestures and verbal tics would normally occur. The three

remarks in advance. Her text included notations dotted throughout to signify where performers stood in a single file as they begun, and moved into different positions throughout the presentation, each taking turns at delivering part of the prepared remarks. Every time a verbal tic such as “eh” appeared in the text, all three announced it loudly. When the text denoted a physical manoeuvre such as “two hands spread out gesture” or “holding two melons hand gesture”, the group acted these out as though they were synchronised swimmers. The act lasted for no longer than 10 minutes. Naomi Sex concluded on a point about how the structures preventing the public exhibition of installation or unframed work constitutes a particular filtration system, within a ‘reputational economy’. The next speaker was Philip Napier, Head of Fine Art at NCAD. A small table and chair sat in the centre of the room, covered in an assortment of bottles, machines and packages. Napier, dressed in an antique suit, strode across the room and flicked a switch on one of the machines; it emitted a loud sound similar to a transistor radio. He then poured himself a glass of whiskey, and said, “the thing about this kind of event is how to get started, and knowing how to finish, so I thought I’d start with a bit of Old Spice.” He picked up a bottle from his table and passed it around the room, with the instructions that each person should rub the aftershave into their upper lip. Then he sat down and began talking. He spent a few minutes telling a story of living in Dromore, Co. Antrim during the troubles in the 1970s. I was struck by his description of a man who had been asked to identify a body, and whose hair had turned white in the months following. Napier had bought a suit from the era in the second-hand shop before the performance, and mentioned

Phillip Napier – performance for 'Articululate'

his shock at having spent £50 on making an artwork. At this point, he picked up a razor from the table and began to shave his beard. Napier had somehow wired his razor into the transistor radio, and what had previously sounded like static became a dull ripping sound as the blade tore across his face. He continued to talk while shaving and a number of small cuts began to appear around his neck, he blotted them with small pieces of tissue. He stopped, and sat back in his chair for a few minutes, and after further storytelling, began to shave again. This time the blood had escaped from the small cuts, and by shaving, Napier spread a thin layer of blood across his neck and face. He stood up and insisted that the crowd pass the Old Spice amongst themselves once more, apparently to ensure that the assembled listeners had properly applied the aftershave beneath their noses. The Sinead McCann Absent from the state part v (performance as presentation)

Naomi Sex Rehearsed Practice

According to the package of documents that I received at the door

She just laughs straight in my face and says ‘Oh sorry, I thought you

of this event, ‘Articululate’ is a portmanteau of the words ‘articulate’

were someone else.’”

smell was quite strong and in the midst of a haphazard reapplication, I managed to spill the stuff all over my notes. After a short film screening from Amanda Coogan, the last

and ‘ululate’ – the latter term meaning a howl or wail expressing

In contrast to Coyle’s hour-long presentation, Alison Pilkington

presentation of the day went to Sally O’Reilly, writer-in-residence at

extraordinary grief. The ‘Articululate’ symposium was supported by

presented her practice-based research in seemingly straightforward

London’s Whitechapel Gallery. She began by removing her shoes,

both NCAD and GradCAM (www.gradcam.ie), and was organised by

10-minute artists talk. Pilkington has developed a painting practice

balancing on a stool with one foot, and posing for pictures in order to

‘No-How’, a PhD seminar group whose members include Amanda

look like a 1970s performer. O’Reilly’s current research has focused on

Coogan, Sinead McCann, Alison Pilkington and Naomi Sex. Articululate

heavily rooted in the uncanny, exploring paradoxical feelings of both familiarity and upset – and overall the experience of being unsettled.

also featured invited contributions from Kevin Atherton, Gary Coyle,

Pilkington frequently uses actual mirrors or mirroring techniques to

Red Wine’. She explained that she has been studying clichés in art

Philip Napier and Sally O’Reilly.

writing a sitcom about the art world, provisionally titled ‘Last of the

offer audiences a sensation of this uncanny experience. By way of

during her residency, and discussed both the meaning and history of

Many people arrived late, no doubt owing to Google Maps

demonstration the artist presented a series of slides that ended with an

the term cliché, noting its etymology in a print process called

placing Newman House on the opposite side of St Stephen’s Green.

image of the room in which we were all sat, from her perspective from

stereotyping.

The building itself is part of the UCD campus, and dates back to the

the lecture – empty, save for a painting hung near the entrance door at

O’Reilly invited the audience to imagine themselves as

18th century. Its windows were at least 20 feet tall. Kevin Atherton

the back for room. As if by reflex, in response all of us in the audience

participants in an hour-long television focus group, the sort where

took to the podium to introduce the event, and briefly discussed the

turned around to see this painting – which of course was no longer

ideas for programmes, jokes and characters are tested out on a live

symposium’s theme of presenting artistic research methods that are in

there.

audience. O’Reilly flipped through slides and scenes showing absurd

After a short break, the audience moved to a downstairs room

representations of artists in sitcoms such as Only Fools and Horses,

The first speaker of the day was Gary Coyle, who presented a

where Sinead McCann had prepared for a brief performance. McCann

Father Ted and Seinfeld. She delivered a running commentary of

version of his performance work At Sea, based on a series of tales taken

sat at a glass table in front of a boiling kettle, with the audience seated

examples of clichéd situations in the arts, and it was clear that between

from his decade of daily swims at the Forty Foot in Sandycove, Dublin.

in a semicircle around her. Her head was covered in a frilled ball of

auction houses, gallery openings and bizarre examples of ‘art speak’

Coyle spoke in the style of a theatre actor, fluid and without notes. In

what looked to be white tissue paper. The room was dark, save for a

the writer was in good comic territory. She spent some time explaining

10 years, he has meticulously documented his swimming ritual in

few red lights to outline her presence at the table. She spoke solemnly

the structure of a sitcom, relating well-known characters of the genre

notebooks, drawings and over 10,000 photographs. He also collects

about feelings of dislocation and strain that come living on social

to one another, and questioning the audience about whether artists or

stories, each taken from an interesting day here and there; these focus

welfare; this set of recollections was apparently gathered from

curators would make the best comic foil.

squarely on the characters who frequent the local area and cross his

interviews and field research. After her story ended, McCann and an

Later on, members of the audience shared a range of alternately

path, and his enjoyment comes from recalling their quirks and his run-

unidentified performer sang without accompaniment in a turn of the

ins with them. For example: “I cycled down towards Sandycove, the

century blues style, their lyrics revolving on the refrain “walk slowly”.

bewildering and embarrassing stories from their own experience of the art world – mostly unfit for print. This light-hearted discussion

police are there in force, stopping people, checking their bags, trying to

Back in the main symposium room, Naomi Sex delivered her

kept the energy up as the daylong symposium drew to a close. Usually

prevent the riots of yesterday. They don’t seem to be having much of

presentation.During the summer of 2010, Sex and four other artists

if I leave a PhD symposium laughing it’s on the most caustic terms, but

an effect. Everywhere you look, people are drinking. It’s like some vast

had attempted to negotiate their way into exhibiting as part of the

this time was different. Without repeating itself, 'Articululate' offered

18th century fair as depicted by Hogarth. As I’m outside the Forty Foot,

well-known amateur exhibitions that are frequently visible on the

a range of strong examples that joined research and practice, which

bent over, fumbling with the lock of my bike, I receive the most

railings of St. Stephen’s Green. These exhibitions are organised by a

was something I found unexpected and admirable.

unmerciful kick up the crack of my arse. I whirl around to confront my

committee, who imposed a plethora of rules before allowing the artists

assailant, to be greeted by a very drunk, overweight 14-year-old girl.

to exhibit unframed works, installations, or artworks without a visible

themselves a form of research activity.

Seán O Sullivan

The Visual Artists' News Sheet

July – August 2011

Opportunities COMMISSIONS

COMmissions LAOIS / NORTH TIPP Laois County Council in partnership with North Tipperary County Council and Offaly County Council wish to invite submissions for the following two-stage competitions: under the Per Cent for Art Scheme. Project A M7/M8 Portlaoise to Castletown/Cullahill PPP Motorway Scheme – Budget Available €55,000 This project has been funded by the Irish Government under the National Development Plan and Transport 21 and by the European Union from the Trans-European (TENT) Networks Budget. Project B M7 Castletown – Nenagh –Budget Available €55,000 This project has been funded by the Irish Government under the National Development Plan and Transport 21 and by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund These commissions have arisen under the Per Cent for Art Scheme in association with the above road development projects led by Laois County Council in partnership with North Tipperary County Council and Offaly County Council. Our vision is to commission artworks that reflect contemporary art practice and respond to the locale. The Projects to be completed by the end of 2011 or early 2012. Closing date Thursday 14 July Address The Arts Office, Laois County Council, Áras an Chontae, Portlaoise, Co Laois Web www.laois.ie Email artsoff@laoiscoco.ie Telephone 057 8674342/44 CONFERENCES

TALKS

LECTURES CONFERENCES, TALKS, LECTURES

THE ACADEMY PROJECT The Academy Project is looking for papers on artist’s writing v. art statements. Forms, content, intentions, purpose, limitations and aims. The aim of this project is to assist the development and reflect the diversity of artistic practice. Contact Liubov Email lkadyrova@gmail.com Stock Take Source Magazine Stock Take. A discussion of the most signifi-

cant Irish work that has appeared in Source. Speakers Justin Carville, Colin Graham and Valerie Connor chaired by Richard West. As part of PhotoIreland and Belfast Photo Festival. 2pm Saturday 23 July Film Base, Temple Bar Dublin 2pm Saturday 13 August Belfast Exposed Gallery Web www.source.ie RHA LUNCHTIME TOURS RHA 181st Annual Exhibition – Free Lunchtime tours. Every Thursday lunchtime, artist members of the RHA will be offering free guided tours of the Annual Exhibition. This will offer a wonderful opportunity to come and see the exhibition, looking at a selection of the works in the show as chosen by each member. Unlike average gallery tours, this allows a personal insight into the exhibition from the artists’ perspective. Tours will start every Thursday throughout the show, from Thursday 26 May – Thursday 28 July at 1.10pm and will last approximately 30-40 minutes. Members giving the tours include James Hanley RHA, Carey Clarke PPRHA, Colin Martin ARHA, Joe Dunne ARHA, Mick O’Dea RHA, Amelia Stein RHA and Diana Copperwhite ARHA. Web www.royalhibernianacademy.ie COURSES / TRAINING COURSES, TRaining, WORKSHOPS

