The Visual Artists’ News Sheet issue 5 September – August 2011 Published byVisual Artists Ireland Ealaíontóirí Radharcacha Éire
Pull-out Supplement Inside
Public Art Commissions Ballina, Co Mayo
Commission 1 Ballina Arts Centre. Budget €20,000 Commission 2 Ballina Riverside Walkway. Budget €35,000 Mayo County Council invites artists to develop proposals for two new commissions. The first is for a permanent wall based, suspended or window mounted internal artwork in the foyer of the newly developed Ballina Arts Centre. All artforms will be considered though the outcome is assumed to be permanent. A second commission is for the new nearby Riverside Walkway. It is envisaged that the artwork for the Walkway will be sculptural due to the nature of the possible selected site and the fact that North East Mayo has very few examples of sculptural work. Artists can apply for either or both commissions. For a copy of the artist’s briefs containing full details of the commissions and application process please access them via the mayo County Council Website: www.mayococo.ie in the Arts Service Section under Public Art or contact: Gaynor Seville, Public Art Co-ordinator, Mayo County Council. E: gseville@mayococo.ie T: 094 904 7561 This is a 1 stage open application process. Deadline for applications Monday 17 October 2011
Custom House Studios Limited Westport Quay, Co Mayo T: 098 28735 E: customhouse@eircom.netwww.customhousestudios.ie 1 – 25 September 2011 Kathlyn O’Brien Subverted lives is a predominant theme weaving through the work, fuelled by the universal strains of violence against human integrity. This disintegration of moral fabrics, politically charged; this is particularly apt for the shadow that remains , focus, witness, and boy soldier. Kathlyn O’Brien will give a gallery talk on Culture Night 23 September. 1 – 25 September 2011 Irma van Baalen Paintings developed through an interest in time and space and with things dilapidated by time. Abstraction starts from images which a new level of expression to the artist. Irma van Baalen will give a gallery talk on Culture Night 23 September. Kathlyn O'Brien.Untitled. Mixed Materials. 2011.
Forthcoming Exhibitions 29 Sept – 16 Oct Jackie Nickerson (With Westport Arts Festival & Millennium Court Arts Centre) 29 Sept – 23 Oct Emma Bourke (With Westport Arts Festival). 20 Oct – 13 Nov Sheila Naughton 27 Oct – 20 Nov Amanda MacMahon 17 Nov – 11 Dec Anna Spearman
Exhibitions & Studios The deadline fo applications for exhibitions and studio use in 2012 / 2013 is 30 September 2011 Further details from www.customhousestudios.ie
4
The Visual Artists’News Sheet
Join VAI
September – October 2011
Contents 1. Cover Image. Alan Phelan (working title): Inverted Oil Rig. Dublin City Council commission. Fr
ALL Artists Welcome
Collins Park, Clongriffen, Dublin. Chromed steel, rubber, water pumps. 2011. 510 x 570 x 700 cm 5. Roundup. Recent exhibitions and projects of note.
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5. Column. Emily Mark-FitzGerald. Contemporary at Last. 6. Column. Mark Fisher. Aesthetic Poverty. 7. Column. Jonathan Carroll. I caught Brian O'Doherty's cold. 10. News. The latest developments in the arts sector. 11. Regional Profile. Visual arts resources and activity accross Dublin
Membership of Visual Artists Ireland is open to ALL visual 14 . City Limits. The New Collectivism. James Merrigan is the winner of City Limits, a visual art writing artists of all kinds – sculptors, painters, video artists, photographers, award devised and run in collaboration by Dublin City Arts Office & Visual Artists Ireland. installationists, performance artists ... 15. Residency. Hunter / Gatherer. Irish-based Norwegian artist Magnhild Opdøl discusses her time on
the inaugural Tony’ O’Malley residency, awarded and administered by the RHA, Dublin.
Our two categories of membership – Professional and 17. Critique. Our new 4 page Critique supplement features six reviews of exhibitions, events, Associate – are open and inclusive. Each offer the same publications and projects – that are either current or have recently taken place in Ireland. comprehensive level of supports and services from Visual Artists19. Dublin Contemporary Supplement. Our centre pages feature an overview and introduction to Ireland: listings, news, training, opportunities, information, advice, Dublin Contemporary 2011 - comprising of a compact guide to the exhibition sites and venues. 25. Profile. In-Flux. Megs Morley discusses recent artist-led activities and initiatives taking place across support and advocacy. Ireland.
Visual Artists Ireland represents a diverse membership base of26. Seminar. A&E Analyse and Experiment. Seán O Sullivan a board member of the Black Church Print artists working in all modes and media; in every part of Ireland and Studio, Dublin, reports on A&E, an ongoing series of public discussions organised by the studio. representing a rich generational mix. Visual Artists Ireland is the sum27. Opportunities. All the lastest grants, awards, exhibition calls and commissions. 31. Profile. Change is Coming. Bronagh Lawson founder www.creativechangeni.com profiles the of its parts: Artists.
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The Visual Artists’News sheet
September – October 2011
COlUMN
Emily Mark FitzGerald Contemporary at Last
5
Roundup EAMONN O’DOhERTy
SO the Dublin Contemporary is upon us at last... as Earlsfort Terrace is prepped to become Dublin’s PS1 (1), it’s an exciting prospect for UCD’s old stomping ground to host an intriguing and provocative major exhibition. Designated as the ‘critical mass’ site for the DC, much has been made by curators Christian Viveros-Fauné and Jota Castro of the palimpsestic nature of the Terrace, its institutional history dovetailing with the central theme / project The Office of Non-Compliance. Rather than a gloomy-sounding destination for wayward students, the ‘Office’ is imagined as the engine room of the DC, providing spaces and structures for ideological and practical discussions sparked by the exhibition (one does hope there will be tea.)
and photographer and won awards for painting twice at the Irish Exhibition of Living Art, at the Claremorris Open, the Arnott’s National Portrait Competition, and twice for sculpture at the RHA. His photographs are in the collection of the Irish Traditional Music Archive; and have been exhibited at the Fowler Museum of Cultural History at UCLA., the University of Virginia, Glucksman House at New York University, and elsewhere. O’Doherty was an active member of the Graphic Studio, Dublin and the Carpenter Centre in Harvard University. . The Kevin Kavanagh Gallery would like to thank to Mick O’Dea and Aoife Goodman for all their help on organiz-
ANN QUINN
ing the exhibition.
