Visual Artists' News Sheet - 2011 March April

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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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

Email

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

www.aestheticamagazine.com/

Email

artwork for an enclosed courtyard,

Melanie Rintoul.

shortfilm

of part-time courses including non-

publicartpresentation@gmail.com

intended for use as an outdoor

Email

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

Email

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

Email

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

Email

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

Email

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.

Email

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.

Email

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

e-mail

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

Email

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

Email

offer

Friday 8 Apr); Artist Liaison

Email

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 &

Email

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

Email

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.

Email

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

Email

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

Email

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

Email

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

Email

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

Email

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