Workshops

CIT MASTERS MA: Art & Process (MA:AP) is an exciting new 12 month taught masters in Fine Art at CIT Crawford College of Art & Design that is delivered over the calendar year from January to December. This intensive programme enables students to investigate, develop and position their art practice, offering city centre studio space, innovative approaches to teaching, and professional experience through collaborative projects. The course runs from January to January and will commence Jan 2012. Deadline Sept 30th 2011. Web http://media.cit.ie/maap/ Telephone 021 4335200 Email trish.brennan@cit.ie FIGURATIVE BRONZE 15 – 17 July 2011 26 – 28 August 2011 Cost: E295 Place secured by a €100 deposit. Max 4 participants. H2studio, Kilbrittain Co Cork offering figurative bronze

casting course. This course will run over 3 days with 1 day of life drawing, 1 day of modelling and mould making and 1 day of casting. It is the aim of the course to give the participant an understanding of life drawing and working from drawings and also an understanding of mould making and the bronze casting process. This will be an intense course but suitable for all levels as there will be a maximum of 4 participants. The course is run by using a combination of modern/ prehistoric methods and also gives the participant a good understanding of small scale foundry. h2 studio is based just outside Kilbrittain by Culmaine Beach, co cork. All courses run by Helle Helsner, figurative artist, and currently pursuing a PhD in early casting through the archaeology department in UCC. Helle also teaches life drawing in Crawford College of Art and Design. Email hellehelsner@gmail.com  Telephone 0863256689 / 0238849223 Web www.h2studioart.com INTAGLIO PRINTMAKING This course will introduce you to the technique of drypoint for copperplate intaglio printmaking. Each participant will make prints using the traditional materials, methods and equipment of this classic artform, using a fully set up professional studio in Dublin. This is an ideal introduction to the medium for those who have never tried it before. Suitable for beginners, or maybe you are proficient in other art media and would like to explore new shores. At the end of the one day course you will take home finished prints; on the second day of the two day course you will further develop and explore the addition of colour. Next one day workshop – Saturday 25 June. Cost: €65 Next two day workshop – Saturday 9 & Sunday 10 July. Cost: €130 All materials included, maximum 6 participants Email info@irishetchings.com Web irishetchings.wordpress.com/ workshops DIGITAL ARTS BELFAST Digital Arts Studios Summer Workshops & Training Programme now open for bookings. Upcoming courses: Flash for Beginners – 19 – 21 July, 6pm – 8.30pm After Effects – An Introduction – 26 – 28 July, 6pm – 8.30pm Web www.digitalartsstudios.com Contact

Nathalie or Angela  Telephone 028 90312900  Email office@digitalartsstudios.com  PARTICIPATION Arts Participation and Development: Creative Approaches to Global Education is a CIT approved Special Purpose Award at Level 8 (10 credits) certificate supported by Irish Aid. CIT Crawford College is the course provider. This course is designed for artists, community artists, youth workers, community workers, activists, teachers, educators, volunteers who are interested in developing a creative and global perspective to their practice. Course Content: Development, development education and the role of arts participation. Development topics such as environment, human rights and equality. -Arts as a tool for advocacy and action -Creative methodologies for the use of arts in development and development education eg. -Theatre of the Oppressed, street art and music. -Group facilitation and project planning. There will be a requirement of assignments and projects that will require approximately the same amount of time to be invested in the course in your own time as the time in workshops over the 8 weekends. Participants will be required to deliver a project as part of the course work. Duration: 8 weekends, October – May, including three 3-day weekends (Fri – Sun) Cost: €680 (This is the cost after subsidy from Irish Aid.) Deadline Sunday 17 July  (Late applications may be accepted subject to availability of places. For enquiries please email) Email globalarteduc@cit.ie  Web artsparticipationanddevelopment.com CLÓ CEARDLANN Cló Ceardlann in Letterkenny have a range of courses available over the summer months. For full details on courses, including prices, and to book a place, see contact details below. 9 & 10 July 2011 - Photo-Etching with Aoife Mc Garrigle 11 – 15 July 2011 – Children’s Summer School with John Doohan 16 & 17 July 2011 - Stone Lithography with Aoife Mc Garrigle 23 & 24 July 2011 – Landscape Painting with Heidi Nguyen 1 – 5 August 2011 – Children’s Art Workshop with Fotini Kariotaki 5 – 7 August 2011 – Photo Workshop with Ingo Dunnebier 5 – 7 August 2011 – In and Outdoor Art with Fotini Kariotaki 13 & 14

August 2011 - Art with Fotini Kariotaki & Photography with Ingo Dunnebier. Telephone +353 (0) 74 91 62800 Email cloceardlann@eircom.net www. clo.ie GLASS WORKSHOP, GALWAY Introduction to Flameworking – 2 Hour Beginner Class 15 – 17 July 2011, 10am – 6pm. Flameworking workshop numbers are small to allow greater individual tuition. Classes will take place from 10am-12pm / 1pm-3pm / 4pm-6pm daily. Cost €49 per student which includes all materials. This introductory course will give you a taste of the intriguing artform of working with molten glass. Students will work with an oxygen/propane torch, using clear and colourful glass rods to learn basic techniques of melting and forming. These fundamental techniques will allow students to explore the possibilities of lampworking as well as find their own personal interests. Students also learn about the safety and the equipment needed for glass bead making. Telephone 086 8067352 Web www.oftheearthartworks.ie Email info@oftheearthartworks.ie LIFE PAINTING WORKSHOP After a very successful workshop in Dublin last year, academic painter William Nathans returns from 11 – 18 July 2011, 10:30am – 5:30pm. Workshop takes place in Dublin city area. Workshop limited to 6 persons only. Suitable for students and experienced artists in life drawing/painting techniques. Contact Donal Murray Telephone 087 411 3618 Email dmurrayart@hotmail.com. CORK PRINTMAKERS Cork Printmakers is delighted to announce it’s Adult Education schedule for June – December 2011. It contains a range of 4 day, weekend and night courses, in a wide variety of print techniques. To book your place, please contact us at (021) 4322422 or by email to: courses@corkprintmakers.ie. A 10% discount applies, when you book two or more courses. Mono Screen-printing: weekend course Dates: 9 & 10 July. Course Fee: E180. Intermediate Etching: 2 weekend course Dates: 16 & 17 and 23 & 24 July. Course Fee: €295. Photo Intaglio combined with Basic

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

July – August 2011

opportunities Bookbinding Techniques: 4 day course Dates: 22 – 25 August. Course Fee: €345. Introduction to Screen-printing on Fabric: weekend course Dates: Date to be confirmed. Course Fee: E195 Telephone (021) 4322422 Web www.corkprintmakers.ie. Email courses@corkprintmakers.ie. ETCHING CLASSES Etching Classes at Lorg Printmakers, Galway. A one-toone class which will provide an introduction to hard/soft ground etching, aquatint and spitbite techniques. If you have any questions or would like to book a class please contact Jennifer. Telephone 086 1254953 Web www.lorgprintmakers.com ART CLASSES FOR ADULTS Art classes for adults by Roxana Manouchehri, MA in Painting. Once a week, each class 2 1/2 hours. Each course is 10 weeks. Price for 10 weeks: €300 Address Upper Exchange Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 Email roxanamanouchehri@gmail. com. JEWELLERY COURSES Weekend Jewellery Courses at Irish Design Shop Dates: 9 – 10 July, 13 – 14, 27 – 28 August Irish Design Shop have announced their summer schedule of weekend jewellery making classes commencing this June. Open to students of all levels from beginners to advanced, the aim is to teach a variety of skills involved in producing metal jewellery. We mainly work in copper and silver, but encourage the use of a variety of materials such as wood, plastics and found objects. Each weekend workshop is structured around the students designs and what they wish to get out of the two days. Beginners are introduced to metalwork on the Saturday morning with a brooch project (using basic skills such as the jewellers saw and soldering), then we work around individual designs to produce at least one finished piece of jewellery by the end of the workshop. All materials and tools are provided (we do charge for the use of silver however, which generally amounts to €30 per student, depending on what you make). We advise each student to bring along a notebook and an apron, or else wear your least fancy clothes. Each weekend workshop takes place Saturday and Sunday from 10.30 am-4pm. The cost per student is

€95. To book a place on any of the following dates, drop us an email or give us a call. We take a €50 deposit from each student to secure a place on each workshop. Contact Clare or Laura Email admin@irishdesignshop.com Telephone 01 4752222 Web twojewellers.blogspot.com GREENACRES Why not try something a little different this Summer? Greenacres Art Galleries is holding four week long workshops with artists, Gearoid Hayes, Eamon Colman, Mary M. O’Connor & John Dinan during the month of July. There are special discounts on lunch at Jacques Bistro and nearby accommodation for students of the classes. Artists with all levels of experience are welcome. Eamon Colman: 11 – 15 July, Mary M. O’Connor: 18 – 22 July, John Dinan: 25 – 29 July 2011 (Workshop is full, but a waiting list is being operated) Email marianne@greenacres.ie Telephone 053 9122975 Web www.greenacres.ie EMERGING ARTIST AWARD As part of a new initiative to support developing and emerging artists, Siamsa Tíre is offering an Emerging Artist Award which recognises new undisputed talent and promise. The award of €2,500 will be offered to a recent graduating artist along with a solo exhibition space in the Gallery Programme in September. The award is open to artists practicing in any one discipline or those experimenting cross art form. Deadline midnight 17 July Web www.siamsatire.com/page/gallery_news. Email director@siamsatire.com before 2011. Address Siamsa Tire, Town Park, Tralee,Co Kerry Telephone 066 712 3055 SALON ART PRIZE The Salon Art Prize 2011 is the fifth annual open submission exhibition produced by Matt Roberts Arts at our gallery on Vyner St in East London. We will exhibit up to 100 artists and to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Salon Art Prize we will be offering a separate prize of

GBP1000 for each exhibition category: Painting, Sculpture and Installation (including sound) and 2-D Media. This years’ Selectors are: Patricia Bickers (Editor, Art Monthly), Pippa Hale (Director, Project Space Leeds), Robert Leckie (Exhibitions Curator, Gasworks) Matt Roberts Arts is a dynamic not-for-profit organisation founded in 2006 to create opportunities for artists in new locations and contexts. Matt Roberts Arts offers support to creative practitioners by providing a range of professional development programmes and national and international touring exhibitions. In order to apply you will need to send three images of works you would like to submit to sap2011@mattroberts.org.uk and pay an associate membership fee of GBP10 via our website www.salonartprize. com. Deadline 5pm (GMT), Saturday 13 August 2011. Web www.salonartprize.com. FUNDING BURSARIES FUNDING / AWARDS

