The Visual Artists’ News Sheet issue 2 March – April 2011 Published byVisual Artists Ireland Ealaíontóirí Radharcacha Éire
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The Visual Artists’News Sheet
Introduction
March – April 2011
Contents
Welcome to the March / April 2011 edition of the Visual Artists News Sheet. As you can see, we’ve taken
1. Cover Image. Remco de Fouw.Voice (Work in Progress)
this opportunity to give the publication a bit of ‘spring clean’ in terms of design.
5. Roundup. Recent exhibitions and projects of note.
By the time this edition is in circulation the general election in Republic of Ireland will have taken place;
5. Column. Mark Fisher.Creative Capitalism.
and a new government will have been appointed. Whom ever they may be, Visual Artists Ireland will
6. Column. Paula Naughton.New York Overview.
maintain its active stance in terms of lobbying – as well making itself available for consultation – on all
7. Column. Jonathan Carroll.Art Versus Weather.
matters pertaining to the living and working conditions of professional visual artists.
10. News. The latest developments in the arts sector.
Three articles in this edition look at artists taking control the career trajectories – specifically terms of on-going self- education. Ruth Lyons, profiling her road trip / summer school ‘Mercedes Fire’ notes how the project was prompted by considering “shouldn’t artists claim independent agency over their own
11. Regional Profile. Visual arts resources and activity in Co. Carlow
14. Workshop. Making Connections. Michelle Horrigan reports on ‘The curatorial intensive’ a New York base
learning?”. Seán O Sullivan reports on ‘Practice’ a series of lectures organised by Ormond Studios, Dublin
addressing a range of practical professional development issues. And in terms of curation, artist and
15. Engaged Art. From The Amazon to the Sahara. Augustine O’Donoghue reports on her recent work with
curator Michelle Horrigan reports on ‘The curatorial intensive’ a new york based workshop organised by
workshop organised by independent curators international.
the organisation independent curators international. In a similar vein, Andy Parsons on our ‘Career
Development’ article focuses on the establishment of an artist’s-book publishing venture as a key strategy
16. Residency. Samkura Residency. Claire Halpin and Lisa Flynn reports on their experiences of the Samkura
for sustaining his work.
Residencies also of course offer a key means by which artists can sustain their practice – in terms of both studio provision and a new and inspiring contexts within which to work. In this issue there is a focus on Eastern Europe. Claire Halpin and Lisa Flynn report on their experiences of the Samkura Artist Residency
the Artifariti project in the Western Sahara and Algeria.
Artist Residency Programme (Oct / Nov 2010) held in Tbilisi, Georgia.
17. Art in Public. Necessity, Mother of Invention. Laura Graham Profiles ‘Switch’, an initiative to present
contemporary are in public contexts, that has taken place in Nenagh. Co Tipperary and Bangor, Co. Dow
Programme held in Tbilisi, Georgia. Anne Harkin-Petersen reports on her time at the 2010 edition of the
18. Seminar. Practice. Seán O Sullivan reports on ‘Practice: The Ormond Studios Lecture Series'
Mark Rothko International Plein Air residency / exhibition, held in Daugavpils, Latvia. Maria Tanner
19. Career Development. Floating Notes. Andy Parsons discusses the why and wherefores of his artists book
profiles the event ‘Ar+=Adding 2010’ Szczecin, Poland.
In terms of contemporary arts reaching out to new contexts and audiences, three diverse articles, profile a range of engaged art practices. Augustine O’Donoghue reports on her recent work with the Artifariti project in the Western Sahara and Algeria. Laura Graham Profiles ‘Switch’, an initiative to present
publishing Project ‘Floating World Books’
21. Education. Responsibile Driving. Ruth E Lyons profiles ‘Mercedes Fire’ an artist-led seven-day touring
summer school.
contemporary art in public contexts, which has so far taken place in Nenagh, Co Tipperary and Bangor,
22. Collaboration. Transitions & Ambitions. Maria Tanner Profiles ‘Ar+=Adding 2010’, Szczecin, Poland.
Co. Down. From a curatorial perspective, Anne Lynott reports on ‘The Museum Revisited’ a seminar
23. Opportunities. All the lastest grants, awards, exhibition calls and commissions.
focusing on innovations in the gallery and museum world in terms of promoting discourse and participation with their audiences.
27. Conference. Productive Reflection. Anne Lynott reports on ‘The Museum Revisited’ held at the Science
And as ever – all this and more.
Gallery, Dublin 16 October 2010.
28. Regional Contacts. Visual artists ireland's regional contacts report from the field. 29. Residency. Honouring Rothko. Anne Harkin-Petersen reports on her residency at the 2010 edition of the
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Mark Rothko International Plein Air event, held in Daugavpils, Latvia.
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The Visual Artists’News sheet
March – April 2011
COLUMN
Mark Fisher creative capitalism
5
Roundup
them under no illusion that what they are looking at has been carefully orchestrated”. On 22 January the venue presented
mAKe iT NeW JoHN
a day of events featuring two projects ‘Fort Building’ and ‘Das Splinter’. 2 Fiona Larkin ‘Do You Love Me Now’ installation view PS
“We have to live this dead reality, this mad transition, in the same way that
space, more precise, the 23sqm of PS2. As
we lived prison, as a strange and ferocious way of reaffirming life. You could
the press release explained, “for several
not escape the atrocious experience of prison, the contact with death and its
days last year, Minka, the cat, lived in
violence. … We were constrained to suffer dark romantic hallucinations. There was no longer any alternative. Certainly for us, there has never been any alternative to the world, but always an alternative in the world. A la Rauschenberg: a world that is assumed, shattered, reinvented in the form of its monstrosity. But even the possibility of such a heroism was denied to us. … We have to live and suffer the defeat of truth, of our truth. We have to destroy its representation, its continuity, its memory, its trace. All subterfuges for avoiding the recognition that reality has changed, and with it truth, have to be rejected. … The very blood in our veins had been replaced.”
ANToNio Negri’s Art and Multitude (Polity) consists of nine letters, most of which were written to his friends at the end of the 1980s while he was in exile in France. Negri here describes the destitution that the left endured after the defeats of the 1970s: the destruction of all its hopes, the way in which it had been outflanked by a neoliberalism which successfully installed business thinking into all areas of everyday life. What emerges here, in other words, is an account of the immediate after-effects of the installation of what I have called capitalist realism: the view that, since there is no alternative to capitalism, the only possible attitude consists in adjusting to its demands. Negri poses the left’s predicament very acutely. To go back to the seeming certainties of older forms of militancy would be to consign oneself to irrelevance, obsolescence, to become an historical relic; but to accept the new situation, to adapt to it, would be to concede total defeat. The only possibility,
Duncan CampbellMake it New John
Belfast Exposed recently exhibited Make It New John Duncan Campbell’s film about the DeLorean sports car – the DMC12, its creator John DeLorean and the workers of the Belfast-based car plant who built it in the early 1980s (21 Jan – 4 March). As the press release notes "Make Make It New John is a composite of archival and fictional elements, which critically examines the documentary genre and the way stories are told and myths are made. The film deftly contrasts the DeLorean dream and the car’s iconic status, with its spectacular downfall during a critical period in Northern Ireland’s history.” The previous show was ‘Contacts From The Archive’ at Belfast Exposed (17 Dec 2010 – 29 Jan 2011) was an exhibition of contact sheets from Belfast Exposed’s community photography archive, curated by the Belfast Exposed archive interns. www.belfastexposed.org
Negri suggests, is to endure the time in the desert as a kind of religious trial: a moment of terrible and terrifying renewal, a transformation of the revolutionary subject happening at the very moment when revolution seems impossible and the
realism, its artistic and commercial value massively inflated, is a fake art, a betrayal
Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast is currently showing Phillip Napier’s solo show ‘Expecting the Terror’ (4 Feb –19 March). Curated by OBG Exhibition Manager, Feargal O’Malley, the show comprises of a series of sculptures, installations and a performance piece. In the press release Napier describes his work as being concerned with “environments of emergency provisions – through to negotiated political transformation; and to our post conflict conditions of conspicuous consumption". Throughout the exhibition OBG is running an education and workshop programme, including a writing competition with Visual Artists
and dilution of art’s inherent militancy. But why not go all the way with Negri’s logic
Ireland.
not then a matter of creativity versus capitalism – or rather of capitalism as the capturing of the creativity of the multitude. Instead, the enemy now could better be called creative capitalism, and overcoming it will not involve inventing new modes of positivist, but new kinds of negativity.
texts, posters and limited edition vinyl recordings. Curated by Russell Hart the event explored the relationship between fine art, text and information within contemporary music practices. The participating
artists
were:
Erik
Skagerfält, Jennie Guy, Karl Burke,
Future, ETP, Olaf Nicolai, Mordant Music and the BFI.
www.galwayartscentre.ie
THe GeNeVA WiNDoW’
Alan Counihan – installation view 'Elemental'
The Butler Gallery, Kilkenny recently presented Alan Counihan’s exhibition featured new works utilising Kilkenny
(18 Feb – 16 March) in the
two years by artists Alan Counihan and
in the depths of despair, asked art to help me to endure it and to help me find
there is nothing which, by its very nature, resists incorporation into capital? So it is
which
Lieven Martins / Dolphins Into The
exhibition of works made over the past
Phillip Napier – work from 'Expecting the Terror'
of negativity, and argue that is no readymade, already-existing utopian energy; that
Splinter’,
Stephen Brandes, Carsten Nicolai,
elemeNTAl
exhibition ‘Townlands’. Townlands is an
retaining faith in it. “When I myself suffered the political defeat of the seventies and
It is of course possible to argue that the art, which has dominated in capitalist
www.pssquared.org
Clare
himself recognises the dangers of taking too much consolation in art, he ends up
nowhere better summed up than in the concept of the “creative industries”.
manifestos (10 Dec 2010 – 8 Jan 2011).
‘Das
comprised an evening of film screenings,
Dara Birnbaum,Kiss The Girls: Make Them Cry, 1979. Courtesy the artist and LUX, London
Counihan also recently showed at
Art, Negri maintains, is intrinsically rebellious and subversive. Even though Negri
era of capitalist realism has also seen all kinds of synergies between art and business,
broadcasts: performances, readings,
the Courthouse Gallery, Ennistymon, Co.
of the creativity of the multitude.
never been more pressing, Negri’s hymning of art seems strangely nostalgic. For the
TV Station’, which featured live
Economic Thought Projects presented
around us”.
Guattari, Negri is a vitalist who opposes capital’s necrotic force to the living potenza
must involve art – that escape is possible. While the point about collectivity has
was Lado Darakhvelidze’s ‘PS2 Museum
through these spaces.
challenge how we engage with the world
alternative to this banal yet dark dominion. Like his inspirations, Deleuze and
through art alone; rather, it is only by new forms of solidarity – which necessarily
The previous project at the space
identity and interests are negotiated
conceptual works that both express and
totally subsumed by capital. What I am much less convinced by is his positive
he is arguing is that an individual can never find his way out of despondency
enhanced stills.
planning and how our individual
release notes “the artist introduces new
persuaded by Negri’s negative analysis, his vision of culture and consciousness
From Negri’s point of view, there is no contradiction between these two claims. What
small TVs, accompanied by 58 digitally
contemporary
issues in relation to architecture,
Commenting on the show, the press
Reading these at times extraordinary communications, I find myself, as ever,
transformation”.
Larkin produced two films, shown on
workshop exploring
incorporating bone, wood and chains.
pressures of globalization – offers new potentials, which must be embraced.
of the irreducibility of freedom, of subversive action, of love for radical
Larkin”. For ‘Do You Love Me Now’,
marble and limestone; along with pieces
Post-Fordist form in which labour becomes ‘immaterial’, ‘flexible’ and subject to the
the capacity of art.” Yet Negri is soon arguing that art is a “perennial demonstration
cameras and observed by artist Fiona
jerk hosted ‘Fort Building’, which was a
‘Elemental’ (22 Jan – 6 March). The show expecTiNG THe TeRRoR
forces of reaction control everything. The new situation - capital’s mutation into a
individual ways of resistance and redemption,” Negri writes, “I was overestimating
project space, watched by two remote
Galway based art collective Knee-
www.ormeaubaths.co.uk
Gypsy Ray as part of a project of the same name. www.butlergallery.com www.townlands.net www.alancounihan.ne www.gypsyray.wordpress.com
Mark Leckey,Cinema In the Round, 2006-8 Courtesy the artist and Cabinet, London
‘The Geneva Window’ at the Lab, Dublin (27 Jan – 26 Feb), was a group show featuring works by international artists Dara Birnbaum, Steven Claydon, Lewis Klahr, Mark Leckey and Elodie Pong. Curator of the show, Isobel Harbison noted how the works “explored ‘identity’ as a malleable thing, continuously reconfigurable through the objects,
AT GAc AT
images and stories that history bestows”. The show’s title and theme references the famous stained galls window designed by Harry Clarke in 1925 depicting scenes from what where them contemporary Irish literary sources, for the league of nations Majella Dowdican – work from solo show at GAC
building in Geneva. The work was censored and never delivered to
Galway Arts Centre’s 2011 visual arts
Switzerland, the work is now in the
programme began with a solo exhibition
Wolfsonian Museum, Florida.
by their current artist in residence, Majella Dowdican. (11 – 21 January). Majella was the 2010 recipient of the GAC
Mentored
Residency
Award,
souNDiNG ouT T spA spAce V
supported by Galway City and County
Sounding Out Space V: Fiona Larkin’s
Councils. The press release outlined how
project ‘Do You Love Me Now’ at PS2 ,
“Dowdican creates her works in a way
Belfast, (20 Jan – 5 Feb) was the latest
that makes the artists’ presence and the
instalment of the venues ‘Sounding out
process of production obvious. Paper cut-
Space’ series of events. The work posed
outs, wall paintings, stitched canvases
the question “how does a cat occupy a
make it apparent to the viewer that they have entered a fabricated space leaving
DuNAmAise sHoWs Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise presented
‘Memory
Matters’,
an
exhibition by Pat Fitzpatrick and Evelyn Glynn (10 Nov – 15 Jan). The show explored the themes of memory and remembrance, through the respective practices of each artist. As the press release noted Fitzpatrick’s art practice explores themes of memory and non-
6
COLUMN
Paula Naughton New York Overview
Having lived in London for the last four years, I am shocked at the sheer volume of new galleries that have moved to the Lower East Side of New York. Since the financial crash collectors are looking for an affordable alternative to Chelsea, and with the opening of The New Museum on the Bowery the area has been solidified as an art hub or gallery go to destination. Wandering round the Lower East Side I feel spoilt at the density of galleries. There are at least 80 within the 10002 zip codes, an approximately one mile square radius, starting below Houston Street and stretching down to Hester and across to Bowery. The galleries in the L.E.S are housed in old storefronts that offer an alternative to the giant, cavernous, multi-story layouts of Chelsea. With office desks and gallery directors, literally located in the galleries, the L.E.S. offers a street level social connectivity and intimacy that is lacking in Chelsea. Rather than giant empty warehouses the spaces are small, often located in old tenement buildings and wear their character on their sleeve. A gallery’s choice of either retaining a storefront canopy or newly redesigning an architectural facade screams volumes about their ethos. The heavy weight commercial galleries that have moved in like Sperone Westwater, (designed by Norman Foster), stand out from the neighbourhood character. Others that have followed suit are Lehman Maupin, and Envoy. The most interesting spaces are much less grand and are tucked away in old storefronts, sandwiched between fabric stores, clothes shops and wholesalers. Their programming offers dynamic, thought provoking exhibitions that are a fresh alternative to painting saturated Chelsea. Invisible Exports show by Mickey Smith, entitled ‘Believe you me’, is an effective, if dramatic statement on the politic of the book. Using a floor of books, staged images and pictures from the New York Public Library archive, Smith presents images of bookcases used as backdrops in portraits. Ludlow 38, located in a tiny storefront (if you blink you may miss it) is the satellite project space of the Goethe-Institut. Ludlow 38 runs an ambitious series of events and exhibitions that punches above its weight and tiny physical space. They recently exhibited Maryanne Amacher’s pioneering sound art from 1967 and 1981 through installation and archive display. The standout exhibition of the season is John Gerrard at Simon Preston Gallery. Located in an old fish warehouse, the gallery is beautifully restored and is every artists dream exhibition space. The exhibition is a split screen video portrait of a decaying school in Cuba. The school is rendered from photographs and topographical images, and creates a 365-day, real time representation of itself. The only indication that the building is still functioning is the fleeting evening appearance of the janitor. Newly launched Rooster Gallery is understated and confident, showing a solo exhibition by Erik Sommer. A series of decaying paintings based on peeling paint in the subway, and used as a metaphor for human abandonment. This young gallery has also shown works on paper by established artist Judith Reigl and is one to watch for the future. Dodge Gallery has ambitious programming and recently exhibited, ‘Environmental Services’. A commissioned handyman, Doug Weathersby creates works of art from debris reclaimed from job sites, and photographs from the previous days work. He creates journals and to do lists that become the work itself. Eflux project space are showing ‘Time/Bank’ exhibition, a functioning store, that uses an alternative to money where skills and time are traded, and objects are valued on an alternative to the current capitalist value. It’s a poignant effective installation. There are still some of the non-profits holding their own including ABC no Rio, White Box and Participant Inc, which holds true to the downtown flavour and fosters experimentation with a critical discourse. A younger non-profit is Forever & Today which works out of a tiny 100 square foot space. ‘A splendid future for the passed’ features a poetic installation using news stories of people that died under tragic circumstances. Artist O Zhang has created a prayer shrine with two live bunnies in order for the viewer to have moments of reverie for overlooked news stories. Due to gentrification, the National Trust for Historic Preservation listed the L.E.S. as one of America’s most endangered places. Sadly the latest victim might be Max Fish thanks to escalating rents. A product of the 80’s East Village art-scene, Max Fish bar was one of the first creative venues to locate below Houston Street. For the last twenty years it has been a neighbourhood staple and the hangout for many artists and musicians. Such is its reputation in the art world that in 2009 it was replicated and exhibited during Art Basel, Miami. The future of Max Fish is a barometer for the area; as long as the old places can hold an existence among the new wave of galleries then the future is bright. The new creative community are not graffiting and bringing art to the street as in the 80s, instead whether through overlooked headlines, decaying Cuban schools, or an alternative to capitalism, they are bringing political, social issues and community into the galleries themselves. The current art movement cannot be pinned down and tidied into a media catchphrase like neo-expressionism or Y.B.A., but that’s what makes it so interesting. Inevitably more commercial spaces will follow from Chelsea but it is the galleries that came for the neighbourhood character and that have forged their identity in the area that are shining through.
The Visual Artists’News Sheet
March – April 2011
Roundup memory through the physical landscape. His approach is philosophical and spiritual in outlook” while “Glynn explores hidden histories in relation to women’s lives and experiences in her art practice. Social and political in outlook, her work explores such themes as bearing witness, and consequences of forgetting”. The following show at the venue was ‘Joe Dunne ARHA – Portrait and Figurative Works 1980 – 2010’ (28 Jan – 12 Feb). This exhibition comprised of together, for a selection of portrait and figure-based pieces spanning thirty years of the artist’s career, alongside some more recent print works. As part of the closing event for the show, which feature a talk and workshop by the artist. As part of this event Dunne made portraits of a number of audience members, who had entered a competition to win a free portrait. www.dunamaise.ie
CANADA
than it is to get out of them, to wrap
Made on Monday
them up and depart cleanly without leaving damaging and permanent scars”. The previous event at the venue was a screening of Walker and Walker’s new film-work Mount Analogue Revisited (16 – 17 Dec 2010), based on Rene Daumal’s final and uncompleted work of the same name – a story of voyage to an unknown island, thought to exist
'Made on Monday' installation view.
The Complex, Smithfield, Dublin presented ‘Made on Monday’ (12 – 17 Nov 2010) an exhibition of work by artists who also work at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition
only in myth and scholarly speculation, where the voyagers seek an improbable, mystical mountain, populated by a utopian society and rumoured to link Heaven and Earth.
www.motherstankstation.com
showcased works by thirty three artists’ works in a variety of media including painting,
drawing,
photography,
Chimeric Agonism
ceramic, installation and video. The exhibition and opening event was organised by Olive Barrett, Yvonne Woods and Mark Grehan and was opened by Christina Kennedy Head of Collections at the Irish Museum of Modern Art.
CLARKE @ MOTHER’S Living Gift Support Group and Ciara McMahon,I used to say it was gold, but really it’s a platinum one, platinum (Video still) 2010
‘Chimeric Agonism’ at Broadstone Gallery and Studios, Dublin (13 – 17 Jan) show featured works by Cormac Browne
Paul McKinleyTourist 2010
Canada’, Paul McKinley’s exhibition at Kevin Kavangh Gallery, Dublin (6 – 29 January 2011) presented new works exploring the shifting social and cultural interpretations of landscape. As the press release noted “the images for these new paintings taken from public sources such as the internet and literature … McKinley is interested in the concept of dark tourism and making work based on vicarious memory”. www.kevinkavanaghgallery.ie
and Ciara McMahon. The show arose out of both artists research on the NCAD masters course Art in the Contemporary World. As the press release noted, Browne’s works, collectively entitled ‘Untitled’ “maintained contradictory
a
concern and
with
incongruous
elements of social and subjective Declan ClarkeDeclan's Pillar 2000; Willingly Done 2002; Washing's Done 2003 1:22 minutes/1:38 minutes/1:47 minutes. Video transferred to DVD
realities … this exhibition is the practical response to research around democracy and its accommodation of a multiplicity of voices”. McMahon presented her
Draw the Line
Leaky Self Project, made in collaboration and conversation with the Living Gift Transplant Support group which addressed “the long term adjustments to lifestyle and attitude to self that heart /
Walker and WalkerMount Analogue Revisited
Recently
David Lunny – work from 'Draw the Line' at BCP, Dublin.
‘Draw the Line’ at Black Church Print Studio / Monster Truck Gallery, Temple Bar, Dublin (17 – 29th Jan 2011) featured work by Debora Ando, Caroline Byrne, Gráinne Dowling, Killian Dunne, Aoife Dwyer, Mary A. Fitzgerald, Mary Frazer, Joan Gleeson, Ann Kavanagh, Elaine Leader, Catriona Leahy, Mo Levy, David Lunney, Anja Mahler, Colin Martin, David McGinn, Margaret McLoughlin, Rachel O’Hara, Seán O Sullivan, Tracey Staunton and Yvan Vansevenant. The show was curated by Dr. Ruth Pelzer-Montada, Printmaker and Lecturer in Visual Culture and Theory at Edinburgh College of Art, Scotland. The exhibition was organised by the Black Church Print Studio, Dublin. www.print.ie
on
show
at
lung transplantation demands”
Mother’s
The exhibition was accompanied by a
Tankstation, Dublin, Declan Clarke’s
limited edition publication with
show ‘We’ll be this way until the end of
commissioned texts by Emma Dwyer,
the world’ (12 Jan – 12 Feb) featured
Rebecca O’Dwyer and Kathy Tynan.
five interrelated video and film works, dating from 2000 – 2010. All the works
R.Mutt’s Kunsthole
– Declan’s Pillar (2000); Willingly Done
‘R.Mutt’s Kunsthole’ was a project at
2002; Washing’s Done 2003; We’ll be this
Monster Truck Project Space, Francis
way until the end of the world (2008) and
Street, Dublin (17 – 20 December), that
I Went Toward Them, I Went Directly
saw the space converted into a
Toward the Lights (2010) – explored the
“readymade sibín”. As the press release
notion
and
noted “in these recessionary times, this
commemoration. Commenting on the
project aims to provide an alternative
shows title work, We’ll be this way until
social-space; a warm welcoming space
the end of the world, which focuses on
where people can come and hang out, in
two bullet holes on the winged female
a room filled with art and installations
figures on the O’Connell monument,
commissioned by Monster Truck studio
the press release notes – … one bullet
members and a small number of other
hole is a neat entry ‘wound’, the other a
chosen artists”. The project, curated by
ragged tear, marking the exit-point of
Joan Healy, Adam Gibney & Michelle
shots fired during the 1916 Rising. As
Considine, also incorporated a showing
any colonial or occupational force
of zines; presentations of performance
throughout history might confess, it
art, DJ sets and installations of interactive
tends to be easier to get into things
pieces.
of
the
monument
www.monstertruck.ie
The Visual Artists’News Sheet
March – April 2011
7
Roundup
COLUMN experimentation
Things Fall Apart
with
forms
that
undergo many changes as they are
Jonathan Carroll
transformed into collages, sculptures or
Art vs Weather
films. Ideas are triggered through observation of her surroundings, be it the Irish landscape or the space in which she makes or exhibits work, and through memories of childhood experiences and works of literature”. www.drawingroom.org.uk
Eilís O'ConnellFive Vessels 2008
Art and the memory of artworks can surprise you at odd times. As the unprecedented
NAMARAMA
amounts of snow in Ireland thawed, I kept cycling past isolated obstinate mounds of dirty ice that reminded me of Unpainted Mountain a sculpture by artists Walker and Walker. I had last seen this work in various configurations in The Douglas Hyde Gallery’s 'Utopias' (1999) and in IMMA’s 'How Things Turn Out' (2002). The work, based on the German Romantic painter Casper David Freidrich’s, Wanderer above the
Tracy Hanna – work from 'Things Fall Apart' Robert O'Conner – work from 'Control'
During February SOMA Contemporary, Waterford presented Tracy Hanna’s exhibition ‘Things Fall Apart. The show featured
new
accompanied
installation by
drawing
work and
photography. As was outlined in the press release, ‘Things Fall Apart’ explored “the idea of domestic space as an active, disordinate
and
emotional
space.
Through
deconstruction
and
reconfiguration an unstable vision of domestic space is assembled by the artist.” The preceding show was ‘New Work’ by Robbie O’Halloran (9 – 18 Dec 2010). The gallery information noted that “O’Halloran’s work explores notions of abstraction as it intersects with various disciplines from philosophy and politics to architecture and even theories of the spiritual in art”. www.tracyhanna.org www.robbieohalloran.com www.SOMAcontemporary.com
While some artist try to control the weather by bringing it indoors, for example
'Namarama' at Unit H, The Market
Danish artist Olafur Eliasson’s The Weather Project (2003 – 2004) for Tate Modern’s
Studios, Dublin (27 Jan – 12 Feb) was a
Turbine Hall, others tackle the weather head-on, best exemplified by Walter de
collaborative
interdisciplinary
Maria’s The Lightning Field (1977). Some artists go as far as trying to influence the
project inspired by the toxic debt agency
atmosphere by reenacting the scientific experiments of Wilhelm Reich who in 1953
NAMA. Taking place over three weeks
tried to control the weather with Orgone-energy. Christoph Keller tried it with his
both in The Market Studios and off site
Cloudbuster Project in New York’s PS1 (2003) and Irish artist Ciaran Walsh seems to
and
around the city this event hosted film makers, visual artists, performers and writers to interpret, decipher & poke fun at the absurdity of the atmosphere within the current political sphere. The participating artists were Eamonn Crudden,
Elaine
Reynolds,
Kim
Haughton, Chris Timms, Jiz Walsh, Clodagh Murphy, Aine Ivers, Joan Healy, Conor Casby, Emma Houlihan, Deirdre Morrissey, Stephen Blayds, Gaz Le Rock and Conor McGarrigle. www.themarketstudios.i e
Super Vivere
Tom Fox – work from 'Under the Iron Bridge'
‘Under the Iron Bridge’ paintings by Tom
Susie Rea’s exhibition ‘Super Vivere’
Fox was on show at Signal Arts Centre,
Naughton Gallery at Queens, Belfast. (11
Bray (1 – 13 Feb). This was sadly the last
Jan – 27 Feb) was created in collaboration
showing of works by the artist, who
with Dr Maeve Rea, of the Department of
passed away, at the premature age of 44
Geriatric Medicine at Queen’s University,
during preparations for the exhibition.
and the EU funded ‘Genetics of Healthy
As the press release noted “A child of the
Ageing’ (GEHA ) study – one of the
eighties his work was heavily influenced
largest genetic research projects ever
by the graffiti/expressionist painters of
undertaken on longevity in humans.
the New York 80`s particularly Jean-
This exhibition comprised of 21
Michel Basquiat, also by the Smiths, the
photographic prints, presented with text
Beastie Boys, the Stone Roses, the Punk
and audio extracts from interviews with
movement, Charles Bukowski amongst a
the sitters.
legion of other influences”. www.naughtongallery.org
EGAN in London The Drawing Room, London hosted ‘At intervals, while turning’, Irish artist Aleana Egan’s first solo exhibition in London (3 Feb – 13 March). As the press release outlined “drawing plays a significant role in Egan’s work, with a sketchbook providing a repository for the
noting
down
of
ideas
and
when encountering nature. The interaction of artists with nature often ends with the artwork being vanquished by the unforgiving power of the weather.