2010. As the press release explained evo-
www. kevinkavanaghgallery.ie
For someone enmeshed in the contemporary life of UCD and its arts faculty, the challenging proposition. A common complaint amongst many faculties is the lack of engagement we often find with our students – compared to student generations 10 or 20 years ago, they appear extraordinarily apolitical and outcome-focused. Often juggling heavy course-loads in addition to part-time work and all the distractions that accompany college life, students’ sense of their own transformative powers and ambitions for the future can seem muffled and diffuse. I teach the largest first year introductory course to art history at the university (annually attracting around 175 students from varying disciplines), and it’s not unusual for students to remark that they’ve never been to the National Gallery, or to IMMA, or to the Hugh Lane on their own account. Most students (even those entering as art history majors) come to university with a weak visual education – unsurprising, given the state of Irish arts education at primary and secondary level – and yet they are highly attuned to the visuality of daily experience, the significance of the image, and the potency of visual communication. Connecting their deepening knowledge of the historical with a sense of art’s vibrancy and contemporary relevancy is a key aspiration of the course, but much more is at stake. Carl Jung observed that “the artist is not a person endowed with free will who seeks his own ends, but one who allows art to realize its purpose within him”. The impulse of art, seen from this perspective, stems from a creative force tied to and yet apart from the self. Cultivating the conditions through which art can be articulated – allowing oneself to become a ‘medium’ for creation and artistic understanding – is
known sculptors. O’Doherty – who passed away on 3 August 2011 – is best known for his large-scale public sculptures, more than 30 of which stand in Ireland, the UK, Europe and USA., among them landmark works such as the Tree of Gold at the Central Bank and the Great Hunger Memorial in Westchester, New York. His Anna Livia sculpture and fountain – originally sited and conceived for Dublin’s O’Connell Street was re-instated earlier this year in a new location at the Croppy Acre outside the National Museum of Ireland, on Dublin’s quays.
– the real urgency behind our desire for young people to engage, be frustrated, to
in the making of some of his larger pub-
confront ideas that confuse or take time to absorb – is to grow the human capacity
lic sculptures. This includes the concep-
for change and intelligence.
tual, presentation and working draw-
Similarly, the etymology of the term ‘edification’, in its medieval sense, harks
ings and the models and bronze
back to building and construction; its association with ideas of moral or intellectual
maquettes which can often reveal more
improvement is a more recent development. No wonder perhaps that we continue to
about the thought and creative process
situate ‘edifying’ processes within physical institutions themselves: the university,
than the finished work itself”.
the museum, the church. The resonance of this metaphor is no doubt one, which will
The show also featured drawings
be carried forth by the projects to be installed in Earlsfort Terrace – dismantling,
and prints from the artist’s studio,
examining and dissecting structures all part of the classic function of the biennial.
unconnected to his public art practice
Ireland in particular has experienced such profound questioning of its foundational
but which relate to the general Irish art
structures in recent decades, as the crumbling of church power and the illusion of
scene of the last 50 years and include
our economic miracle attest, that the juxtaposition of interrogative work within the
drawings
familiar space of the decayed university is an important and potent step very much
Copenhagen and Paris in the 60s and
appeal for ‘accessibility’; I hope it will be difficult and antagonistic and more than a little messy, and the programme looks promising on all these counts. The international range of the artists selected (incorporating work beyond the usual Boston-Berlin axis to include representation from Latin America, Asia and the Middle East) bodes particularly well, for provincialism has long been a lamentable and yet persistent force within Irish art history. Yet ultimately, for such an endeavour to have meaning beyond Fáilte Ireland’s annual report, it must acknowledge, respect, and to some degree anticipate the diversity of encounters its Irish publics seek – and provide us with the circumstance and stimulus for growth and debate. I look forward to an academic year where conversations with my students (of all ages and background) will be fuelled by praise and damnations of what they’ve seen at the Dublin Contemporary. Whether or not we always like or understand or sympathise with our fellow artists and human beings, it’s healthy for all of us to spend a bit of time at the Office. I’ll put the kettle on.
Heinrich Boll Cottage on Achill Island in cations of these locales was augmented
MADE IN TEMPLE BAR
O’Doherty one of Ireland’s most well
put together the process work involved
Ireland. This isn’t a plea to be confused with a critique of content or a misguided
Catalonia in November 2010 and at the
presented a range of work by Eamonn
both expression and knowledge are linked to capacity. And the purpose of education
publishing cycle, are not international art tourists but the people of Dublin and
by the artist during two residencies – in
www.annquinn.ie
Kevin Kavanagh Gallery (18 – 31 August)
suit contemporary practice and sentiments, it remains useful as a reminder of how
exasperated by its content and who will speak of it and think of it beyond the next
show presented a body of work created
and other Small Works from 1960’ at the
As the press release noted “the art-
the true audience for this work, the ones who will be most profoundly inspired and
bition by Ann Quinn (9 Jun – 2 Jul). The
Donegal.
‘Drawings and Maquettes for Sculpture
ist’s intention in this exhibition was to
My own wish for Dublin Contemporary the project is simple: to remember that
would argue a crow is white’ a solo exhi-
ries of her childhood home in East
Eamonn O’DohertyArmoured Pram
the challenge posed to the individual. If this seems altogether too metaphysical to
of this moment.
Cross Gallery, Dublin presented ‘She
by representation of the artists memo-
IRonIng & ARt
situating of contemporary art amongst the ruins of academia is a thrilling and
Anne Quinn There is something going on in the garden
from
Dublin,
Julie Miller atPS2 Belfast
‘. . . come let me lighten your (ironing) load’ Julie Miller’s project at Ps2, Belfast, offered a week-long free ironing service during August. As the press release noted “Not many questions reveal as much about the balance of power and characteristics of a relationship than the question who does the ironing?”. As the text continued it noted “A free service, just what the Big Society would like us to do – but the artist here is interested in the moral dilemma that a free gift imposes on the giver and receiver. It echoes the religious idea that a gift is not free if it is given in the hope the giver will benefit”. www.pssquared.org http://juliemillerart.wordpress.com
hELIOTROPES
(C) Patrick Redmond / Temple Bar Cultural Trust.