EMERGING ARTISIT AWARD As part of a new initiative to support developing and emerging artists, Siamsa Tíre is offering an Emerging Artist Award which recognises new undisputed talent and promise. The award of 2,500 Euro will be offered to a recent graduating artist along with a solo exhibition space in the Gallery Programme in September. The award is open to artists practicing in any one discipline or those experimenting cross art form. Web www.siamsatire.com/page/gallery_news. Email director@siamsatire.com Deadline midnight 17 July 2011. Address Siamsa Tire, Town Park, Tralee,Co Kerry Telephone 066 712 3055 DEIS AWARD 2011 The purpose of the Deis Award is to provide support for traditional arts projects, or projects involving collaboration between the traditional arts and other artforms. Deis supports one-off or short-term projects only and other funding will not be granted under the scheme. Priority will be given to projects that demonstrate: Attention to artistic quality, Innovation, Significant benefit to the traditional arts community. Proposals are accepted from

all areas in the traditional arts (traditional music, song, dance and oral artforms such as storytelling and agallamh beirte). Changes to deadlines: Deis proposals are currently accepted on a rolling basis, submitted at least twelve weeks before the project is due to start. From 15 April onwards, the award will operate with a series of specific deadlines for applications throughout the year, which will be published in advance. The closing dates – if your activity is due to commence on or before 21 October 2011. Closing Date: 9 September 2011, if your activity is due to commence after 21 October 2011. Changes to the application process. NB: applications will only be accepted through the Arts Council’s online services website. Applicants who have not previously used this system must register in advance of making an application. It is recommended that applicants allow five days for registration prior to making an application. Contact Eimear Harte or Karen Lee Walpole Telephone 01 619 7807 Email eimear.harte@artscouncil.ie or karenlee.walpole@artscouncil. ie JOB VANCANICIES jobs VISUAL TECHNICIAN Creative visual technician with knowledge of projection/using projectors wanted for collaborating/ developing visuals for a Fringe show with the Dublin Aerialists, musicians Laura Sheeran and Robyn Bromfield and sculptor Ella Burke among others. 6 night run in the Complex, Smithfield, in midSeptember. Would need to be available and committed from now until then and be free for the shows. We are operating on a profit share basis. Telephone 353 87 9729 226 Email emilyaoibheann@gmail.com

Festival is looking for work dealing with football (soccer) as an artistic topic for its nomadic festival project CologneOFF (2011/2012) – videoart in a global context for experimental films and video art. Football is a complex social phenomenon which is more than worth being reflected in new forms of contemporary art. CologneOFF is inviting film- and videomakers all over the world to contribute and submit experimental films and video art by using the entry form on – www.nmartproject. net/netex/?p=3245. 2. Let’s Save the World !? 2011 was the year when people all over the world became aware again how vulnerable nature, but also the human species are. Especially, the disasters in Japan have caused countless human tragedies making all of us clear, neither nature nor technology can be controlled by humans. But these disasters stand in a long row of phenomenons with increasing negative effects on the environments we humans are living in, like global climate warming, global migrating, misuse of natural resources etc, and there is the real danger that our living sources are already destroyed before we actually are ready to react. Let’s Save the World!? – is the theme of a special selection to be made in the framework of the nomadic festival project “CologneOFF 2011/2012 – videoart in a global context” which is not only appealing to work actively for the survival of our blue planet, but dealing with the questions what can be done to save the world and how can it be done, with environmental issues & sustainability, social & global responsibility and much more. Artists working with “moving images” are invited to deal with all these and many more questions in their experimental films and videoart, to contribute and submit to this call by using the entry form on – www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=3251. Web http://coff.newmediafest.org Deadline 1 September 2011

INTERNATIONAL

international exibs EXHIBITIONS COLOGNE VIDEO ART Cologne International Videoart Festival – Calls for entries.1 January 2011 – 31 December 2012 1. Football – Soccer – Fussball. In 2012, in Poland and Ukraine the Eu r o p e a n Fo o t b a l l Championships will be held showing once again how deeply rooted football (US- soccer) is in the contemporary society. Cologne International Videoart

IRISH IRISHEXHIBITIONS exibs YOUR VIDEO HERE Your Video Here is a Film, Video and Animation Exhibition taking place online and in Limerick City in September 2011. YVH is about exploring the ideas of the ‘Remix’, online video editing and the authorship of work. You are invited to submit new work based on a theme:1. Works must respond to the theme ‘Communication Control’. 2. All works must be under 5 minutes

long. 3. All submissions must be attributed with a Creative Commons license. Web www.yourvideohere.com. Deadline 31 July 2011 BALLINA ARTS CENTRE Applications are invited for the 2012 visual arts exhibition programme at the redeveloped Ballina Arts Centre in Co. Mayo. Ballina Arts Centre is fast becoming one of the ‘must-visit’ gallery spaces in the west and northwest region, with recent exhibitions including ‘Hughie O’Donoghue: North Mayo Retrospect’, Altered Images, ‘Jack B Yeats & the West of Ireland’, as well as numerous Irish artists such as Maria McKinney, Niall Kerrigan, Susan Tiger and many more. Applicants should provide the following: • Up to 10 visual examples of their work *(photographs, slides, digital images on CD will all be accepted) • Current Curriculum Vitae and Artist’s Statement • Any other supporting material. Individual & group submissions, across all media are welcome. An external, independent panel will assess applications. Deadline 4pm, Friday 29 July 2011 to: Address Visual Art 2012, Ballina Arts Centre, Barrett Street, Ballina, Co Mayo. (Please enclose stamped, self-addressed envelope for the return of visuals.) Telephone +353 (0)96 73593 Email ballinaartscentre@eircom.net Web www.ballinaartscentre.com RUA ANNUAL EXHIBITION The Royal Ulster Academy’s 130th Annual Exhibition, which aims to highlight the best in contemporary and traditional visual arts practice, will take place from 21 October to 20 November 2011 in the Ulster Museum, Belfast. Artists are invited to submit a maximum of two works in any medium for consideration. Work will be selected anonymously by a jury and a range of prizes will be awarded by an independent adjudicator. Adjudicator: Barbara Rae RA. Jury: Julian Friers PRUA, Jack Pakenham RUA, Terry Gravett ARUA, Marie Louise Muir, Art Journalist & Broadcaster, Kim Mawhinney, Head of Art, National Museums Northern Ireland. There are two stages to the submission process. Firstly, a completed entry form and fees must be received by 16 July. Secondly, you will need to deliver your work to one of the RUA’s drop points, either in Dublin (13 August) or Belfast (14

The Visual Artists' News Sheet

July – August 2011

opportunities August) with labels attached. You can process your form and fees online using PayPal or alternatively you can download a form, complete and return to the RUA office together with your cheque/postal order. To receive a hard copy of the entry form by post please contact the RUA office. Notification regarding the outcome of the selection process will be circulated between 5–9 September via post. For further information visit the RUA website. Address 9th Floor, River House, 48 High St, Belfast, BT1 2BE Telephone +44 (0)28 90320819 Email info@royalulsteracademy.org Web www.royalulsteracademy.org Deadline 16 July 2011 BACK LANE GALLERY Kerry artists are wanted to join The Back Lane Gallery Artist collective. The Back Lane Gallery is located on New Market Lane. This is fast becoming the artist quarters of Killarney. Interested artists should send 3 images of their work along with a bio to backlaneart@gmail.com. Web thebacklanegallery.blogspot. com PUBLICATIONS publications SOURCE Source Magazine Publication Opportunity. As part of our research for future issues Source will be organizing meetings with photographers and artists based on a selection from emailed submissions. Source publishes a wide range of material, an archive of which can be seen online. The magazine is particularly interested in seeing new work made in Ireland. Contact John Duncan Web www.source.ie Deadlines 8th July and 29th July. Telephone 028 90 329691 +BILLION +BILLION an online art journal wants to publish texts by you! +BILLION- believes that there are lots of ‘art writers’ out there, and wants to use its online presence to prove this. Depending on the amount of texts submitted and quality of writing. The texts will be ‘curated’ into themes which will be defined during the process of collating submissions. +BILLION- is gradually defining a remit which

can be read below. But this unstable remit is not set in stone, and will be expanded if a text by YOU provokes +BILLION- to alter the remit or just add to it. So, for the time being, +BILLION- is keeping the terms ‘criticism’ and ‘art writing’ in the same ‘pen’. The only parameter that +BILLION- has defined is the structure of the texts. For example: The ‘review’ is not subject to a word limit, but +BILLIONwould rather the focus is on one artist, one show, rather than ‘double reviews’, or tangental reviews. The ‘article’ is open and can be of any length. But +BILLIONdoes like the writer to stake a ‘position’, or argue positions against one another. +BILLIONis not anti-philosophy, as philosophy forms the backbone of the articles/reviews so far. +BILLION- is a non-profit art project, so cannot pay for your texts. So as always, this is all for the ‘Love of Art’. All submissions should be sent in Word format, with images and titles Email billionartjournal@ymail.com. Web billionjournal.blogspot.com STUDENTZINE studentsZINE Issue 2 will be released on Thursday 9 June 2011. Contributors include: Yann Novak, Salome Voegelin, Lars Lundehave Hansen, Damien Flood, Niall De Buitlear, Annette Molone, Seamus Nolan, Luce De Tetis, Tracy Costello, Noel Cullen, Ken Omom, Katerina Bodrunova. studentsZINE is an online publication for the International Contemporary Arts. studentsZINE was founded to readdress the current lack of representation focusing primarily on the development of students, emerging and under represented artists within their creative and research practices . The publication is dedicated to create a platform for discussion and collaboration for the emerging artist. It aims to be at the forefront of art criticism and theory and to engage and represent the work of committed emerging practitioners within the field of ‘Art’ – to promote their work and related interests to a wider appreciating audience and to create a discursive network between national and international colleges and universities. studentsZINE is a multimedia & inter-disciplinary zine that caters for the ever evolving and dynamic creative practices that continues to emerge as sonic, video and performance works can be experienced along-