Eamonn Crudden – work from 'Namarama'
Under the Iron Bridge
Susie Rea – work from 'Super Vivere'
Sea of Fog (1818), continues the long history of artists’ interest in man’s wonderment
THE RHA 2011 The RHA, Dublin recently presented a cluster of solo and group exhibitions by established and emerging artists. ‘Haptic’ was a major exhibition of 38 new sculptural works by Eilís O’Connell made from 2007 to the present (14 Jan – 27 Feb). As the press release notes the exhibition marks a shift in the artist’s work “having worked in a rural location for the last five years, O’Connell’s
Gert Jan Kocken,Madonna with Child, Geneva, Defacement 9/10 August 1535, 2007,
work has profoundly changed, it appears less urban and relates more to the natural environment”. The artist also described how “surrounded by fields and the activity of agriculture, the urgency of growth fuels my imagination. After the growing season I collect dried out stalks and husks and they have become a new source of material in the studio." As part of the RHA’s annual ‘Artists Curate’ series of shows, Stephen Brandes the Institution of Special Afflictions presented ‘When Flanders Failed’ (14 Jan – 27 Feb) featuring works of painting, sculpture, photography and video, the exhibition also included historical artworks that have suffered unwittingly through circumstances and accident. Artists included Maarten Baas, Deborah Browne, Bonnie Camplin, Charlie Hammond, Sarah Iremonger, Gert Jan Kocken, Gene Lambert, Sean Lynch, Daniel MacDonald and Tony Millionaire. Late works by the Irish painter Patrick Collins were showcased in the exhibition ‘Last Daylight’ (14 Jan – 27 March). As the press release noted “in and around the mid-eighties Patrick Collins started to experiment with shaping the canvas by cutting them into irregular shapes using a scissors. Now nearly twenty years on since Collin’s created this last series of works we are re-presenting them for consideration”. The Ashford Gallery presented ‘Control’ (14 Jan – 27 Feb) an exhibition of new paintings by Robert O’Connor based on a set of propaganda images entitled Lenins Ideen wurden Wirklichkeit (Lenin’s ideas became reality), found in a Berlin Flea market. Currently on show is a selection of works Abigail O’Brien’s new photographic series Temperance (14 Jan – 25 April). These photographs derive from O’Brien’s three month residency at the Oatfield Sweet Factory in Letterkenny, as part of a Percent for Art Scheme of Donegal County Council. www.royalhibernianacademy.ie
have gone down the same road with his Orgone Prototype 1 (2007) for Visual Carlow’s opening exhibition. Susan Philipsz on winning the latest Turner Prize, lamented that many had missed the opportunity of experiencing her work Lowlands Away at the Glasgow International (1). Lowlands Away ran for just two weeks – and potential international visitors were prevented from coming to the festival due to the Icelandic ash cloud. But on another occasion, climactic conditions conspired more favourably in relation to experiencing Philipsz’ work. My previous encounter with the artist’s work was as part of the Sculpture Projects Muenster 2007 (2). As I was making my way around the various dispersed artworks, the heavens opened and I was forced to seek shelter under the Torminbrücke. Here an impromptu crowd had gathered for shelter; and we all became a willing and receptive audience. Listening to Philipsz’ haunting The Lost Reflection which, like Walker and Walker, was inspired by a German Romantic, this time E.T.A. Hoffmann’s story The Lost Reflection. The sculptor Michael Warren writes in an interview with John Hutchinson “when sculpture and place transform to appear inevitably twinned, something magical is brought out into the broad daylight of the public domain”. (3) I thought of this quote when considering the contrasting fate of much of the public sculpture – permanent and temporary – that is commissioned in Ireland. The weather has something to do with this. While Warren’s Countermovement (made of Spanish Chestnut) in the grounds of Trinity College is slowly decaying, Alexander Calder’s Cactus Provisoire (Welded Steel, 1967) took on a whole new look during the heavy snow with a complete white surround covering the grass. Nature had transformed the environment around the work in just the magical way that Warren writes about. Another of Warren’s sculptures, Gateway, was denied this opportunity to be transformed in the natural white cube created by the snow. There is only the scar left from the removal of Gateway from its position at Pavilion Plaza in Dun Laoghaire. The work was seen to weather badly and was perceived as unsightly (partly thanks to the interaction of graffiti 'artists'). Although now in storage, the local council has promised that it will be resurrected in a new location. The resurrection of another sculpture, was theatrically played out on the popular RTE radio programme, Liveline (16 Dec 2010). Sculptor Eamonn O’Doherty was interviewed as he drove by the former site of his Anna Livia Fountain in a kind of funeral cortège with ‘The Floozy in the Jacuzzi’ strapped to the back of a truck. The work was on its way to be restored (after 10 years in storage) and subsequently relocated near Croppy’s Acre. It reminded me that fountains, in an Irish context, could be seen as problematic. Water features may make sense in parched Italian cities – but surely not here with our levels of rain? However, while Olafur Eliasson seemed to understand this when he experimented with The Curious Garden (2000) at IMMA (years before his Weather Project success) – even his deliberate acknowledgement our 'bad' climate, didn't ensure a successful outcome. Eliasson placed his Heat Pavilion in the very centre of IMMA’s courtyard, offering anyone who entered it, a shower of heat. Unfortunately for Eliasson, he forgot about the ever-present gusts of wind prevalent in Ireland, all heat was blown away before any benefit could be had. Eliasson should have returned this past winter with one of his Ice Pavilions, ice now being in tune with the new environment of Ireland. Notes 1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/dec/07/susan-philipsz-turner-prize?INTCMP=SRCH 2.http://www.skulptur-projekte.de/ 3. http://www.michaelwarren.ie/
8
The Visual Artists’News Sheet
March – April 2011
Roundup Noemi
ADF Winter Group Show
Trevor Wray – work from Winter ADF Exhibition
The winter group exhibition at The Arts & Disability Forum, Belfast (26 Jan – 17 Feb) presented works by 12 artists selected from an open submission. The participating artists were: Andrew Gahan, Bill McKnight, David Hughes, Gill Hartley, Grainne Doyle, Hugh O’Donnell, Jan Taggart, Joe Ryan Kim Lennon, Ruth A Scott, Sinead O’Donnell, Trevor Ray.
Lakmaier, ORLAN and Aine
Phillips. The show was described in the
Other solo shows include the
publicity material as exploring “the
marking of Barrie Cooke’s, 80th birthday
tensions and dialogues concerned with
with retrospective exhibition spanning
the physical act of looking. The gaze
his works from the 1960’s to the present
holds multiple interpretations, such as
(15 June – 18 Sept); and ten year survey of
the voyeuristic, scopophilic, erotic; and
the work of Gerard Byrne (27 July – 31
is as much dependant upon the viewer,
Oct); an exhibition of video works and
as that which is being viewed. Each
installations by the celebrated Thai film
artist challenges us to consider our role
director and screenwriter Apichapong
as a viewer …”
Weerasethakul (27 July – 31 Oct); and the www.goldenthreadgallery.co.uk
The Still Breath of Adventure
James Brooks’ exhibition ‘Staged and Screened at 126, Galway (4 – 26 February 2011) featured new series of drawing, print, audio and video works. The press release noted that the exhibition utilized “high and low cultural sources – from cinema, theatre, music and television as
Morrissey, Eilis Murphy, Deirdre Nolan, Ciara O’Hara, Geraldine O’Reilly, Caroline Patten, Sarah Rogers, Robert
(16 Nov – 29 Jan 2012).
Russell, Joe Ryan, Adrienne Symes, Elke Elaine Byrne. Work from 'Message to Salinas'
and October, extending its exhibition
Elaine Byrne's show 'Message to Salinas'
Gillick, now based in New York, and
Riverbank Arts Centre, Kildare presented
Spanish artist Susana Solano.
the exhibition ‘The Still Breath of
In addition to the exhibition
Adventure’ by Martina McDonald (15
programme, a series of events – including
Jan – 15 Feb). This exhibition was
music and performance art – will be
enabled by Kildare County Council’s
presented throughout the year. These
Emerging Artist Solo Exhibition Bursary
will include works by Orla Barry, Gerald
Award, which the artist received in 2010.
Barry, Cyprien Gaillard, Koudlam, Jeremy
The exhibition notes stated, the works
Reed & Gerry McNee and Dennis
in
McNulty.
the
show
“examined
human
tendencies and behavioural patterns:
In late November IMMA will begin
more specifically, the behaviours one
a phased closure for major refurbishment
develops when captivated by emotions
work on museums lighting, security and
such as desire, fear and the loss of
fire systems will begin in November
control”.
2011. During the completion of these www.martinamcdonald.com www.riverbank.ie
Thönnes, Michael Timmins, Margaret
Dublin Contemporary 2011 in September
installation artists: British artist Liam
was on show at The Oonagh Young Ballery, Dublin (20 Jan - 19 Feb). The exhibition presented work made during her recent residency in Mexico city at SOMA (summer 2010). As the press release noted, the works in the show looked at "the legacy of a disgraced ex president from the people’s point of view. Byrne invited Mexican people to send a personal message to Carlos Salinas, who moved to Dublin at the end of his term, either by video, facebook or e-mail". www.oonaghyoung.com
The Irish Museum of Modern Art,
of the museum.
work of recent graduates Ella Burke and Aoibheann Greenan. The annual Amharc Fhine Gall exhibition, now in its seventh year, showcases Fingal artists and has established itself in recent years as a platform for emerging visual art practitioners. This year’s edition was curated by Susan Holland. Currently on show are ‘Surfacing’ Nuala O’Sullivan’s exhibition of new paintings and Sarah O’Brien’s show ‘Recent Work’, featuring drawing and installation. (27 Jan – 26 March). As the Upcoming shows include Michael 2011)
and
An
Intergenerational
Photography Exhibition. (7 Apr – 8
2013, IMMA will run a series of offsite
May)
well as developing an increased National
The Empress Gallery
Programme presence.
The Empress Gallery, Belfast is a new
www.imma.ie elab.ie Luke Fowler – work from 'Pilgrimage from Scattered Points' at TBG&S
Volunteer
Also on show was ‘Amharc Fhine Gall VII - The cloud’ an exhibition of the
Wann ‘New Work’ (31 Mar – 28 May
works, up until the re-opening in January
2011 – which marks the 20th anniversary
Tuffy, Marta Wakula-Mac.
press releases outline: from Scattered Points
projects in locations around Dublin, as
IMMA IS 20 recently announced its programme for
YOU ARE HERE
Margo McNulty, Susan Morley, Merijean
Brazilian artist Rivane Neuenschwander
works in the courtyard by two leading
departure points”. http://www.jamesbrooksdrawing blogspot.com www.126.ie
Nuala O SullivanWatching Girls Go By
Daniel Lipstein, Ms. Niamh McGuinne,
presentation of three installations by
programme with separate site-specific
Martina McDonaldBiting Through
James Brooks – work from 'Staged and Screened'
Message to Salinas
IMMA will play a prominent role in
www.adf.ie
Staged & Screened
David Kronn Collection in New York.
venture that describes itself as “location variable” gallery, meaning that it will
The programme commences with
Temple Bar Gallery & Studios, Dublin
utilize spaces and locations that meets
solos show by (9 Feb – 15 May) Romuald
is now showing Luke Fowler’s
the needs of particular artworks. The
Hazoumè, one of Africa’s most critically-
Pilgrimage from Scattered Points, a film
press release further explains that “it is
acclaimed artists; and abstract painter
about the English composer Cornelius
inspired by a model first popularised by
Philip Taaffe (23 March – 12 June).
Cardew and The Scratch Orchestra (19 Feb – 26 March). As curator of the show
the Kurimanzutto gallery in Mexico
Paintings by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, the central figures in Mexican
Mary
work
City Art scene in the late ‘90s and early
Keogh / Troemel. Skype dialogue at 'You are Here'
Modernism, will be exhibited 6 April –
“highlights Fowler’s interest in the
‘00s”. The gallery will nonetheless
‘You are here’ an event that took place at The Workhouse Test, Callan, Co. Kilkenny (15 Jan) featured a Skype dialogue between Sam Keogh (Irl) and Brad Troemel (US) and an installation by Lorraine Neeson. Keogh and Troemel’s conversation considered “the internet as a valid place to experience art along with the relevance of the object and its ‘aura’ in their individual practices”. Neeson’s installation explored the notions of “physicality and space versus photographic / online representation”. This was the second in a series of events at The Workhouse Test, which aims to promote individual artists, international connectivity and
26 June.
nature of collaboration and its
operate one long-term use site – Citigolf,
exchange of ideas from a rural setting.
Juan Muñoz, being lent by the Lisson
www.youareheretest.tumblr.com
Group shows drawing on the
Cremin
notes,
this
City which revolutionized the Mexico
possibilities. Pilgrimage from Scattered
for showcasing 2D work. The inaugural
IMMA collections include ‘Old Master
points
curator”.
exhibition at this venue, was a group
Prints: The Madden Arnholz Collection
documents a pinnacle time historically
show featuring works by – William
(23 March – 26 June); and ‘Les Levine:
which saw the rise of anti-establishment
Artt, Robin Cordiner, John Cullen and
organisations, the 1968 student protests
Isabelle Gaborit. (Nov 10, 2010 – Jan 9,
and the anti-war movement. The
2011).
Three Works from the 1970’s’ (23 March
Paul Seawright – work from the 'Volunteer' series
– 12 June). ‘Twenty: New Irish Acquisitions’ presents recent acquisitions of new artworks by a younger generation of Irish artists – Nina Canell, John Gerrard, Katie Holten, Niamh O’Malley and Garrett Phelan (28 May – 31 Oct). 27 May will see the installation of Monument in the grounds at IMMA of a sculpture by the leading Spanish artist Gallery in London. ‘Out of the Dark Room’ will present
In View
some
‘In View’ at Golden Thread Gallery,
19th-century Daguerreotypes to the
140
photographs
from
Belfast (10 Dec 2010 – 29 Jan 2011) was
work of legendary figures, such as
a group show of video / moving image
Edward Weston and August Sander, and
work, featuring works by Vito Acconci,
award-winning
Laura O’Connor, Katherine Nolan,
photographers,
Shaleen Temple, Phil Collins, Common
Sondergaard and Simon Norfolk (20 July
Culture, Sara Greavu, Margaret Harrison,
– 9 Oct) . The works are taken from the
contemporary including
Trine
‘Volunteer’
Paul
Seawright’s
new
exhibition of photographic works is currently on show at the Kerlin Gallery, Dublin (25 Feb – 2 April). The show brings together the two major themes of his practice, contemporary cities and the representation of conflict. The gallery notes, explain that “Volunteer extends his previous work, interrogating how contemporary
conflict
might
be
represented and discussed beyond the battlefield, without recourse to dramacentric imagery. He presents the landscape of the American city as a type of battlefield where the spectre of war in the Middle East is tangible on every street corner, college campus, town square and front yard”. www.kerlin.ie
historian
and
www.theempressgallery.co.uk
Scratch Orchestra was of that moment and,
through
interviews
archival
and
footage,
predominantly
unreleased music, the film relays the struggles and conflicts of that period”.
GEORGE WARREN Hillsboro Fine Art, Dublin recently presented the first solo show by painter George Warren (Jan 13 – Feb 5). Warren graduated last year from Dublin
Draiocht Activity The 2011 programme of Draiocht, Blanchardstown commenced with ‘Home’ and exhibition marking the 50th anniversary of the Graphic Studio,
Institute of Technology; and the press notes “aged just 22, this painter demonstrates a maturity and mastery far beyond his years”.
Dublin (12 Nov –22 Jan) The show
www.hillsborofineart.com
featured works by Yoko Akino, Maureen Buckley, Gerard Cox, Gráinne Cuffe,
Mary Burke
Louise Farrelly, Dr. Paul Fitters, Niamh
‘Spaces and Places: Imagined Spaces’
Flanagan, Mary Grey, Nickie Hayden,
Mary Burke’s exhibition at Rua Red,
Clare Henderson, Siobhan Hyde, Ms.
Tallaght (22 Jan – 19 Feb) featured new
Lilian
Kenny,
paintings and supporting collage works.
Stephen Lawlor, Maev Lenaghan,
The collages comprised deconstructed
Louise Leonard, Ms. Pamela Leonard,
photo-studies by the artist, combined
Ingram,
Desmond
The Visual Artists’News Sheet
March – April 2011
Roundup with found materials from magazines
Heaven and Earth, the reader encounters
and other mass-produced print material
stories of sacred, noble or taboo persons
– all relating to interior and exterior
who are forbidden to walk on or to touch
architectural details. The paintings in
the ground, to see the sun, or to have its
the show drew on this source material.
light fall upon them. Priests, kings,
As the press release explained “the
bridegrooms, women after giving birth,
finished paintings evoke childhood
chosen persons who, because of religion,
memories or dreams, incorporating
folklore, myth or superstition were
familiar details such as windows, steps,
forced to exist for periods of time in the
and pathways, which help to create a
buoyant liminal space between earth
sense of interior and exterior. The end
and heaven or in the dark. These are the
result is a series of imagined spaces”. www.ruared.ie
spaces that have fascinated me since I was a boy and the work that I have tried to make for many years has been inspired
Structures
by the sky above us, the ocean of air that we are immersed in and our daily emergence into light”. www.hughlane.ie
Liminality NCAD Gallery, Dublin hosted Ciara McMahon’s project Liminality (4 – 12 Feb), part of her on-going work Leaky Self a multi-platform collaborative art project with the Living Gift Transplant Support Group. As the press release noted “In the course of this work, heart Niall de Buitléar – work from 'Structures'
and lung transplant recipients reported transplant was like existing in a limbo
at Wexford Arts Centre (11 Jan – 5 Feb)
state, an in-between land – they felt
featured large scale sculptural works
hopeful and yet feared that the offer of
and showing large group of drawings by
an organ would come too late.
the artist. The gallery notes explained
'Liminality' comprised on an interactive
that for De Buitléar “the relationships of
event in the gallery space, whereby
scale between the viewer, the work, and
gallery goers were invited inhabit the
the architecture are central to the
role of a (hospital) visitor and/or to
experience of sculptures and inform his
conditionally donate their physical
working processes. Within the artist’s
presence, their self, to the project.
studio practice, ideas for sculptures often
Liminality was funded by the Arts
develop directly from drawings as one
Council through the artist in the
might expect but this is also a two way
community scheme, managed by Create,
process”. De Buitléar was the recipient of
the National Development Agency for
the 2009 Emerging Visual Artist Award,
Collaborative Arts. http://gallery.ncad.ie
a partnership initiative between the Arts
http://livinggift.ie/leaky-self
Council, Wexford County Council and http://www.nialldebuitlear.com http://wexfordartscentre.ie
We are where we are
Six Memos The exhibition ‘Trompe Le Monde’, the third instalment of Limerick City Gallery’s offsite project Six Memos project, was recently presented at Occupy Space, Limerick (4 Feb – 4 March). Curated by Mary Conlon – The show featured works by Juan Fontanive,
Eoin Mac LochlainJohnny
Dana Gentile, Helen Horgan, James Merrigan, Michael Murphy.
News Dublin Culture Trail App Temple Bar Cultural Trust launched the Dublin Culture Trail Iphone App on 16 February. The Dublin Culture Trail features 16 of Ireland’s leading cultural venues; all located in the heart of Dublin city and within short walking distance from each other. The venues range from Dublin City Hall, Trinity College Dublin and Christ Church Cathedral, Project Arts Centre and Temple Bar Gallery & Studios in Temple Bar, Chester Beatty Library and Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane. It also features three outdoor markets (Food, Books and Design) and 4 outdoor spaces located in Temple Bar. The first of its kind in the world, the Dublin Culture Trail, takes users on a journey of discovery and adventure using video and photographs of Dublin’s museums, galleries, historic buildings and cultural centres. The trail introduces the user to the people and artists behind the venues, who reveal interesting facts and nuggets of information about their venue, tempting the user to visit. The high-definition videos were created by BAFTA winning cameraman Mark McAuley. Dublin Culture Trail is available free from the Apple App Store. www.tbct.ie
to the artist waiting for an organ
Niall de Buitléar’s exhibition ‘Structures’
Wexford Arts Centre.
9
‘We are where we are’ an exhibition of
Manifesta 9 Manifesta has announced the host region and curator of Manifesta 9. The ninth edition of Manifesta, the European Biennial of Contemporary Art, will take place in Limburg, Belgium in 2012 with Cuauhtémoc Medina (Mexico) leading the curatorial team. Cuauhtémoc Medina works as curator, art critic and historian. He lives and works in Mexico City. He holds a PhD in Art History and Theory from the University of Essex, UK. Medina is a researcher at the Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas at the National University of Mexico. Medina was the first Associate Curator of Latin American Art Collections at Tate Modern in London. Manifesta, the European Biennial of Contemporary Art, changes its location every two years. Manifesta purposely strives to keep its distance from what are often seen as the dominant centres of artistic production, instead seeking fresh and fertile terrain for the mapping of a new cultural topography. This includes innovations in curatorial practices, exhibition models and education. Each Manifesta Biennial aims to investigate and reflect on emerging developments in contemporary art, culture and society, set within a European context. www.manifesta.org
new paintings by Eoin Mac Lochlainn
The Golden Bough The current ‘Golden Bough’ exhibition at the Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin is William McKeown’s installation The Waiting Room (2 Feb – 1 May). McKeown, explains in the gallery notes how he took inspiration from The Golden Bought – an anthropological text published in 1890, from which the title of the venues ongoing series of shows by contemporary artists is based – “ In Chapter 11 of Book IV, entitled Between
was recently on show at The Paul Kane
New Lead Curators for DC2011
Gallery, Merrion Square, Dublin (11 Feb
New York-based curator and writer,
– 5 March, 2011). As the press release
Christian Viveros-Fauné, and Franco-
noted “over the last year much has been
Peruvian artist and curator, Jota Castro,
written about empty hotels, tenantless
have been appointed joint Lead Curators
apartment blocks and ghost estates, an
of Dublin Contemporary 2011. Dublin
estimated 300,000 units vacant or
Contemporary will take place for eight
unfinished. At the same time there is the
weeks from 6 Sept – 31 October 2011
growing problem of homelessness. The
and will present the work of Irish-based
work engages with contradictions such
artists, alongside leading artists from
as these…”
around the globe.
www.thepaulkanegallery.co m
Viveros-Fauné and Castro will present a programme of exhibitions that
relate to the theme of 'Terrible Beauty—
O’Donnell Olympiad Commission
Art, Crisis, Change & The Office of Non-
The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad,
Compliance'. Taken from William Butler
the UK Arts Councils and the British
Yeats’s famous poem, Easter, 1916, the
Council have awarded £820,000 funding
exhibition’s title was inspired by Yeats’s
for ‘Unlimited’. The project encourages
response to political events in Ireland
collaborations and partnerships between
and is intended to highlight art’s
disability arts organisations, disabled
potential for commenting on current
and
events in Irish life.
mainstream organisations to celebrate
Christian Viveros-Fauné has written
for
several
deaf
artists,
producers,
and
the inspiration of the Olympic and
prestigious
Paralympic Games and produce work
publications including Art in America,
like never before. The programme has a
Art Review, The Art Newspaper and The
total fund of £3m.
New Yorker and was awarded a Creative
Of the 13 new commissions,
Capital / Warhol Foundation Arts
Northern Ireland performance artist
Writers Grant in 2010. He was named
Sinead O’Donnell has received an award
inaugural Critic-in-Residence at the
of £70,000 for her project – CAUTION.
Bronx Museum for 2010 / 2011 and is a
Sinead is the second artist from Northern
visiting lecturer at Yale University. He is
Ireland to have been awarded an
the former Director of prestigious US art
Unlimited
fairs NEXT in Chicago and VOLTA NY in
Ballymena artist Maurice Orr, who was
New York.
awarded a first round commission last
Jota Castro is a Brussels-based
commission,
joining
year.
Franco-Peruvian artist, curator and a
CAUTION will bring together some
former lawyer with the United Nations
of the world’s leading performance
and EU Commissioner. In 2009, he
artists – Sylvette Babin, Mariel Carranza,
curated The Fear Society at the Pabellon
Paul Couillard, Poshya Kakl, and Shiro
De La Urgencia for the 53rd Venice
Masuyama – to collaborate on a major
Biennale and successfully negotiated
international project exploring ‘invisible’
Spain’s candidature for Manifesta 8. In
disability. The resulting performance
the same year, he curated ‘Y ahora que?’
and exhibition will showcase high
at the SOS 48 Festival in Spain, which
quality, ambitious work by disabled and
featured two days of art, music and
Deaf artists at Golden Thread Gallery,
philosophy and attracted approximately
Belfast during the Paralympic Games in
80,000 visitors.
2012. www.dublincontemporary.com
www.london2012.com/unlimited.
Landmark
Tulca Curator 2011
‘Landmark’ a new public art programme
Tulca has announced that Megs Morley
for Mayo was recently announced.
will curate this years Tulca. Tulca 2011
Through ‘Landmark’ Mayo County
will take place in various venues in
Council has provided a range of
Galway City from the 4 – 20 November
opportunities for a number of artists
2011. Tulca will open its call for
from all public art form disciplines,
submissions in the Summer months and
including music, dance, drama, literature,
full
film, visual and performing arts, within
announced in early October.
a programme, comprising four separate strands.
programme
details
will
be
Tulca has also announced that Siobhán McGibbon, representing 126
Permanent Commissions are being
Artist – led Gallery and Ann Lyons,
undertaken by Anne Cleary and Denis
representing NUI Galway have recently
Connolly and Elaine Griffin . Temporary,
joined the Board of Directors.
performance
and
event-based
Megs Morley is an artist and curator
commissions are being undertaken by
based in Galway. Her research is
Matt & Rob Vale and The Performance
primarily concerned with practices that
Corporation . Fionnuala Hanahoe is the
specifically respond to cultural and
recipient of the Landmark Training
political contexts and periods, using
Bursary Scheme .
strategies
Jennifer Brady is developing a new
intervention,
video work with an original score, that
collaboration.
of
self-organisation, collectivism
and
will employ an experimental approach
Most recently she curated the
to video, sound and song in drawing
Documentation Archive of the DORM
together the site of Lough Lannagh and
exhibition (the Model, Sligo) where she
the Castlebar Song Contest. Landmark’s
curated archive materials, documents,
composer in residence is Ian Wilson.
works and film screenings of 23
Another element of the programme
international artists collectives.
is ‘Connect’ – a professional development
As part of on-going examination
programme , which comprise a series of
into artist-led and collective practices in
educational and outreach activities,
Ireland over the last 40 years, she
group
networking
initiated The Irish Artist-led Archive, an
opportunities and useful tools that will
archive and touring exhibition of
facilitate
documentation relating to over 70 past
discussions,
professional
knowledge
sharing,
development
and
and present Irish artist-led initiatives,
confidence amongst professional visual
currently housed in the special
artists.
collections of the National Irish Visual Arts Library. (www.theartistledarchive. com). From 2008 – 2010 she worked as
10
The Visual Artists’News Sheet
March – April 2011
news Public Arts Officer for Galway City
The initiative supports promising
Council where she commissioned a
visual artists in Ireland with an award of
series of significant multi-disciplinary
€5,000 and a solo exhibition at Wexford
and participatory public art projects
Arts Centre.
across Galway City. www.tulca.ie
Stockholm, Sweden.