As part of the summer festival ‘Made in Temple Bar’ Seamus Nolan constructed a 20-foot inflatable likeness of Dublin personality Aidan Walsh. The work entitled ‘Master of the Universe’ was installed on the roof of Temple Bar Gallery and Studios (15 – 25 Jul). A performance by Aidan Walshe’s band ‘Aidan Walshe and the Hooligan Eagles’ also took place at the launch. www.templebargallery.com
ThE PROPOSAL
London,
70s, as well as prints from the artist’s 15
Work by Jobyhickey show at G11 Gallery, Berlin
year association with the Graphic Studio
G11 Galerie, Berlin presented ‘Heliotropes’ work from Irish artist Joby Hickey (18 Jun – 9 Jul). As the gallery noted explained, invented in the 19th century, the heliotrope was a device that allowed those undertaking land surveys to overcome the persistent problem of not being able to clearly observe distant points whilst taking measurements. The press release stated: “These ancient instruments are an appropriate metaphor for the work of Joby Hickey, whose style utilizes the refraction and diffusion of light to capture an atmosphere darkly, in monochrome, black and white, and to communicate powerful moments in time.”
from 1967 to 1982. Eamonn O’Doherty was born in 1939 and grew up in Derry where he attended St Columb’s College. He graduated in architecture from University College Dublin in 1965 and was Visiting Scholar at the Graduate School of Design in Harvard, 1973 – 74. In 2006 he won the prestigious Selvaag/Peer Gynt international sculpture competition, and the resultant four metre high bronze is now in Oslo. His most recent sculpture was the 20 foot high bronze Protogonos at St James’s Hospital Dublin, which was unveiled by President McAleese in April 2010. O’Doherty was also a painter, prinmaker
www.g11-galerie-berlin.de.
Michelle Browne – still from 'The Proposal' series of fillms
Michelle Browne, Jo Anne Bulter and Tara Kennedy presented ‘The Proposal’ as series of five short films documenting projects created with Dublin secondary school students on 30 May at Dublin City Council’s Wood Quay Venue at the Civic Offices, Dublin. ‘The Proposal’ was filmed by Areaman Productions. The films were made Feb – April 2011 and comprised of temporary staging and enacting of the students proposals for public artworks. Their proposals ranged from temporary built structures and mobile devices to public protest and
The Visual Artists’News Sheet
6
COLUMN
Mark Fisher Aesthetic Poverty
September – October 2011
Roundup suggestions for re-thinking public atti-
Pallas Summer Programme
tudes and management structures for
Pallas Projects hosted a series of 5 artist-
public space. The project was initiated
initiated projects, selected via competi-
by Dublin City Council Arts Office and
tive process, as part of the Pallas Projects
aimed to “give a voice to teenagers’ expe-
Summer Programme. Participants have
riences of and ideas for public space in
the opportunity to experiment with pre-
Dublin. It also investigated the potential
senting their work in the context of an
for teenagers to influence architecture,
established gallery space with a dedi-
planning, design and decision-making
cated tradition towards do-it-yourself
process around public space in the
initiatives and the professional develop-
city”.
ment of emerging artists. The exhibi-
http://culturstruction.wordpress.co m http://www.areaman.tv/
tions will opened every fortnight beginning on Friday 17 June running up to 20
“A salient feature of these riots”, designer Adrian Shaughnessy wrote of the recent
August 20.
IRVINE & HAPASKA
The running order of shows was as
disorder in England, “has been the fact that the main target of the attacks has been the
follows (18 – 25 June) ‘Hell’s Microwave’
shops of the major retail brands of British commercial life.” Writing on Design Observer’s website, Shaughnessy further noted that most of the outlets which were targeted – sports stores, mobile phone shops – “spend huge amounts of money on branding, on store layout, on window displays, and slick advertising.” The comments on Shaughnessy’s blog post were telling: many fellow designers saw the post as, at best, spurious, and, at worst, offensive. Shouldn’t the rioters take responsibility for
Jaki Irvine: still fromPrintworks, 2011
their own behaviour? What role could design possibly play in inciting such ‘criminal’ actions? The reactionary commentary on the riots has tried to downplay the idea that the rioters were deprived. The rioters had expensive smart phones and wore top-end sportswear – so how could they be poor? While this has been exaggerated – the places where the riots took hold overwhelmingly tended to be areas of poverty and
Fiona Quill work from 'Distance 344'
– Darren Barrett, John Byrne, Andrew
Distance 172 (miles) which explored
Carson, Aoife Cassidy, Garrett Cormican,
the strong artistic ties between the cities
Orla Gilheany, Ian Slattery; (1 – 9 July)
of Limerick and Belfast. These artists
Judy Carroll Deeley – ‘Pockets of
were selected as a cross-section repre-
Enchantment’; (15 – 23 July) Fiona Reilly
sentation of current contemporary art
‘Trace’; (29 July – 6 August) Helen
practice in Limerick City. Occupy Space
Horgan ‘The Horse’s Mouths’; (29 July –
welcomed
6 August) Angela McDonagh ‘Small
these
multidisciplinary
works back to Limerick for examination
Ways
by the home audience. The artists
Possibilities’; (12 – 20 August) Fiona
of
Observing,
involved were; Gemma Dardis, Pamela
Galvin Delaney ‘Sew Much Time’. www.pallasprojects.org
Dunne, Patrick Keaveney, Kevin O’
unemployment – it’s true that, so far as we can tell, most of the rioters weren’t
Keeffe, Gillian Kenny, Des MacMahon,
homeless or starving. But there are other kinds of destitution than these. As well as
Derek O’ Sullivan and Fiona Quill.