side images and text directly from the zine. Web www.studentspad.com / www. studentszine.com EVENTS events ZINES/ARTIST BOOKS On Saturday 27 August the Ranelagh Arts Centre is hosting a zine/independent publishing fair. There will be over 20 stalls full of artist books, zines, comics, and D.I.Y. /independent publications. The event will be accompanied by live music provided by band Gypsy Rebel Rabble and will be followed by a screening of a zine documentary with popcorn. A full table is 20 euro, half a table is 10 euro. Act fast as the stalls are booking out quickly Contact Sarah Bracken Email sarahranelagharts@gmail.com CALLS FOR ASSISTANCE help needed HELLO OPERATOR Hello Operator is seeking instructors/artists interested in running weekday, weekend, and evening art classes in our Upstairs studio space, Dublin 1. The space is clean and modern, has excellent natural light, and beautifully restored stone and wooden textures. Suggested uses might include: life drawing, still life, digital illustration, painting, etc. Address 12 Rutland Place, Dublin 1 Telephone 087 7575559 Email erin@hellooperator.org Web hellooperator.org WATCHES AND CLOCKS Anois Art seeks unwanted watches and clocks for an art project. Any condition accepted. Email anoisart@gmail.com. LIFE MODELS INTERVIEW Documentary film maker looking to talk to people about the experience of working as a life model for various types of artists. Telephone 087 2359515 Email hilary@hilaryfennell.com Resi residencies Vertical NATURE ‘Vertical. Nature. Base’ – Dan Shipsides and Echo Echo Project Blog. Funded by the Legacy Trust UK Connections programme which has been set up to help build a cultural and sporting legacy from the 2012 Olympic

and Paralympic Games. V.N.B is a residential exploratory and experimental climbing / art / dance /sport project by Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company and Dan Shipsides. During September 2011 the project will be based at a coastal climbing location in Donegal and a city base in Derry-Londonderry. This blog is an insight into the ongoing creative process and project development Web verticalnaturebase.blogspot. com. CLO CEARDLANN Cló Ceardlann, Donegal are now accepting residency applications on an ongoing basis. Applications should be made to Cló residency programme and should include an up to date CV, a detailed proposal and images of work in jpg format. We would like to get applications from people who are interested in contemporary art and culture, and who are interested in the unique landscape and language of the Gaeltacht. Our Artist in Residence Programme offers accommodation in Cló Ceardlann’s artist-inresidence house and access to the workshop based in scenic North West Donegal. This is offered on a self-funded basis and offered residencies. On our part we request that you donate a piece of work made during your residency for the house and one print from each edition for the workshop archive. The cost per week for a residency is E200. Telephone 074 9162800 Email cloceardlann@eircom.net ROSCOMMON ARTS CENTRE Roscommon Arts Centre Visual Art Residencies 2012/2013. Roscommon Arts Centre now welcomes high-quality proposals from artists working in all forms to work with Roscommon Arts Centre – deriving from a new strand within our visual arts programme. Each residency will last for approximately three months, during which time artists will have the opportunity to develop their work in the centre’s gallery space. As part of the residency, artists will be required to identify and engage with members of the local community through a programme of workshops, talks or other means, which will assist the artist in developing their own practice and may feed into their show, while offering new opportunities for locals to engage with artists in a new and meaningful way. The final two weeks

of the residency will be dedicated to an exhibition of work to the public. Applications should include: A written statement of intent of no more than 300 words. Your statement should include a brief paragraph of your current art practice, a summary of how you would use the residency time to develop your practice, outline summary of how you wish to engage with local community within your residency period and a summary of a proposed exhibition. A clear CV/biog & up to 15 good quality images of work (High Res JPEG / Tiff). Please Label all work. A large SAE with the value of the cost of posting the above back to you. A selection panel will then convene to assess applications and artists whose proposals are short-listed may be contacted to meet with selection panel to discuss proposal further prior to final selection being made. Address Visual Arts Programme Proposal, Roscommon Arts Centre, Circular Road, Roscommon. Deadline Friday 29 July 2011, 5pm. Email edonnelly@roscommoncoco.ie. THEMATIC RESIDENCIES Thematic Residencies at The Banff Centre, Canada. Adam Chodzko: 'Something in the Water. A Search for the Turn of the Backwash'. Program dates: 14 November – 9 December 2011. Each participant contributes equally – field trips, hikes, meetings with “real” people, collaborative video projects, individual quests, a lot of “show and tell,” too much late night Googling, and lots of misunderstandings will steer us through this residency. Banff Artist in Residence (BAIR) Programs Ongoing opportunities: Banff Artist in Residence programs offer independent periods of study where artists, curators, and other arts professionals are free to experiment and explore. Participants are provided with an individual studio accessible 24 hours a day, as well as use of Visual Arts facilities including printmaking, papermaking, ceramics, sculpture, and photography. BAIR offers short and long-term opportunities to work at a remove from the constraints of everyday life. Deadline 15 July 2011 Email arts_info@banffcentre.ca Telephone +1 403 762 6180 or 1.800.565.9989 Web

www.banffcentre.ca/va Studios studios LA CATEDRAL One studio space available from 12 June 2011. Large industrial window, very bright, may suit 2 people sharing. 24/7 access. Kitchen facilities, communal chill-out space, free wi-fi and heating. Email lacatedralstudios@yahoo.com. Web www.lacatedralstudios.org ORMOND QUAY Various studios to rent near Ormond Quay, Dublin City Centre. Contact Colm Telephone 087 250 6144 MOXIE STUDIOS Recently finished studios now available at Moxie Studios, that will enjoy a bathroom on every floor, and a second kitchen and lounge. Workshop studios suitable for sculptors and spaces for ID / designers / art groups also available. Web www.mox.ie Email planesite@mox.ie. MONSTER TRUCK Monster Truck Studios has one studio available in June 2011. Broadband, 24 hour access. Space is approx 13 x 8 ft and has good light. Email info@monstertruck.ie. Web monstertruck.ie MARK’S ALLEY Studios Available at Mark’s Alley Studio, Dublin 8. Large open plan studios available for rent in Francis street area. E140 to E145 p.m. plus electricity. Minimum 4 month lease. 24/7 access. Available immediately. Email marksalleystudio@gmail.com

WATCH OUT! We strongly advise readers to verify all details to their own satisfaction before forwarding art work, slides or monies etc. Don’t forget Do look at the advertisments in this VAN, also check our web site & subscribe to our e-bulletin for further opportunities.

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

Laughism By Borislav Byrne

Gift of Life Commission A Major Opportunity for Recent Graduates The South Eastern Health and Social Care trust wishes to commission a new artwork from an emerging local artist to be displayed within the new Critical Care Complex, at the Ulster Hospital and a small related representation within a public garden being created in Newtownards, to acknowledge the contribution organ and tissue donors have made in Northern Ireland. The £6,000 competition is open to recent art graduates from Northern Ireland (from June 2009 onwards) who feel they could represent the theme of “The Gift of Life” in an artwork to inspire people to donate after their death and transform someone else’s life. The funding for this commission does not detract from frontline services and it is also anticipated that the winning artwork will be capable of being adapted into a logo for future promotion of organ donation. The wall-mounted original artwork may be created in any of the following media: painting, print, photography, textile, ceramic or other 2 dimensional media. This is a 2 stage competition. Expressions of interest followed by shortlist interviews. Up to 5 shortlisted candidates will be interviewed in August 2011 Closing date for receipt of expressions of interest 4pm Thursday 28th July 2011. Expressions of interest comprising up to 4 initial sketch designs (A3/or A4 hard copy only) and a brief concept statement max 500 words should be sent to: Eilis O Baoill, Strategic and Capital Development, Kelly House Ulster Hospital Belfast BT16 1RH Eilis.O’Baoill@setrust.hscni.net

July – August 2011

The Visual Artists' News Sheet

July – August 2011

PROFILE We settled on Firsty? as a name as we meet on the first and third Thursday of the month for a sup. We chose Facebook as an organising tool and set up a Firsty Group page for posting opportunities and a Firsty Artists page for albums of each member’s work. There came the nay-sayers. There were those that said it was a silly name. That it was childish to think that anyone of quality would want to be part of such a thing. That we wouldn’t get members, let alone keep them. That we were set to fail. That it was too inclusive. That it was too exclusive! In October 2010, nine people settled in a snug in the Rabbit Rooms, a quirky bar in Bangor, to share an artistic pint and be convivial. We outgrew the snug quite quickly. At our second meeting to be precise! Just two weeks later, 24 people turned up. We were astounded and ecstatic. We had decided at conception that the group would be open to everyone and free; there would be no forms or fees and everyone would be charged with running it. We also decided initially not to apply for funding, remaining completely independent and not to take a financial risk on things like equipment or premises. With numbers rising by the day, we soon realised however, that we could put on a pop-up gallery needing only a £5 charge per exhibitor to cover the cost of the room and flyers. We struck up a mutually-supportive agreement with the Rabbit Rooms as a venue. They gave us cheap room rental for the night and Work by Mytarpit.

Inga Hamilton Turnpike

waived commission. In return, we brought people into their bar making them the hub of Bangor’s emerging quirky-eclectic art scene. On Valentine’s weekend 2011, our first pop-up gallery ran for just four hours. Forty artists showed their work, over 300 people came

Play Nice

through the door, 24 pieces of work sold, numerous commissions were made and several artists were signed up to galleries. Our second show came fast on its heels. Easter saw 45 artists

Inga Hamilton profiles and discusses the founding of Firsty? a new artists collective I have many labels. Some see me as a visual artist, others a crafter. You

Often these artists band together not for friendship, nor for

could say I’m an activist, a sculptress, a weaver, an interventionist, a

economic clout (although both are valid reasons in themselves), but

serial installation installer. It doesn’t matter to me. I am known both as

because deep down inside they want to live in an interesting place that

Rockpool Candy and Inga Hamilton. How you see me depends on what

inspires their own creative practice.

I am working on, but you can be sure of one thing, I am a woman

So why was it the case then, when we returned home to our

striving to create beautiful objects from the mundane, no matter who’s

Northern Irish town of Bangor, we often felt deflated: pondering why

watching.

there wasn’t such a buzz – feeling we were missing a vital something?

Some of the installations that I cherish the most live only in my

It was this that drove us to set up ‘Firsty?’.

memory – softly-coloured crochet pieces hidden in ancient woodland,

Bangor may be an un-assuming seaside town, but it has many a

covered in an early-morning frost. Or a Neolithic-inspired loom created

creative resident with an international career. Yet the general public’s

in an orchard, the weaving left to slowly decay, seen only by the

view of ‘local’ artists seems to be one of hobbyists, poorly-executing

squirrels perching on it to chew acorns. It is the process for me. Each

muddy watercolours at a very amateurish level. Why so? Every artist is

part of the creation brings me joy.

local to somewhere. You can be local and international.