Peter Rosser, Ian Sansom, Dave
contemporary art, while continuing to
Phil Hession is an artist working in
Duggan and Allan Hughes join an
initiate exchanges with artists’ groups
performance and video. His work
esteemed list of artists who have
around Ireland and abroad. The name
explores how oral traditions (song and
previously benefited from the Arts
crystallises a series of successful
O’Gorman was selected from over
storytelling) have evolved and attempts
Council’s Major Individual Award,
strategies and initiatives, beginning at
one hundred and twenty submissions
to present these traditions in a
including local writers, Carlo Gébler,
their first studios in Foley Street, through
received. The submissions were assessed
contemporary manner.
Damian Gorman, Glenn Patterson and
Pallas Heights, and Offside at The Hugh
by an independent selection panel, all of
The £65,000 ACES funding scheme
Owen McCafferty, leading contemporary
Lane, and their first gallery Pallas
On Thursday 24 February the bronze
which had appropriate expertise in the
offers artists, working in music, visual
artists, Rita Duffy, Susan MacWilliam,
Contemporary Projects, into an ongoing
figure from the Anna Livia Fountain was
visual arts.
arts, literature, and participatory arts,
Patricia Craig and Cara Murphy, and
‘project’. This project has a longer-term
the opportunity to apply for a £5,000
composers Brian Irvine and Elaine
objective, while still operating as an
bursary. The scheme enables artists to
Agnew.
umbrella to the flexible DIY ethos that
ANNA LIVIA SCULPTURE RE-LOCATED
www.wexfordartscentre.ie
transported up the River Liffey by barge from Grand Canal Dock and re-located in the public park across the river from Heuston Station – where a site has been prepared by the Parks Department of Dublin City Council. Originally erected in O'Connell Street in 1988, the bronze and granite fountain by sculptor Eamonn O'Doherty and artist/engineer Sean Mulcahy was dismantled in 2001, the reasons being given that the Council could not deal with the rubbish which accumulated daily in the pool, and that
New Tyrone Guthrie Director The Chair and Board of the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig, Co. Monaghan have announced Robbie Mc
Director of the Centre,
leaving his
current job as Director of the Hawk’s Well Theatre in Sligo. A native of Cork city, Robbie Mc Donald
has
made
a
significant
the stone surround would interfere with
contribution to developing the arts in
the positioning of the crane necessary
Ireland over the past thirty years. Among
for the erection of the Spire. The
his many achievements are: co-founding
eighteen–foot long figure has been
and directing the Triskel Arts Centre in
partly re-worked and refurbished by
Cork; overseeing the development of the
O'Doherty and the staff at the CAST
Firestation Artists’ Studios in Dublin;
foundry in South Brown Street, who
re-modelling The Firkin Crane as a
made the original 22 years ago.
centre
for
contemporary
dance;
overseeing the development of what is Arts Audiences & Google
now the Leitrim Sculpture Centre,
Arts Audiences – a partnership initiative
Manorhamilton, Co. Sligo, and his work
of the Arts Council and Temple Bar
as Director of the Sligo Art Gallery and
Cultural Trust – have expanded their
Director of the Hawk’s Well Theatre.
partnership with Google, which began
The Tyrone Guthrie Centre is a residential
in 2010. On 18 February the event
workplace
open
to
‘Google@The Arts Council –
professional practitioners in all art
online marketing and making the most
forms. Since it first opened its doors in
of online tools’ took place at the Wood
1981, the Tyrone Guthrie Centre has
Quay venue in Dublin’s Civic Offices.
worked with over 5,000 artists. www.tyroneguthrie.ie
Google staffers provided and overview of various tools and strategies for online marketing – in including introductions to Google’s Analytics and Adwords. In addition, the initiative is running a Media Mentoring Scheme, The scheme will
provide
organisations
mentoring on
how
to to
arts build
relationships with new and existing audiences online. Further information on this scheme and how to apply can be found here – http://artsaudiences. ie/2011/01/googlethe-arts-council-newmedia-mentoring-2011
Wexford Arts Centre in partnership with the Arts Department of Wexford County Council and the Arts Council of Ireland has announced that Kilkenny based
professional organisation to deliver new creative work. www.contextgallery.co.uk www.artscouncil-ni.org
Photography Winners Patrick Hogan is the winner of the Gallery of Photography Artist’s Award 2010. Hogan receives €5,000 towards the exhibition/ publication; access to the gallery of photography’s Artist’s Digital Studio and fully-serviced Darkrooms; technical assistance with all aspects of exhibition production; on-going
mentoring,
curatorial feedback and publishing expertise; a full colour editorial feature in The Irish Arts Review, media partner for the award. Kirsty O’Keeffe is the winner of the Showcase People’s Award, a new award which
offers
ongoing
curatorial
mentoring and use of the Gallery’s stateof-the-art digital facilities to the value of €1,000. Showcase is selected by a panel of leading curators from all over Ireland. During
January
The
Gallery
of
Photography, Dublin presented an exhibition of artists shortlisted for the award, featuring the work of Patrick
Chester Beatty’s New Director
Horrigan; Sabina MacMahon; Liam
Fionnuala Croke (head curator at the
Murphy;
National Gallery) has been named new
O’Riordan and Ivor Prickett
Kirsty
replacing the outgoing director Michael Ryan. Croke will take up her role in the library at Dublin Castle on 1 March 2011. Croke has held the post of keeper and head of collections at the National Gallery of Ireland since 2008. The Chester Beatty Library houses Beatty which includes manuscripts, miniature paintings, prints and rare books from Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. It is a public charitable trust. www.cbl.ie
visual artist Bridget O’Gorman is the
O’Keeffe;
Francis
www.galleryofphotography.ie
director of the Chester Beatty Library,
membership drive 2010, all new and draw to win copies of three important and fascinating publications – Boulevard Magenta – Issue 2; Brian O’Doherty / Patrick Ireland, Between Categories and Traces, IMMA Limited Edition. Boulevard Magenta – Issue 2, published by IMMA, brings together a collection of works ranging across the visual arts, prose, poetry, music, film and architecture. This title includes a CD of music by Gerald Barry. Brian O’Doherty / Patrick Ireland, Between Categories by Brenda Moore-McCann and published by Lund Humphries is an in-depth study revealing the many layers of O’Doherty’s artistic identity. Traces, IMMA Limited Edition by Christina Kennedy, Séamus McCormack and published by IMMA was produced to coincide with the exhibition Traces. This illustrated publication presents each print from the limited
Edition
series.
Accompanied by a text and quotes from the artists involved, the publication catalogues
the
series
since
its
development in 2003. And the winners were: Gill Good, Cork; Colm Macauley, Dublin; Elizabeth Lyne, Kerry. Carol Kennedy, Tipperary. Ian Clotworthy, Dublin ; Ray Duncan, Belfast ; Angela Duffy, Mayo.
ACNI Honours Allan Hughes
http://visualartists.ie/join-us/
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland has awarded grants of £15,000 to four of Northern Ireland’s most promising artists. The Major Awards, presented to composer Peter Rosser, writer Ian Sansom, playwright Dave Duggan and visual artist Allan Hughes, acknowledge the valuable contribution each have made to the arts in Northern Ireland. These annual awards are the largest grants presented to artists by the Arts Council each year. The financial support provided makes it possible for artists to take time out to dedicate to their creative
recipient of the fifth annual Emerging
Hession Awarded ACES
work and to produce a substantial and
Visual Artist Award.
Phil Hession was recently awarded The
ambitious project that will make a
As the recipient of the award,
Artists Career Enhancement Scheme
significant
O’Gorman will be required to create a
(ACES) 2011–2012, in partnership with
development of their careers.
new body of work during the period of
The Context Gallery and The Arts
January – December 2011, which will be
Council of Northern Ireland.
contribution
to
the
Allan Hughes is a video installation artist and has exhibited both nationally
exhibited at Wexford Arts Centre during
Through the ACES scheme Hession
and internationally. His work has been
January 2012. O’Gorman’s practice is
will be delivering a solo show in the
shown in the Mediations Biennale in
predominantly
and
Context Gallery in 2011/2012. In
Poznan Poland, UNOACTU in Dresden,
combines traditional craft and fine art
addition to this he will be completing
La Sala Naranjain Valencia, the Ormeau
processes to create specific environments
two international residencies in 2011,
Baths
with constructed objects, images and
the first in The Banff Centre in Canada
Beursschouwburg in Brussels amongst
sound.
and the second in Residence Botkyrka,
others.
materials-led,
As part of Visual Artist Ireland’s
IMMA
Gallery
Belfast
and
the
has allowed Pallas to both respond to and direct methods of producing and
VAI Membership Drive
renewing members were entered into a
Fitzpatrick; Patrick Hogan; Michele
the collections of Sir Alfred Chester
O’Gorman Wins Emerging Award
boost their careers by partnering with a
Donald as its new Director. Robbie Mc Donald succeeds Dr. Pat Donlon as
www.artscouncil-ni.org
delivering art practices to an evolving peer audience over a 15-year period.” The new venue will open its doors with UK film and video artist John Smith, on Wednesday 2 March, with an artists’ talk the following day with Maeve Connolly, in conjunction with The LAB and MAVIS. An ambitious survey of John’s work, who has featured recently in Frieze, Printed Project and the Berlin Biennale, it is his first solo exhibition in Ireland, and is to feature films from the mid 1970s to the present. This is followed by Dutch artist, Toine Horvers, who is making a new performance work especially for Pallas Projects while on a residency in The Red Stables. Alex Martinis Roe, a Berlin-based artist originally from Melbourne follows that, with a project which will span a number of platforms and locations in Dublin and will continue in Berlin, spanning the two locations. After a summer break there will be two group exhibitions,
featuring
international
artists,
Irish and
a
and solo
presentation of Berlin-based Irish artist Ciarán Walsh.
www.pallasprojects.org
VAI Research Published In The Irish Times of Saturday, February 19th, Jane Humphries reviewed the new publication:
Art History: Movers and
Shapers 3: Conversations in the Irish Art World, By Vera Ryan, and published by Galley Head Press. In the article the following VAI
Pallas Move After 4 years in the Stoneybatter area of
research was mentioned as significant:
Dublin, Pallas Contemporary Projects
“If the number of artists has also been
are relocating their gallery space to
increasing, it is sobering to read that a
Lower Dominick Street in Dublin 1. The
survey carried out by Visual Artists
new initiative of Pallas Projects is the
Ireland in 2008 found that 67% of artists
result of a concerted decision to be more
earn less than €10,000 a year with
‘visible’, to take on a new physical space
women artists earning less than men.
and the challenge of that, and to signify
Ryan cautions that creative expression is
the beginning of a new phase of their ‘project’, in its long-term aims and direction. As Pallas explain “This move coincides with a refining of artistic objectives: Pallas Contemporary Projects will now be known as Pallas Projects, this acts both to consolidate endeavours to date, while underlining a continued commitment to solo projects by Irish and international artists, alongside occasional thematic group exhibitions. Pallas Projects also has in its plan to collaborate with leading peers to facilitate a unique series of annual surveys of key moments in current Irish
threatened if too much time is spent out of the creative environment. A lot rests on the shoulders of those distributing public funding, future movers and shapers, if good art is to survive.” The full text can be found at http:// www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ weekend/2011/0219/1224290194128. html
The Visual Artists’News sheet
March – April 2011
11
REGIONAL PROFILE
Visual Arts Resources & Activity: Carlow Surreal Surprises
Visual's Vision
Eileen McDonaghMedusa Tree. Commissioned by Carlow Local Authorities through the per cent for art scheme. Location: VISUAL.
VisuAl Centre for Contemporary Art & the George
practice to a space that has been described as a
Bernard Shaw Theatre opened to the public in
cathedral to modernism – the Main Gallery (29m x
September 2009. The Centre boasts some of the
16x 11m high). It was purposefully a serious and
largest and most advanced exhibition spaces
reverent affair, designed to send messages of
available in Ireland, and has been heralded both
deliberate intent. From the forward in the VISUAL
nationally and internationally for its excellence in
book which celebrated this opening exhibition, I
architecture and design. The centre grew from a
wrote that the exhibition sought “...to honour such
long development process which process, which
a wonderful space with work by artists whose own
began over 30 years ago with Éigse, Carlow Arts
vision matches the simplicity and order of Pawson’s
Festival, which from 1979 through the 80’s and 90’s
architecture...” but also conceded that “...later, in
developed a strong reputation for supporting for
future programmes there will be opportunities to
supporting and encouraging visual arts and for
play with the spaces, to fill them to the brim, to
introducing an international dimension to its
consume them, to envelop them in colour”. The first year of programming included such
programme from an early stage. The impetus for a purpose built venue for
large-scale exhibitions as Sean Scully, ‘Work from
Éigse grew fast and strong – so through Carlow Arts
the 1980s’ and Michael Warren, ‘Unbroken Line,
Office (Carlow Local Authorities) funding from the
New Work and Retrospective’. This Spring spring
Department of Arts Culture and the Gaeltacht was
we present a show brimming with colour, content
secured in 2000 to build an arts centre dedicated to
and consuming narrative – from the grotesque to
the visual arts; a unique and bold step in a country
the biblical. ‘The Fold’ with Diana Copperwhite,
where the visual arts seemed to have been eternally
Gabhann Dunne, Mark McGreevy and Sheila
parked in the halfpenny place (under the shadow of
Rennick is being installed as I write this, yet again
Theatre) when it came to funding and infrastructure.
unfolding the infinite possibilities that a centre of
A later addition to project added a 355
this calibre can present.
seat
auditorium but the ambition for the visual arts was not lost or diminished.
In 2010 and again this year we will work closely with Éigse so that the ambition founded so
The development of the centre was propelled
many years ago can continue to grow. The landscape
by an advance programme of temporary public art
for visual arts in Carlow has changed dramatically
projects delivered by Carlow Arts Office entitled
in some ways over a long time but in other ways
'Visualise'. Designed to whet appetites and to
over a very short space of time.
encourage critical review of what would be to come
Unfortunately for everyone, the economic
in the centre, the programme quickly became
landscape has presented challenges that could easily
synonymous with quality and innovation as a range
be yielded to, however I am pleased to report that
of artists engaged in many short and long term
between the various bodies here in Carlow (VISUAL,
projects in the town and dispersed venues
Carlow Arts Office and Éigse) there is greater
throughout the County county.
determination, co-operation and will to keeping
The last two completed Visualise projects came
pushing the envelope of innovation – despite
to a soft landing in VISUAL itself – Daphne Wright’s
whatever challenges lay ahead. Later this year and
Stallion and Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno’s Portrait.. These two film work, Zidane, A 21st Century Portrait
in 2012 VISUAL will present new Visualise projects
projects are part of the first 16 month cycle of
commissioned projects and drawn from a recent
programming, which to a large extent has had a
open call and this summer will see a new and
distinct museum quality.
invigorated Éigse programme, actively supported by its Director and Visual Arts Committee. The
set the highest standards possible in presenting
commitment to quality and sustainability remains
visual arts programme, through the calibre of artists,
at the heart of the work of VISUAL as we seek to be
the attention to detail in the spaces and the support
inclusive and collaborative where opportunities
that the artists get in bringing their work in to the
arise.
of some of Ireland’s most senior figures in modern
the Arts Office, invites leading local, national and international curators to present annual contemporary public art projects. This programme is important in that it encourages collaborative visual arts projects between the artist and local community elements including schools, businesses and groups such as the Carlow Photographic Society. For many years the county lacked a dedicated exhibition space in which to host an ever-growing number and scale of arts events. The opening of Visual Centre for Contemporary Art in 2009 was a positive and encouraging day nationally for artists and curators and I feel fortunate that this exciting gallery is directly on my doorstep. Eigse Carlow Arts Festival is Ireland’s longest running festival of visual art. Not only have I enjoyed attending the festival exhibitions over the years, but it has also provided me with an opportunity to introduce work to the public at a nationally recognised level. Platform 059 was initiated in 2004 by the Eigse committee. Its role was to “launch and nurture newly graduated or semi-professional artists with a connection to Carlow through a group exhibition as a distinct show within the festival’s main programme“. In 2007 I exhibited work at Eigse as part of the Platform 059 programme and I found this to be a positive learning experience and helpful in the development of my artistic career. Within my immediate community in South Carlow, there is an unusually rich visual arts scene. In recent years several professional artists have moved into the neighbourhood and this has certainly enhanced the community. The Nine Stones Artists is a network of 11 professional artists who live in a five-mile radius of each other. The group reflects a diverse range of traditional and contemporary art practices including: video, sculpture, painting, printing and photography. The Killoughternane Art Group, which meets in a remote former schoolhouse, facilitates weekly tutored painting classes under the guidance of Moira Robertson. In the unique setting of Borris House, Elinor Kavanagh continues to curate intriguing exhibitions of visual art, which generate healthy debate among the locals! As a visual artist living and working in a remote rural setting in County Carlow I find I have the best of all possible worlds - a vibrant arts scene, an inspiring community while enjoying the solitude of my mountain retreat. Gwen Wilkinson
www.gwenwilkinson.com
in collaboration with Carlow Arts Office – both
The priority in the first years of VISUAL is to
space. The opening programme brought a mixture
THe rural community where I live and work, in the foothills of the Blackstairs Mountains, is rich with surreal surprises, its scenery alive with mystery. When it comes to my work practice, sculpture and photography, it is to the local community of County Carlow that I look upon for inspiration and assistance. Throughout my early years growing up in County Carlow I wanted nothing more than to escape and seek adventure and intrigue elsewhere. For seven years I criss-crossed the world crewing on ocean racing yachts. I eventually returned home in 2001 with the desire to involve myself in some form of creative practice. In the same year that I returned, a visit to the Eigse Carlow Arts Festival was to prove a surprising source of inspiration. English sculptor, Sophie Ryder, was one of the invited artists and I was captivated by her monumental wire hares. Since that first exposure to the medium I have occupied myself creating lifesize figures in galvanised wire mesh from my studio in the picturesque Scollagh Gap. In the preface to her book of photography Changing New York (1939) Bernice Abbot writes; “… if I had never left America I would never have wanted to photograph New York. But when I saw it with fresh eyes, I knew it was my country, something I had to set down in photographs”. I can fully appreciate this expression, having journeyed overseas for a number of years; it has only been in recent times that I have come to appreciate the value and diversity within my local community. My principal interest has always been in rural communities and for several years I travelled to far flung corners of the world such as Mongolia, Argentina and Ecuador recording aspects of cultural identity. It was while on a visit to a poultry market in Myshall with the intention of buying a few hens that my eyes where opened. The fair was a revelation not only in terms of the variety of small animals for sale, but also in its social diversity. The experience provoked me to examine more closely a community I had previously taken for granted. Since its formal inception in 1999, the Arts Office of Carlow County Council has been at the forefront in the development of visual art and other arts disciplines in the county. Personally I have benefited from Arts Offices funding opportunities having received assistance under Support for Professional Artists Scheme in 2005 and the ArtLinks Bursary for Carlow County, which I received in 2009. Visualise Carlow, a programme initiated by
Carrissa Farrell, Director. Gwen WilkingsonHuntington Castle Ambrotype, wet plate collodion Dimensions: 61/2" x 41/2"
12
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
March – April 2011
REGIONAL PROFILE
Reflection: Carlow & The South East.
A Roundabout Way
Annagel Konig I smile at Life charcoal, pencil, conte and acrylic on paper. 93 x 128 cms. 2008.
Brian Hand. Work from 'Anachrony' – open at the The Dock 8 April. Photo: Ros Kavanagh
I moved to County Carlow, from Dublin in a round
at Jeremy and Rosie Hill’s Norman Gallery in
as well as a steep learning curve in meeting the
about way, nearly 10 years ago. It was a move to the
Rathnure, County Wexford. The gallery is local, in
serious
country to enjoy all the delights – growing your
that there are no commercial galleries in County
responsibilities of competing across local,
own food, enjoying the amazing landscape, raising
Carlow itself.
national, and international levels.
financial
challenges
and
shared
children among sheep and chickens – and to be
My own work has become more multi
An inspirational leader in this respect would
inspired. In those days the visual arts were shown at
disciplinary over the years. As my children have
be Wexford Opera House and Festival who have
Beverly Flynn’s studio in Carlow town and in the
grown up and need me less, time for the studio has
sort of done the impossible in making
annual Eigse Arts festival, but apart from that, there
increased. My last substantial show was in 2008 in
contemporary opera and neglected obscure opera
was little else.
Carlow town. The work, entitled I smile at life, was
the cornerstones of one of the most successful and
Since then, much in my neighbourhood has
a collection of drawings, large and small scale that I
1st year project 'Wearing the life of an inventor' Carlow IT.
internationally recognised festivals in the country.
changed. There has been an influx of craftspeople
made in response to the sudden loss of my brother.
In 2004 I contributed a piece to VAN about the
But Visual is much younger than the Opera House
and artists arriving in our valley and setting up
This body of work has led me on to a different path
visual arts in Carlow and broadly speaking this
and huge energy is needed to develop a shared
their practice. Artlinks was set up and, of course,
and I now find myself drawing a great deal. This
entry takes up from where I signed off. I still live in
sense of community ownership so that once the
there is the new contemporary art centre Visual,
drawing work has also led me on to a different way
what I think is a fantastic place and not surprisingly
honeymoon period is over audiences will continue
realised through the determination of the Eigse
of looking, maybe it is having more time to look
I, and my family, have become more rooted or
to be drawn in and engaged with the exhibiting of
Festival committees over the years.
and think about my work, maybe, now I need my
embedded in the area. My partner Orla Ryan
internationally recognised contemporary art. I
Visual is an amazing space – far too grand,
work to have a stronger emotional base. Currently
initiated the Blackstairs Film Society and we are
am convinced it will work; and from my last
many locals think for such a small town as Carlow
I am multi-tasking. I am working on small
now in our fourth year of screening international
report I reflected on the significance and variety
– but I herald it for its ambition. The work shown so
landscapes, sculptural castings and large scale,
contemporary film through Access Cinema to a
of the VISUALISE temporary programme which
far has been a celebration of Irish and international
digital photographs with drawing, images of the
loyal local audience once a month.
anticipated the building but none of us should
artists. Visual will also be showing more local work
sky. I will be showing it this work in the Netherlands
In the last decade more artists have set up
in the future. Other spaces have been evolving over
in 2012 and also in Ireland before then. Where
home in this remote area and four of us from the
One of the most precious things I value now
the years, which offer artists an outlet in my part of
better to capture big skies than the countryside
mountains travel to Wexford town each week to
is time, because I just don’t have enough of it.
County Carlow. Kilgraney House Studio is a
with big open spaces. Living in the regions cuts
lecture in the Wexford Campus School of Art and
Right now I am seizing as much as I can for
beautiful space that shows works in conjunction
both ways.
Design. The art school has grown each year and
working on a new show for The Dock in Carrick
take VISUAL for granted.
with the county’s festivals. The gallery uses both a
There is no chance of being able to survive on
now offers two honours degree courses. The staff
on Shannon this coming April, as well as
formal gallery space and their gardens. Borris House
what I earn from selling my work. Over the years I
now number 11 and include Alanna O Kelly, Brian
developing a project for South West Wales in
has a arts programme including a film club.
have taken on jobs on films and television, working
Garvey, Remco de Fouw, Mairead O heocha, Orla
2011. My art practice is still concerned with
Numerous artists groups from around the county
in the art department, as well as ending up in front
Ryan, Orla Barry, Oliver Comerford and Anthony
mining and re-imagining hidden histories of
show their work in unusual venues during the
of the camera for young people’s programming in
Lyttle. We have a really great student body and I
revolutionary movements in search of multi
fringe festival at Eigse time.
RTE. I have also worked with photographers on
am very proud of the level of student involvement
layered characters, documents, images etc. The
In general, Carlow is not known for the arts,
commercial shoots, coming up with 3D artistic
and the creativity and dynamism of their work.
show in the Dock is about anachronistically
but then ‘the arts’ is a broad thing. There are local
solutions to 2D storyboards. These jobs, although
The courses are also increasing their connections
restaging a little known but dramatic bombing
community groups serving up performances in
not directly related to my art practice, do bring
with the Wexford community and some ground
campaign in Dublin by a suffragette activist called
traditional music, amateur drama and art groups,
with them other gifts (apart from money). They let
breaking campus community exchanges and
Mary Leigh / Miss Morrison in 1912. Having done
showing work in small, local halls.
me meet interesting people with ideas and
collaborations are taking place. The Wexford
PS1 in New York back in 1995 and really enjoyed
For me, having other artists to meet and talk
conversations, which then in turn, often end up in
Campus itself has grown in a short time to over
it; I often think of spending a year in Hanoi if the
about art has been a big bonus. In many ways
pieces of work. I am also, like many artists a ‘public
1000 students and securing a permanent home for
proper residency programme or exchange could
Carlow is quite far beyond the Pale, especially when
art commission hunter’ – and I hope that enough
the campus is a very live issue with IT Carlow.
transpire. So if there are any readers who have
it comes to the reviewing of exhibitions and
Percent for Art and other commissions will
audience numbers. But this, I realise is a problem
continue, in order to give many of us a lifeline.
for all regional areas as Dublin captures the bulk of
I really enjoy living where I live but I, like
the newspapers column inches. Even getting an
many, am finding it difficult. But artists are good at
exhibition into the listings can be a demoralizing
coming up with solutions. If I could have a wish
exercise.
fulfilled, it would be to have a more open-minded
Locally, I am part of a group of artists called
entity of galleries, curators, press and reviewers in
The Nine Stones Artists. The group contains various
this country. There is such a range of work
practitioners including sculptors, photographers,
happening, but I feel that only a very streamlined,
painters, video artists, etc. The diversity of the
limited showing of work it taking place.
artists in our group, echo the wealth of practice in County Carlow. We try to exhibit our work every two years in a space in our area. Our last show was
Annabel Konig
In Carlow town IT Carlow have secured a
links with Vietnam I would really appreciate
new land bank for expansion and development
some info, who knows if this will be part of some
and it is expected that much more growth will
future regional report for VAN?
arise in the student population (both national and international) and the portfolio of courses from certificates to PhDs. The most incredible custom built new art space in the country (or indeed these islands) VISUAL, the national centre for contemporary art and the George Bernard Theatre, has also opened in the town in the intervening years. I am on the board of Visual and it is an honour to work with a hugely committed professional, collegiate team,
Brian Hand
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
13
March – April 2011
REGIONAL PROFILE
Carlow Arts Office
A Personal Perspective
Remco de Fouw Voice - work in progress
Remco de Fouw Reconnecting – from a series in progress.
Dublin Gone, Everybody Dead. This was the title of
landmark located on a mountain road over the side
The Jimmy Cake’s 2003 album – which to me
of Mount Leinster across to Bunclody, home of
seemed to take a timely Dadaist jibe at the frenetic
Newtownbarry house and gallery. Also in Co
state of the capital city, around the time we started
Wexford and a short distance away, our humble
looking for a place ‘down the country’. A need for
artists’ group has exhibited in the Norman gallery,
more time and space in which to live and work is
the venue which amongst many good shows, last
what finally drove our Dublin exodus in 2007.
year hosted an impressive exhibition of work
Although it was a huge upheaval for us (Rachel
produced at the Slieve Garr stone symposium,
Joynt and our two boys); we also approached it as an
which was organised and driven forward by local
adventure and as a bid to foster a deeper connection
artist, Niall Deacon.
with nature, its rhythms and cycles of growth and
Nearby there are also interesting things going
decay, of time, light and dark. For my photography,
on at the Cow House Studios. Back over the hill, we
the great nocturnal darkroom, beckoned – an
have also shown at Kilgraney House gallery near
undiluted wonderful darkness free from urban
Bagnelstown. And because Co Carlow is quite a
light spillage reflecting down from the clouds.
narrow county, a crossing over of communities can
Of course, such a change comes with its pros
often be found at the ‘Blackstairs Film Society’ –
and cons; and we now have a barn / studio and
and of course in the pub afterwards. One of our
outbuildings that we had fantasized about, one of
Nine Stones members, Cathy Fitzgerald, until
which was the starting point for the new-build
recently was the director of, the very useful
house. Terra firma on which to build a future and
ArtLinks free news digest and members / events
goodbye to a drafty old flat up flights of stairs; and
notice board, – where members have a profile and
the relentless hum of the newly completed M50
can locate who is doing what in the southeast
nearby. And now rivers, trees, mud and bugs that
region from counties Wicklow to Waterford,
are now a big part of the children’s daily
Wexford and Carlow.
experience.