“physical” poverty, there is also an aesthetic poverty, evident to anyone who takes a
Multiple
DONOSO LOPEZ
http://www.influx2011.com/ www.occupyspace.com
second look at the dismal vistas of England’s hyper corporatized high streets. While the rich have the material and cultural resources to “unplug” from the dreary banality of these cloned spaces, the poor are far more embedded in them. This embedding in
PAST AND PRESENT
tightly defined media, social and physical environments, is in fact a major symptom
Draíocht, Dublin recently presented ‘Past and Present’ an exhibition by
of aesthetic poverty. One feature of the moral panic over the riots was the claim that the rioters “destroyed their own communities”. But this presupposes both that the rioters belonged to a “community” and that chain stores could constitute any sort of “community” in any case. (It is true that the rioters did not only target corporate outlets, and I don’t for a moment want to underplay the horrific destruction caused to small businesses and to people’s homes, but it remains the case that most of the destruction and looting was aimed at corporate chains.) Isn’t the point, rather, that the rioters were outside, not a “community”, since, increasingly, no such thing exists under late capitalism, but from the quiet desperation and miserable resignation that characterises many people’s working lives today? The fact that some of the rioters had jobs was supposed to prove that these were not insurrections of the underclass. But many of the jobs that the British media kept citing – one of the rioters, it was trumpeted, was a classroom assistant, another, interestingly, was none other than a graphic designer – were not in themselves indications that the rioters had serious prospects. Such jobs, which are often part-time and short term, are typical of the “precarity” to which increasing numbers of young people – graduates as well as those with few or no qualifications – now find themselves languishing. Those pushing the idea that being a “graphic designer” automatically means that you are inured from poverty or hopelessness only demonstrate how out of touch they are. The point about mobile phones is also worth pursuing. In what the theorist Jodi Dean has called “communicative capitalism”, a smart phone can no longer be conceived as a mere “luxury item”. Communicative capitalism is not about the production of material objects, but the ceaseless circulation of messages. The “content” in this culture comes from users themselves; hence paying for an interface into the communicative matrix is more like paying for one’s own tools at work than it is like buying a luxury good. The very distinction between work and non-work, between entertainment and labour, erodes. There are no office hours, no clocking off. In addition to ensuring that we are always connected to the communicative matrix, smart phones are tethering devices, which allow employers to call short-term workers into work at a moment’s notice. But the notorious use of social networking sites and Blackberry messenger to propagate the riots shows that the potential of these
Siobhan Hapaska a great miracle needs to happen there (detail)
The Kerlin Gallery in association with Graphic Studio Dublin recently presented work by Jaki Irvine entitled ‘Before the page is turned’ (8 Jul – 20 Aug). In 2010 Graphic Studio Dublin invited
Desmond Kenny (9 Jun – 27 Aug). This was the first major solo exhibition of Kenny’s new departure into abstract painting. A retrospective of Kenny’s earlier figurative work ran concurrently in the First Floor Gallery. www.draiocht.ie
Irvine to spend some time working in their studios. By way of response, Irvine
invade England. On their return the ships were driven from their course by
the wider context within which it is
violent storms and toward the west
placed.”
coast of Ireland. As López’s explained in
Currently showing is ‘a great mira-
the exhibition notes, as a artist of
cle needs to happen here’, an exhibition by Siobhan Hapaska (26 Aug – 1 Oct). As
'Difference Engine' installation view, New York.
press release states, this show “takes a
New
structural starting point from the
Thisisnotashop: The Lighthouse Project
Hanukkah menorah and the story of the
facilitated the latest manifestation of
miracle of the oil. Each of the eight ‘can-
the touring show ‘Difference Engine:
dlesticks’ is replaced by industrial
Manifestation III’ at The Clemente Soto
engine stands that have been carefully
Vélez Cultural and Educational Centre,
and beautifully clad by hand in polished
New York ( 10 – 18 Jun).
York
based
organisation
brass and solder. The traditional and
The exhibition featured works by
sacred olive oil is replaced with the
Gillian Lawler, Wendy Judge, Jessica
limbless trunks of uprooted olive trees,
Foley, Mark Cullen and Gordon Cheung.
displaced, distressed and burnt … the
The press release noted, the exhibition
common place, industrial machinery is
is based upon “an ongoing collabora-
transformed into something precious,
tion, a kind of ‘jamming’, between the
almost sacred..”
artists. The result yields engaging experimental exhibitions combining installation, video, painting, sculpture and writ-
DISTANCE 344
While the riots in England could hardly be said to be a coherent political statement,
Occupy Space, Limerick recently pre-
in this collective use of social media there was perhaps the beginnings of something
sented ‘Distance 344’, the second exhibi-
like class-consciousness. And in the destruction of the depressing facades of corporate
tion of works by 8 Limerick based artists
retail, is it too fanciful to see a rejection of the aesthetic poverty that corporate
(1 – 16 July). In May 2011 Platform
capitalism imposes on so many of us?
Gallery (Belfast) hosted the exhibition
Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Dublin (30 Jun
of escorting an army from Flanders to
on the processes of printmaking and on
in territorial turf wars called a truce in order to band together against the authorities.
very happy armada).’ was presented
Lisbon in August 1588 with the purpose
works that act at once as “a meditation
It has been said that the riots in London spread once groups who usually engage
‘Grande, feliz e invencible (the great and
fleet of about 130 ships that sailed from
recording, developing a series of five
machines and these websites is not exhausted by communicative capitalism.
Vanessa Donoso López’s show entitled
– 23 July). The exhibition referred to a
DIFFERENCE ENGINE
spent several months videoing and
www.kerlin.ie
Vanessa DonosoLópez – installation vieww. Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Dubin
ing.” Thisisnotashop: The Lighthouse Project is a creative exchange and collaboration project curated by Jessamyn Fiore and Victoria Keddie. www.thisisnotashop.com www.differenceengine2010.wordpress.com
Spanish origin she was interested in “the way a bunch of Spaniards end up in Ireland by accident after trying to conquer England”.
www.kevinkavanaghgallery.ie
The Power of Local Ennistymon Courthouse Gallery and Studios hosted ‘The Power of the Local’ ( 4 – 7 August), a celebratory festival organised by the Courthouse Gallery that took place in various venues in Ennistymon. The festival presented art, film, live-performance, food, music, video, panel discussions, an open-air market, outdoor screenings, open studios and artist talks exploring the rich complexities of the local and the translocal. Invited contributors include the artist group Liquid (Estonia), Dr. Igor Calzada, Associate Researcher at the Centre for Basque Studies-University of Nevada, Reno (USA), Outrider Artists
The Visual Artists’News Sheet
September – October 2011
7
Roundup
COLUMN
(Ireland), Ground Up Artists Collective
object”. The text considers the implica-
aging star collapsing in on itself”.
(Ireland), The Trans-Local Condition, a
tions of two teenagers publicly executed
Also on show was ‘Retrieval
programme of international artist films
in Iran in 2005. Other elements of the
Systems’, a two-person exhibition host-
curated by Fiona Woods (Ireland).
Jonathan Carroll I Caught Brian O'Doherty's Cold
show included a circular light-box enti-
ed by Wexford Arts Centre in associa-
The festival was kindly sponsored
tled Safe Semiotic and an intervention
tion with Cow House Studios. For this
by the Clare County Council; Byrne’s
into the galleries lighting system enti-
exhibition Matthew Denniss and Gail
Townhouse & Restaurant, Fitzpatrick’s
tled Monument to Aesthetic Justice /
Cunningham examined “the various
Super Value, Hayes Print, Ennistymon.
Justification.
aspects in which energy resides”.