Showing my work in galleries on London’s Southbank or on New

We decided it was time that this view changed. From a purely

York’s 5th Avenue opens up my world to sharing my desire for textiles

selfish level, we wanted to get out of our studios, be part of the

with others in chance meetings. I get to enjoy conversations with

community, contribute our skills and share. We wanted the fire in our

complete strangers about the length of a fleece’s staple or the lustre of

bellies stoked by our surroundings. Taking our cue from Jelly in

milk protein fibre, completely lost in our textile terminology.

Reading (1), a wonderful arts organisation run by our friend Suzanne

My husband, Andy, has the same drive and passion, but his tools

Stallard, we knew that others would want to be involved.

are brushes, spray cans and a brain that pours forth humorous and

Coincidentally, the Visual Artists Ireland was holding a ‘collectives’

surprising characters that are highly prized around the world. His work

day in Newtownards – a perfect kickstart we felt. Like Citizen Smith on

constantly challenges concepts surrounding the exchange of money

a sugar rush, I spoke passionately about our idea to form a creative

for art, running projects where anyone can ‘buy’ one of his hand-

network – not just for artists, but musicians, poets, designers,

painted canvases for 200 handwritten words. Under his pseudonym,

photographers, crafters, dancers – a coming together of people who

MyTarPit, he paints found objects, releasing them into the world for the

were driven by their creative spirit to enhance the place where they

public to find and treasure.

live. I was almost hoarse extolling the virtues of projecting a collective

One broken wakeboard found in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, travelled with us on our last US tour, being painted in his spare time, until it was

creative front from all over Ireland. Offering to share our US clients we knew were already interested in cross-Atlantic relationships.

released into the ocean. After a two-hour sail east of Key West, Florida,

Unfortunately for both ourselves and the VAI organisers, the

and a further half-hour kayak, the wakeboard was gently left to bob

general consensus seemed to be one of once-bitten-twice-shy. Many

away towards Cuba. A year later, an email thank you popped into

had been in collectives and found them bogged down in admin and

Andy’s inbox. A woman walking on a beach over 200 miles away in

politics. It all spurred us on more. We’d been part of Brighton Illustrator’s

Miami, had found the piece, taken it home and added it to her shrine of

Group and experienced its success. Bangor has all the same elements as

artefacts collected from the sea. Mother Nature’s currents had chosen

Brighton, just on a smaller scale. We didn’t feel there was anything to

her as the artwork’s new keeper. Such a transaction between an artist

lose.

and collector cannot be surpassed.

Through a chance meeting at a workshop, we were introduced to

The wonderful thing for us about our work is that it leads us off

another local artist and ceramicist, Lee Boyd, who’d been banging the

the beaten track to places weird and enchanting, and each time it does,

same drum as ours. Together, the three of us decided that if all that

we’re blown away by the small pockets of artists we stumble upon,

came of the venture was a quiet group of three people who met twice a

living in thriving arts and crafts scenes; scenes that they themselves

month for a pint, then that was fine by us. But we would put the word

have created.

out just in case.

showing on that evening – some selling all their work shown. The venue was buzzing and bursting to capacity. Recognising the cultural strength inherent in a group such as Firsty?, local events organisers have begun to seek us out. In June, Sea Bangor will feature a curiosity tent filled entirely with projects, demonstrations and exhibitions created by Firsty? members. Between 50,000 – 60,000 visitors are expected over the weekend and the creative talent in our group will be there to captivate them. It’s in the Firsty? ethos to skill share – and this includes curation of these shows and learning to build professional relationships. Each show is curated by three members, with at least one being inexperienced, and no member curates more than two shows in a row. With constantlyrolling teams it means that no one member carries the pressure of multiple events. The same ethos applies to our monthly newsletter. It’s designed and written by a different member each time, with all members able to contribute snippets. By our current reckoning this means each member will be called on to produce a newsletter once every 12 years or so. And so the group gets bigger: 150 members and counting. 15,000 hits a month. It’s not all been plain sailing. A lot of human beings all with different quirks, foibles and sensibilities. But we are really proud of the group and how the members have seized the permission to be creative. It’s turning into a hot-bed of cross fertilization. Photographers are helping singer-songwriters with video footage. Artists are painting album covers. Established designers are kitting out younger members with spare technology. Galleries are posting opportunities and invitations. And now, on the first and third Thursday of the month, a creative person at a loose end in Bangor can head on down to the Rabbit Rooms and know that at any time after 7pm there will be at least one, if not 30, friendly faces wanting to make their town a little bit more interesting. We have only two rules in Firsty? 1) Play nice. 2) You get out of it what you put in. Look for ‘Firsty Group’ on Facebook, or email us at firstycreative@ gmail.com Inga Hamilton www.rockpoolcandy.com www.mytarpit.com www.leeboydartist.com Note 1. http://thejelly.wordpress.com

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

July – August 2011

VAI regional contacts

Regional Perspectives Reports from Visual Artists Ireland's Regional Contacts West of Ireland Aideen Barry

Consolidating Assets

Connacht Laundry, Galway - interior view.

Proposed development plan for the Connacht Laundry, Galway.

Connacht Laundry, Galway development proposal, publicity image.

On the 18th and 19th of April visual artists and arts organisations based in Galway hosted a number of meetings and conversations with CEO Noel Kelly. These meetings were informal chats and conversations with these communities of practising artists by Noel and myself to gauge the current concerns of visual artists based in the city. The meetings were facilitated by Engage Studios, Artspace Studios, Lorg Printmakers, 126 Collective and Groundwork studios. The basic premise for these meetings was to discuss how these organisations are surviving in the economic climate and how strategic relationships could be forged through partnership and membership drives etc, in the future. The overall response was extremely positive with high numbers of artists, curators and makers turning out to speak about personal experiences and organisational challenges. One of the continuous conversations that occurred again and again was the issue of security for the organisation. These (in most cases) voluntary run organisations are struggling with the recent challenges posed by depletion of arts council funding, and local authority funding. In many cases, funding may have been stopped completely or has been so drastically reduced that the organisation has had to down scale its activities or approach new ways of funding in order to sustain their members and the activities of these spaces. One has to applaud the number of organisations based in the city and their ability to work together to support policy reform, challenge the city council and campaign for infrastructural development to meet the needs of this ever increasing community and industry based in the city. One of the most fascinating proposed projects that the united visual art community in Galway have been most vocal about, it the provision of key services to the arts community. In particular, the establishment of a centre for Visual Art, and also a practical fabrication studio, in the form of a National Sculpture Factory Type model. Now this is not all hot smoke. The united grouping of over 200 members of these organisations have collectively come together under the auspices of a lobby group called Adapt Galway (1), their aim is to “create a united vision for the visual arts in Galway.” The organisation recognise the needs of visual artists and together challenge city council planning to recognise the role these organisations have in the city. The main focus is policy provision for the arts community through all planning, cultural and civic policy documents that the city issues, but on a larger scale the united group also proposes the purchase of a key premises as a centre in the city. This location happens to be the old Connacht Laundry, which lies off Henry Street by the Galway canal. A former industrial laundry, this building is now a large derelict complex in one of the oldest parts of Galway City. The Laundry proposal drafted by Adapt Galway members (2) sites international best practice on regeneration of derelict inner city spaces as one of the key rationale’s of the proposed purchase of this enormous premises. The proposal emphasises combining creative innovation and physical regeneration, and an economic and social stimulant for this largely inactive area of the city. The Adapt Galway groups are hoping that a combined action of collective investments from the City Council, NUIG and arts organisations could buy up the site and create a unique space that would collectively house some of the artist spaces and would increase the development of art and civic services in the city. The group propose to house some of the organisations and a number of private companies (possibly working in the visual art sector: accountants, framers, fabricators, designers etc.) in different parts of the structure. The space itself is potent with possibility and if handled correctly would open a large-scale exhibition venue that would rival Visual in Carlow as a space. Not only is this space imposing, exciting and ambitious but to the rear of the structure there are out-sheds that could support an exciting set of international residency studios akin to Fire Station in Dublin. The space was so captivating that Noel Kelly, VAI's CEO, joked, albeit with a sense of the sincerity that there was a beautiful office space at the helm of the building that would make a wonderful VAI WEST Office ( yes please!). One of the key positions that the group takes is the idea of consolidating assets. By this means certain services will cross over and the demand of these services will be reduced by the notion that all/ some these organisations could possibly be housed and catered for by

this space. The organisations see services such as waist charges, internet charges and corporation taxes reduce due to the proximity of these organisations all been housed in the same venue. A key idea is that the identity of the individual organisations could still be maintained due to the ability to house several organisations in unique floors or compartments of the centre. The idea that a world class exhibition venue and residency space would also be the focus of centre would also mean that traffic to the centre and sister organisations would also be dramatically increase, posing possibilities of increasing memberships, cross fertilisation of organisations and increased awareness of the activities of practicing artists in the city. Ambitious plans, but with a practical proposal. Which was endorsed by a visit from the Galway City Arts Officer, James Harold who joined us on the tour of the premises on the same day. Notes 1. http://www.adaptgalway.com/ 2. Jim Ricks, Kate Howard, Grace Mitchel, and members of organisations such as Artspace Studios, Engage Studios, Lorg Printmakers, 126 Collective see http://www.adaptgalway.com/groups.html

Northern Ireland Laura Graham

Building Good Karma As the plethora of new media connectivity solutions in the art world grows exponentially month on month; global may be getting smaller, but local, rather curiously is getting bigger. Although it’s great that so much art is now on show, it presents a bit of a problem when it comes to planning which openings and exhibitions to attend. If real time teleportation is soon developed, it may be possible to get to all the openings and events posted. But until that actually happens, an alternative for those not in Belfast – or in some other way disadvantaged, whether geographically or economically – may be in the form of a local blog, Creative Change NI. Some months ago, at the request of Bronagh Lawson, founder of the Creative Change NI blog, I began to follow her. Perhaps follow is not the right word, directionally, the blog sends me posts, but it is open to me to post whenever I want and I did have to ask to join. As I normally hate constant updates, the fact that this blog is hitting the right note is worth talking about. It’s a supportive informative resource that works because of the intention, and what can only be described as the genuinely big heart of its founder. For one thing, it does not pop up every moment of every day, merely a reasonable once a week. The prompt tells me about what’s on in and around Belfast and what I may miss if I haven’t yet been out the front door, or driven the 15 miles to get to Belfast. Although the blog was initiated a couple of years ago, after Lawson took a course in London on new media, the seeds had been sown some years earlier when studying art at Winchester. At the time she chose to write her thesis on computers and art which, she freely admits was “a bit out there” as an idea, bearing in mind laptops had just been conceived and although they were being mooted, amongst other things as the drawing pads of the future plein air, the notion of new media was mostly science fiction and Facebook certainly hadn’t been born. Having lived and worked throughout the now iconic troubles period, Lawson spent her professional life trying to break down preconceived notions, encouraging people to reflect upon themselves and their prejudice. Complemented by a varied professional background in visual art, business development, financial advice, equality and volunteering, a natural conduit for one wearing so many hats was new media with its flattened, accessible structure, and that’s why this blog works: It is genuinely non-hierarchical and equal, with content driven by blog followers, whilst the blog is managed and guided by Bronagh alone. Bronagh Lawson is a big believer in volunteering and it shows. It takes a certain selflessness to write and manage this resource and it needs someone of the kind of calibre that volunteers, to keep it going. As a growing resource in and around Belfast it is a good one to join, a good one to support and a good one to have a look at. Now with nearly 300 members, Creative Change NI although fast becoming a stalwart of the Belfast visual art scene, serves more than just visual art and more than just Belfast. The clue is in the name. It’s about breaking through crusts of control, enabling open transparent contact and communication and it can absorb many more possibilities, as many as it has members.