I should by now explain that geographically
Renovating an old farm, as any who have been
we live on a cusp, a rocky mountain pass between
down this road can tell you, is great fun, However it
Co Carlow and Co Wexford. A gap, I feel is a good
does take far more time and energy than you can
place for an artist to be. It feels natural and perhaps
sensibly afford, but now almost four years later we
like Janus, the god of doorways and journeys, we
are finally getting our lives back to some sort of
look both ways, a bit betwixt and between perhaps,
normality.
but snug between two great mountains whose
There are quite a number of our ilk to be found
deities of fire and snow still command a lot of
on the surrounding hillsides and undergrowth –
respect. We are surrounded by sheep on a south-
and many practical people, who don’t make a fuss
facing slope looking out across the pass at the great
over getting things done and having skills to share.
bulk of Blackstairs mountain. The cyclops moon
It takes a bit of time to establish these networks; and
regularly appears to roll down its south western
during the first couple of years we spent a lot of
slope, all the time keeping watch over the woolly
time, via one and half hour drives, weaning
wanderers all around.
ourselves off the mother metropolis.
All in all we feel very welcome here and
This linking aspect has been a big part of our
Carlow County Council have also been supportive
adventure. We’ve experienced a gradual unfolding
and have given assistance in the form of an grant
of a ‘geo-mental’ map of new connections between
towards equipment purchase, which has been very
towns and places along the web of country roads
useful in my first barn / studio project.
and boreens. We’ve discovered that there are many
In the construction of this piece I made full
ways to reach a destination depending on one’s
use of my new space – in which I prepared 10, six-
sense of urgency and curiosity on any particular
metre, curved and tapered tubular sections, made
day.
of stainless steel and brass. These are going to be Google Earth, thankfully, still displays us as a
bolted together to form a semitransparent horn-
haze of green and brown blocks – ‘terra incognita’.
like structure – which will be suspended within
Despite this, our access to cultural events is
the glass atrium of the Prison Services HQ in
reasonable, with Visual in Carlow town being not
Longford.
too far away and Kilkenny or Wexford being not
So in conclusion, the upheaval is paying off,
much further. Nearer is Borris House, still owned
there is a good, loosely knit community of
and occupied by the Kavanagh family since 1731.
supportive and interesting people. The landscape
The Kavanagh’s are very supportive of the arts and
is another form of sustenance in itself. We do of
culture and have hosted some exhibitions and
course spend more time in the car. But then in
events with national and international artists. Their
another sense, perhaps it is less time wasted in
ballroom is the venue for the once-monthly
delays and distraction. And if we do suffer as a
’Blackstairs Film Society’ instigated by Orla Ryan
result, it will be from a chlorophyll overload from
and Brian Hand from down the road.
driving along miles of leafy roads, instead of from
We joined ‘The Nine Stones Artists’ group – the name borrowed from the actual ‘Nine stones’
perhaps carbon monoxide inhalation. Remco de Fouw
Frances Hegarty & Andrew Stones Ex Machina – installation view. commissioned by Visualise Carlow artists.
Carlow has a strong tradition for the visual arts and has firmly established itself nationally as a place that has significantly contributed to the visual arts infrastructure in Ireland. A major investment in the visual arts has been made by the Carlow Local Authorities with the arrival in 2009 of VISUAL – a unique centre for contemporary arts, with an investment of e18 million and an ongoing commitment to grant aid the operational and programmatic element of the running of the centre. As a place Carlow town and county offers
Daphne Wright Stallion 2009. Commissioned by Visualise Carlow for the opening of VISUAL.
visual artists an attractive place to live, that is evident by the numbers of emerging and
contemporary visual arts and the local authorities
professional artists that reside here. Artists and
arts office has continued organically to grow
their art are vital to a place, enhancing the rich
through the Visualise Carlow programme.
tapestry of communities, bringing to a place a
Although this was an advance programme to
perspective that enriches our quality of life.
VISUAL the programme has exceeded our
The impetus and grass roots for the visual arts
expectations in terms of its continued potential to
in Carlow were sown by the nationally recognised
work with visual artists creating opportunities that
Eigse Carlow Arts Festival, which provides a
this magnificent space in Carlow offers artists not
platform for up and coming Irish and international
only for artists to fulfil their potential but to
artists, those shown over the years are now
challenge their own practices. VISUAL along with
significantly well-established artists. More recently
the Carlow Local authorities recently received
the Carlow Local Authorities arts office through its
close to 100 applications from artists and curators
well known Visualise Carlow programme (launched
proposing some exciting projects over the coming
in 2001 as an advance programme to the opening of
years in Carlow.
Art)
In addition to this the Visualise Carlow model
commissioned and initiated a series of temporary
has been adapted to our plans of commissioning
public art projects.
through the per cent for arts scheme – using the
VISUAL,
Centre
for
Contemporary
The artists and curators involved in Visualise
principles of working with artists / curators,
saw the wonderful potential offered by the
engaging local communities, having high quality
programme. They have commented on the
artistic outcomes and the notion of making new
flexibility they enjoyed in being given the space
works. We are in the process of now commissioning
and time to develop their own practice and make
a major Opera project in Carlow to be realised in
new work. Central to the programme was the
May. In addition we will be commissioning later
emphasis on negotiation, collaboration and
this year Visual Artists Denis Roche along with a
mediation. The notion of having site-specific, off-
team of artists who has developed the Open
site, temporary usage of public places and spaces
Windows model in Carlow to work with Mental
around Carlow Town excited the artists involved
Health Service Users in Carlow as well as
over the years.
commissioning Eileen McDonagh for a major
The projects have enjoyed an exceptional level
retrospective in Carlow. Additionally through the
of collaboration and cooperation between the Local
ArtLinks (Southeast professional development
Authorities Arts Office as Commissioner (and it
partnership) initiative we have awarded large
partner the Arts Council of Ireland), driving the
bursaries to artists in the Carlow area and offered
programme, and the artists, curators, local
professional
authorities elected members and staff, public, local
opportunities.
businesses, educational institutes, local arts and community organisations. The synergy created by
development
and
mentoring
Watch this space for many exciting projects still to come – www.carlowarts.ie
all parties working together towards a common goal was critical to the success of this programme. Since the arrival in Carlow of VISUAL the Carlow Local Authorities arts office, continues to strive to develop and support visual artists and the relationship between VISUAL as a centre of
Sinead Dowling, Arts Officer
14
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
March – April 2011
workshop
Making Connections Michele Horrigan reports on ‘The curatorial intensive’ a new york based workshop organised by independent curators international.
Caption infoOpen day for welcome to the Neighbourhood
Public presentation of final projects. Photograph: courtesy of ICI, New York.
Site visit to the James Cohan Gallery. Photograph: courtesy of ICI, New York.
In October of 2010, I travelled to New York to take part in 'The Curatorial Intensive', a 10-day workshop on curating in the public realm. The event was organised by Independent Curators International (ICI). With its headquarters in New York, ICI has been operating for 35 years, producing exhibitions, events, publications, and training opportunities for diverse audiences in the United States and beyond. These activities provide access to the people, ideas, and practices that are key to current developments in the field, encouraging fresh ways of seeing and contextualising contemporary art. The Curatorial Intensive is ICI’s short-term training programme that offers emerging curators the chance to develop their exhibition ideas and make connections to leaders in the field, providing the opportunity to forge new international networks through peer-group education. The programme takes place twice annually in New York, and this edition was outlined to be an event for international emerging curators who wanted to further their understanding about curating in the public realm. From an open call, 14 individuals were selected from 130 applications to work with some of today’s leading practitioners in the rapidly growing field known as public practice. I took part in The Curatorial Intensive on behalf of the ‘Welcome to the Neighbourhood’ project, run under the auspices of Askeaton Contemporary Arts, an organisation based in County Limerick that I founded and have been curator of since 2006. Each summer five international and Irish artists are invited and sponsored to reside and live in the town, having the opportunity to produce new projects with technical and logistical assistance. An experimental approach is constantly advocated, furthering an understanding of the possibilities of the project in a very broad cultural sense, and allowing for the development of a fluid conceptual model rather than as a more traditionally structured event. Time and space is found for the artists we work with to continually redefine what kind of projects might be possible each year. Askeaton has a population of 800 people, and the local community are often involved in artists’ projects in terms of assistance in production, as active subjects for an artwork, and as audience. Around the artists’ presence in Askeaton, several public and educational events, studio visits, and day trips around the locality occur, culminating with an open day where completed projects are showcased in a variety of sites. Needless to say, there are no ‘white cube’ gallery spaces in Askeaton, so final presentations of projects occur in empty retail units, the local community hall, in yards, parks, the airwaves or printed media of the town. In our five-year history we have facilitated and produced projects for more than 30 artists from Argentina, Canada, Mexico, Belgium, Germany, France, Ireland and more, and plans are in place for 2011’s edition later this year. Having developed Welcome to the Neighbourhood for five years,
I thought that it was important to re-assess what is possible with the continued establishment of contemporary art practice in this specific location. My hope was that The Curatorial Intensive would hone the skills that I had already developed in the last five years around handson community engagement and developing site-specific projects with artists, along with understanding and contextualising Askeaton within similar initiatives internationally. A clear aim in my participation in the workshop was to understand the possibilities of further community involvement and dissemination of the project to audiences locally and abroad. At the Curatorial Intensive, I participated in a rigorous schedule of workshops, discussions, critiques, and individual advisement sessions. Topics discussed included logistical issues such as commissioning, producing, and installing projects in public space, as well as concepts ranging from site-specificity to social and political engagement. Advisors included Nicholas Baume (Director and Chief Curator, Public Art Fund); Claire Bishop (Associate Professor, Ph.D. Program in Art History, CUNY); Dan Cameron (Founding Director, Prospect New Orleans); Kate Fowle (Executive Director, ICI); Mary Jane Jacob (Professor and Executive Director of Exhibitions, SAIC); Richard Marshall (Curator, Lever House); and Nato Thompson (Chief Curator, Creative Time). Visits were made to local institutions and galleries such as Trust Art in Brooklyn, the James Cohan Gallery and e-flux, along with many conversations with artists along the way. During the week, a steady discourse and dialogue surrounding the art scene related to the public realm and our individual beliefs and understandings of it occurred organically between myself, colleagues on the programme and the staff at the ICI. Participants came from many different and diverse curatorial backgrounds including university galleries, museums, and artist-run spaces. Their individual experiences in running various projects all added to the mix. Part of the process involved each participant developing initial ideas into full proposals to be publicly presented at the end of the week. Although all of the workshops and seminars were informative, two in particular stood out in relation to the format and ideology of Askeaton Contemporary Arts. Nato Thompson, Chief Curator at Creative Time in New York, presented a seminar entitled Social Practice, where his initial question to the group was, ‘What happens when art is put into the framework of the public, and what is the role of the curator in this framework?’ He referenced Paul Chan’s project Waiting for Godot in New Orleans, involving Creative Time, where Chan staged a production of Beckett’s play in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, engaging local communities in both the work’s production and reception. Thompson addressed the conversational approaches made during the project. He felt the participating residents of New Orleans were afforded the opportunity, through Chan’s presence, to discuss their concerns about the future re-structuring of
their city. Thompson noted that the role of the curator is often to protect public trust and manage the anxieties and expectations of social engagement through art. He also interrogated what it means to truly speak to the local, as opposed to speaking to an international audience where indigenous impulses can risk being alienated and abstracted. Another presentation of note by Mary Jane Jacob was entitled Experience as Art. With an interest in testing the boundaries of pubic space and the relationship of contemporary art to audience, Jacob profiled many projects she as produced as a freelance curator throughout the United States. Jacobs spoke about what should an artistic and curatorial commitment be in regards to site-specific practice. In numerous examples, she evidenced her belief of how artistic activity can be framed within progressive curatorial frameworks. In each case, art functions as a shared conversation that lives in the community, an approach where, as a curator, if you’re not doing multiple things at once, then you’re doing the wrong thing! In both Thompson’s and Jacob’s work, their ground-up attitude and ideas of integration in a community struck a chord with my own practice. In the assembly of my thoughts for 2011’s Welcome to the Neighbourhood, some new approaches will be adopted. An advisory board consisting of individuals who can develop relevant and valuable inputs into the project’s future has been set up. A small group of international and Irish visual arts specialists have been chosen to offer viewpoints, opinions and feedback on Askeaton Contemporary Arts, allowing a further contextualisation and dissemination of the project. Members of the advisory board will frequently visit future editions of the project, and through conversation and conjecture can act with vested interest as a kind of stakeholder in upcoming developments. The advisory board includes three local individuals who live in Askeaton. They will choose one residency artist from a shortlist developed through initial curatorial research. This process is intended to short-circuit the curatorial gesture of bringing and introducing artists to the town. Instead, after experiencing five years of the present programme, many members of the community are in a position to now suggest clear inputs for future working relationships with artists. Such actions are intended to send Welcome to the Neighbourhood in new directions and encourage a shared and progressive conversation with the visual arts and local communities that sustain its existence. Though the New York phase of this project is complete, ICI are continuing to work with all participants to promote each individual project for inclusion on their website. This means that broad publics, as well as the hundreds of institutions with which ICI works, will have opportunity to view the final proposals. Michele Horrigan www.askeatonarts.com www.ici.org
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
15
March – April 2011
engaged art
From The Amazon to the Sahara Augustine O’Donoghue reports on her work with the Artifariti project in the Western Sahara Liberated Territories and the Tinduff Refugee camps in Algeria
Augustine O' Donoghue The Disappeared: Mother and Son
Over the last number of years, my art practice has taken on an international dimension, which involves working with a wide range of communities around the world, often outside the traditional art arena. In early 2009, I undertook a research trip to the World Social Forum (WSF) in Brazil with NCAD. At the event, we had a chance encounter with organisers of Artifariti, an experimental art festival in the Western Sahara Liberated Territories. We invited them to speak at an upcoming conference / exhibition in NCAD ‘Art with Africa’. Following the success of this event, Artifariti invited NCAD students and staff to attend Artifariti 2009 in Western Sahara Liberated Territories and the Tinduff Refugee camps Algeria. Following my involvement in this event, I was invited back this year to develop a collaborative project with Saharawi refugees in Tinduff refugee camps (along with Irish artists Neil Rudden and Brian Duffy). The Western Sahara is located in North Africa. It is a former Spanish colony, which was invaded by Morocco and Mauritania when Spain withdrew from the country in 1972. The invading Moroccan forces bombed and napalmed the civilian population, forcing them to flee across the Sahara desert into Algeria. Over 165,000 Saharawi refugees have remained stranded in the Sahara desert in Algeria for over 35 years, making the refugee camps in Tinduff the second oldest in the world. The area experiences one of the harshest climate conditions on earth. Those that did not manage to escape remain cut off from their families by ‘The Wall of Shame’ – a 3,000km wall built of sand and stone. It is the second largest defence wall in the world after the Great Wall of China, protected by 100,000 Moroccan forces and 5 million land mines. While Mauritania later withdrew from the country, Morocco continues to occupy and control the country. Saharawis living in occupied territories live under Moroccan rule and face daily discrimination repression and human rights abuse. In 1991, there was a cease-fire between the Polisario Front (1) and Morocco, monitored by the UN on the promise of a referendum to determine the Saharawi’s right to self-determination. However, King Mohamed of Morocco has since declared that there is no need for the referendum. While UN forces are present in the Occupied Territories, they remain an ineffective presence. France continues to block a UN mandate on monitoring human rights so it has the dubious mission of being the only contemporary UN peacekeeping mission in the world without a mandate on human rights. Morocco blocks journalists and international political delegations from visiting the country to avoid reporting on the gross human rights violations in the country. Human Rights organisations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Frontline has issued numerous report on the human rights abuse in the country, but the international community has largely ignored the plight and non-violent peaceful resistance of the Saharawi people. It is in this context that Artifariti arts festival was initiated by Association of Friends of the Saharawis, a solidarity group in Seville as a way of highlighting the human rights violations of the Saharawi people. The event brings International and Saharawi artists together to develop work. While international artists tend to work across all contemporary art forms, the Saharawi artists tend to work in more traditional painting and sculpture although there is a shift happen in this area even from last year which is probably due to their exposure of new ideas and ways of working by International artists. Artifariti now in its fourth year has grown and developed in a number of directions since its inception. Artists from 14 different countries participated in this year’s event. Most of the artists worked in the liberated zone in Tifariti, which was a day’s drive across the desert from the camps. This
Augustine O' Donoghue henna application for The Disappeared
year, due to the nature of my work, I based myself in the refugee camps and unfortunately as a result did not meet or view the work of the majority of other international artists. However, I did work beside Irish artist Neil Rudden who ran collaborative workshops mainly using the medium of textile to transform a traditional Saharawi tent called a Jaima into a symbol of solidarity, while simultaneously creating an interior space to encourage creative practices. People responded with great enthusiasm to his concept with people of all ages from children to senor citizens working on the project. The focus of this year’s exhibition was disappeared people. Forced disappearance is a feature of the Western Sahara conflict. Over 30,000 civilians have disappeared throughout the conflict, with many civilians kept in secret detention centres by the Moroccan government. Some disappearance last a few days, weeks or months, while others last years. However, once disappeared many civilians are never seen again. The experience of visiting the camps in 2009 helped formulate my ideas for this year’s project. I hoped to explore a project that could engage in the cultural traditions of the Saharawi people and to use materials that could be found in the area. Key to this was to develop a mechanism that would allow the work to be shown or reactivated in other countries. My project titled The Disappeared involved collaborating with Saharawi artists, Eseniya Ahmed Baba and Mohamed Suliman. Mohamed, originally my translator for the project became a key person in the development of the project. The first part of my project involved the development of a series of portraits of disappeared people using henna paste. Henna is a natural plant dye used to decorate skin and part of the cultural tradition of the Saharawi people. I worked with Afapredesa The Association for the families of Saharawi prisoners and Disappeared, to get photographic images as well as stories and information on the disappeared. As Henna is applied to hands, the story of the disappeared person is told to the person receiving the henna and they in turn are asked to pass the story of the disappeared person on to another individual before the image fades from their hand. Henna can last between two to three weeks on the skin. As I applied the henna to many of the Saharawi’s hands and told the story of the disappeared person, many of them told me the story of disappeared people in their own family. This was something I had not anticipated, but reflects the extent to which the problem affects so many Saharawi families. The second part of the project, which I am currently working on, is the creation of ‘Henna art kits’. The kits contain henna paste and stencils incorporating portraits of the disappeared people. In addition, they include stories of the disappeared. They will be sent to individuals and organisations involved in human rights issues across the globe and also to the many Western Sahara Solidarity groups established worldwide. This is a crucial feature of the project as it allows the work to be reactivated by different people in different locations. This may occur at a cultural or political event or perhaps just in a home between family members (2). Another interesting development that emerged through the work came from an encounter with an elderly woman in the camp. Her husband was disappeared 35 years previous. Through my local translator, she spoke of her husband, but struggled to describe the man he was or what he looked like. However, while speaking she mentioned he was a poet. When asked if she could remember any of his poetry she recited his humorous and witty poems with unstrained laughter.
Saharawi regugee camp
It was through his poetry that I really began to see the portrait of this man. His character, humour and wit all became apparent. I discovered his poetry was never recorded in any form as it came from an oral tradition. His wife believed she would never be asked to recite his poetry again, I got the impression that it was a significant moment for her to recite his words again. As no photographic image of this man exists, I am trying to somehow develop a portrait from his poetry (3) . Developing art projects in the desert is not an easy or straightforward process. The intense heat makes the simplest of tasks almost impossible. Trying to simply think or work out plans in such a climate was a struggle. Contending with sickness and diarrhoea is also part of living in the refugee camp. Attempting to obtain information on the disappeared people while in the camp was a slow process as organisation and communication can be chaotic. On many occasions I waited hours for someone to turn up for a pre-arranged meeting because even though they may be just a 15 minute drive away, they could not always find transport. Walking in the sun is not an option and there are no telephones for one to inform you they are running a few hours late! This is normal life for the Saharawis and is something one must to learn to accept when working in such an environment. It was a challenge particularly when working to a tight schedule, without the modern conveniences to hand. On return to Ireland from our first visit the Irish artists established a Western Sahara solidarity group and have undertaken a number of cultural and political events collectively and individually. This has helped strengthen our relationship with the Saharawi people and help develop an engaged understanding of the political situation which I feel in turn influences the artwork that comes from such a relationship. I hope to see Irish artists’ relationship with the Saharawi people develop and evolve. This already seems to be happening in an organic way with plans underway for future collaborations and projects. In 2009 a film school was established in the camps as part of this year’s event many of the Saharawi worked in the school on collaborative film and photographic projects documenting aspects of their own life and culture. This is an interesting development and I think takes on some of the issues around representation that I felt were not adequately addressed in the 2009 event. It’s also a way of supporting and developing an indigenous Saharawi film language. There are also plans underway to develop an art college in the camps an exciting and ambitious dream for an impoverished population exiled in the desert where daily life is a struggle for survival. For me, Artifariti has been far more that an art exhibition, it has helped build friendships and grassroots solidarity links with our fellow Saharawi artists, their families and their nation as they continue in their struggle for human rights, dignity and freedom. Sahara Libra! Augustine O’Donoghue Notes 1. Polisario Front the political representative of Saharawi people. They operate as a government in exile from the Tinduff Refugee camps. Since 1979, the Polisario is recognised by the United Nations as the reprehensive of the people of the Western Sahara. 2. Another step in the project is the further development of the henna designs. Currently, the designs incorporate portraits of the disappeared people. However, when I visited relatives of disappeared people in the camps, many did not have an image of their disappeared relative as they fled the country without possessions during the Moroccan invasion. A number of relatives had only their fingerprints or signatures from official documents. Therefore, I am hoping to develop a new series of designs, which will incorporate fingerprints and signatures into the henna designs so their story can also be included in the project. 3. I have been collaborating with Mohamed Suleiman, the local translator, artist and Arabic calligraphy to develop a portrait using his poetry through calligraphy. While I frequently employ collaborative strategies within my work, this is a new and exciting type of collaboration for me: It will be interesting to see how it unfolds. Mohamed became a key person within my project. sI have worked with several translators over the years but this was my first experience working with an artist / translator. Mohamed ‘picked up’ on things that a regular translator would not have understood. He brought enthusiasm, insight and passion to the project. I felt our relationship changed in an organic manner through the project from translator to collaborating artist.
16
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
March – April 2011
RESIDENCY
Claire Halpin Stalin Avenue, Gori, Acrylic on gesso 2010
Old Tbilisi. Photo: Lisa Flynn
Samkura Residency Claire Halpin & Lisa Flynn report on the Samkura Artist Residency Programme, Held in Tbilisi, Georgia October / November 2010. The Samkura Artist Residency for Irish artists was conceived by the Donegal based initiative Cló Ceardlann na gCnoc. This project, which is also selected and administered by Cló Ceardlann na gCnoc, aims to create conditions for understanding contemporary art as a language of cross-cultural communication. The Samkura Tbilisi residency is also funded by Ealaín na Gaeltachta. In October 2010, myself (Claire Halpin), Lisa Flynn and Ian Joyce of Cló Ceardlann, represented Ireland at Tbilisi’s Artisterium 2010, Georgia’s annual international contemporary art exhibition. Participation in Artisterium 2010 was funded by Culture Ireland. Claire Halpin Georgia’s similarities with Ireland are self-evident – with land mass and population approximately the same as Ireland, a strong rural and agricultural background and a peripheral location on the edge of Europe. Georgia is one of the few post-Soviet countries that retained its own language and alphabet as its official language – something of which the Georgians are extremely proud. Nestled in the Caucasus between Turkey, Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan - Georgia has a huge mix of cultural influences. In the month that I was there I wanted to experience as much of the varied landscape of Georgia as possible. I travelled from the snowy Caucasus mountains of Kazbegi on the Russian border to as far southwest as the resort of Batoumi on the Black Sea at the Turkish border. With an underdeveloped tourist infrastructure and language difference, navigation can prove challenging. Deciphering signs, directions, and bus routes required more time to get anywhere. Tourist accommodation is in the form of ‘homestays’ where a spare room in a family home is provided. The people themselves are hugely welcoming, warm and generous and anxious for you to like their country even if this is done with the help of a lot of sign language. My two main reasons for wanting to visit Georgia were related to my painting. Over the past two years my painting has been increasingly influenced by paintings from the Early Renaissance, Byzantine and Icon painting. I have been researching icon painting and learning the techniques, subject matter and imagery of this ancient artform. Georgia has a very strong tradition of icon and fresco painting dating back to the 6th century and the Eastern Orthodox Church has a very strong tradition and influence today. Visiting the churches and monasteries to see the icons was high on my priorities for the residency. I had the opportunity to visit many churches and see stunning icons and frescoes both in Tbilisi and further a field including the monastery at Gelati, which is a highlight of Christian art. Many of these churches are situated in stunningly beautiful mountain top settings. During my time in Tbilisi, through meeting a Georgian art historian, I also had the opportunity to visit a school of iconography. Another reason for my interest in Georgia was that in a recent series of paintings I had used media images from the Russian attack on the town of Gori during the 2008 Georgian/ Russian war. I wanted to revisit the sites of these photos. Gori was also the birthplace of Stalin, and is a quintessential Soviet town in all its grimness. The entire town is devoted to Stalin (main street Stalin Avenue) and its museum conveniently omits the millions of people that died as a result of the Stalin’s regime. Walking around Tbilisi there was a lot of ideas that I wanted to bring together and develop in my artwork. In the entrance halls of Tbilisi I found my starting point. Behind the ornate doors around Tbilisi are the decorated entrance halls. This tradition came to Georgia in the late 19th century and as with most things in Georgia, it was
mixed with, adapted and appropriated to Georgian culture. Influences of style in the Entrance Halls include Renaissance, Classicism, Rococo and Art Nouveau – sometimes all in the one building. These would have been the houses of the gentry but now most of these buildings are completely run down and dilapidated and are the flats of the poorer classes. They brought to mind for me the Georgian houses in Dublin, which degenerated into tenement houses - faded glory of a long forgotten age. In my paintings I am interested in how we perceive images, how images are presented to us and how we read images depending on the context in which we view them. So the painted images in the entrance hallways were inspirational to me – the trompe l’oeil architecture, the ideal landscapes from Italy, the Mediterranean, Persia, the Orient in stark contrast with the poverty present in the houses today and the grim Soviet buildings outside these once great houses. I created paintings that used the ornate frames and painted images of the grim Soviet buildings within. I also photographed these paintings in the entrance halls in the context from which their inspiration came. I have also started working on a series of icons painted in the traditional technique and style using images of contemporary photos of people, architecture and landscape of Georgia. This was a fantastic residency and we were provided with a great apartment, centrally located in Tbilisi with working studio space. Ian Joyce and Oona Hyland from Cló had given us a list of contacts – Georgian friends of theirs who were all of great help to us and were most welcoming and brilliant for giving us an insight into the Georgian culture, art scene, history and psyche. They brought us on a number of day trips outside and around Tbilisi also. I am very grateful to the opportunity afforded to me by Cló and Ealaín na Gaeltachta to experience this little known but hugely interesting and inspirational country. In 2011/ 2012 the Samkura Project, funded by the European Commission Funding (EACEA) with the lead organisation Cló, will be responsible for providing the practical support for the production of art works in the context of an artist-in-residence program in Ireland, Portugal and Georgia and an international forum, exhibition, and publication in Greece, Georgia and Armenia. Claire Halpin Lisa Flynn As a location for an artist residency, Tbilisi couldn’t be more inspirational. The city presents a visual feast. Lying on the banks of the Mtkvari river and surrounded by mountains, Tbilisi is a place that seems animated by the imagination. I was spellbound by the city’s fairytale-like quality; the styles of architecture combine modern, European, Middle Eastern, Soviet, local (Georgian) and Byzantine influences. There is a charming, dare I say it, ‘bling’ element to Tbilisi, a city, which is playfully interspersed by fantastical statues, churches, golden icon imagery and cheerful lights. Like any fairytale, however, there are darker undertones. The city’s troubled history of invasion is laid bare through the diverse architectural influences and many ornate buildings have become dilapidated after a period of economic decline. These structures do, however, grow old gracefully alongside newer architectural constructions in an elegantly chaotic manner that seems to characterise Tbilisi. Arriving in Georgia, I did not know what to expect. I carried there with me a deep curiosity regarding the country’s geographic location on the extreme Eastern boundary of Europe, in polar opposition to Ireland on the West. Georgia is situated in a peripheral place between
Claire Halpin. Tsminda Sameba Church, 14th Century, Kazbegi
the continents of Europe and Asia, in a vague area where boundaries dissolve - “Eurasia”. During my stay in Georgia, this played continually on my mind - in the sense of the country representing a kind of geographic liminal space. The notion of liminality, the state of being on the threshold or ‘in-between’, is an idea that continually informs my interdisciplinary visual arts practice. With this in mind, I visited the town of Lagodekhi, in Eastern Georgia, and made a trip through a forest on horseback to the Azerbaijan/Georgia border. The boundary was simply represented by a low stone wall dividing the countries. At the Centre of Contemporary Art in Tbilisi, I visited an exhibition by MA students from the University of Gothenburg. One of the artists mentioned the idea of being a foreigner trying to decipher or make sense of Georgia. In my own practice, I’m inquisitive about the instinctive human need to inhabit, or to belong to a place. I felt enchanted by the beauty of Tbilisi and the warmth of Georgian people, yet also isolated by my unfamiliarity with the language and the place. I began making work through the immediate medium of photography, combining my instinct to ‘belong’ with my response to visiting Tbilisi’s puppet theatre and doll museum. I made drawings of Georgian folk dolls, turning them into shadow puppets and situating them in the landscape outside our apartment in Vake, Tbilisi. It will be a natural progression for me to develop performance-based work from these instinctive body/landscape photographs that I made during the residency. Georgian is a minority language with its own script, unique to the country and difficult to a foreigner’s ear as it is generally unheard by those who live outside of Georgia. Though it is common amongst Georgians to speak Russian as a second language, and English is being spoken on a more widespread basis amongst the younger generations, the exclusiveness of the Georgian language is an important factor in creating the strong sense of Georgian identity and pride. Strangely, I felt nostalgic for the Irish language while I was far away in Georgia. Even though the majority of Irish people do not speak the language fluently, Irish is an integral part of our national identity, making us unique from every other country in the world. My experiences with language and communication in Georgia have inspired me to develop a series of mixed media drawings. I’m working from a book of Georgian Folk tales, which has been translated from Georgian to Russian to English. I’m interested in the process of translation, whereby meanings can become blurred, eg. ‘Once upon a time’ translates to ‘It happened, or it did not happen’ (1). The Georgian contacts we were provided with through Cló Ceardlann proved a valuable part of the residency. We not only experienced the warm Georgian welcome and hospitality for which the country is renowned, but we were also introduced to a community of artists in Tbilisi. The ‘Artisterium’ event was much debated amongst the Georgian artists whom I met. There was talk of Artisterium becoming the Tbilisi ‘Biennial’. A topic of discussion was ‘Does Tbilisi need a Biennial?’. The Georgian contemporary art scene is only beginning to find its place in the international art world, so the general consensus seemed to welcome the idea of establishing Georgia on the global contemporary art map. I consider my relationship with Georgia to have only just begun. I’m looking forward to maintaining the connections I made within the Tbilisian art community. I would like to thank Cló Ceardlann na gCnoc and Ealaín na Gaeltachta for giving me the opportunity to discover Tbilisi and Georgia. Go raibh míle maith agaibh / Didi madloba. Lisa Flynn 2011 Note 1. D.G Hunt (trans.) (1999) Georgian Folk Tales Tbilisi: Merani Publishing House. Further information: http://samkuratbilisi.wordpress.com www.artisterium.org www.clo.iewww.ealain.ie
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
17
March – April 2011
Art in public
Necessity, mother of invention Laura Graham Profiles ‘Switch’, an initiative to present contemporary arT in Public contexts that so far has taken place in Nenagh, Co Tipperary and Bangor Co. Down.