“Art without the sense of life’s transience is unthinkable,
Cunningham utilised hand-cut paper
(1) or so trivial we might as well ignore it” .
ennistymoncourthousegallery.blogspot.com
The Translocal Condition ‘The Translocal Condition’ was a screen-
www.126.ie
and various fibre materials in an effort WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE
to “push her fascination with social organisation and our structured envi-
ing event, curated by Fiona Woods that
ronments”. While Denniss’ work was
took place as part of the Power of Local
described as being concerned with the
Festival at The Courthouse Gallery,
“physical elements of energy and his
Ennistymon, Co. Clare (4 – 8 August).
association with the primitive means of
The event featured the work of eight
harbouring and utilising it”.
international artists and collectives –
www.wexfordartscentre.ie
With ambitions to be a better writer, critic and curator I took myself off to Brian O’Doherty’s latest performance/lecture at IMMA. Enticed by the irresistible title Divesting the Self; A Striptease by Brian O’Doherty (16 June 2011) and the inference that O’Doherty (b.1928) was going to demob some of his famous aliases in a live performance, I fancied I might pick up one of these characters. In fact I got more than I bargained for (2). Audible behind O’Doherty’s silken voice was the remains of a heavy cold. In sympathy, and admiration of his determination that the show must always go on, I borrowed a cough sweet from a fellow curator and (throwing my Health and Safety manual to the wind) I offered it to O’Doherty along with a congratulatory
Ahmed Nabil (EGY), the weathergroup_U and Jeffrey Lee (AUS), Kultivator (SW),
handshake. Later that night I felt an odd surge in my feminine side alongside some
TRANFERENCE
Herbologies/Foraging Networks (FI/
unmistakable flu like symptoms. Mary Josephson? Is that you? Have you crossed
LAT), Gareth Kennedy (IRL), Nina
over? Maybe she is resisting O’Doherty’s wish to retire her and has leapt at the chance
Nordstrom (FI), Wapke Feenstra (NL),
to continue her writing career in a younger (but sadly less talented) body. While Patrick Ireland is the best known of O’Doherty’s many parallel ‘lives‘, the
Jennie Guy & Claire Behan (IRL). As the
equally successful characters of Sigmund Bode, William McGinn and Mary Josephson
press release noted the project took as its
were exposed and unceremoniously ’divested‘ in quick succession. O’Doherty, acting
starting position “an idea that the local is the exact point at which people can act in the interests of change. By con-
much like a Blade Runner ‘retiring’ replicants, nonchalantly reminded us of the 'What Alice Found There' outdoor installation view
necting translocally, it becomes possible
The Red Stables, Dublin recently pre-
to build networks of change”.
sented ‘What Alice Found There’ a site-
www.collectionofminds.net
specific outdoor exhibition of temporary artworks in St Anne’s Park, Dublin
JUST THE USUAL
3, devised and planned by invited curator Deirdre Morrissey (6 – 19 June 2011). Morrissey was recipient of the Dublin City Council Emerging Curator programme 2011. As the press release noted “the exhibition was inspired by the nonsensical elements of Lewis Carroll’s book Alice Through the Looking Glass, prompting questions about the notion of what could be considered logical, encouraging visitors to enter into a world of fantasy and daydreams”. Eleven artists were
Kevin CosgraveWorkshop (With Blanket)
chosen to create work, which was engaged with notions of impossibility,
aliases’ many triumphs as art critics, writers and even TV presenters. Lydna Devenney and Eleanor DuffiSpatial Context
‘Transference’ was a group exhibition held in two Dublin locations – at the Monster Truck Gallery and Broadstone Studios (5 – 20 Aug). The show was initiated by the Black Church Print Studio as was curated by Cliona Harmey and Cliodhna Shaffrey. As the press release noted, the show featured eleven artists “whose practice originates in printmak-
This latest O’Doherty event continues what could be considered a long goodbye to his native country. This process began in 2006 with 'Beyond the White Cube: A Retrospective of Brian O’Doherty / Patrick Ireland' at The Hugh Lane followed by the rather baroque 2008 event The Burial of Patrick Ireland (1972-2008) which took place in the grounds of IMMA and his generous donation of ‘Post-War American Art: The Novak / O’Doherty’ collection to IMMA in 2011. For anyone with respect and admiration for the older generation of artists, the last few months offered many opportunities to witness some of the most influential contemporary artists reflect back on their long and distinguished careers. For me, it was the sober and unsentimental way that they did this that was so inspiring. Marina Abramovic (b. 1946) the self-styled grandmother of performance art, has
ing and who here move beyond the still
ensured, throughout her career, that her legacy will thrive in her absence. Through
print image with shifts into film, sculp-
her constant teaching and inclusion of her disciples in her work, she has tackled
ture, video, painting and installation.
head-on the ever-present question in relation to performance art, of where the art
The residue of the printmaking process
resides when the artist is not around. In her retrospective exhibition ‘The Artist is
remains present within the artists’
Present’ (MoMA 2010), Abramovic included live ‘re-performances’ of her work
methodologies”. The participating art-
performed by over 40 collaborators. More recently (July 2011), at the Manchester
ists were Debora Ando, Lynda Devenney
International Festival, a Robert Wilson production, The Life and Death of Marina
& Eleanor Duffin, Elaine Leader,
Abramovic, starred Marina as herself. The opening scene features three dead Marinas
Catriona Leahy, David Lunney, Anja
on biers. While O’Doherty was culling his aliases, Abramovic was counter balancing
‘Just the Usual’ was the title of works by
the uncanny and the imaginary to cre-
Mahler, Colin Martin, Fiona McDonald,
by allowing her (real) disciples centre stage in this Manchester performance. Of
Kevin Cosgrove held at Mother’s
ate a labyrinth of site-specific installa-
Séan O Sullivan and Alison Pilkington.
particular Irish interest was the very central presence of Amanda Coogan performing
Tankstation, Dublin (7 – 16 Jul). As the
tions and live art. Artists included
press release noted “What is different
Catherine Barragry, Francis Fay & Mary
about Cosgrove’s new body of work is
B Keane, Michael Fortune, Carl Giffney,
how they are painted; the scale, the
Jennie Guy & Claire Behan, Joan Healy,
focus, and, most notably, the utter physi-
Maria Macrai, Niamh Murphy and
cality. The images, while still exacting in
Meabh Redmond.
their implied detail – the innate knowl-
This exhibition was made possible
edge of the weight and purpose of equip-
by The Arts Council of Ireland, Dublin
ment and materials, the fall of cables, etc
City Council, The Red Stables Artists
– seem to be held, loosely floating, stilled
Studios and Open Spaces.