The Visual Artists' News Sheet

July – August 2011

profile

'Fragments'. Installation view. National Photographic Archive, Dublin – PhotoIreland 2010.

David Farrell and Richard Mosse at PhotoIreland 2010

Collaboration & Change An interview with Ángel Luis González and Moritz Neumuller of PhotoIreland 2011. Jason Oakley: How and why did you set up PhotoIreland? Ángel Luis González: I founded PhotoIreland as an organisation in 2009 and PhotoIreland Festival in 2010, as I felt there was a need to develop a public space for discussion around photography in Ireland. For Photography graduates, there is a post college vacuum, in terms of reaching the next stage, critically and commercially. This is not the case if your practice is sculpture, painting, performance and so on – there is a network of artist-led and institutional spaces and bodies that can facilitate your progression. And I wanted to raise the bar for photography in Ireland. “There has never been a proper exhibition by […] in Ireland” – in between those brackets, you could place the name of almost any internationally recognised photographer. Abroad, photography is a medium considered current and contemporary – galleries and museums consistently offer extensive and dedicated programs about photography’s history and the work of contemporary practitioners. More generally, PhotoIreland is also concerned with education, fostering a more informed and critical engagement with images by audiences. JO: Where does PhotoIreland fit into the existing infrastructures for showing and critiquing photography – eg. college courses, galleries, museums and so on? ALG: Education is one of our key endeavours. PhotoIreland are having conversations with several colleges – we would love to be part of their syllabus – so that the festivals activities and programme can be of use for the students as a real-life testing ground. This is not only in the case of photography students, but also in relation to curators, critics, art administrators, and even going to fields like business and marketing. We are lucky to have the Gallery of Photography in Ireland, who have supported us since day one. I believe the Gallery of Photography needs to change its skin soon and come out as a Museum of Photography. The time is right. Our conversations and bonds with other galleries are getting deeper. It is also important to engage with camera makers, photo labs and camera shops. PhotoIreland is not just about ‘art’, it is concerned with the whole culture that surrounds photography. PhotoIreland has an interest on how local communities document their histories, and we would like to pay attention, listen, and engage with them. This is something that will take time, but that we are committed to. And let me stress a point – PhotoIreland exists as both an organization and an annual festival. So while our festival engages once a year with all these bodies, as an organisation we also work throughout the year, in partnership with these institutions.

festival. If you cannot wait till then, here is my brief answer: The photographic process is a methodology concerned with obtaining and reproducing images, while photographic practice is a self-reflective enquiry interested in the cultures derived from the use of this methodology. Many books have been written just to answer this simple question, and exploring how a photograph has many lives, depending on its context! It is interesting how the 20 meters that separate the National Photographic Archive and the Gallery of Photography can represent the difference between a photograph being presented as a document or as a piece of art. PhotoIreland’s tag line explains that we are an ‘International Festival of Photography and Image Culture’. Photographs and photography are the core of our discussions; but we also look at the other disciplines and methodologies that are equally intertwined with contemporary visual culture – painting, illustration, design, the moving image etc. JO: Moritz, could you outline your thinking behind this year’s curatorial theme of collaborative change? Moritz Neumuller: The idea came up when I realised that two notions that I had might well be connected. On the one hand, I had noticed that many of my photographer friends had become members of new photography collectives that had popped up in the last 5 or 10 years. These collectives concentrate on the collaborative process by organising workshops, group exhibitions, and common projects. They also publish and maintain collective websites and share assistants or equipment. On the other hand, of course, this modus operandi fits perfectly into the increasingly peer-to-peer mentality of our society as a whole, since the turn of the century. The collective approach can be seen as offering an alternative economic model and working as a sustainable principle of cultural production, where process, experience, authorship, responsibility and success are shared. Creative commons is another key idea – Wikipedia being this philosophy’s most visible materialization. Many artists, designers, programmers and economists are convinced that this model has serious advantages in the current context of local and global crisis. Our goal is to investigate the possibilities of the collective approach for art and non-art fields, in workshops, conferences, shows, presentations, projections, common activities, and discussions. The contemporary Irish (but also Spanish and Greek) economic and social contexts are a perfect ground for new ideas and fresh starts – and we want to make the outcomes of our collective thinking about this available beyond the realms of the festival.

JO: How is PhotoIreland funded and supported? ALG: We are very appreciative of the support by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, the Arts Council and Dublin City Council. In terms of international support, we count with the British, German, Spanish, French, Austrian, Polish and Mexican embassies – among others. The festival is currently volunteer-led, I donate my time to the project for free, and interns and volunteers facilitate the running of events. This year PhotoIreland are delighted working with well-established organisations like IMMA, the RHA, the Douglas Hyde Gallery, the Temple Bar Gallery & Studios, and the Sebastian Guinness Gallery, amongst others.

JO: How does the work of visual artists, who mainly use photography, but don’t solely define themselves in terms the medium or subject area of photography fit in into the remit of PhotoIreland? Moritz Neumuller: PhotoIreland is a festival for all contemporary modes of photographic expression. The emphasis is on photography’s open borders towards all other visual media – nowadays photography is part of a larger visual landscape and image culture. ALG: It is really a non-issue for myself and Moritz. We would understand why artists using photography might prefer not to call themselves ‘photographers’, perhaps due to the intrinsic notion that anyone with a camera is a photographer. While others are happy to be defined primarily as photographers, exactly because they feel it succinctly explains their practice.

JO: Does PhotoIreland subscribe to a particular definition of photography? ALG: The Education and Community Department of the Irish Museum of Modern Art are working on a booklet as part of their ‘What is…?’ series on the subject of photography. The publication will be presented and accompanied by a talk at 12 noon on Saturday 23 July during the

JO: PhotoIreland has something of an advantage over a contemporary visual arts event in terms of public accessibility and participation, as photography has become so pervasive ... Moritz Neumuller: The ubiquity of images, as a means of documentation, personal use, communication and artistic media has reached a saturation point. But the same is true for text. If you don’t believe me just open your

PhotoIreland 2010 – Artists talk, Meetinghouse Square, Temple Bar, Dublin.

email. Everyone’s professional and private lives are now subject to this kind of information overflow. And we all participate and contribute to it – almost everybody is a ‘photographer’ nowadays; a video artist, designer – and potentially exposed to a worldwide audience via the web. In terms of accessibility, we could also mention the artistic production of visually impaired photographers. This practice has increased considerably in the last years and seems to follow two major trends: On the one hand we have blind and visually impaired collectives, and on the other a more novice approach, mainly with school-aged students. Each of these students are given a simple camera without any adjustable parts and asked to take photographs of different elements of their everyday lives. Of course, both forms can be seen in the context of Photography’s role as a medium for democratization and for empowering underrepresented groups by teaching them to use the camera. ALG: Is there any media perceived as more democratic than photography? An interesting issue for me is how photography can be an incredibly useful tool to promote literacy. FotoFest Houston (http:// literacythroughphotography.fotofest.org) developed from 1990 a programme called Literacy Through Photography (LTP) – a writing programme designed to help classroom students achieve better writing and communication skills through the use of photography and visual imagery. PhotoIreland has plans to produce similar events in the near future, once we have set in place the resources needed. Regarding the social media, a few years ago it was a norm to upload to Facebook all the photographs from one’s event, a wedding, birthday party, etc. But nowadays, an economy of images has grown, where users share just a few, and rarely. This is not only due to the copyright issues of the platform, but because these members are learning to edit, to question self-representation, and to use the language of photography in more sophisticated ways. Engaging photography critically is part of today’s literacy. JO: The book fair in an interesting aspect of this year’s programme ... ALG: Photography lives in more formats than just prints on a wall. Photo books are now a very important cost effective platform for photographers to distribute their work. Having Martin Parr, Markus Schaden (Schaden.com) and Bruno Ceschel (Self Publish, Be Happy) in Ireland is the best way to explore this format. Martin Parr’s curated exhibition is a historic landmark on the photo book history, as he looks back at the most important pieces in the last decade. MN: I completely agree with Angel. The book fair and the quality of our invited exhibitions are a major accomplishment, and we are very proud of it. JO: Could you expand a little on the notion of cultural entrepreneurship that appears in the call out for seminar papers? ALG: All citizens should be active agents – in the economy as much as culture. Moritz and I feel there is an artificial divide made between business and art, one we do not agree with. For years, artists in Ireland have been benefiting from public money, readily available, but in current times the scarcity of state resources will mean entrepreneurial modes of addressing issues are being considered. I was awarded the David Manley Arts Entrepreneur Award this year, thanks to Business to Arts. Much of the hard work done in the arts and cultural sector in Ireland happen behind the scenes – on policy, administration, and other not so spectacular arenas. PhotoIreland, both as an organisation and the ‘spectacle’ of the festival, underlines what cultural entrepreneurship is all about – it is more than a mere specialization on the business of culture, it is about enriching and sustaining our culture. JO: What future plans are in place for PhotoIreland? ALG: For 2012, the festival will focus on ‘Diaspora and Cultural Identity’; we will release details in early August. Before then, PhotoIreland will commence publication of a collection of books on contemporary Irish photography. This project will be presented at Martin Parr’s (15 of July). More details about this exciting project will be posted on our website www.photoireland.org

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

July – August 2011

residency

Jaan Ulst dancing in performance Barn Dance directed by Maria Kerin. Photo: Maria Kerin.