during Feburary 1999. She was struck by the fact that year’s later, people were still talking about it and observed – “Ghost Ship was a temporary piece of work that has influenced so many people, and has actually had more impact than many permanent pieces, which can sometimes become a bit like wallpaper”. Accepting that there can be artistic intention in such an outcome is valid however in other cases, such a loss of impact can be demoralising for artist and commissioning body alike, and yet it is exactly that combination of temporary with everyday familiarity that Ryan and Turek make use of to such effect and the decision to partner ‘Switch’ in Nenagh cross border with ‘Switch’ in Bangor was a considered one. Despite that, it is easy to underestimate the huge amount of work required to make a success of one event, let alone two in quick succession with funds available never quite matching the effort, time and commitment, with self sacrifice, as ever, writ large. In the supporting documentation for ‘Switch 2010’ – opened with the following narrative: “imagine you are walking down the road, the same road you always walk on your way back from work, or taking the dog for a walk, your collar turned up against the chill, minding puddles. It is a dark autumn evening… you pass a shop window – only it’s not just a shop window! It’s a temporary back projected screen, images are moving in front of you, it’s November and you are at Switch, an international showcase of contemporary visual art”. This concern with finding the extraordinary in the ordinary, appears to have been a process and experience that has engaged everyone from the beginning. Aside from providing an exciting and effective platform for international video artists to show in two locations in Ireland within the same month, the experience and engagement has enabled an entirely new and different cross section of people to develop and maintain good working relationships. Local people in both Nenagh and Bangor have shown high levels of interest and, as an installation, ‘Switch’ has engaged with diverse groups, some of whom may not commonly engage with art in general,
Switch – installation view
let alone at that time of night, or in that location. Art accessibility is a
What has a medium sized market town in County Tipperary in
hot potato. Art can be inaccessible to people for many reasons, it could
November got in common with a medium sized market town in
be lack of resources, travel difficulties, cost, fear of not knowing what to
County Down in November? The answer is ‘Switch 2010’an
make of it, or just no interest but to have it come to you, perhaps in a
international showcase of contemporary visual art showing in vacant
manner and style that may be unfamiliar and unexpected, can make it
commercial units in the town centres. As the press release put it “for
a bit of a wonder, a talking point; and perhaps we can all come away
eight days, eight artists from around the globe invite you into their
feeling that little bit changed. If art can do that, then we all benefit. As
minds”.
Patricia Hamilton was told by a local shop owner “I’ll support anything
The first stirrings of the project – the brainchild of artists Triona
where you’re bringing a bit of life and something different to the
Ryan and Harald Turek – began in 2007 on Ryan’s return to Nenagh,
town”.
County Tipperary after graduating from Glasgow School of Art. On
‘Switch’ and its founders are proof of the ongoing importance of
leaving the dynamic, urban, cultural centre of Glasgow, Ryan found
personal vision, followed by hard work, a wish to build relationships
herself forging a singular path in her home town and, over a period of exploration, discussion and familiarisation, it became apparent that as a video artist, in order to show any of the work that she herself made, or that interested her, she would have to create the opportunity to do so. Bringing alternative ideas of art practice that offered a high level of conceptual engagement and critique to Nenagh was initially new and challenging, however Ryan persevered and by using her personable style, the skills and knowledge she gleaned in her time in Glasgow, an idea began to emerge for how to build a similar type of art dynamic and engage with the local community in a manner not dissimilar to the one she had left. In Nenagh in 2007 there were no dedicated visual arts places, however there were a number of vacant spaces in commercial units and, necessity being the mother of invention, having an alternative way of seeing place and space afforded Ryan the vision to see the potential. Place, as a focus for art practice interests Ryan – therefore the use of ‘slack’ commercial spaces as readymade opportunities for showing time-based work made sense on many levels; and although Ryan freely admits that such ideas of using vacant shop spaces for impromptu gallery opportunities is not new – but good art can change perceptions when the extraordinary is shown within the ordinary; and in this ‘Switch; stands out. Sophisticated art audiences may be used to seeing similar installations in city centres but it is uncommon for sometimes sleepy market towns, largely regarded as traditional both in manner and in art appreciation, to host them. After months of intense work, negotiating for space and funding, open calls for international artists through many networks on line, and the decision to set up a four person curatorial panel to ensure equitable and fair choice of artists, ‘Switch’ saw its first switch on in November 2008 in the town of Nenagh. This was followed in 2009 by its second switch on and in March 2010, during a symposium at the Ormeau
Switch – installation view
Baths Gallery in Belfast, entitled Lives and Spaces: Art, Architecture and the Public, it was mooted as one of the best temporary installations using public space for public art that Annette Moloney, independent curator and arts consultant with Clare County Council had seen in her area. In the audience that day was Patricia Hamilton, ceramicist and temporary arts officer for Bangor, County Down. Although it has been suggested that Ryan and Turek are curators
and the intention to create, develop and sustain a project of size and ambition. Each year ‘Switch’ has changed slightly, streaming in different ideas or locations. Whilst this is the first cross border year, an additional opportunity for engagement was developed this year in Nenagh with the provision of 30 slide viewers providing a continuity of understanding around the venues, showing where original locations have changed. Formerly vacant shop units are now occupied, others formerly occupied, now vacant, continuous evidence of the effect of whim and economics, start-ups and failures on a small market town, a beautiful piece of
of ‘Switch’, Ryan disagrees with that proposition as curatorship is just
immediate history evidencing the rapid turn around in our seemingly
one of the many elements that happen within ‘Switch’, she feels that
unchanging world. As the old joke goes, today’s news, tomorrows fish
‘negotiating’ might better serve to describe their work more accurately.
supper. The slide viewers are a lovely touch, switching slightly from the
True, the seed idea was theirs, but the ongoing development, choice of
previous year and bringing continuity and provenance to a young
artists by the curatorial panel and the involvement of the different
project.
local authorities that have enabled ‘Switch’ to happen play an essential
Looking to the future, Ryan and Turek want to bring something
part, and this is the point, every body has a part to play in the success of
new each year and if the last few years are anything to go by, the future
public art ventures, particularly temporary ones, which by their very
rabbits pulled from this particular hat will be interesting to see. ‘Switch’
nature require good will, good advertising and good marketing to make
is switching spaces, switching places, switching on and off to art,
them visible in the short time that they are in situ.
switching consciousness, switching perceptions.
Patricia Hamilton saw the opportunity for her home town, as did
As Ryan has observed “smaller towns don’t necessarily have a
Melanie Scott the arts officer for North Tipperary County Council
national profile, so introducing where Nenagh is, discussing what type
when she was first approached by Triona Ryan, but the decision to
of town it is and offering the same profile to Bangor, a much larger
accept and expand the vision cross border, to bring ‘Switch’ to Bangor
town, but essentially very similar to Nenagh, is very important”.
sat squarely with Ryan and Turek. Meantime, whilst holding true to her
‘Switch’, as an allegory could serve in many ways, but at the very
belief in the project helped Patricia Hamilton cope with funding issues
least, this year it has introduced a whole new set of people to each
and the need to bring North Down Borough Council and the High
other, it has showcased artists’, enabled local authorities at opposite
Street Traders Association on board, it may have been her own
ends of Ireland to bring a different vision to their art departments and
particular vision for public art and her strong belief in the importance
it entertained me one wet November night on Bangor High Street when
of temporary public art that was the driver for Bangor. She gives an
I stood still and watched light bulbs falling from a tree, and I saw
example that clearly resonated with her. Whilst studying at University
another vision of what my home town could be.
College Dublin, she was made aware of an Dorothy Cross’s Ghost Ship installation, which appeared nightly in Scotsmans’ Bay, Dun Laoghaire,
Laura Graham www.s-w-i-t-c-h.org
18
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
March – April 2011
seminar
Practice discussion at ormond Studios – with Davey Moor, Mark Cullen and Carl Gifney
Practice Practice
to this, CIC offers a crisis budgeting service in association with MABS,
Seán O Sullivan reports on ‘Practice: The Ormond Studios Lecture Series’ (7 – 9 Dec 2010)
lingual solicitors. All of their services are provided free of charge by an
and can work with credit card companies or creditors to resolve debt issues. They also provide one-to-one legal advice from a range of multi-
In August of 2009, 13 BA graduates of Dublin’s three major art colleges
Hanlon in East Offaly, who offered them a large derelict farmhouse for
joined together to form Ormond Studios, Dublin (1). They had a simple
their artists’ studio at no charge. The house is located in a plain of
objective: to rent a building to work from, and offer a small programme
industrial bogland, and since it is so difficult to physically reach the
of events throughout the year. Nearly two years on, that programme has
studio, they conduct their national and international outreach through
gained both traction and perspective; Ormond Studios has publicly
the internet. The artists decided that they wouldn’t invest any of their
offered several curated exhibitions, critical texts, and peer-critique
personal money in the studio, and would not seek capital investment in
sessions, they host regular screenings for independent filmmakers, and
the Good Hatchery itself, nor accept anything other than their premises
offer a range of graduate-oriented artist residencies and studio exchanges
from the owner of the building. The materials that they have needed
free of charge. Perhaps most notably, the studio hosted an event, titled
were, according to Carl Giffney, “found, stolen, borrowed, recycled,
‘ScarlehFerYer Ma FerHavinYa’, where the audience and organisers
reused or salvaged somehow.” Over 50 artists have been resident in the
publicly read out their mid-teenage diaries - the dramatic descriptions of
space during the past four years.
“black voids of emotion” and half-attempted poems incited peals of
Sarah Tuck, the Director of Create Ireland spoke about the kind of
laughter. The variety of Ormond Studios’ programme has culminated in
projects that her organisation supports. Create is the national agency for
December’s ‘Practice Lecture Series’, a three-day conference focusing on
promoting collaborative arts in Ireland, and Tuck spoke in great detail
early career education and the sustainability of a working art practice.
about her work to prompt a more radical, contemporary shift in
When the studio began to plan the lecture series, it sought to
proposals from artists. She explained that Create would heavily
create an avenue for ‘information gathering’, a way of collecting a set of
emphasise research-based projects in the near future, and gave an
valuable ideas that could be useful to those beginning their career in the
example of a recently successful model where a composer designed a
arts (2). The first day of 'Practice' featured Sam Keogh, Fiona Marron and
chair that could interpret sounds as vibrations, and worked with a group
Helen Horgan, artists who graduated in 2009, and have managed to
of deaf collaborators to compose a successful series of musical works.
enact a clearly distinct art practice since then (3). Sam Keogh presented
Tuck went on to describe Create as strongly disinclined to support
scenes from his project Radical Love, which he created with Dublin artist
projects that position the artist as a social worker, or as the facilitator of
Joseph Noonan-Ganley. Fiona Marron discussed a series of eclectic ideas
a therapeutic outcome; she gave an example of the low bar set by
including economics within speculative fiction, the division of labour
frequent projects that worked with senior citizens on the theme of
and phrenology. She expanded on the themes that have motivated her
memory. The requirement of original and independent thinking was
completed works, one of which captured a disused trading floor in the
echoed across the three days by curator Vaari Claffey, members of
IFSC, and another that studied a Gypsum mine in Knocknacran, Co.
Exchange Dublin and Sheena Barrett of Dublin City Council.
Monaghan. Helen Horgan described how she had begun working with,
During 2010, three of the Ormond Studios members travelled to
and eventually inherited, an entire library of generations-old books
colleges around the country sharing information that they had learned
from a friary in Co. Westmeath. Aside from discussing their personal
during their first year of independent art practice. The reaction from the
working methods, and the styles and ideas that stimulate their respective
lecturers was quite positive. In many ways it demystified the next step
practices, the three artists detailed the most effective methods of
for their art students, who had been in a rare situation where the
exposing their projects to the largest audience possible. Later in the day,
internet couldn’t offer any answers. In a very tangible way, the Practice
Rayne Booth spent over an hour answering questions from the audience
project had its genesis in those discussions. The students’ response
on a range of issues surrounding arts organisations, working with
prompted the Ormond Studios members to reassess how their careers
curators, and publicising projects.
began, and so the final day of Practice focused on early career issues.
Carl Giffney of the Good Hatchery was present on the second day
John Flanagan and Eileen Ryder of Citizens Information (CIC)
of Practice, he spoke alongside Mark Cullen of Pallas Projects and Davey
spoke about civic and domestic issues. It is somewhat unusual for a civic
Moor of Monster Truck Gallery & Studios
Before graduating from
organisation like CIC to receive a speaking invite for a lecture on visual
NCAD in 2007, Giffney and four of his peers went in search of an
art, however it was soon apparent that their message was quite
unconventional outlet for their work. At the time the property boom
appropriate to the occasion. They discussed the difficulties that artists
was in full swing, and the group decided that the smartest move was to
might expect during early career development, when the precariousness
get out of Dublin—they were less than enthusiastic about the idea of
of their independent work is slowly advancing towards financial
“paying €600 for their apartment, and €400 for their studio every
sustainability. Flanagan and Ryder took a range of questions from the
month”. Feeling adventurous, they posted a request on the Gumtree
audience, primarily focusing on rent. They also explained a number of
website reading: “Wanted: Derelict house or ruin for artists to live in and
services that Citizens Information make available to people in all sorts
renovate.” They got a few joke replies, some offering princesses, but
of circumstances, these include specific experience in fields such as tax,
eventually received a surprising response from a woman named Eileen
tenancy, employment, social welfare, healthcare and education. Further
(4).
entirely volunteer corps. Artist Aideen Barry gave an energetic talk on three of her major projects. She described taking inspiration from her first cousin, Dr. Bridget O’Callaghan-Hay, a Cork mathematician who began training as an Astronaut with NASA as part of the Reaganite ‘Star Wars’ defence programme. Barry applied to the Arts Council and NASA for part funding so that she could also train as an Astronaut, and mortgaged her house to cover the shortfall. Her training is chronicled in a documentary about the experience, which culminates in a scene of her taking a parabolic flight, also known as a vomit comet, that rapidly scales an ellipse from around 24,000ft to 34,000ft and back again at 45-degree angles achieving the effect of zero gravity. The scene sees her floating around the aircraft with a household vacuum cleaner. Barry also gave a preview of a piece that she is currently preparing for exhibition in both Dublin and Basel, it involves forty remote control helicopters programmed to simultaneously lift up a woman’s enormous skirt, alluding to what she called “the Marilyn Monroe effect”. The artist is working with a German company on a remote control that can power 160 helicopters and lift her off the ground. The ambition for personal projects continued in a talk from John Carter and Jay Roche of Dublin’s Projector Collective. They discussed their 2009 collaboration with Via Collective entitled ‘Bright Shadow’, which took place in St. Agatha’s Court, Dublin. The group appropriated a disused senior citizens housing block, they then grew its entire front garden thick with sunflowers, and gilded the 16 large boarded-up windows with 23-carat gold leaf. Dublin City Council granted permission to use the site, but in what Carter described as their most financially demanding project, the artists themselves paid for the gold. Jay Roche mentioned that they had never intended to make a political or economic point with the project, but he said “it was interesting to hear people projecting their own ideas on to it, […] it just happened to be a building, but it was right for the time.” John Carter ended the discussion on this point: “In the past [artists] had very much waited for the funding to come along before they made the work, before they even put the idea into effect. And I think we’ve always seen the reverse as being important; that it didn’t matter, that we would find one way or another of allowing the idea to happen, and maybe the funding could come later.” Ormond Studios will launch a publication detailing the outcomes of their 2010 Graduate programme this July. Seán O Sullivan Notes 1. http://www.ormondstudios.com/ 2. Information for this article was graciously provided in a conversation between the author and Ormond Studios members Alan-James Burns, Jennette Donnelly, Jacqualyn Gray and Nicky Teegan, 13 January 2011. 3. The featured speakers at ‘Practice’ were Sam Keogh, Fiona Marron, Helen Horgan, Vaari Claffey, Rayne Booth, Mark Cullen, Davey Moor, Carl Giffney, Andreas Kindler, Jonah King, Jennette Donnelly, Nicky Teegan, Sarah Tuck, Ciara Scanlon, John Carter, Jay Roche, Aideen Barry, Sheena Barrett, John Flanagan and Eileen Ryder. 4. The organisations represented at ‘Practice’ were Pallas Projects / Studios, Monster Truck Gallery & Studios, The Good Hatchery, Exchange Dublin, Ormond Studios, Mart, Projector Collective, Dublin City Council, Create Ireland and Citizens Information Council.
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
March – April 2011
19
career Development
Floating Notes Andy Parsons discusses the why and wherefores of Floating World, HIS artist’s book publishing Project ‘Floating World’
Andy Parsons Installation at Enniskillen Castle Museum
Andy Parsons Still it gives you time to think
Andy Parsons Guide to Guerilla Bookmaking
The miseducation of Andy Parsons
Spend some quality time with your computer... When I moved to Ireland in 2005 we could have let the project peter out. Instead, we set out see if it could support our practices in new ways. Our idea was to try and expand the public for artists’ books by showing them in as many different places as possible. We tried out a number of ideas; one of the best was displaying books on a borrowed Tourist Information stand in Enniskillen Town Hall. They key to this change in direction was accessing grant funding. We were successful in getting a small Commission grant in 2007 and this enabled our contributors to be paid for materials and printing for the first time. Our recent project The Book House and the show at Enniskillen Castle Museum were only possible through grant support. The first application was the hardest, I didn’t really have a clue how to do it, but figured that if I could spend a week repainting a picture for it to end up on a skip, I could afford a similar amount of time to write a grant application, and that input of time paid off.
I studied Fine Art Painting at Winchester School of Art and then at Manchester Metropolitan University. The courses taught me about painting – very thoroughly in fact – but little else. Our careers guidance talk at Winchester consisted of the graduating year sitting in a field outside the college on a sunny day and being told; one, it’s going to be very hard, and two, get an accountant. That was it. Those were the days when the whole business of art school was a lot more cavalier; you could still smoke in the painting studios so I guess it’s churlish to be too critical. Needless to say my outlook was coloured by this; and for years I toiled away under the mistaken idea that the harder I worked and the more pain I suffered the greater my eventual reward in a kind of painting Valhalla. It was only after the birth of my first son that I realised that I had to adapt my way of working as an artist to something saner – and more effective. That’s where artist’s books came in for me; it is a medium you can explore on your kitchen table. People who need people… Floating World began when Glenn Holman and I were working together teaching art at a college in East London. I think we both needed to find a medium that could be more adaptable, something that was new and something that could bypass the gallery system. We didn’t decide that Floating World would be a publishing venture; we just decided we wanted to make some books and tried to find a way to get them out somewhere. We realised that if we wanted to show at a book fair or similar we would need more than just two people’s works, so we approached our friends and they became the first Floating World contributors. We have continued showing the same group of artists ever since and the work they have produced has never failed to impress. The deal was simple, 20% commission on sales and no editorial/curatorial control; basically, make whatever you what and we will show it. In some cases we did some of the technical fiddly bits for the artists as well. The initial group of artists has been augmented over the years with artists from Ireland and the UK. Our recent shows recruited new people to make books, both artists and members of the public, and we hope to include works by these artists in more projects in the future. We are really now more of a curatorial project than a publisher, we invite someone to show with us, they make the work, and we show it. Saying to people, “we are going to show your work in different places free of charge, and publicize it on our site and blog” is, I think, a pretty good deal. What it gives Floating World is a constantly regenerating body of work to show, so it’s a mutually beneficial arrangement.
The Book House
Express yourself... Two Recent projects, which have involved workshops with artists and members of the public, have enabled me to earn some money and at the same time expand what Floating World does. The first was The Book House in Cavan. The project was about creating a temporary publishing house for anyone to come in and have a bash at making an artists’ book. The project was initiated by Catriona O’Reilly at the Cavan Art Office. Catriona had the idea of a book related residency, and while we were looking at vacant premises for it we saw the site in Bullock Lane. Catriona came up with the idea of converting it into a Centre for Art in Cavan. The Book House project became, in effect, a kind of house warming party. I did a lot of non-book related stuff during this project, for example painting a giant sign on the gable, quoting Madonna’s Express Yourself. Attending meetings and discussing things like lighting and floors is a long way from painting, but it was great.
Drink the bar dry… The book medium does a good job of promoting itself because of its modest cost and portability. One of the things we spent a lot of time on was our website, it helped to strengthen our identity as well as promoting the work. We recently set up a blog, which I was initially a bit nervous about, (making books is nerdy enough without blogging about it…) but it proved to be the best and the most cost effective way of recording our work and telling people about it. At the moment me and Glenn use it, as we curate most of the projects, in the future we hope that all the participants can put up bits of info about shows etc, so that it becomes a collective voice. The other great thing about it is the way it builds a readymade archive of images and texts. In the first few years of Floating World we showed at book fairs such as the ICA in London, the Leeds International Book Fair and the Small Publishers Fair in London. These events did well for us in terms of getting work in to big public collections, (Tate Modern, British Library, British Museum, Universities etc.) but usually ended up with Glenn and I slightly out of pocket. After one particularly bad sales day at the ICA we decided to try and drink back the money we had paid out on the stand at the free bar at the private view. Great idea! In a way I guess a lot of art is a loss making activity in the short to medium term, what we didn’t realize at the time is that the books we did sell were a very effective form of promotion. We have made some very simple publications that have been useful to spread the word about projects. For the Book House residency in Cavan I produced a hand drawn/written book called the Floating World Guide to Guerrilla Book Making. It was a photocopied A3 sheet that could be folded down origami style in to an A6 booklet. I initially made 30 copies; I ended up printing off about 400. Recently we produced a free PDF Book with an illustrated essay by Glenn called “Still it gives you time to think…”, the idea of producing free books that contain critical texts is an area we are going to explore further.
The second was a show at Enniskillen Castle Museum. We created installations displaying works by members of the public alongside works by Floating World artists. In the run up to the show I did public workshops and demonstrations in the Museum and at the ‘Book House’ in Cavan. We showed these new works, along with work by our regular contributors alongside a rather beautiful miscellany of objects from the Museum’s collection, that the staff of the museum helped us to choose. Out in the courtyard we created a group of larger than life-size figures of hoodies with cut out faces in the manner of the figures of historical figures that people can have their photograph taken with. These held a selection of the books for people to pick up and flick through. We were lucky that Sarah McHugh and the staff at the museum engaged with the development of the show with admirable calm. The project had a significant number of variables and some element of risk, for example the works from the public didn’t arrive until about a week before the show and we had no idea what they were going to be like. The world is not enough... The development of Floating World has been surprising. Facilitating, curating, initiating and promoting are now as important to me as painting and making objects. The project has allowed me to re-position myself as an artist and has provided amazing connections with other artists, as well as providing opportunities to support myself through my practice. We want to keep coming up with new ideas that challenge us and our audience. Recently Glenn and I sat down to look at what we are going to do next in a methodical way, unfortunately we sat down in a pub, so the future isn’t as clear as we would like! Andy Parsons
The Visual Artists' News Sheet
21
March – April 2011
Education
Responsible Driving Ruth E. Lyons profiles ‘Mercedes Fire’ an artist-led seven-day touring summer school.
Mercedes Fire. Publicity image.