from and within the fluidity of the saturated paint surface”. www.motherstankstation.com
228 Lashes 126 Galway presented Padraig Robinson’s exhibition ‘228 Lashes’ (5 – 27 August). 126 Galway. The show was described as “a project that uses the friction between text and object, language and identity, function and autonomy to trigger counteractive thinking”. A key aspect of the show was a Two Hundred and Twenty Eight Lashes a booklet produced by the artist in an edition 228, containing a theoretical essay – which was displayed as a “sculptural
www.whatalicefound.wordpress.com
www.print.ie
COURTHOUSE ARTS CENTRE
her own piece Yellow. Coogan is an acknowledged follower of Abramovic’s work and a dedicated performance artist in her own right (3). Meanwhile The Model Sligo presented the work of German film-maker Harum
‘Infinite Messages’ the fifth Auralog
Farocki (b.1944). ‘Recognition and Tracking’ (July- August 2011) included a mini
project by Anthony Kelly, Seán McCrum
retrospective of Farocki’s film work within a survey project featuring four complex
and David Stalling was presented at The
film/video installations. With some installations involving up to 12 film projections
Courthouse Arts Centre, Tinahely, Co
playing simultaneously (Deep Play) and with his repertoire stretching to over 100
Wicklow (31 July – 26 August). The
films in a 50 year career, there was a lot to detain you in this exhibition. Like all the
show comprised an installation through-
artists I’ve mentioned there is no sense that Farocki is slowing down or is any less
out the spaces of the centre, utilising
fascinated by new technologies, especially forms of surveillance and means of
sound with still and moving images. As
observing reality through the prism of the camera lens.
the press release outlined the aim of the
The place of the artist in his or her own work was never more poignantly
WEXFORD ARTS CENTRE
Auralog projects is “related to sound and
expressed than by Dennis Oppenheim (1938-2011). His 2001 exhibition at IMMA
Patrick Redmond presented new paint-
visuals developed in relation to specific
featured some of his “surrogate performers”, marionettes manipulated by strings,
ings at his exhibition at Wexford Arts
sites – the site is centrally important to
dancing to the tune that could so easily feature in The Life and Death of Marina
Centre – presented in association with
the event … their intention is to remake
Abramovic, “It ain’t what you make, its what makes you do it’. Not to frighten any of
the Molesworth Gallery, Dublin (10 Jun
the experience of a place through their
the artists mentioned in this article but Oppenheim’s passing reminds me that I
– 30 Jul). Redmond’s show engaged with
intervention”.
should try to see more of these artists before we are left with only the surrogates. As www.tinahely-courthouse.ie
the theme of vanitas. The press release
Both Brian O’Doherty (showing as himself in the National Gallery of Ireland)
noted “Redmond takes the theme and applies it to meticulously-executed paintings of soap bubbles, with all their connotations of the brevity of existence and suddenness of death. Within each bubble, there is a cosmic quality to the kaleidoscopic miasma of colour, like the supernova created by the core of an
Oppenheim figured out, his own body was a finite entity.
Anne Rigney
and Amanda Coogan can next be seen showing new work at Dublin Contemporary
Roscommon Arts Centre, presented
2011.
Anne Rigney’s exhibition ‘New Work’ (4 – 11 August). The exhibition featured 25 mixed media works in oils, acrylics, pastel and watercolours. As the press release noted, the artist’s subject matter
Notes 1. Adrian SearleA Room with no view The Guardian 12.07.11 2. O’Doherty follows a long line of Irish ‘serial pseudonymists’ such as Brian O’Nolan who wrote several novels under name of Flann O’Brien and an Irish Times column (1940-1966) and a novel under the name Myles na gCopaleen. 3. Coogan explains that Wilson usesYellow and another workMedea, as quotes within the biographical play centred o the life of Abramovic. This is nicely explained in an audio interview between Amanda Coogan and Deirdre Mulroone the on-line cultural magazine Vulgo.ie.
8
The Visual Artists’News sheet
September – October 2011
ROUNDUP
was “influenced by the ever changing
Seafront’, which the artist located on the
Stephen Brandes, Julie Merriman, Laura
Tonight’ an exhibition by the interna-
COUPLES
colours of the Roscommon landscape”
beach as part Bray Summerfest (14 July).
McMorrow, Niamh O’Malley, Niamh
tionally acclaimed Thai artist and film-
The Complex Gallery, Dublin recently
and commenting on her work Rigney
In addition to performances, offsite ele-
McCann, Brendan Earley, Clodagh Emoe
maker Apichatpong Weerasethakul (27
presented ‘Couples’ an exhibition by
noted “the images that interest me most
ments, discussion and screenings the
and Brian Fay, were purchased for the
Jul – 31 Oct). The show features
Mario Sughi (aka Nerosunero) (23 – 30
are things in transition, be it a decaying
project also included an exhibition at
collection in the last year and were pre-
Weerasethakul’s new work, which
June).
autumn leaf or a reflection in a pool of
the Mermaid.
sented in the selection of Fine Lines.
explores the theme of night through
“Nerosunero’s pieces depict characters
video, photographs and installation. The
in scenes of contemporary living. Upon
exhibition is curated by Enrique Juncosa,
first glance the subjects appear in unre-
Director of IMMA.
markable routine situations, however
water. Life is constantly changing and we are all part of this flux” . www.roscommonartscentre.ie
www.gallery.limerick.ie
The following show was Jennifer Brady’s ‘A Knowable Whole’ (28 Jul – 1 Sep). The show featured a new video
(DIS)PLA ING ThE OThER (DIS)PLAy
work and photographs focused on the MURMUR
www.imma.ie
failed development of a luxury apartwww.mermaidartscentre.ie www.denisbuckley.com
David Quinn - work from 'Murmur' Taylor Galleries, Dublin
its third Open Submission exhibition (17 – 30 Jul). The exhibition featured 28
Taylor Galleries, Dublin recently showed
Lawrence Street Workshops Gallery,
‘Murmur’ an exhibition of new paint-
Belfast presented ‘Three point One Four’
ings by David Quinn (18 August – 3
a solo show by Katrina Sheena Smyth
September). As the press release noted
(15 Jun – 15 Jul). As the press release
“the paintings in this exhibition repre-
outlined Smyth “utilised various medi-
sent a kind of visual diary of the painter’s
ums, including drawing, painting and
past year. They are not meant to be read
screen-printing “to create dense rhyth-
chronologically or literally but rather as
mical patterns that are combined with
an impressionistic series of reflections,
flowing geometric structures”; and that
ideas and emotions. David Quinn makes
for the artist. “the act of drawing and
quiet abstract paintings on a small
painting is similar to thought processes
scale”.