Egg race with Seto ladies at traditional folk festival, Mooste,Estonia. April, 2011. Photograph by Michael Walsh.

Local to Local Maria Kerin discusses Exhibiting in Estonia, along with links founded between the clarebased outrider artists group and EstoniaN artist group LIQUID and MoKS – an artist-led centre for art and social practice in MOOSTE. This August the Estonian, Tallinn based artists group Liquid (Vedelik) will visit Ennistymon, Co. Clare as guests of Outrider Artists (1) and partake in a festival of artist-led groups organised by the Courthouse Gallery and Studios. Liquid were founded in the early 1990s. They utilise use friendship to support their members’ practices and have managed to make artworks without much state intervention. The group have survived extraordinary political and social upheaval. Outrider Artists gained its title in my kitchen early last year, when seven friends christened our relationship in recognition of the shared support, trust, engagement, and help through friendship that we give each other. This helps sustain our individual art practices based here on the west coast of Ireland – with an aim to exhibit abroad and engage with artists and communities abroad. Jackie Askew, Maeve Collins, Sarah Fuller, Fiona O’Dwyer, Judy O’Sullivan, Fiona Woods and I are independent mid –career artists, who create work that often stretches outside the commercial art world into performance and installation. Taking the traits of friendship to be our structure we set up Outrider Artists to engage internationally. Tallinn is 2011 European City of Culture 2011, and its chosen theme is stories of the sea and coast. Coincidently, in recent years many contemporary artists living in North Clare have returned to the sea for inspiration or refer to some aspect of it in their art. So it seemed like a significant link could be made between the West of Ireland and Estonia, through this shared theme. In January this year, I discussed this idea with Jackie Askew and she was interested in co-curating such a project, in order to make it the first Outrider Artist event abroad. St. Patrick’s week seemed ideal in terms of timing. The exhibition was titled ‘SALT.’ Our project didn’t fit with Culture Ireland’s time frame for applications for support; so we decided to do the exhibition on a shoe string, working for free; utilising with cheap Ryanair flights and bringing artworks that would fit in our luggage. Jackie approached Siobhan Mulcahy – our very supportive Arts Officer in Clare – just to cover our biggest expenses and got the exhibition together with a budget of €1000. Having previously been to a performance in the art space East Gallery in the centre of Old town Tallinn – I knew it could be rented out cheaply. Luckily it was available to rent for St. Patrick’s week. So now we had just to curate a show to fit in two suitcases. We invited Fergus Tighe to show his feature film Seaside Stories (made in North Clare) and we selected small canvases from Jackie Askew’s series of abstract oil paintings, the Tidal Wrack, a tiny photowork

and a performance video on a small screen entitled Chair by Maeve Collins, a huge poster photowork, endless return, by Fiona O’Dwyer and a series of unframed aluminium printed photoworks from Fiona Wood’s Folly. Alexandra Boettcher, Maeve and I created a photomontage of a dance performance Second Horizon as a handout. Maeve would also travel over to perform a song at the opening. I would create a live performance piece there (2). artists. Publicity before the exhibition included a feature on The Clare Champion (3). Michael Walsh of Emajoe Disain, Tartu, kindly did a wonderful job of designing bilingual posters, fliers and invites. He also approached Saku the brewers and they sponsored Dubliner beer for the opening reception. The Irish Ambassador to Estonia, Mr. McIvor was generous enough to agree to open the exhibition on the 18th and bring some whiskey! He also invited us to the Irish Embassy on the evening of the 17th to celebrate with all the Irish residents in Estonia – there are about 40. Brendan from Café More offered to cook us finger food for the opening event for free. Quite by chance the first person at the Irish embassy reception that I invited to ‘SALT’ was Andri Ksenofontov. I didn’t know at the time that he is an art historian reviewing for Sirp, the culture magazine of Estonia. Then followed many wonderful conversations with Andri, a full-page very positive review in Sirp (4) and an introduction to the group Liquid who will come to Clare this August. The official Opening on the 18 March went very well with around 80 people attending. Maeve Collins sang The Full Tide by Frances Fahy. Jaak Johanson, Estonian folk singer, sang a song afterwards. We were amazed when he started talking about his wonderful experience of hearing Paul Dooley play the harp in Estonia 25 years ago. He wasn’t aware that Fiona O’Dwyer is married to Paul Dooley! We had over 200 visitors who signed the visitors’ book, including cultural advisors to the Estonian government and people from 10 different countries. We served hot whiskies on the very cold last day and I did a short movement performance with salt entitled Salt: Stories of looking back. We left in Estonia one of Jackie’s’ paintings on Andri’s wall, Fiona O’Dwyer’s photograph in the Irish Embassy. Following on from this project, I then travelled to southern Estonia to begin a five-week residency at MoKS, commencing on April 1st. MoKS (5) is an artist-led centre for art and social practice, now 10 years old, that offers an international residency space and is also involved in arts and environmental research. Located in the village of Mooste, MoKS grounds face the evocative setting of Manor house and

grounds built during the German occupation of Estonia, which became collective farm under Soviet rule. In my huge wooden floored studio, I shared daily meditative movement practice with the residents. The silence of the residency during the weekdays and the large studio wall space encouraged me to draw. The snow outside with the forests surrounding the village created an inspirational landscape experience, distorting time and space. By mid April everywhere was still white. Within a week it was 24 degrees and I got my first mosquito bite of the year. The community engagement aspect of my residency comprised of workshops in embodied movement for children and Estonian school teachers through a translator. Due the challenges of the Estonian language, this turned out be learning experience for me as well. But fortunately the language of play needs no translating. Inspired by the local rural history, I directed a site-specific dance performance by Jaan Ulst. I chose the site of a former Soviet collective farm barn, that was in the state of decay and worked as ‘dramaturg’ with Jaan – who like myself had grown up on a farm. Jaan is a contemporary dancer whose class I had attended in Tartu. We are both interested in process art and embodied movement. We developed a piece to work with the evening light. The children came with torches at dusk on the evening the witches appear in Estonia – 31 April. The dramatic golden yellow sunset lit the stage of round bales of hay for Jaan to dance, interacting with the space and engaging with the young audience who couldn’t wait to talk with him afterwards. I was lucky to be there with a number other interesting artists. Textile artist / environmentalist Johanna Lonke from Finland; Thomas Tilly, sound artist from France and Carolina Aponte from Canada, an installation artist. I learned so much about the culture and art of their respective countries from our conversations over dinner. Siiri Kolka, the Estonian co-ordinator filled us in on life in Estonia and we got a taste of the folk traditions at the festivals in Mooste – where I painted eggs and raced them! The kitchen was where I got to spend time too with the inspirational MoKS founder and artist Evelyn Müürsepp, exploring ideas for setting up international residencies and MoKS exchanges in Ennistymon while learning new recipes for nettle polenta, beetroot and turnips. One Saturday afternoon while drinking tea we realised that as a group we represented American, Australian, Dutch, Estonian, English, Finish, French, German, Irish and Swedish viewpoints on working as artists in contexts. We learnt that notion of the rural, doesn’t have a worldwide identical meaning – instead its subjective and paired to the wider culture of any particular place. As such, I found the notion the ‘local’ to be a clearer term to translate. These visitors from all over the world are either there to research MoKS or doing workshops that are usually given in English and cost €20. Having undertaken a bird-song field recording workshop with John Grzinich, I hope to use his midnight recordings of the owls in the forest in my next installation. American sound artists John Grzinich and Patrick McGinley are board members of MoKS are co-organisers of Tuned City Tallinn, sound mapping Tallinn (6). Plans for the future include a MoKS visit to Clare next spring, as guests of Outrider Artists and a sound mapping project based on the Burren. A unique combination of art and social engagement in a quirky rural setting, MoKS really offers potential at every level. Maria Kerin Notes 1. For further details see http://mariakerin.blogspot.com/ 2. For further images and details of the works see salt-exhibition-tallinn.blogspot.com and Facebook page on the ‘Salt’ 3. A detailed article entitled Salt can still be seen on divedivedive.org 4. see www.sirp.ee -1st April, No.13 5. www.moks.ee 6. www.tunedcity.net.

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

July – August 2011

PROFILE

Seth Price Vintage Bomber 2008. Installation view. Photo: Ros Kavanagh

Left: Sherrie Levine Aspens in Flagstaff, 2009. Right: Anne Collier Open Book #3 (Island Wilderness), 2010, Open Book #4 (Pink Floyd), 2010. Photo: Ros Kavanagh.

Richard Wright, No title, 2011.Photo: Ros Kavanagh.

The Lives of Objects Jason Oakley talks to Polly Staple the curator of ‘Still Life’ the at Lismore Castle Arts (9 April – 30 Sept 2011). Jason Oakley: How did this project come about? Polly Staple: I met William and Laura Burlington (the owners of Lismore Castle) through the artist Rosalind Nashashibi, who had previously exhibited at Lismore Castle Arts; and I came over to visit Lismore in September 2009. I was invited to propose an exhibition sometime soon after then. I probably started working through the project in earnest in the new year of 2010. It took a while to get things looking so minimal. JO: Did the show’s long duration (April – September) have any bearing on your planning and ideas for ‘Still Life’? PS: Not particularly, but there are obvious cost, management and impact implications for performances or analogue film prints. It’s good having a single exhibition last for that length of time, but in this context it needed to be fairly low maintenance. JO: Are there any factors about the physical gallery space and the historical context, that particularly attracted you to working with the Lismore Castle Arts? PS: It provided the opportunity to present a very classic exhibition. In my day job at Chisenhale Gallery – which is in Mile End in London, which is in itself a total contrast to Lismore – we work primarily with emerging artists on supporting their production of new commissions. In the past few years we have produced a lot of films and performances. The time frame and production requirements are quite different to those involved in curating a more classic exhibition where as the curator you draw existing works together and make a thematic proposal. The architecture of the LCA gallery is really distinctive – all that wood – which became a defining factor when deciding on the look of the show from a purely aesthetic point of view. Also the fact that you encounter the gallery from the gardens – these are the oldest formal gardens in Ireland – became key. A large number of the gallery audience is garden visitors; people with no particular interest or specialized knowledge of contemporary art. There was a real challenge - to engage the garden audience as well as a more specialized art audience who might for example be the readers of this publication. And then the history and atmosphere of the gardens and Lismore castle –the landscaped gardens, the historic setting, and the Devonshire family’s history of collecting art through the centuries – also became a way into the concept of ‘Still Life’. JO: Were there any other significant contrasts that interested you, in terms of the former industrial context of Chisenhale and curating a space in a ‘stately’ castle in Ireland? PS: Well I was not curating the exhibition in ‘a stately castle’ – the gallery is a classic white cube, albeit with distinct architectural features. However the gardens were very defining. Inviting Richard Wright to make a work in the grounds for example was an early decision. Several previous curators had made explicit reference to the castle. I was more interested in the context from the perspective of the audience and proposing a very specific encounter with the work – in both the gallery and the gardens. JO: You’ve written about some of the artists in the show before – and there are clear affinities between them in their focus on appropriation and so on – but I was wondering what other particular factors attracted you to working with these artists. PS: Yes, I’ve written about pretty much all the artists before to varying degree and I’ve also shown the work of Mark Leckey, Seth Price and Anne Collier in the exhibition ‘Dispersion’ I curated for the Institute of Contemporary Art in London in 2008. When I was researching the