As it becomes increasingly the norm for more art colleges to offer the continued study of visual arts practices at masters and doctorate level, there is a greater demand on artists to obtain higher levels of academic qualifications. I am interested what effect this increase in time spent by artists in development within institutes of education has on the character of contemporary art. Colleges can provide a shelter for artists – giving them space to develop – but these institutions also inform, passing down knowledge and perpetuating schools of thought. Past a certain point in the development of one’s art practice, I’ve been wondering if the shelter of the art college actually encourages a shirking of responsibilities? Shouldn’t artists claim independent agency over their own learning? In light of these questions, I have become interested in alternative models of learning and peer critique – that can offer an alternative to formal education while still providing a sense of community and collaboration. As I personally experienced in the course of the ‘Mercedes Fire’ summer school 2010 (1), there is an amazing sense of generosity and camaraderie within the art community in Ireland, which openly invites the free formation of alternative models of social engagement and learning within it. ‘Mercedes Fire’ was conceived of by Claire Feeley (now assistant curator in the Serpentine Gallery, London and myself in the winter of 2009, at a time when neither of us had any major prospects on the horizon. The inspiration for the project came from Claire Feeley’s experience of a summer school in Estonia in 2008 (2) and my vision for the development of projects at the Good Hatchery – an artist-led project I co-direct with Carl Giffney in Co. Offaly (3) – combined with a shared interest in notions of monumentality. In light of the amenities we considered to have at our disposal; a residential studio space (the Good
Hatchery), two cars and lots friends throughout the country working as artists or in art institutions we decided to combine all these elements into a touring summer event. ‘Mercedes Fire’ took the form of a seven-day touring summer school, with three nominated UK based artists and invited Irish participants under the theme of ‘monumentality’. It was out of a desire to make connections between activities in Ireland and elsewhere, that we invited artists from the UK. The selected artists were invited in light of nominations from various organisations that we admire currently working in the UK. These included Situations in Bristol; Cerbyrd in Wales; Ganghut in Scotland and Nottingham contemporary. In their application to the summer school the nominated artists were asked to consider “how an event, history, person or ideology can be represented in the name of a public? Has the age of permanent sculpture past? How does society represent itself and its values through public sculpture? What would a monument for the future look like?” Their responses to these questions, along with presentations and workshops on the theme formed an integral part of the week’s schedule. The week-long tour began in Cork and then followed a deviating route to Dublin – informed by art events and spaces along the way, including a two day stay in the Good Hatchery. For the most part, the tour participants consisted of Claire Feeley; the three main fellows: Megan Broadmeadow (4), Samantha Donnelley (5) and Helen de Main (6): and myself packed into the confines of a golden Toyota Yaris – as we sped from one destination to the next, taking in a transient views of roadside sculptures and the Irish landscape along the way. The schedule of the week included visits to various art spaces, both established institutions and artist led, meetings with other artists,
curators, writers and institution directors along with presentations by the fellows and other invited artists. We were interested in providing the fellows with a broad view of artistic activity in Ireland, while also exploring the theme of monumentality in its widest terms. In Ballymore Eustace our meeting with the group of some 20 or so artists and writers was entitled ‘Mercedes Fire V’s Radical Love’ – which took the form of a gathering under a tarpaulin in the forest – sheltering from a sudden down pour. During the ensuing discussions, what became most apparent was a shared belief in the importance of collectivity; whether that be in the sense of working together to create a monument, or simply working together for the sense of sharing and an ‘ideal of love’. ‘Radical Love’ was organised by artists Joseph Noonan Ganley and Sam Keogh; and took the form of a three-day camp out on a friend’s land for invited artists and writers. During their stay each of the participants presented a contribution to the proceedings in the form of a written paper, an artwork or an action related to the theme of ‘radical love’. In Callan we visited the Workhouse Test (7) and their video show ‘Kinetoscope Parlor’ featuring work by Eilis MacDonald, Brad Trummell, Matt Calderwood and Tessa Power. Artists Kate Strain, Bridget O’Gorman and Etaoin Holahan direct the Workhouse Test as a space for experimentation in contemporary art practice and virtual interactivity. As its name implies it is located in a former famine workhouse that is also home to Endangered Studios. Down the road from the Workhouse Test, also in the unlikely location of Callan town we visited Fennelly’s Pub for an evening of food, music and film screenings. Fennelly’s is a former pub that is now owned and run by artist Etaoin Holahan as an event-space. During the weeklong tour, it was our encounters with other artist led groups that had the greatest impression on our invited fellows. It opened up interesting discussions on the comparison between activities in Ireland and those in the UK. What each of the fellow’s noted after our meeting at ‘Radical Love’ and our visit to Callan, was the sense of camaraderie and openness that exists in the art community in Ireland. The UK artists were struck by the self-sufficiency of the artists that we encountered; and the fluid relationships that exist between artists, curators and writers . As demonstrated through the welcome reception we received at each of the art institutions – and during our visit to and involvement in a discussion group at the ‘Unbuilding’ project in Bray(8). Throughout the tour, we invited artists that we met to join us for the two days of presentations and discussions in the Good Hatchery. A group of some 25 or so artists arrived equipped with tents and sleeping bags and set up camp in the yard. The group also included Guest Fellows James O’hAodha, Angela Fulcher, Carl Giffney, Mark Clare and Paul Timoney – who along with the three main fellows and myself each gave a presentation on their work and its relationship to monumentality. These two days were split between discussions around the campfire, artist’s presentations and listening to excerpts from the book Magnetic Promenade and Other Sculpture Parks by artist Chris Evans. Within the theme of monumentality, what became the dominant concerns were collectivism, representation and responsibility. In relation to learning, by failing to recognise or counter the increasing academicisation of art practice, do we risk allowing a dominant structure to become representative of the art scene as a whole? In my own work my concern with these themes lie in viewing utilitarian structures in our landscape – such as pylons, communication devices, etc –as monuments to our time, from a hypothetical anthropological perspective. I am interested in questioning where our responsibility lies in relation to these structures? What claim if any do we have on these ‘monuments’ that we allow to stand for us? Our 2011 summer school will be based on the theme of ‘Islands and the Leviathan’. It will take place in July / August. The school will be based on the west coast, with a specific focus on the seascape of Clew Bay and its numerous Islands. 'Mercedes Fire’ was an unfunded project. An artist fee of €100 paid by each of the main fellows, which covered the costs of food, petrol and hostel accommodation in Dublin. Claire and I would like to thank all those who made Mercedes Fire possible: Mick O’Shea and Irene Murphy, Chris Clarke, Catherine Harty, Stephanie Hough, The Basement Projects, Matt Packer, Eamonn Maxwell, Sam Keogh and Joseph Noonan Ganley, Kate Strain, Bridget O’Gorman and Etaoin Holahan, Clodagh Kenny, Mark Clare, Peter Prendergast, Angela Fulcher, James O’hAodha, Paul Timoney, Carl Giffney, Eilis Lavelle, Cliona Shaffrey and Rosie Lynch. Ruth E Lyons Notes (1) http://thegoodhatchery.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/schedule.jpg (2) http://publicpreparation.org (3) http://thegoodhatchery.wordpress.com (4) Megan Broadmeadow -http://www.megartmix.co.uk/ (5) Helen de Main- http://www.helendemain.net/ (6) Samantha Donnelly- http://www.frieze.com/shows/review/samantha_donnelly/ (7) The Workhouse Test- http://theworkhousetest.wordpress.com/ (8) Unbuilding project- http://unbuildingproject.wordpress.com/
22
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
March – April 2011
collaboration
Transitions & Ambitions Maria Tanner ProfilEs ‘Ar+=Adding 2010’ – an International collaborative project held IN The city of Szczecin in Poland (17 – 19 SEPTEMBER 2010).
Another quiet and subtle work was the video projection Searching for Nietzsche 2010 by Irish artist Claire Guerin. During her short residency in Szczecin Guerin produced a work that engaged indirectly with Szczecin’s former citizens. Filmed by night in the central cemetery in Szczecin – the largest cemetery in Poland – the video projection presents the artist’s candle lit search for gravestones commemorating members of Nietzsche’s family who are said to have been buried there. In vivid contrast, sound artists from Berlin and Ireland utilized evocative acoustics of the factory space. Irish artists Mick O’Shea and Danny McCarthy of The Quiet Club, in collaboration with Irene Murphy, kicked off the night with a presentation of sound art and performance works. Surrounded by their techie tools O’Shea and McCarthy delivered a set of nuanced approaches that amplified and recoded obscurities of sound. Performing a physical response Murphy used her body as a kind of ‘soft architecture’. Berlin based Irish artist Seamus O’Donnell – and a member of Salon Bruit– presented a sound piece entitled Life loop in knife mode. The performance included knives and other ‘dangerous instrument’s’, which through the use of contact mikes came together as a mixture of live pre-recorded and processed sounds. Working in tandem with O’Donnell, Yoann Trellu a Berlin based French video artist preformed the work titled Keyframed, which translated the sound, sources into a projected video-work. Trellu used self-made software video systems, which incorporated of live web-cam feeds, overlaid with image editing and sampling; along with other digitally randomized effects – all adding up to a flashing and flickering delirium. Also presented at the venue was The Play Inside, and installation by German artist Dr Nexus. The work incorporated an upside down tent, suspended from the ceiling, from which speakers broadcasted
Dr Nexus, F.A.R. performance. Photo Tomasz Madajczak.jpg
noise and a loud, unsettling monologue spoken in German with a male voice. The work fore grounded the experience of being outside of both language and architecture. The opening night at the Galeria Boguslawa and Columba 4 Gallery was very well attended, with the audience pouring out onto the surrounding street. The event created a hot bed for art-world related dialogue and networking. However, one slight draw back of ‘Ar+=Adding 2010’, was a lack of general public access. In the days that followed the opening, without the regular presence of invigilators the exhibitions were closed to the cities inhabitants. Thus while this initiative indicated a certain opening up of Polish civic society, in the broader context of a nation still going through a transitional phase of democratization, it highlighted that the project organisers and art
Graffiti Workshop, Slaska St. Photo Tomasz Madajczak
Installation view - works by Robert Korzeniowski at Galeria Boguslawa. Photo Tomasz Madajczak.
The Polish city of Szczecin is located a mere 120 kilometres from
‘Ar+=Adding’ occupied three separate sites throughout Szczecin. In the city centre, the Galeria Boguslawa hosted the majority of the event’s two-dimensional works. Included in this show were works by polish artist Robert Korzeniowski (b. 1969), which referenced the stylistic freedom and anarchy of Dada. Korzeniowski’s practice encompasses print, painting and text based works; the works on show cast a cynical eye over the surrounding social realities and were imbued with a black humour – one example of the text within Korzeniowski’s work read (in translation)– ‘where there is no life in poison cities there may be love.’ The second site was a primary school playground, set amongst derelict socialist apartment blocks on Slaska Street, adjacent to the Galeria Boguslawa. This site was handed over to a team of polish graffiti artists by the Szczecin city council. The scale, colour and imagery of the resulting graffiti jam, added up to a bold declaration of a new cultural territory. The third site was the Columba 4 Gallery, which served as the central hub of the exhibition. The gallery is located in a reclaimed space on the first floor of a German built 19th century factory building. In addition to the gallery, a number of other spaces in the building were reclaimed and re-animated for the purposes of the exhibition. Besides the work on show, the venue itself evoked post-industrial decay. These reclaimed spaces in and around the Columba gallery played host to the more interactive and experimental media-based works and performances presented as part of ‘Ar+=Adding 2010’. The diversity of the work produced an event of extreme contrasts. Amsterdam-based polish artist Michal Jury’s looped black and white projection titled Tata Walking, 2010,elegantly reflected on the disappearance of the artist’s father’s memory. The film depicted a lonesome walking figure through and environment of wind, sand and waves. The viewer’s expectations were heightened and simultaneously deferred by the fact that the figure is walking, but never seems to
Berlin, yet up until the fall of the Berlin wall, these cities were worlds apart. In 1989 with the collapse of the Berlin wall, the situation in the city of Szczecin changed dramatically. From being a socialist-realist hinterland, Szczecin became a boarder opening to a country that had renewed its spirit for participation in international art scene. Szczecin turned to a new page in its history. Positivity around democratic and free market reforms of the 1990 paved the way for the possibility of an international art exhibition that sought to develop on regional context. Marking a point of departure and active transition, the exhibition ‘Horizon Line’ took place in Szczecin in 1995 giving the city the opportunity to appear on the international Baltic art scene. Around the same time Mare Articum, the international art magazine for the Baltic region was founded. Today, the cultural scene has grown in momentum – 2010 saw a bid by the city of Szczecin to be named European capital of culture in 2016. ‘Ar+=Adding 2010’ was an international collaborative project held in Szczecin (17 – 19 Sept 2010) which served to make visible the on-going cultural life of the city. The project was curated by Bartek Nowak, the founding member of the Polish organization TERMINAL08 ; Seamus O’Donnell of Berlin’s Salon Bruit (2).
(1)
‘Ar+=Adding 2010’ had evolved from the networks founded following the event, entitled ‘iD’ held the previous year in the neighbouring city of Gorzow in 2009 (3). Moving on from ‘iD’ and the exploration of identity, the thematic concerns of ‘Ar+=Adding 2010’ were focused on the notion of art itself. The title ‘Ar+=Adding’ referred to art as a transgressive activity–based on creating, discovering and sharing. Fifty artists living and working in different parts of Europe including Denmark, Germany, Holland, Ireland, and Poland came together to present work relating to this broad and open brief.
advance through this space.
scene still had some way to go in terms of incorporating public access and participation. Overall ‘Ar+=Adding’ functioned as an experimental initiative, representing possibilities and potentials for new departures for artistic activities within the city of Szczecin. On 18 September, Columba 4 Gallery hosted a conference to round up some of the issues addressed by ‘Ar+=Adding 2010’. Artists were given the opportunity to show case further aspects of their individual practices and other initiatives in which they were involved. Paul Prendergast, a Berlin based experimental filmmaker and film lecturer, presented a screening of key experimental and cutting edge film and video shorts. German artist Markus Schwill (aka Ohmnoise) talked about the DIENST bar initiative, a Berlin-based curatorial platform for noise. Other presentations were by Frank Bartz (Berlin); The Guesthouse,(Cork); Salon Bruit (Berlin) and Michal Jury (Amsterdam). With the support of Culture Ireland, Kunst Danish Arts Agency, and Szczecinskie Renowacyine, ‘Ar+=Adding 2010’, charged pockets within the city of Szczecin with potential – and the reverberations of the events, has resulted in plans being drawn up for next year’s event. With a palpable need and desire amongst artists for developing transformative spaces of art there seems to be little question that in future, these types of events will proliferate both within the city of Szczecin and throughout Poland. Maria Tanner Notes 1. Terminal08 is non-profit, independent organisation that focuses on supporting and organising creative, experimental, intercultural art exhibitions. Connects properties of artistic platform, nomadic gallery, research project and on-line artist’s network. www.terminal08.org 2. http://salonbruit.org/Salon Bruit is a Berlin based non-commercial forum for both audience and artists interested in experimental music and video works, as well as installations and workshops. 3. iD was an international site-specific project, taking place in Gorzow, Poland, from 5 –12 June 2009. 4. Organised by the then Cork-based artist Bartek Nowak (Terminal08) with SKART (Cork), Salon Bruit (Berlin), and Association Strefa Sztuki (Gorzow), and hosted by the Municipal Centre of Art (MOS) Gorzow. The project brought together over 50 artists from Ireland, England, Germany, Poland, US, Switzerland, Netherlands, France and Japan for a week-long series of exhibitions, events, talks, and presentations addressing the issue of artistic identity.
The Visual Artists' News Sheet
March – April 2011
Opportunities COMmissions COMMISSIONS IRELAND
23
Deadline
Web
audience and Aesthetica are keen
craft-ni-business-seminar
April 15 2011
http://holycrossnstramore.scoilnet.
to see entries from both new and
innovation-through-design/
Telephone
ie/blog/percent-for-art-info/
established filmmakers who are
353 (0)66 947 8818
Deadline
driving short film forward. The
21 March 2011 at 3pm .
winning film receives a prize
Presentation College
info@chaplinfilmfestival.com
(Shortlist & interview process
package including: £500 prize
Public Art Commission, Call for
Web
complete by 1 April 2011 ).
money; Screenings at film festivals
Painters
www.charliechaplincomedy
&
Printmakers:
Presentation
College,
Carlow.
Presentation
College,
Carlow
wishes to commission a single artist to make a series of twodimensional artworks in the media of painting or print. Selection will be made by way of a two stage open
across the UK, including Rushes
filmfestival.com
Groundwork NI Groundwork
NI:
Public
Art
Practical, hands-on 2-day courses covering all fundamental aspects
Soho Shorts (London), Glasgow
of woodcarving in a fully-equipped
Film
sculptor’s
Festival
(Glasgow)
and
workshop
with
Holy Cross
Commissions
artwork
Branchage (Jersey). A weekend
woodcarver/sculptor John Murphy.
Holy Cross National School has
commission for Braniel, East
filmmaking course, courtesy of
Choose from a number of set pieces
been in existence since January
Belfast: Commission for a new
Raindance. 12 months membership
or work on your own personal
1982. The school is a mixed, Roman
metalwork entrance / welcome
to
project. Numbers limited, all skill
Catholic school and currently
feature Value – £9,330-00 (inclusive
international
of VAT).
Inclusion on a DVD that will be
welcome. Lunch provided. €250
distributed to all Aesthetica readers
per 2-day course. Courses running:
Metal
Shooting
People, film
the
network.
levels
catered
for,
beginners
caters
listed artists will be invited to
Department of Education and
develop detailed proposals. The
Skills has sanctioned the building
for
East
(60,000 viewers). The runner-up
12 – 13 March; 16 – 17 April; 14 –
budget for the commission is
of a new school, containing 24
Belfast: Commission for a new
will also receive £250, as well as
15 May.
€28,000. A full briefing document
classrooms on a site adjacent to the
community mural Value – £3,570-
DVD publication. Films should be
Address
is
from
existing school building. As part of
00 (inclusive of VAT).
no longer than 25 minutes but can
publicartpresentation@gmail.
this new development we have
Metalwork commission for
be any genre including artists’ film,
com Please read the brief before
been awarded funding by the
Clonduff, East Belfast: Commission
music videos, dance films, horror
application. Initial expression of
‘Percent for Art Scheme’ to
for a new metal & stone entrance /
and comedy or anything you can
interest will be due 25 March
commission some artwork for the
welcome feature Value – £9,200-00
think of. Entry is £15 per film. No
2011.
school.
(inclusive of VAT) Download full
limit to the number of entries
Holy Cross National School
artists brief at: www.groundworkni.
permitted.
Telephone
would like to commission a Visual
co.uk – details under ‘latest news’
Web
086 8164983
Artist to design, create and develop
Contact
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artwork for an enclosed courtyard,
Melanie Rintoul.
shortfilm
of part-time courses including non-
publicartpresentation@gmail.com
intended for use as an outdoor
Deadline
credit and award bearing courses
classroom. We would like this
melanierintoul@groundworkni.
31 April 2011.
offering progression. A series of
work to be informed by the local
co.uk
available
Web www.presentationcollegecarlow. com
Deadline (expression of interest) 25 March 2011
for
651
pupils.
The
Mural artwork commission Clonduff,
environment, the ethos and the
Telephone
history of the school.
02890 749494
The artwork must be able to engage children from Junior Infants
The Charlie Chaplin Comedy Film festival, which aims to highlight comedy film that reflects courage, spirit and elegance, will take place in the seaside village of Waterville, Co. Kerry, from the 25 – 28 August 2011. The festival is inviting artists from around the world to tender for the creation of an award to be known as “The Charlie”. The Award will be presented to the best comedy film of the festival and will like Chaplin’s films stand to the test of time. “The aspects of Charlie that we’d like to project with the award are his artistic courage, his pioneering spirit and the elegance of his filmmaking”, says festival chairman Albert Walsh. The tender is open to established and emerging artists over the age of 18 and will be publicised on an international level. The winning artist tender will receive a prize of €2,000. Results announced on April 29th 2011 and a prize of €2000 awaiting the winner as well as the opportunity to attend the awards ceremony on the 27th of August 2011. All participants have the opportunity to display their entry at the local exhibition centre in Waterville during the festival. Entries will be judged by a panel, which will include members of the Chaplin family who now carry on Charlie’s legacy.
that the work is child friendly,
John Murphy, Clahane, Ballyard, Tralee, Co. Kerry
Telephone 066 7126901 / 087 2162196
Email murphysculpt@eircom.net CEAD EASTER The National College of Art and Design provides an extensive range
3-day Easter courses will be held at CONFERENCES conferences
Deadline
CRAFT Innovation
Monday 14 March 2011
Craft NI is inviting designer-
up to Senior Level. It is important Chaplin Award
Do look at the advertisments in this VAN, also check our web site & subscribe to our e-bulletin for further opportunities.
Woodcarving Kerry
submission and up to four short-
Presentation College, Carlow
Don’t forget
COURSES courses
INternational COMMISSIONS INTERNATIONAL COMmissions
makers, applied artists and craft
the Thomas Street campus 18 – 20 April 2011. Information and an application form is available to view and download from the college website (life-long learning link).
businesses to attend the next
Web
seminar in business support –
www.ncad.ie
Innovation through Design, 11am
Deadline
London 2012 ‘Unlimited’
The commissioned artist will
– 1pm on 23 February 2011 at the
8 April 2011.
The third and final round of
be experienced in delivering
Ulster Museum.
commissions for the ‘Unlimited’
complete projects in a fit-out /
This practical seminar will
series as part of the celebrations for
construction environment and will
look at developing new products
the 2012 London Olympic and
demonstrate
and services that can enhance a
bright, tactile and weather resistant. The artwork should incorporate seating and a simple water feature.
their
ability
CEAD SUMMer Summer courses – The National College of Art and Design provides
to
Paralympic Games is now open for
facilitate high quality outcomes
designer-maker’s portfolio practice
applications. London 2012, the UK
working with a specific professional
with guest speaker Angela O’Kelly.
Arts Councils and the British
brief (within a deadline). We are
Angela O’ Kelly is a graduate
Council want to commission high
open to proposals from all visual
of Jewellery and Silversmithing at
quality, ambitious work by disabled
arts disciplines and will consider
the Edinburgh College of Art with
and deaf artists that can be
applications on the basis of meeting
an MA of Arts Management and
experienced in a wide range of
the aims of the project.
Cultural Policy. Her work crosses
spaces. They are encouraging
boundaries of jewellery, sculpture
disabled and Deaf artists to push
to commission an artist to deliver
and textile art. O’Kelly also lectures
beyond
best
this project between April and end
part-time and has curated several
alongside Paralympic athletes, by
Preparation, Painting Practice,
of July 2011.
exhibitions of contemporary craft.
creating work which opens doors,
Drawing / Painting / Looking,
The module runs from 11am –
changes minds, and inspires new
Colour Theory Workshop, Drawing
project is €20,000. This includes
1pm with an opportunity to hear
and
collaborations.
the costs of materials, artist’s fees,
direct from Angela about her first-
Introduction
Deadline
artist’s
hand experience of portfolio
Etching and Dry Point Technique,
18 April 2011
working and following the module,
Photography, Printed Textiles,
development, artist’s insurance, all
Jewellery and Stone Setting,
fabrication costs, supply and
participants can access some 1:1
unlimited@artscouncil.org.uk
Jewellery Casting, Stained Glass
installation, travel, and any other
input from 1pm – 2pm. 11-11.30am
Web
Introduction by Francis Verling-
and
costs incurred in the production of
www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/
the artwork/s. The artist will be
Business Adviser 11.30 – 12.30
information and a complete listing
unlimited
Guest Speaker Angela O’Kelly 12.30
Holy Cross School would like
The total budget for the
research
and
design
their
personal
responsible for meeting all of these costs out of the total budget allocated. All
of
the
necessary
information, including application forms, plans & photos of the site can be downloaded from our school blog.
– 1pm Q&A / Discussion 1-2pm MOVING IMAGE
One-to-one support with Angela &
MOVING IMAGE
Francis. Cost: £25. Book online or contact Craft NI:
Aesthetica The
Aesthetica
Short
Film
Competition 2011 is now open for
info@craftni.org
entries. It is an opportunity to get
Web
your work broadcast to a wider
www.craftni.org/opportunities/
an extensive range of part-time courses including non-credit and award bearing courses offering progression. The 2011 Summer Course brochure is now available to view and download from the college website. Short summer courses being offered for 2011 include: Portfolio
Research
in to
Ceramics.
Notebooks, Watercolour,
For
further
please visit the CEAD link on NCAD’s website where you can download
a
prospectus
application form.
Web www.ncad.ie
Deadline 24 June 2011.
and
24
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
March – April 2011
opportunities
Social Practice Limerick School of Art and Design, LIT, offers an international MA in Art and Design programme, which focuses on Social Practice and the Creative
Environment
(MA
SPACE). This MA programme is distinctive in that; It is focused on Social Practice; It is delivered through theory and practice; It is open to practitioners of art and design; It is also open to experienced graduates outside of the art and design fields. The MA SPACE programme is tailored towards the development of a sustainable artistic praxis rather than training in certain media or genres, challenging students to think conceptually through a strong theoretical and critical grounding and work creatively in new ways in the area of social practice. The programme is delivered by both LSAD staff and a varied range of national and international visiting lecturer specialists through an exciting mix of active learning, field research and engagement in the wider world. Application forms and
information
sheets
are
available from –
Web www.lit.ie/departments/artdesign/ masters-space/index.html
Address Muriel Dinneen, Limerick School of Art & Design LIT, Clare Street, Limerick, Ireland.
Telephone
self-starter with the ability to
language), music, opera, theatre,
fringeartsbath-wheredowego@
form, and using only digital
rate to all the digital media
prioritise
team
visual arts and traditional arts. The
yahoo.com
documentation are considered.
equipment. We are looking for
environment, has a responsible
projects can take place in a diverse
Web
Address
artists who are working on projects
attitude and values attention to
range of social and community
www.leaveathought.co.uk
Nordisk kunstnarsenter Dalsåsen,
or artists who want to experiment
detail. This role will provide
contexts eg arts and health; arts in
Deadline
6963 Dale i Sunnfjord, Norway
with the resources to develop their
excellent experience for those
prisons; arts and older people; arts
1 April 2011
Telephone
practice.
wishing to work in the arts or
and cultural diversity.
within
a
tourism sectors. All placements are
Phase
One,
Research
&
Deadline 5pm on the 1 May 2011
Development, is open to artists
residency@nkdale.no
residency and rationale for why it
who wish to research and develop
Web
is appropriate for your practice and
accommodation, and if you wish to
a project in a community context.
www.nkdale.no/art_artists.html
/ or project; what you can gain
take up an internship offer you
Maximum time frame is 3 months.
will be responsible for these areas
The maximum amount awarded in
yourself.
Phase One is €1,000.
expenses
Phase
Web
One,
Research
&
w w w. t h e m o d e l . i e / a b o u t /
Development/Mentoring is open
opportunities#job2
to artists who wish to develop a
Deadline
community based project and who
March 15th, 2011
have identified an artist mentor they want to work with during the
Fringe
research and development phase.
Dublin Fringe Festival are currently
The
inviting applications for our 2011
€1500,which includes €500 fee
festival internships in the areas of
payable to the mentor.
Programming, Artist Liaison and
Phase Two, Project Realisation, is
Production. These positions are for
open to communities of interest or
anyone who is interested in getting
place (or their representative
a working knowledge of how a
organisations), for a project of
festival is put together. These are
between 6 weeks and 5 months
maximum
award
is
is to foster creativity and
length), must be cued to pre-
and live art performance to:
excellence, to provide a place to
selected piece; Do not send us
work and regenerate. To that end it
original artworks or master copies
operates
of videos.
Email lacatedralstudios@yahoo.com
Web www.lacatedralstudios.org
Deadline on-going
a
residency
programme.
Please post applications we
While
residents are primarily visual
do
artists,
applications.
they
also
include
not
accept
electronic
To
return
photographers, writers, poets,
documentation please include a
screenwriters,
artists,
separate envelope with sufficient
composers,
postage. Otherwise, you can
architects, and their peers, from
arrange to pick up material from
Ireland and abroad.
the Fire Station.
musicians
Residencies RESIDENCIES
multi-disciplinary
applied and
Office Manager, Fire Station Artists’
Monday 14 March 5pm and
10, 2011
food and supplies. The selection
Studios, 9-11 Lower Buckingham
We’re looking for dedicated, hard
Monday 27 June 5pm.
committee meets twice a year.