that occur during meditation”. www.katrinasheenasmyth.co.uk
www.taylorgalleries.com
ARRANGEMENTS
Dunamaise Arts Centre recently hosted
ThREE POINT ONE FOUR
Publicity image – '(Dis)Playing the Other'. Catalyst Arts
Catalyst Arts, Belfast presented ‘(dis) playing the Other’ (15 Jul – 9 Aug). Through video, photography, drawing, painting, and installation, the show
Bernadette Madden. The artists repre-
ThE JOINERy
sented included; Cora O’Brien, Brendan
A joint exhibition of work from Yvonne
O’Flaherty, Bernie Masterson, Bennie
Woods and Susan Montgomery was
Reilly, Conor Walton, Aoife Barrett,
exhibited in the Joinery recently (8 – 14
Stephen Lawlor, Joe Dunne, Bridget
June). The artists created work inspired
Flinn, Mary Burke, Stephen Lawlor, Eoin
by the prose of the Canadian writer
MacLochlainn, Lorraine Walsh, Joe
Anne Michaels. Montgomery focused
Dunne, Cora O’Brien, Myra Jago, Paul
on the “manipulation of found paper
MacCormaic, Heidi Nguyen, Maria
centred on the behaviour of chance
O’Brien, Angela Fewer, Eileen Mills and
marks and stains”. Woods used silver
Balazs Keresztury. The works exhibited
gelatin glass plate prints on hand-made
were of mixed media and sizes.
fibre based photosensitive paper.
www.dunamaise.ie/visualart
were; Breda Lynch, Gavin Devine, Ins A
Roscommon Arts Centre recently exhib-
Margaret Fitzgibbon presented a new
the press release outlined, the exhibition
Kromminga, Jenny Keane and Quinnford
ited ‘Remains’ by Norwegian artist
body of work at The Warehouse Dublin
originated out of a series of discussions
+ Scout . A series of lectures and events
Magnhild Opdøl (17 Jun – 14 Jul). The
(23 – 27 June). This collection emerged
between UCD and NCAD students. The
ran in conjunction with the show.
show presented a body of work that
from a three year practice led research
examined the process of death – as the
project exploring the subject of the
artist put it “from the curious eye of the
archive. Using a collection of personal
viewer, the fearful eye of the escaping
letters, amateur film footage and inter-
animal and the playful eye of the hunt-
views, Fitzgibbon reflects on how histo-
er.” This collection of works employed
ries are narrated and memorialised. Her
several art disciplines ranging from
investigation of the archive used a range
drawing, sculpture and video.
of methods such as re-editing home
www.catalystarts.org.u k
BARRIE COOKE A Retrospective of the work of Barrie Cooke is currently on show at IMMA (15 Jun – 18 Sep). The exhibition comprises some 70 paintings and sculptures – from
http://magnhildopdol.blogspot.com
bone boxes of the 1960s and 1970s to the
SAND
nudes, which have formed a constant
ThE CELTIC TWILIGhT
Works are drawn from the Museum’s
Green on Red Gallery recently held an
own significant holding of Cooke’s oeu-
exhibition by Caroline McCarthy enti-
vre, as well as from public and private
tled ‘Arrangements’ (24 Jun – 6 Aug). As
collections. The exhibition is curated by Naheed RazaSand. Shown at lismore Arts
An exhibition of The Niland Collection is currently on show at the Model, Sligo (16 Jun – 11 Sep). ‘The Celtic Twilight’ looks at the tensions between The Gaelic
Karen Sweeney.
Cultural Revival and the birth of
www.imma.ie
Modernism in Ireland.
Lismore Castle Arts, Waterford in colThROUGh ThE EyES
sented Naheed Raza’s film Sand, at
‘Through the Eyes’ a major exhibition of
Lismore Arts Centre(16 Jul – 14 Aug).
work from the celebrated Irish artist
Sand was filmed at the edge of The
Gerard Byrne is currently on show at the
Empty Quarter in the United Arab
Irish Museum of Modern Art (27 Jul – 31
BUCKLEy AT MERMAID
Emirates. As the press release stated “The
Oct). ‘Through the Eyes’ features five
Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray presented
work is a meditation on the strange,
projects by the artist, dating from 2003
‘Searching
Unimagined
silent power of the desert... The transi-
to 2010. As the press release notes
Conscience of My Race’, a five-week
ence, mobility and immersive quality of
“Byrne’s multi-layered approach to his
the shifting sand acts as a metaphor not
work creates an exhibition that is both
New work by Gareth Kennedy was pre-
only for time but also relates to thresh-
complex in its subject matter and recog-
miered at Super8 Shots Árann, Aran
olds of seeing, thinking and being.”
nisable in its imaginary reconstructions
Islands (1 – 3 July). Kennedy’s work
of the ongoing debates between the
comprised of a custom built flatpack
present, soon to be past, and the project-
structure housing a super 8 film. This
ed future. Influenced by literature and
piece was produced in April 2011 during
theatre, Byrne’s work consistently refer-
a residency at Áras Éanna Arts Centre on
ences a range of sources, from popular
the Aran Islands. As part of the festival
magazines of the recent past to iconic
Kennedy also presented a series of 8mm
Modernist playwrights such as Brecht,
films made by his late father, which
Beckett, and Sartre.” Byrne’s work
uniquely document scuba dive culture
encompasses film, video, photography
on the west coast of Ireland in the 1960s
and installation.
and 70s.
perceptions of national identity in Ireland (June – July). As the press release outlined, the projects starting point was
www.lismorecastlearts.ie
Ireland’s “loss of fiscal sovereignty” brought about by the IMF intervention.
FINE LINES
As part of the show Buckley pre-
‘Fine Lines’ was a group exhibition of
sented a performance work on 7 July
drawings held at LCGA Istabraq Hall,
entitled ‘Bohola Men’. The piece which
Limerick (16 Jun – 5 Aug). The show
also incorporated film and audio archive
comprised of a selection from the
material, considered the contribution
National Collection of Contemporary
made by and plight of Irish economic
Drawing, which has been housed in
migrants from the 1930s to the late
Limerick since 1991. The collection now
1960s. The project also featured a ‘per-
comprises 198 works by 113 artists.
sonal confessional’ – entitled ‘On the
Eight new works by eight Irish artists,
Also on show is ‘For Tomorrow for
This show
explores the way in which ideological
laboration with 126 Gallery, Galway pre-
project by Denis Buckley, investigating
movies, producing songs, creating sound works and constructing furni-sculpture.