Seth Price Vintage Bomber 2008 Vacuum Formed High-Impact Polystyrene. 244 x 122 cm Private Collection, Paris. Photo: Ros Kavanagh

ICA show I had looked extensively at the work of Gillian Carnegie and Sherrie Levine. You may carry certain interests and artists around with you and find the opportunity to work with them at different moments. At Chisenhale, within the exhibitions programme, there is a focus on solo shows by artists and supporting them to produce new work. There is however a curatorial thematic which I use as intuitive guidance to select each artist we work with but this is not made explicit except perhaps by the accumulative effect of the entire programme. That said Daniel Sinsel, Josephine Pryde and James Richards who I have recently worked with or am just about to work with at Chisenhale could have all been in this show – they all share an explicit interest in the material status of images which is often a matter of economy and power relations. JO: Would you agree that the exhibitions’ concern with appropriation, repetition and serial production, could be read as being concerned with how cultural hegemony, knowledge and power are accrued in terms of collecting, commissioning and patronage? PS: The essay I wrote for the catalogue contains some discussion of the complex socio-economic forces which resulted in the development of 16th and 17th century Dutch still life painting. I make links between the works in the exhibition sharing many of the concerns of the traditional still-life genre: the rhetorical power of images and a politics of vision; domestic scale and precise ordering systems; not to mention the production of visual allegories of human agency and industrial production through an examination of everyday objects. If 17th-century Dutch still-life painting marked the development of an image as a portable commodity, how does the treatment of image as object relate to the value systems assigned to images today? There is a politics to my work. Using a domestic scale or focusing people’s attention to privilege looking and intellectual engagement as opposed to more passive consumption for example or acknowledging the garden visitors or including a number of female artists in the exhibition these are all political points. I am always interested in the power relations inherent in the acts of image making and its reception.

JO: Could you talk me through your reasoning behind the selection of artists and briefly outline the various ways their works relate to the themes of the show, the connections or issues they might specifically raise in the context of Lismore? PS: As I put it in the essay written to accompany the show – what does it mean for an image to become an object? What is the relationship between a thing in the world, its representation, and the status of that image as an object? And how have new reproduction technologies altered our understanding of this relationship? Using various strategies – including appropriation, repetition and serial production - the six artists –Gillian Carnegie, Anne Collier, Mark Leckey, Sherrie Levine, Seth Price and Richard Wright – presented in ‘Still Life’ have sought to answer these questions. Since the 1960s several generations of artists have found ways to redefine notions of form, method and genre, both by employing popular cultural forms and by retrieving images from art history. Through testing conventions of cultural value and taste they have explored the power relations inherent in the acts of image making and manipulation. With varying degrees of conscious reflection the artists in ‘Still Life’ engage in a dialogue with the legacy of appropriation art. Developed during the mid-1970s and early 1980s, these practices explored gender politics, post-colonialism, consumerism and political power as expressed in images. The title of the exhibition refers explicitly to the pictorial genre of still life, but also to a broader theme of time passing – of images and commodities as much as the physical body. If life can be defined by movement, then still life is movement stopped, taken out of circulation, dead. JO: Finally, I’m interested in the kinds of interplays and dialogues that you see between the various works in the show – both in terms of the physical installation of the works and affinities of themes and content. PS: All of the works in ‘Still Life’ collide blunt materiality – the viscerality of paint, synthetic plastic sheen or the found object – with a more enigmatic aura, such as the suggestion of infinite space, the spectral trace of the human figure or its virtuoso agency. These works assert their emphatic presence as desirable aesthetic objects, while conjuring a more melancholic atmosphere. They have a claustrophobic atmosphere of the endless manufacture and accumulation of ‘things’, while also retaining a sense of the historical relations and personal memories that become imbedded in such processes. These works use their own image as an endless point of reflection. This is a relationship in which the image becomes both subject and object, representation and thing-in-itself. Through their insistence on surface detail and physical affect, the works further assert their status as objects. The use of serial repetition creates an excess of sameness that produces difference; slight variations on the same subject register both the precision within the singular action of repeating and the potentiality of reframing. Our current era of post-production and image recall engenders continuous re-working. This is a process that occurs frequently in ‘Still Life’, either in the realm of handcrafted gesture, and the slow narrative of human labour, or by contrast in the digitized and seamless – the dispersed, horizontal and invisible timeframe of post-industrial production. Polly Staple is Director of Chisenhale Gallery, London. She was formerly Editor at Large of frieze magazine and Director of Frieze Projects, the curatorial programme realised annually at Frieze Art Fair, London. She was previously Curator at Cubitt Gallery, London and co-Editor of Untitled magazine. Staple was a judge for the 2010 Turner Prize exhibition at Tate Britain.

Desmond Kenny, Baccara, Oils on Canvas, 4ftx4ft 2011

Until 27 August 2011 Desmond Kenny : Past & Present New Work & Retrospective Ground & First Floor Galleries June – December 2011 Artist in Residence: Deirdre Byrne Blanchardstown Centre Blanchardstown, Dublin 15 T: 01 885 2610 F: 01 824 3434 www.draiocht.ie

Irish Bronze Kilmainham Art Foundry Ltd

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Death of Cuchulainn. Oliver Sheppard RHA (1865 – 1941). Oliver Sheppard sculpted this exquisite world-renowned piece In 1911/12. The original work in plaster was exhibited at the RHA in 1914. Purchased by the State in 1935, the work was cast in bronze (commissioned by Eamon de Valera to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the 1916 Rising) and placed in the GPO Dublin. Commissioned by The Office of Public Works in June 2002, the second Cuchulainn was cast in bronze at Griffith College Dublin by Willie Malone. This picture shows the new work on permanent exhibition at the Custom House, Dublin.

NOW COLOUR, NOW SHAPE, NOW PAPER Installation + Print by New Zealand based Irish Visual Artist NUALA GREGORY

2 – 27 July 2011 (9am — 4pm Mon — Sat) The Higher Bridges Gallery At The Clinton Centre Belmore St Enniskillen Co. Fermanagh BT74 6AA

St. George’s Terrace, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim T: 071 9650 828 E: info@thedock.ie W:www.thedock.ie www.facebook.com/thedockartscentre or follow us on www.twitter.com/thedockarts

Philip Napier Captain Francis Crozier – One exhibit Museum 2009

8 July – 3 Sept 2010

Philip Napier Unpacking the Terror 8th of July/ 3rd of September 2011

9 Sept – 3 Dec 2011

Upcoming Exhibitions Tracy Hanna Audrey Reynolds

The Dock Galleries are open from 10am-6pm Tuesday to Saturday.

North St, Skibbereen, Co.Cork t: +353 28 22090 e: info@westcorkartscentre.com www.westcorkartscentre.com Sergei Sviatchenko, photo-collage created from scene of Andrei Tarkovsky’s film Mirror.

Sergei Sviatchenko Mirror by Mirror 23 July – 13 August An exhibition comprising large photomontages, video work and installation by Ukranian-born, Denmark-based artist Sergei Sviatchenko, inspired by the 1975 ground-breaking film Mirror by Russian film director Andrei Tarkovsky. History & Memory in Tarkovsky’s Mirror Friday 29 July 8.00pm A talk by Dr. Marina Levitina, Lecturer, TCD and NUI Galway A l'écoute Friday 29 July 6.00pm A live sound performance by French sound artist Guillaume Beauron

Film Screenings 23 – 30 July Jimmy Murakami Non-Alien, Dir: Sé Merry Doyle, Loopline Films | Kingerlee, Dir: Colm Hogan and Marina Levitina | The Beholder, Dir: Conor Horgan, Wildfire Films | About Beauty, Dir: Conor Horgan, Wildfire Films At various venues around Skibbereen 23 – 30 July Nebula, screendance, a dance film by Mary Wycherley and HaH, screendance, an adaptation of a live performance for film produced by Mary Wycherley and Mary Nunan | Nervous Around Horses, a sound installation by Maria Kerin | pier to pier, an exhibition of work by 3rd year students, BA in Visual Art Programme, Sherkin Island.

These projects are presented by WCAC in association with Skibbereen Arts Festival Sound + Vision, which incorporates the spoken word, music, sound installations, radio, the natural environment, art film and live sound events. www.skibbereenartsfestival.com

All forms of Metalwork and Sculpture commissions undertaken

Bronze Foundry New works recently finished at the foundry

Paddy Campbell Lar na Pairc

Chris Wilson Oceans Edge

CAST BRONZE FOUNDRY Located in the Liberties area of Dublin, we provide a total sculpture service to artists and commissioning bodies. We pride ourselves in providing a comfortable, welcoming working environment. Our multi-skilled team brings personalised attention to every bronze casting project.

Cast Ltd, 1a South Brown St, Dublin 8. www.cast.ie info@cast.ie Tel: +353 (0) 1 453 0133 Contact Leo or Ray for your next project

5 – 12 August 2011

The Truth Booth Jim Ricks / Water Tower Therry Rudin / Bonding Elaine Gohery / Seafly II Robert Revill / Crown Tree Emma Barone

Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival Visual Arts Trail throughout the beautiful

COME ON OUT & JOIN IN !

Georgian Heritage Town of Birr.

Visual Arts Trail • Artists Talks

Solo and group shows of new work by Irish &

Theatre • Antique & Fine Art Fair

International artists.

Historical Tours • Dance • Literature

Audio visual installations, photography,

Vintage Parade • Live Music

paintings, sculpture, drawings, craftwork and

Children’s Events and lots more

interactive experiences – and a wide variety of

for all the family.

vintage themed events & modern entertainment throughout the Festival.

Full programme available Mid-July Festival info line: 087 9226961 www.birrvintageweek.com Find us on Facebook