Street, Dublin 1
working and motivated team
Contact
architects and curators are eligible
Web
players to join us in making this
Katherine Atkinson
to apply for residency. The selection
Mary O’Connell at cillrialaigarts@
www.firestation.ie/facilities
year’s festival the best yet. The roles
Telephone
is based on artistic merits and the
gmail.com
Telephone
currently open for application are:
01-4736600
quality
Address
Programming Intern (closing date
Applicants from outside the Nordic
The
Friday 18th Feb) ; Artist Liaison
support@create-ireland.ie.
region are expected to be fluent in
Ballinskelligs, Co. Kerry
English. Please note that the
Telephone
program is not available for
066 947 9297
students.
Residencies are offered free of
Professional artists, designers,
INternational Exhibitions International exhibitions
of
artistic
practice.
Cill
Project,
Residency periods are 2 or 3
Purchasing Scheduling (closing
Deadline
time and length of stay in the
March 15, 2011 / 15 September
–
Company
Support
Bath is synonymous with its Roman Baths and perceived healing powers. ‘Where do you go to be healed?’ Is a project devised as part of Fringe Arts Bath 2011. Inspired by the legacy of the Roman baths the aim is to question our collective ideas surrounding the notion of healing and remedy. We would like your thoughts, words, photographs, drawings,
video,
and
music,
anything that conveys your ideas
Funding / Awards / Bursaries
FUNDING / AWARDS
of healing. This might be a line from a song, a special place, an old photograph or a strong memory. A
Community Arts
Council
Artist
in
the
Community Scheme 2011 – Managed by Create, the national development
agency
for
collaborative arts. Twice yearly, the Arts Council offers grants to enable artists and communities of place/ or interest to work collaboratively on arts projects. The scheme covers all art forms –architecture, circus, street art and spectacle, dance, film, literature (Irish and English
selection of these will be taken forward as part of the project, which will culminate in a free publication. How to apply? Send: A short statement of your work describing how it relates to the projects concept, with title, materials, dimensions, size and date if relevant. - relevant material (images, writing etc.) sent as PDF and no larger than 1MB.
cillrialaigarts@gmail.com
application but note that the NKD reserves the right to suggest a different period or/and length of residency. The residency at the Nordic Artists’ Centre includes a monthly grant of 6700 NOK, living and working space, as well as covered travel expenses up to 5500 NOK. Artists’ houses are fully equipped; studios are50m 2, with a wireless Internet access available in both houses and studios. Application should include: a
CV
containing
contact
information; p Project proposal for the
residency ;
short
artist
statement ; e examples of previous work; up to 15 images (JPEG, 72 dpi, max 1MB per image) and/or Video/sound work (edited to max. 3 min) ; Link to a website. All submitted material should be Macintosh
compatible.
Application form is available for downloading, please send the application
by
only
applications using the application
Email artadmin@firestation.ie STUDIOS STUDIOS
months. Please indicate preferred
get Healed?
Closing date:
+353 (0)1 8069010 Rialaig
Friday 8 Apr); Production Intern –
of The Model to all visitors and
essential. The ideal candidate is a
music, exhibitions/installations
Deadlines
the brand ideals and the experience
computer and digital skills are
show reel (up to 5 minutes in
positions within the festival team.
This is an important role as you
verbal communication skills, and
The purpose of Cill Rialaig
opportunities to fulfill various key
lian@fringefest.com
advantage. Good written and
performing arts, experimental
Address
Marketing Department.
activities of The Model is an
work-in-progress. 6-8 images; DVD
provide their own transportation,
applicants
Lian Bell (Programme Manager) on
A strong interest in the arts and the
2011 to December 2012.
2012 Application Deadline: April
successful
Intern will support the work of our
working with, the public is critical.
projects in the field of the
jpegs (cd) of previous work and/or
the
interest in, and a proven ability of
for residencies for September
Thursday 7th April 2011, 3pm
on a 3 day per week basis. The
Excellent people skills and an
curators are invited to submit
Documentation of work: photos/
service fee for utilities. Residents
www.fringefest.com/backstage
Manager.
west Kerry invites applications
Artistin-residence
Marketing Assistant Intern to work
Co-ordinator and the Events
this year. Creative groups and
the duration of the residency;
maximum award of €10,000.
Web
Marketing
including site-specific projects, for
are hugely popular and will give
seeking
the
Cill Rialaig The Cill Rialaig Project in south-
charge, although there is a small
on the roles and how to apply see:
of
accepting proposals and ideas,
Nordic Artists’ Centre Open Call:
The Model, Sligo is currently
support
Artist’s
months and 9 months with a
announced soon. For full details
potential visitors through your
residency;
Nordic Residency
Marketing
will be helping to communicate
the
statement; Work plan proposed for
and / or a project of between 6
Apr); Marketing internships will be
a
from
space of La Catedral Studios is now
with a maximum award of €5000,
Technical (closing date Friday 8
for
The Back Loft, the multipurpose
Internships with ABSOLUT Fringe
Intern
applications
BACK LOFT
not ‘make the tea’ internships!
date Friday 8 Apr); Production
INTERNSHIPS internships
residencies: Letter of interest in the
or
travel
Operations Intern (closing date
muriel.dinneen@lit.ie
offer
Friday 8 Apr); Artist Liaison
Exhibitions Ireland exhibitions
unpaid posts, The Model can not
Preparations Intern (closing date
+353 (0)61-208871
Application criteria for both
+47 577 36 200 / 201
Enterprise Offices Sligo As part of the Northwest’s creative hub, The Model, home of The Niland Collection houses six
Fire Station
Creative Enterprise office spaces.
Firestation Artists Studios, Dublin
Suitable for media, film, design,
is offering 2 Residencies.
music or other creative industries,
Sculpture
Workshop
these workspaces are available for
Residencies and Bursary: We are
rent.
offering 2 sculpture workshop
enterprises are prioritised but all
residences starting in June 2011
interested parties are welcome.
Professional
creative
with a bursary of €500 each. This
The Model is one of Ireland’s
residency is for 4-6 months and the
leading centres for contemporary
artists will have full access to the
art. Acknowledged internationally
sculpture workshop, part time
for its standards of excellence, The
workshop manager, workshop
Model is distinctive as a multi-
equipment and other resources in
disciplinary arts centre. The Model
the Fire Station. We are looking for
houses a major art collection of
artists who are working on projects
national importance (the Niland
or artists who want to experiment
Collection),
with the resources to develop their
galleries, innovative music and
practice.
film programmes, an integrated
Fire Station Digital Media
contemporary
education programme and artist
Residencies: We are offering 4/6
studio
digital media residencies between
Enterprise Office Spaces have
May 2011 and November 2011 for
access to broadband.
duration of up to 4 months each
Address
and with full access to the Resource
Emer
Centre, part time resource area
Development Manager, The Model,
manager and access at subsidised
The Mall, Sligo
spaces.
All
Marron,
Creative
General/
The Visual Artists' News Sheet
March – April 2011
25
opportunities Telephone
Closing date
Cavan, Work and Live
Exhibiting
(071) 914 1405
March 15th, 2011
Purpose-built studio and full use of
Applying for Awards, Bursaries &
Address
warm comfortable country house.
Grants
emer.marron@themodel.ie
Studio Applications, The Model,
E80 per week. Long or short term.
You may avail of a copy of the
Carty (Spoiltchild Design). Thurs
The winner will receive £300
The Mall, Sligo, Ireland
Share large house with owner and
pack for free by joining Visual
14 Apr (10.30 – 16.30). Belfast
prize money. In addition the
Web
one other artist (when let –
Artists
Exposed.
winning entry will be published in
www.themodel.ie
presently just the owner lives
membership is just €25 per year) or
Sustaining your Practice.
the Visual Artists News Sheet and
there) with your own private and
for the nominal fee of €5.
Rosie Burrows . Thur 28 Apr -(10.30
on the new OBG website. The
emermarron@themodel.ie
separate studio. Well lit with
Membership information www.
– 16.30). Belfast Exposed.
judging panel will be announced
fireplace
visualartists.ie
House to Let Beautiful & tranquil house to let in the country – near Killucan Village, Westmeath. House comprises of 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, study, cozy lounge with multi-fuel stove, TV lounge & kitchen. Also 2 lightfilled spacious studios. Set on 1 acre of land including vegetable garden, raspberry, apple, plum & gooseberry trees. Also – established business opportunity exists teaching art & craft classes to children aged 5 – 14yrs old. Fully or partially furnished including dishwasher, washing machine & tumble dryer. Intruder alarm, smoke & carbon dioxide detector. Central heating throughout via Enviromax Condensing boiler with zone control and winter/summer function. Open fire replaced with a multi-fuel stove in lounge for a cozy & warm ambience. Day/ Night electrical saving meter installed to facilitate power saving. Plenty of parking space with a drive-through entrance & exit. Broadband, Internet & Sky available. 2 miles to local school & Killucan Village. 37 miles from Dublin City Centre.
and
French
doors.
with
Galleries;
Ireland
(student
Residence is very quiet, private and
We would like to sublet our
surrounded by trees. Lough Sheelin
copy of the pack contact Visual
May, A Common Room discussion
competition OBG is hosting a series
250sqm apartment and studio in
two miles away. One hour and
Artists Ireland
event. Ards Art Centre. FREE.
of free critical talks and Q&A
Berlin-Schöneberg because we are
fifteen minutes from Dublin, M3
Telephone
Imagination Box: Creative
travelling to Japan.
motorway most of the way.
01 8722296
ideas for work with groups . Thurs
including
Drumroragh, Mountnugent, Co.
12 May. Venue TBC.
journalist, William Crawley and
Cavan.
info@visualartists.ie
April until middle of July 2011: ideal for two persons -4 studio
Telephone
spaces -two
086 841 4421
separate
Join us Become a part of something. Visual
b e d r o o m s - l i v i n g
room -kitchen -toilet -bathroom
matthewsfineart@aol.com
(with tub) -large hall (ca. 22m long
Deadline
x 2,80m wide) -fully furnished for a
Available now
Artists Ireland is the sum of its parts – Artists. Ireland
walk
to
S-Bahn
and
train-
station) -1,300 Euro per month -also we would like you to make a
represents
a
diverse
membership base of artists working
nice and comfortable stay -very good transport connection (3 min.
Visual Artists
in all visual arts mediums; in every
Visual Artists Ireland VAI OPPS
part of Ireland; and representing a rich generational mix.
VAI Student Pack
Join Visual Artists Ireland
The Visual Artists Ireland Student
today – listings, resources, news,
deposit for any risks.
Pack has been put together for the
training, advocacy, opportunities,
benefit of visual and applied arts
jens@center-berlin.com
information.
students and recent graduates
Web
making
http://visualartists.ie
the
transition
into
Dublin city centre – North Great
Professional workshops
courses available than ever before,
Web
Georges Street – with lovely
Visual Artists Ireland has partnered
the number of aspiring artists
http://hilltophouse.weebly.com
outdoor space. Bills included,
with a range of organisations to
continues to grow. The visual arts
Telephone
wireless Internet.
provide its spring season of
attract many talented and creative
Bernhard 086 772 8826
Telephone
Professional
people so the sector can be very
Workshops and events. These
competitive.
include the following:
087-1231216
Model Studios
Seven state-of-the-art studios are
patriciaboconnell@yahoo.co.uk
available for rent at The Model in Sligo. Applications are now being rentals
are
Sun, Dublin
twelve-month
Spacious studio available to rent at
durations commencing June 1st
Sun Studios, North Brunswick
2011. Fees for the studios are €250
Street (Smithfield Area), Dublin 7.
per month which includes utilities
€135 PM.
and
Contact Paul Cronly
broadband.
Studios
are
unfurnished, have 24 hour access
Telephone
and measure approx 7 x 4 metres.
0861098128
Studios can be shared by two artists
each maximum. Applicants should
paulcronly@hotmail.com
note that the studios are not residential and there is no parking.
Development
The Visual Artists Ireland
Proposals. Kerry McCall &
Student Pack is intended to give
Brian Connolly. Wed 16 Mar (10.30
students and recent graduates an
– 16.30). Ards Art Centre.
idea of the practical areas they will
Preparing
Proposals.
need to consider and the options
Marianne O’Kane-Boal & Aisling
open
O’Beirne . Thurs 24 Mar (10.30 –
to
them
following
graduation.
16.30). Belfast Exposed.
Visual Artists Ireland: Student
Preparing
Proposals.
Pack covers a wide range of topics
Marianne O’Kane-Boal . Monday
and features a range of detailed
28 Mar (10.30 – 16.30). The VOID.
texts and articles including: The
Artists Funding & Supports.
Business of Art; Artist profiles; top
Arts
tips
Ireland. Thurs 31 Mar (10.30
for
students;
Career
Development; Copyright; Careers Paths; Postgraduate Education; Training
&
Scholarships;
Council
of
Northern
–16.30). Belfast Exposed. New Media: Peer Critique. Saoirse Higgins. Tuesday 8 Apr
To
accompany
this
sessions with prominent art critics broadcaster
and
Rules of Engagement: a
Professor Liam Kelly of University
roundtable on socially engaged
of Ulster on the work of Philip
practice . Date tbc (10.30 – 16.30).
Napier.
Community Arts Forum.
Please forward reviews, along
Booking – as places are
with
your
name,
telephone
limited early booking is advised.
number, email and postal address
Places are only guaranteed upon
via email or post.
receipt of payment along some
Contact
background information which we
Ciara Hickey, Education Officer
will request from you prior to the
workshops. Payment can be made
chickey@ormeaubaths.co.uk
online. VAI can also accept Credit
Address
or Debit card payments over the
Ormeau Baths Gallery, 18a Ormeau
phone.
Avenue, Belfast, BT2 8HS.
Workshop Fees – workshop
With more visual and applied arts
for
in February 2011.
Berlin Sublet
3 months from middle of
Visual and Applied Arts. Wed 11
making the work.
To purchase an individual
Spacious studio space to let in
Studio
processes and thinking behind
Mobility & Exchange in the
professional practice in Ireland.
available
the Terror’ with references to the
Studios, Belfast. Promoting your Work. Mary
Nth Great Georges St.
accepted.
(10.30am – 16.30). Digital Art
Deadline
fees range from €40 – 60 in the
4pm. 18 March
Republic of Ireland and £20/25 in
Web
Northern Ireland concession rates
www.ormeaubaths.co.uk
apply to VAI and NSF and DAS members. Payment can be made by cheque or postal order made out to Visual Artists Ireland.
Web http://visualartists.ie/education/
Writing Competition Ormeau Baths Gallery is pleased to announce a new critical writing competition in partnership with Visual
Artists
Ireland.
The
WATCH OUT!
competition aims to encourage, support and promote critical discussion of the Visual Arts in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to all emerging critics and is based on Philip Napier’s current exhibition, which runs until 19th March 2011. To enter, please submit a
We strongly advise readers to verify all details to their own satisfaction before forwarding art work, slides or monies etc.
1,000 word review of ‘Expecting
Irish Bronze Kilmainham Art Foundry Ltd
T/A
IRISH BRONZE
for sculptors seeking the perfect cast
telephone: e-mail: website:
Willie Malone 01 4542032. irishbronze@eircom.net www.irishbronze.ie
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.
Fr VA EE M i sT WiT EM u h BE DE rs NT hi p
your qualification is just the first step to becoming a professional artist WHAT is youR NexT T sTep? THE VISUAL ARTISTS IRELAND STUDENT PACK K HAs THe ANsWeRs
VisuAl ARTisTs iRelAND: sTuDeNT 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. With more visual and applied arts courses available than ever before, the number of aspiring artists continues to grow. The visual arts attract many talented and creative people so the sector can be very competitive. Visual Artists Ireland: Student Pack is intended to give students and recent graduates an idea of the practical areas they will need to consider and the options open to them following graduation. 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 ₏25 per year) or for the 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
The Visual Artists' News Sheet
March – April 2011
27
CONFERENCE
Productive Reflection Anne Lynott reports on ‘The Museum Revisited’ – a seminar on new institutionalism and contemporary art galleries and museums, held at the Science Gallery, Dublin 16 October 2010.
‘New institutionalism’ has been a buzz phrase in European curatorial discourse since the last decade. The late 1990s saw previously independent curators beginning to move to key posts within major art institutions (1). And by the new millennium, developments were taking place in how galleries and museums were being operated. This ‘new institutionalism’ was characterised by self-reflexivity and an interest in alternative curatorial models, particularly those aimed at debate and dialogue with other fields of knowledge. A defining characteristic was that exhibitions no longer had precedence over other types of activity. Instead, equal importance was placed on discourse, research, analysis and thinking about contemporary art, as much as presenting it. As Claire Doherty has put it “new institutionalism responds to (some even say assimilates) the working methods of artistic practice and furthermore, artist-run initiatives, whilst maintaining a belief in the gallery, museum or arts centre, and by association their buildings, as a necessary locus of, or platform for, art.”(2) European institutions, which have always been less dependent on private donors than their American counterparts, have had more freedom to make programming changes along new institutional lines. Nonetheless, the key ideas behind new institutionalism – self-reflexivity and responding to new artistic practices, have made it an attractive model to many curators in the United States. Addressing this issue, Amanda Ralph of IADT, Dun Laoghaire organised ‘The Museum Revisited’ a seminar that explored the relevance of these new forms of curatorial practice. The event featured presentations by two US based curators, both working in Los Angeles – Anne Ellegood (Senior Curator at the Hammer Museum) and Shamim M Momin (Director/Curator of LAND, Los Angeles Nomadic Division). The event took place on 16 October, at The Science Gallery in Dublin and was presented by Culture Ireland in association with the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles and IADT’s MA in Visual Arts Practices (MAVIS). Anne Ellegood began by sketching out an overview of the Hammer Museum’s structure and history. The museum was founded in 1990 by Dr Armand Hammer, a private collector who wanted to make his collection available for the public to view. Three weeks after the opening of the museum, Dr. Hammer died – all construction was halted and the building was left unfinished. In 1994, after two years of negotiations, a partnership with University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) was finalised. The university assumed the management and operations of the museum, and relocated its collections, the staff of UCLA’s Wight Art Gallery and the Grunwald Centre for Graphic Arts to the museum’s building. The director of the Wight Art Gallery, Henry Hopkins, led the museum until his retirement in 1998, after which Ann Philbin was named director. Ellegood attributes the Hammer Museum today as the one, which Ann Philbin created – changing from a museum showing travelling exhibitions in the beginning to one that honours active engagement with LA artists and publics. Alternative spaces were a template for the director, who began her career in the late ‘70s with internships at the New Museum of Contemporary Art and at Artists Space in New York. “Those were totally formative times for me” she told the New York Times in 2004. “That really explains why I can’t get away from the artist as the central figure” (3). The institution strives for the museum to be a gathering place, a kind of town hall with different options for people; not just exhibitions, but events, screenings, discussions and activities which make the museum a place that people will come back to again and again. Co-ordinated by Anne Ellegood herself, the Hammer Projects offer a dense programme of exhibitions with up to five running at a time, concurrent with the museum’s main programme. These single-artist shows aim to highlight the careers of established LA and international artists whom Ellegood believes to be under-recognised. She cited Friedrich Kunath, Larry Johnson and Tom Marioni as recent Hammer Project artists.
As a collection-based institution the Hammer seems to be engaged
became a structural analogue for LAND. By taking the experience of
in a balancing act between traditional formats of programming and
qualitative rigour from the Whitney, and also finding a way to
new radical elements. And as with many European institutions
represent expanded artistic practices (those that may include music,
throughout the last decade, the Hammer curators have explored
books and performances as well as paintings, video and other works)
different ways to approach the display of their collections through the
Momin is attempting to allow disparate elements fit together in a more
involvement of artists in the curatorial process. The series of projects
holistic sense. The idea is to combine the institutional and qualitative
entitled ‘Houseguests’ invites local artists to curate a show from the
rigour with a more responsive, nimble way of working. In this way,
museum’s Grunwald Collection of prints and drawings. These
LAND can be tamed in to whatever is happening with the artists. Also,
exhibitions allow viewers to examine how artists think about
not being fixed to a particular site allows LAND to communicate with
exhibitions and art history, whilst also drawing a contemporary art
several remote audiences, which in some ways are more receptive than
audience’s attention to historical works.
a local exhibition audience would be.
The museum also runs a public programme of 250 events per year
Momin described LAND as having three levels, though when one
in the courtyard level theatre. Events in the theatre include screenings,
looks in to it, there seems to be much more going on with each event
talks and discussions on topical socio-political subjects and are
and exhibition expanding or developing into new stages. First there is
organised by a new Public Engagement department. This was created
VIA, which launched with LAND in January 2010. This was a suite of
when the museum decided to actively tackle issues that might enhance
temporary public projects by four Mexican artists whose work was
the museum experience for visitors by hiring a curator of public
selected based on a unique and distinct relationship between the
engagement and visitor services.
artists’ practices and the dynamic site of the LA cityscape. This was
The Hammer’s Artist-in-Residence scheme has also activated new
followed by VIA Stage 2, which consisted of staggered launches of new
ways for public engagement with recent resident Mark Allen creating
commissions throughout the year emphasising the conceptual basis of
numerous novel scenarios in the museum. He orchestrated a ‘Dream In’
the project by spreading it not only across space, but time as well. The
where people were invited to sleep in the gallery and have their dreams
other levels of LAND mentioned by Momin are LAND 1.0, a series of
analysed in the morning, and ‘Micro Concerts’ in the coat check room,
multi-artist/multi-show events, and LAND 2.0, which consists of one
where a violinist and a bass player would play for a couple of minutes
off exhibitions. The group also run Nomadic Nights, which is a
to an audience of two in the tiny space. By inviting an electric guitarist
monthly, salon-style event in roaming locations throughout Los
to follow and play for visitors one at a time around the museum and
Angeles and Frame Rate, a programming series based on moving image
installing ping pong tables on the museum’s balcony, Allen
works.
demonstrated the museum as a space where the public can engage
New institutionalism is institutional critique practised from the
with art in different ways and how the museum can respond to new
inside, examining and questioning the ideological structures through
working methods of artists.
which they operate. Both the Hammer Museum and LAND are
During her presentation, Anne Ellegood attributed much of the
re-shaping museum and art-viewing cultures in Los Angeles through
Hammer’s success in finding new and better ways to engage with
values of fluidity, discursivity, participation and production. The
artists and publics to their strong relationship with and respect for the
Hammer is following trends of large European museums, using non-
museum’s Artists Council. This is a group of 12 artists, on paid three-
exhibition centred programming to attract larger and more diverse
year contracts, who meet three to four times a year and advise museum
audiences, as a way to sustain the museum. LAND may be looking to
staff on what should happen around the museum. The council is
smaller institutions in Europe whose curatorial aims were more
divided into two groups, the ‘innies’ and the ‘outies’, defining those that
intellectually and politically directed. Both LA entities are using these
are interested in what is happening in the museum and those interested
event-based curatorial strategies as a way to move beyond the traditional
in the museum reaching out to the community.
concept of exhibition as the display of artworks in a white cube.
Most of the European curators associated with new institutionalism
The productive nature of this institutional reflection, with
had previously working independently and had considerable profiles
curators working hand-in-hand with artists, provides an openness,
for their freelance work. However Shamim M Momin, Director and
which may not have existed before. Local artists can imagine their
Curator of Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND), arrived at her
institution to be what they need it to be, or ‘home’, as Anne Ellegood
current position with considerable institutional experience under her
described the Hammer for LA artists. Although both Ellegood and
belt. Talking through her curatorial background, which included 12
Momin state they are ‘following the artists’, the spreading trends of
years at the Whitney Museum of Contemporary Art in New York –
New Institutionalism were motivated by curators infused with political
including the co-curation of the 2004 and 2008 Whitney Biennial
consciousness and theoretical curiosity. They had a desire to connect
exhibitions. Momin was also branch director for eight years of the
with broader socio-political issues, which, it could be argued, now
Whitney Museum at Altria, which was a glass-enclosed public space on
inform artistic practices. Whichever way one sees the development of
42nd Street in New York. She cited the experience of working with
artistic and curatorial practices over the last twenty years, it is clear that
artists on a commission basis for the biennials and the quasi-public
working together in the institutional framework offers greater
space of the Altria as two important elements that fed in to the setting
theoretical consciousness, critical awareness and political sensitivity
up of LAND.
for the artist, curator and public alike.
One of the difficulties for the European new institutional curators
Anne Lynott
of the ‘00s was the association of the museum building itself with traditional exhibition formats. The restrictive nature of the building spurred curators to find other ways of presenting work both spatially and temporally. LAND, a non-profit public art organisation that, as its name suggests, is building towards the notion of decentralisation through integrating its nomadic endeavours into the cultural ecology of Los Angeles. Momin considers the growth of the LA art community interesting in terms of its influences on larger practices, and this
Notes 1) Several New Institutional examples of the 1990s and 2000s included Künstlerhaus Stuttgart under Ute Meta Bauer, Nicolaus Schafhausen took over Kunstverein Frankfurt, Maria Hlavajova took on BAK in Utrecht, Nicolas Bourriaud and Jérôme Sans became the founding directors of Palais de Tokyo and Catherine David, Charles Esche and Maria Lind took charge of Witte de With in Rotterdam, Rooseum in Malmo and Kunstverein München respectively. 2) Clare Doherty, The institution is dead! Long live the institution! Contemporary Art and New Institutionalism Engage Review, Issue 15, Summer 2004 3) Anne Philbin, http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/06/arts/design/06hamm.html?pagewanted=1&_ r=1
28
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
March – April 2011
VAI regional contacts
Regional Perspectives
West of Ireland Aideen Barry
Is it a place for your paintings you want?
Reports from Visual Artists Ireland's Regional Contacts
Antrim Laura Graham Northwest Damien Duffy
Managing to Innovate & Create
Derry: UK City of Culture
With that slight feeling of dejection and demoralisation that hangs over the end of the ‘festive’ season, combined with looming arts cuts, it
It came as no surprise as 2011 began that the dissident republican
would be understandable if artists and galleries in and around Belfast
element detonated a bomb at the door of the City of Culture office in
were a bit flat, but on the contrary, they are still managing innovative
Derry/ Londonderry. As predicted they are using the link to Britain as a
and interesting shows and opportunities for artists, emerging or
platform for their retrogressive agenda. The widespread public
otherwise.
condemnation of the bomb was a greater reflection of the change that
‘And now I see a darkness’, the new show in Catalyst (21 Jan – 10
has occurred with respect to public acceptance of the title, despite the
Feb) is one such example. It seems the blessing on the gallery’s new
UK prefix in the designation. There are for many more pressing issues
location by the flooding waters of Poseidon, sometime between
such as the current economic mire, North and South.
Christmas and the New Year, may bode well for their future. If this
The action has more parallels with those of the lone London nail bomber David Copeland, bombing Soho, Brixton and Bricklane. His
show is anything to go by, it was, no pun intended, an immersive experience.
solo campaign targeted diversity and ethnicity, similarly here it is
Dark, smoky and atmospheric with the evidence of an eight -hour
more likely some individual under the aegis of Republican purity sees
non-stop performance from the previous Sunday situated (if you had
UK/ Culture as a sufficient enough threat to their micro-fascism that
mole like ability to move around without light) next to an inspirational
its deemed a suitable target.
installation of altered states created by Just Over Seven Collective as a
An assessment had been taking place as to the role and impacts
response to the cuts, I viewed, through peepholes cut in cardboard,
the Culture office was having in the overall delivery of the planning
what looked like an homage to Womble-dom. Slightly nightmarish, I
for 2013. Issue had been raised as to how the city council could fund
could flop down on the side of calling it dystopian, but nothing is ever
the office when the city’s arts organisations were already struggling.
that bad, and I loved it.
However given its targeting, there is now more of an imperative to
Catalysts’ move down in the world is clearly a move up. Still
keep it open and face down the threat from those who’s backward
situate in college court, but anew, the gallery on the ground floor
looking politics only serves to drag the population backwards away
(hooray for anyone who hated climbing all those stairs) can at last call
from cultural diversity and inclusivity.
themselves an inclusive gallery - I mean, of course, in terms of
The forthcoming months will see the emergence of the Cultural
accessibility!
Company whose task is to carry out the administration of the planning
In contrast, the issue of accessibility is rarely a problem for
and funds for the events of 2013. Its interim chair is Declan McGonagle,
Bbeyond, for their raison d’etre is looking for locations on an ad hoc
head of NCAD, formerly of the old Orchard Gallery as well as IMMA in
basis and creating work there and then. The corollary is that it will be
Dublin.
seen there and then, by whoever is there! As a genre, performance art global
is well supported in Belfast with Bbeyond, a performance art collective
communications and IT services provider, is the first commercial
organised and administered by Brian Patterson, meeting at least once a
partner to support Derry / Londonderry UK City of Culture 2013. As
month. As an organisation it shows a commitment to performance as
part of the five year multi-million pound partnership, BT has committed
an art practice that pushes members and the public alike beyond the
to further invest in the Derry / Londonderry telecommunications
usual and into deeper experiences. As ever, for an organisation to grow
network to ensure to complete availability of faster broadband for the
and develop it takes passion and as an art movement, performance
city by autumn 2011, accelerating its regeneration plans in readiness
seems to command another level of combined engagement and
for 2013.
commitment from participants and audience.
McGonagle
recently
announced
that
BT,
the
Against this background, several arts organisations in the city
Bbeyond offers members, sometimes in the public domain,
have had substantial cuts made to their ACNI funding, some being
sometimes not, the opportunity to be in a tableau; each working as an
completely cut. There may be some expectation that the inward
individual, the overall effect feels a bit edgy, revolutionary, even if, as
investment such as that coming from BT will bolster organisations in
an art practice, it has been around for at least 40 years! Whatever it’s
the lead up to and during 2013 thus legitimizing cuts to organisations,
age it still seems to stand for art that cannot be bought, sold or traded
in particular those that deliver community based festival initiatives.
as a commodity (debatable now, of course!). It continues to be a means for artists to take their art quickly and directly in to a public forum,
Stop Press
dispensing with the need for galleries, and as a social commentary on
Shona McCarthy has been appointed as chief executive of Londonderry's
the purity and need for art, Belfast could do worse than keep it to the
Culture Company. Shona, formerly of the Nerve Centre in Derry will
forefront of the cities artistic ethos, for with low overheads, it will still
be responsible for planning and delivering a host of events between
keep the public thinking and love it, or hate it, it will always be a
now and 2013.
talking point. As a natural response to the cuts, perhaps performance art should Damien Duffy
be given its rightful place as the most realistic art genre for this generation! Laura Graham
By all accounts Galway is hopping with visual art activity, as highlighted in several past regional reports and in the most recent article by my colleague Maeve Mulreann on artist-led initiatives (1) emerging across the city. However the blatant lack of movement towards the implementation of visual arts policy (towards the creation and support of visual art infrastructure) has become increasingly apparent in the non-committal and lacklustre Draft City Development Plan 2011-2017 (2). The draft CDP has been under review for the past 12 months, in Galway City Hall, where by submissions from the Galway Cultural Community, and various other community groups submitted numerous recommendations towards the draft CDP back in April 2010. (3) Unfortunately though some of the submissions were exceptionally coherent, ambitious and altruistic in nature it appears that most if not all of the proposed submissions made by the visual art community on behalf of the “Féach” committee and other visual art groups, where completely ignored by the both the City Manager and the City Development Board, who failed to even reference the submissions made in April 2010. (4) Since then, an intensive series of interventions by members of the community has been underway. This includes the lobbying of city councillors and city officials, as well as presentations to both the City Arts Officer (James Harold) and Senior Executive Officer( Michael Burke). These meetings have been undertaken by both myself and a number of my colleagues to amend this disregard by senior city officials. One cannot help but feel ignored by the city council in Galway. My own personal encounter with some of the councillors has left me feeling quite frustrated with their visual art illiteracy and ignorance on the state of the visual art sector in Galway. Many of the councillors are unfamiliar with any of the visual arts organisations in the city (especially the ones they fund). One councillor (who shall remain nameless) said, “Is it a place for paintings you want? Sure isn’t the museum a great building for paintings?” This comment was made to me as the councillor in question (who I had contacted over a period of four weeks, by phone, by email, and by post) raced off to contribute to the voting process on the Culture and Heritage section in the CDP that night. Currently Galway City Council does not contribute core funds towards any visual art centre in the city. The City Arts Office does however contribute programmatic grants to Galway Arts Centre (5), 126 collective and support to artist studio spaces (Artspace & Engage studios) and an “Artist-in Residence” programme at the City Museum. Its biggest financial support goes to the Arts Festival. These organisations could not survive without this support. Of all the large cities in Ireland, Galway is the only one whose council does not contribute towards the core funding costs (6) to a centre for visual art. There is a complete and utter disconnect between what is perceived to be support and what is actually needed in the city. The Galway City Council’s website states, “Galway is the city of festivals” and appears to pride itself on this notion. However the citizens of this city, the arts community do not want Galway to be seen as a “once a year trip to a festival-type town”. They want the city to become a place that fosters creativity and supports the creation of great talent that germinates talent from graduate to practitioner, and becomes a place that attracts international artist and cultural practitioners to become its citizens. It was believed that the city development plan was the place to nail down these objectives and to move the ‘City of Festivals” into a ‘Centre of Excellence’ by 2017. One of our proposed amendments to the CDP was to “Prioritise and facilitate the development of a permanent Visual Arts venue which facilitates all contemporary visual art practices and studios, based on the needs of practising artists and the wider community.”(8) In order to address this gap in provision we also proposed a secondary proposal “to identify and provide a suitable site for the establishment of a temporary visual venue within the city centre, in consultation with the needs of artist groups and all interested bodies, until such time as a permanent facility is developed.”(9) So far, neither of these proposed amendments has made it into the Draft City Development Plan, and it remains to be seen if any of them will make it to the ratified proposal. Aideen Barry Notes 1.VAN Jan / Feb edition 2011 2. The Draft Development plan 2011 –2017 (it is available to download from www.galwaycity.ie 3. The CDP was due to be ratified by the Council in January 2011 4. see Draft CDP 2011-19 Policy 6.8- Section 9.2.1 5. The Galway Arts Centre Building on Dominick Street in Galway is owned by the City Council, it was the home of Lady Gregory, though its provision as a gallery space was always seen as a temporary site for an exhibition space. 6. Salary Costs / Rental Costs / Insurance Costs etc. for a Centre for Visual Art 7. http://www.galwaycity.ie/AllServices/ArtsandCulture/ CityArtsOffice/ 8. Page 67, Policy 6.8 DCDP 2011-2017– Arts & Cultural Heritage: proposed amendment 9. www.feachcontemporary.com
The Visual Artists' News Sheet
29
March – April 2011
residency
Honouring Rothko
Anne Harkin- Petersen. Work created and exhibited at 'Mark Rothko International Plein Air'
Anne Harkin-Petersen reports on her residency at the 201o edition of the Mark Rothko International Plein Air event, held in Daugavpils, Latvia. The Mark Rothko International Plein Air is a painting residency / symposia event organised by The Department of Culture at Daugavpils, Latvia. Artists from 11 countries participated in the 2010 edition of the Mark Rothko International Plein Air, which ran from 14 – 26 September 2010 in the city of Daugavpils. Ireland was represented by two visual artists, Kristina Huxley and myself – Anne Harkin- Petersen. We applied to take part in the event, in response to a notice circulated in the Visual Artists Ireland e-bulletin. Kristina and myself are both Galway based artists. Kristina is also a lecturer in Core Studies at the National College of Art and Design. The other international participants were: Nina Stoupina, (Belgium); Guna Millersone (Latvia); Vaidotas Janulis (Lithuania); Atsuhide Ito (UK): Christian Breed (Italy); Anja Kornerup-Bang, (France), Tim van Tul (The Netherlands) Gitte Winther (Denmark); Oleh Bezyuk, (Ukraine); Roman Striga (Belarus); Sergey Grinevich (Belarus). Daugavpils, formerly known as Dvinsk, is the birthplace of Mark Rothko – born on 25 September 1903. His family emigrated to America, where Rothko achieved his fame. In 2003 Daugavpils honoured their famous son and celebrated the centenary of his birth. A memorial in the form of a sculpture was erected and placed on the banks of the river Dauga. The Mark Rothko International Plein Air was also inaugurated in order to honour Daugavpils’ local art hero, with the first run of the event taking place in 2006. While having the support of the director of local Department of Culture, the principal forces behind this initiative are two wonderful ladies; Sarmite Teivane and Farida Zaletilo. Historically, Daugavpils city was developed because of its strategic position on the river Dauga. Here a fortress was built by successive Tsars to protect the city from invasion. It has been proposed that one building in the fortress be utilised as venue for an international Mark Rothko centre. As part of our introduction to the residency we were given a tour of the Fortress and invited to view the plans of the proposed design of the Rothko centre. The plans comprise a large exhibition area, along with studio and accommodation facilitates for artists residencies. The Mark Rothko Art Centre will be an immense achievement for the Baltic Regions and greater Europe. The centre will have a lifetime impact on the artists involved and on the wider community of visual artists in the region and indeed globally. In terms of a parallel, a Clyfford Still Museum is currently being completed in Denver, USA, which will honour another abstract expressionist of the 20th century. We along with the other participating artists were guests of The Culture Department at Daugavpils. From the moment of our arrival until our departure we were treated in the kindest, most helpful manner possible. From early morning until late some nights we were treated to cultural tours of the city and museums, churches, synagogue, art schools, the university, and given the historical background at all stages. Mealtimes were an opportunity to exchange ideas, and feelings with fellow artists and language constraints did not pose too large a problem.
Kristina Huxley. Work created and exhibited at 'Mark Rothko International Plein Air'
All the participating artists were allocated studios and the residency also covered our hotel accommodation. The studios were located in an art school and we worked both in natural and artificial light. Canvasses and a limited supply of materials were provided (the size of canvasses had to be indicated in advance). Four key people played a major role in making our stay enjoyable and productive. These were Sarmite and Farida – already mentioned, and then we had Mudite who acted as general guide and Aija who was our interpreter. Of course there were many more who facilitated our needs, including the director of the Art school where we were allocated individual studios; the caretakers at the school; the museum director and staff; Stas our photographer, the head of the art department at the University of Daugavpils; the head of the ceramics school, municipal staff and hotel staff who looked after our meals. The level of hospitality we received was impressive. At the official opening we were introduced to the local artist community at an event that featured a performance by Koanproject an instrumental and ambient experimental / avant-garde band from Riga, Latvia. We also were honorary guests at the theatre production, Chagal, Chagal by Belarus Vitebsk Drama Theatre; an international ice skating gala; and a traditional Lithuanian and Latvian folk culture evening. During the gala dinner held for the event we were entertained by a local quartet of excellent Jazz musicians. Another highlight was the opening of an exhibition by Latvian print-maker Vaidotas Janulis, who was also participating in the residency; we also attended the Saules Skola Student exhibition, which presented great work. A number of talks and seminars were organised as part of the Plein Air. These included Abstract Expressionism: The View from the 21st Century a lecture by Dr. David Anfam, noted art historian, scholar and curator; and poet Peteris Cedrins talk Hell’s Kitchen: Poetry in the Art World, Art in the Poetry World: in the New World.
Kristina Huxley and Anne Harkin- Petersen at the Rothko Memorial, Dubavpils
Of course the main objective of the Plein Air was that each artist should produce two paintings, one of which would be selected by a prestigious panel to become part of the International Mark Rothko collection to be housed at this International Mark Rothko Centre with a proposed opening date of 2013. It was indeed a privilege and honour to have one’s work included in such an enterprise that will remember, honour and celebrate the work of Mark Rothko. The culmination of the residency was an exhibition of work by all participating artists at the City Museum. This was very well attended. The Director of the Art Museum at Riga, together with staff from the Art History department there and many more teachers from different faculties at the University of Daugavpils, plus teachers in art related disciplines, eg. ceramics all came to the opening. The work on show was wonderfully diverse – unique works in a variety of formats – single canvases, diptychs, and triptychs. A panel of judges, including Dr. David Anfam and the Director of the Art Museum at Riga, Professor Aleksejs Naumovs, selected one work from each artist that would be gifted to the permanent collection of the International Mark Rothko Centre. As already stated we were guests of the Cultural Department at Daugavpils, who provided us with accommodation, sustenance and entertainment – as well as a small sum allocated to each artist for supplies. Travel expenses were borne by the individual artists. However, in regard to travel expenses Kristina and I had a pleasant surprise awaiting us. The Irish Embassy in Riga, were at that time awaiting the arrival of Ambassador Aidan Kirwan but the acting Charge d’Affaires, Aoife Ni Fhearghail, together with Liliana Brasla very kindly met us, and welcomed us to Latvia. Neither Kristina nor myself had been to Latvia previously, so this experience was very reassuring. Not alone did the staff spend time with us and impart valuable information about the country; but also because they were sensitive to the precariousness of an artist’s income, they assured us that they would try to help cover the costs of our travel expenses and make a small contribution towards material expenses. This was an unexpected bonus and in due course their promise of financial assistance was fulfilled. Our thanks to Aoife and Liliana and the Irish Embassy also thanks to Kristina who initiated the contact with the Irish Embassy in Riga. Both Kristina and myself feel privileged to have taken part on the 2010 Mark Rothko International Plein Air. It is fair to say the entire participating artist were in agreement that this was a wonderful project. We were also personally impressed by the level of commitment and dedication of The Culture Department of Daugavpils – one that could be emulated by other cultural agencies throughout the world. Kristina and I both felt that we achieved a lot during our time in Daugavpils – from the cultural interaction and participation our work and ideas developed further; and new friends were made. Despite some language problems there was a great air of dedication, interest and excitement shared by all the participants. Kristina has in fact been invited back to Daugavpils to make further work in the future. Finally, we have to say that it was an exceptional experience and one, which would benefit and enhance the practice of any Irish artist. Anne Harkin-Petersen www.daugavpils.lv
The Visual Artists’ News sheet
VAI PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TRAiNiNG WoRKsHops SPRING 2011 Visual Artists Ireland in partnership with: Ards Arts Centre and Ards District Council, Newtownards; Belfast Exposed (BX), the Community Arts Forum & Digital Art Studios, Belfast; The VOID, Derry.
Ards / Belfast / Derry proposals. Kerry McCall & Brian Connolly. Wed 16 Mar (10.30 – 16.30). Ards Art Centre. preparing proposals. roposals. Marianne O’Kane-Boal & Aisling O’Beirne . Thur 24 Mar (10.30 – 16.30). BX preparing proposals. roposals. Marianne O’Kane-Boal .Monday 28 Mar (10.30 – 16.30). The VOID. Artists Funding & Supports. Arts Council of Northern Ireland .Thurs 31 Mar (10.30 –16.30). BX New media: peer critique. Saoirse Higgins .Tuesday 8 Apr (10.30am – 16.30). Digital Art Studios, Belfast. promoting romoting your Work. Mary Carty (Spoiltchild Design). Thurs 14 Apr (10.30 – 16.30) BX Rules of engagement. ngagement. A roundtable on socially engaged practice . Fri 15 April (10.30 – 16.30). Community Arts Forum. sustaining your practice. Rosie Burrows . Thur 28 Apr -(10.30 – 16.30). BX mobility & exchange in the Visual and Applied Arts. Wed 11 May. A Common Room discussion event. Ards Art Centre. FREE. imagination Box: creative ideas for work with groups . Thurs 12 May. Venue TBC. contact: Monica Flynn, Education Officer Visual Artists Ireland. T: 01 872 2296 E: monica@visualartists.ie
FURTHER EVENTS TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON
http://visualartists.ie/education/
Jus tˆ 5 (in cp &p)
for me VAI mb ers
Printed Project 14, The Conceptual North Pole is now available from leading gallery outlets in Ireland and internationally. VAI members are entitled to purchase Printed Project online at the discounted price of ˆ 5.00 (inc p&p) www.printedproject.ie
Laughism By Borislav Byrne
March – April 2011
30
31
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
March – April 2011
Art in the public realm: Roundup
Art in Public
The Andy Parsons Project
public art commissions; site-specific works; socially-engaged practices and ALL other forms of art outside the gallery. The Portal of Knowledge
St. Colmcille Mosaics
As part of Andy Parson’s ongoing programming of
to explore how our perceptions of landscape and ‘nature’ might be influenced by cultural material such as tourist brochures and postcards. Phil Hession, produced a performance work for the festival, which was presented at Blakes bar – featuring supporting audio and visual elements.
the former Wolfe Tone Pharmacy, Wolfe Tone St, Sligo, the artist presented ‘The Andy Parsons Project’ (11 – 12 Dec 2011). This included a three-month portrait-painting project, whereby members of the public were invited to have their portrait made by the Parsons. The exhibition was accompanied by an artist’s book by Glenn Holman, published by Floating World books. http://projects.floatingworldbooks.com
Tara Moran Woods created a site-specific crochet work for the window of Clive Alexander Hairdressing at the Erneside Shopping Centre.
The Wild Bees’ Nest
The participating artists were selected through a
Celestial Sphere is set on top of four grey granite
within the concrete shell of a house, on an
mixture of direct invitation and selection from an
slabs. Imagery, text, diagrams and other data has
un-finished ‘ghost-estate; of houses in Leitrim. The
open submission process. The curators were
been engraved into the surfaces of these four slabs.
lights were electronically programmed to switch on
Artist: Liz Johnson Title: St. Colmcille Mosaics Commissioner: St Colmcille’s National School, Co. Westmeath Carried out: Oct 2009 - September 2010 Budget: €20,000 Commission type: Percent for Art, Artist commissioned by ‘Direct Invitation’ Project Partners: Liz Johnson and St Colmcille’s National School, Co. Westmeath Description: In 2009 Liz Johnson was commissioned by St. Colmcille’s National School, Co. Westmeath (through the percent for art scheme) to design, make and install two large scale mosaics for the entrance foyer of the newly extended school building. The Board of Management selected two walls in the main entrance foyer as sites for the artwork, the first site being a wall opposite the main entrance, and the second site; an adjacent curved wall. The St. Colmcille Triptych was based on the story of St. Colmcille’s life. The artwork comprises three vertical panels (each panel being approximately 10ft high x 1.5ft wide). The materials used were vitreous glass and stained glass. The mosaic was made by Liz in her studio over several months and has approximately 9,600 pieces of individually cut glass. As part of the project, the artist also undertook an artist’s residency at the school, which involved working with all 214 pupils in the school (aged 5 12) over a 14-week period and included design workshops and practical mosaic making workshops. The second mosaic The School Name – also made from vitreous and stained glass – was cemented directly onto the feature-curved wall. It includes a border of 234(9cm x 10cm) sections and incorporates all the work made by the pupils during the artist-in-residence part of the project. The theme for the sections was derived from ancient legends relating to St. Colmcille. Johnson incorporated these sections into the final design as a border that surrounds the central school name.
Caoimhin Corrigan, Diane Henshaw, Helen Sharp
This visual material has been derived from the
and off in a sequence that signifies the SOS pattern
www.lizjohnson.ie
and Andy Parsons.
www.enniskillenartsfestival.com
Artists Michael Fortune and Aileen Lambert co-coordinated ‘The Wild Bees Nest: A Concert of
Celestial Sphere
Unaccompanied Traditional Irish Song’ presented at The National Library, Kildare Street, Dublin (17 Dec 2010). The concert was a manifestation of the artists ongoing research project of the same name; which involves a ‘The group of traditional singers hailing from throughout Ireland – Luke Cheevers,
Artist: Joseph Salamon.
Fergus Russell, Tim Lyons, Pat Burke, Anne
Title: The Portal of Knowledge.
Dunne, Niamh Parsons, Paddy Daly, Tony
Commissioner: Loreto School, Milford Co
McGaley, Micheál Marrinan, Mick Fowler and Tim
Donegal
Quan. The project has involved researching material
Sited: April 2010
relating to a traditional song of their choice in the
Commission Type: Open Competition.
National Library and ITMA. ‘The Wild Bees Nest’ is
Partners: Loreto School Authority.
supported by The Arts Council of Ireland in
Description: Bronze cast sculptural portal, 3 m by 3
conjunction with The Bealtaine Festival, The
m, sited near the entrance of Loreto Community
National Library of Ireland and the Irish Traditional
School, Milford Co Donegal.
Music Archive. www.thewildbeesnest.ie
Enniskillen Visual Arts Trail On/Off states Brian Connolly recently installed his work Celestial Sphere in Armagh City. The piece refers to Armagh’s specific global alignment in relation to the stars. The main feature of the work is a large two-meter diameter sphere made from solid polished granite, onto which the major magnitude stars have been mapped. The artwork was commissioned by the Armagh Arts Committee via the Armagh City & District Council and with funding assistance from The Arts Council of Northern Ireland. The 2010 Enniskillen Visual Arts Open Trail took
The star map was designed was with the help
place on streets, in shops, galleries, bars and other
of Emeritus Professor John Oliver from the
venues across Enniskillen (29 Sept – 26 Oct 2010).
Department of Astronomy, University of Florida
Elaine Reynolds’s On/Off states was commissioned
The trail also featured a number of projects,
and S. Mc Connell & Sons Ltd.,of Kilkeel. The stars
by the Leitrim Sculpture Centre, Manorhamilton,
featuring the work of 63 Irish and International
are rendered in gold glass mosaic set into the
as part of the organisation’s 2009 / 2010 residency
artists, including Susan MacWilliam and the
surface of the sphere to represent the brightest
programme.
Northern Irish performance collective Bbeyond.
stars.
The work included location lights installed
history of Astronomy from the earliest times up to
in Morse code. The intervention was visible to
‘Shop Front Cinema’, a screening of the works
the present, spanning some five millennia. A
neighbouring houses and passers-by.
by 10 filmmakers, turned Enniskillen’s High Street
significant part of this data was sourced during
into an open-air cinematic experience. The
research with the Armagh Observatory.
As the press release outlined “sites like this one are the legacy of a 1998 government incentive
exhibition ‘Partners’ presented works by a range of
A zodiac image surrounds the base of the
entitled Section 23 Rural Renewal Scheme – a tax
Fermanagh based artists, curated by the festivals
sphere, which is made up from differing
relief strategy that supported the ‘invigoration’ of
chair Noelle McAlinden. Artist book maker Andy
representations of the constellation figures from
selected rural zones. This house, in the very early
Parson’s ‘Floating World Books’ exhibition was
ancient times up until the renaissance Period. This
stages of construction, was utilised specifically as
installed in the cupboards and cabinets of the
surface also maps out the sunrise and sunsets as
an example of a structure, considered under the
Enniskillen museum, comprising of ad hoc objects
seen in Armagh at solstices and the equinoxes, as
current NAMA categorisations, as ‘not viable to
that related to the printing industry and other
well as the position of the sun, moon and planets, as
completion.’ Ordinarily, light from within a house
sources of inspiration for the artist.
seen at New Year 2010.
indicates that someone is home. In contrast, these
The ‘Art 4 Barter’ project featured contributions
Several images within the artwork utilise
from Helen Sharp, Diane Henshaw, Tara Moran
‘anamorphic projection’, which only come into
Woods, Patricia Kelly, Susan Hughes, Jo Tinney and
correct alignment or perspective from one
Documentation of On/Off states was exhibited
Kiera McCluskey.
viewpoint or angle. Two living trees have been
in ‘Scoping Worlds’ show at the Leitrim Sculpture
flashing lights actually spell out a desperate call for help”.
Andrew Dodds worked as an artist in residency
integrated within the artwork. The artist sees these
Centre, October 2010. The video element of this
for the event – over 10 days he produced new work
as significant features within the design and concept
work was screened as part of 'NAMARAMA', The
in response to Waterways Ireland’s headquarters in
of the sculpture as they refer to cosmic mythology
Market Studios, Dublin in February.
Enniskillen. The artist drew upon the organisation’s
and perhaps even pointers to the true nature of the
role as ‘guardian’ of the inland, navigable waterways
universe.
YOUR WORK HERE ! If you have recently been involved in a public commission, percent for art project, socially engaged project or any other form of ‘art outside the gallery’ we would like you to send us images and a short text (no more than around 300 words) in the following format: Artists name Title of work Commissioning body Date advertised Date sited / carried out. Budget Commission type Project Partners Brief description of the work
Work created during Draíocht’s Intergenerational Photography Project
Nuala O’Sullivan Surfacing Until March 26 Ground Floor Gallery
Michael Wann New Work 8 April – 28 May 2011 Ground Floor Gallery
Sarah O’Brien A Circle Dance Until March 26 First Floor Gallery
Garvan Gallagher (Artist in Residence) & Participants Intergenerational Photography Project 8 April – 28 May 2011 First Floor Gallery
Blanchardstown Centre Blanchardstown, Dublin 15 T: 01 885 2610 F: 01 824 3434 www.draiocht.ie
Custom House Studios Limited Westport Quay Co Mayo. T: 098 28735. E: customhouse@eircom.net
10 March – 3 April Sue Morris Sue Morris followed her degree at Chelsea College of Art with an MA from the Royal College of Art. She now lives in County Sligo and has a studio at the Model Arts Centre Sligo. image: Sue Morris
7 Apr – 30 April Dorothee Kolle Dorothee Kolle lives in Manorhamilton. In 2005 she did the Post Graduate in Fine Art in Sligo. She has exhibited in group shows and two solo exhibitions. She was artist in residence at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre and in the Leitrim Sculpture Centre.
5 May – 29 May Antonino Lopez Castro Studied Fine Art at Sligo receiving an Honours Degree in 2003. Lives and in Co. Kerry. Exhibitions include Dare to Joust Gallery, London (solo 2010), Claremorris Open 2010, Dare To Joust Gallery, London (2009 and 2010. Residencies: Belmont Mill Studios, and Cill Rialaig, (2010). image: Dorothee Kol
Exhibitions and Studio Programme 2012 / 2013 Applications are now being accepted. Closing date: 30 August 2011. image: Antonio Lopez Castro
Insurance for Artists O’Driscoll O’Neil are pleased to offer property & liability insurance for artists. For artists engaged solely in retail sale and exhibition of own paintings or artists operating from a studio and including exhibition. Quotes from: brokersubmissions@odon.com Covers
Available Public / products liability only Property damage &public / products liability Property damage & public / products liability & employers liability
Option 1 Artist engaged solely in retail sale & exhibition of own paintings Public / products liability only. €103 Property damage & public / products liability. €154.50 Property damage public / products liability & employers liability. €206 Option 2 Artist operating from a studio & including exhibition Public / products liability only. €154.50 Property damage & public / products liability. €206 Property damage public / products liability & employers liability. €257.50
Schemes also available for: Artists studios & collectives, galleries, art centres and exhibition spaces and exhibitions.
For further details contact: O’Driscoll O’Neil Insurance Brokers 17 Herbert Place, Dublin 2. T: (01) 6395800 E: brokersubmissions@odon.com
VISUAL
Centre for Contemporary Art & The George Bernard Shaw Theatre
The LAB, brought to you by Dublin City Council is pleased to present
'out on the sea was a boat full of people singing' & other stories by Michelle Browne 4 March – 9 April 2011 preview Thursday 3 March 6 – 8 pm The LAB, Foley Street, Dublin 1 T: 01 2225455 E: artoffice@dublincity.ie www.thelab.ie
Featuring: Amanda Coogan Simon Keogh Performance Collective Trace Collective Susanne Bosch Ella Burke
4 February – 8 May 2011 The show is accompanied by a full colour publication with a text by Emma-Lucy O’Brien. Tues – Sat 11.00am – 5.30pm / Sun 2.00pm – 5.00pm Old Dublin Road, Carlow 059 9172400 www.visualcarlow.ie
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