SUPER8 ShOTS
mode of expression in his practice. Caroline McCarthyGroup Coordination (red) (2011)
the
www.thejoinery.org
at 126 Gallery, Galway (24 Jun – 2 Jul). As
his Sheila-Na-Gig images and the Perspex
for
www.thecomplex.ie
MARGARET FITZGIBBON
www.126.ie
www.greenonredgallery.com
in vivid, arresting colour.”
REMAINS
architecture.
though consumer culture.”
privacy. These scenes are encapsulated
in today’s society. The exhibiting artists
erature, audio / video work and
and individual expression as promoted
encounters and moments of invaded
‘A Public Mosaic’ was a group show held
ing methodologies of the visual arts, lit-
stant appetite for change, re-invention
upon further inspection, the composi-
A PUBLIC MOSAIC
collaborative process, fusing the work-
range’ and its association with a con-
noted
offered various representations of ‘other’
come of an open-ended experimental
the show “ considered the idea of ‘the
release
pieces, selected by guest curator
works in the show represented the out-
the press release outlined the works on
press
tions reveal snapshots of intimate
LEVEL
ment complex in Dublin.
The
tension manifested itself along geographic lines between urban and rural Ireland and particularly explores the glorification of the image of the West among Ireland’s artistic community. The show includes work by artists Jack B Yeats, Paul Henry, Louis le Brocquy and Publicity image – 'Super 8 Shots'
Mainie Jellet.
www.gkennedy.info www.super8shots.com
www.themodel.ie
RED SQUARE ‘From Us, Through Them, To You’ was a collection of work curated by Red Square (25 Jun – 24 Jul), presented at the Bulter Gallery, Kilkenny. Red Square is a group of 16–18 year olds from Kilkenny, brought together by the Butler Gallery. The group successfully applied for a European ‘Youth in Action’ in order to make projects engaging with the Butler Gallery Collection. Red Square has since embarked on a series of phases of training from February – April 2011, develop-
The Visual Artists’News Sheet
September – October 2011
News
Roundup
ing ideas and skills for the realisation of a Butler Gallery Collection exhibition. ‘From Us, Through Them, To You’ included a wide range of media, including sculpture, print, photography, painting, film and installation. www.butlergallery.com
OUR LIVES AS THINGS
Colm Mac Athlaoich working in MonsterTruck
exhibited in the gallery the following week, along with a short film documenting the creation of the works, which were projected onto the gallery’s window. The project was a collaboration Alan MageeChoice enabled (series)
Occupy Space, Limerick presented ‘Our
between MTG&S and the Temple Bar Cultural Trust as part of their 20th
featured a new body of work incorporating sculpture, drawing and installation – the results of a one-year residency at the Florence Trust, London. As critic Colin Perry noted in the press release “Magee explores the notion of human
The winner of the RDS Award of
google co-ordinates It is vital to make it easy for people to
Excellence Reserve Prize, worth €3,500
Creative Ireland
find your organisation – it is critical in
and first prize in the Ceramics
Creative Ireland: The Visual Arts a new
terms of developing your audience. For
Traditional Category is Mark Campden
publication from Visual Artists Ireland
this reason, and in preparation for the
from Cuffesgrange, Co. Kilkenny. Mr
is available now. Edited by Noel Kelly
launch a new service at the end of this
Campden’s entry entitled Large Fish
and Seán Kissane, provides a rigorous
year, it is now possible to enter the
Platter is a large mould-formed
survey
Irish
Google co-ordinates for your organisation
earthenware platter decorated with a
contemporary visual arts practice
on Visual Artists Ireland’s online listing
tin glaze using copper and iron oxides
through the critical optic of local,
service.
to illustrate fish motifs. Using his own
and
appraisal
of
national and international perspectives.
This service is for Visual Artists
recipes to mix these oxides, each detail
Creative Ireland: The Visual Arts
Ireland member organisations. To add
of his work is hand painted onto the
profiles 100 leading contemporary Irish
your site simple enter your details here
platter using a variety of brushes.
visual artists active from 2000 – 2011. A
After entering your details, our staff will
broad overview and analysis of the issues
check that you are a member. If not,
Competition prize-winners Travelling
confronted by Irish artists is addressed in
they will make contact with you to
Exhibition will tour to a number of
five thematic essays, by leading Irish
guide you through the membership
venues around Ireland. It will stop at
cultural commentators, Valerie Connor;
options.
The Atrium, Co. Westmeath from 16
Colin Graham, Fiona Kearney, Mebh Ruane, and Brian Hand.
The
RDS
National
Crafts
August – 23 September, the Alley Arts Register your Blogs & Websites
and Conference Centre, Strabane, Co.
The cover price of Creative Ireland:
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and The Yeats Memorial Building, Hyde
PAINTBOX ‘99
the development of art criticism, Visual
available from leading gallery bookshops
Paintbox ‘99 recently exhibited work at
Artists Ireland has created a space where
Bridge, Co. Sligo from 3 – 24 November.
accross Ireland and internationally.
The Gallery, Roscommon Arts Centre (20
people who are active in the delivery of
The final stop will be the National
Copies can be ordered directly from
– 28 Jul). Paintbox ’99 was formed by a
art criticism blogs and websites can
Crafts and Design Fair, RDS Hall 1,
www.printedproject.ie or from www.
group of women of diverse backgrounds
advertise their site to visitors to Ireland’s
Dublin 4 from 30 November – 4
amazon.co.uk
most
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anniversary. www.monstertruck.ie
Lives as Things’ an exhibition by Alan Magee (22 Jul – 6 Aug). Magee’s show
9
and talents from Roscommon, with a
comprehensive
visual
arts
resource.
www.rds.ie
shared love of creating art. As the press
Critical Discourse in the VAN
release noted “working with various
On page 17 readers will find our new
mediums including acrylic, oil, mixed
Ireland members. If you are not a
RDS STUDENT AWARDS
Critique Supplement, comprising of four
media and watercolour, these artists’
professional visual artist, there are other
The winner of the highly esteemed RDS
page pull section, featuring reviews of
influences are wide and varying includ-
levels of membership that will allow
Taylor Art Award worth €5,000 is
exhibitions, events, publications and
ing the local landscape both natural and
you to avail of this service, and be eligible
Gabhann Dunne from Dublin 8. Dunne,
projects – that are either current or have
manmade, flora and fauna”. The exhibit-
for other benefits. If in doubt, call us and
who is a student the National College
recently taken place in Ireland. The
ing artists were Anna Duignan, Eileen
we can make sure that you are guided to
of Art and Design Dublin, was presented
supplement will appear
EXPLORERS
Duignan, Beatrice Finn, Anne Hanly,
the right category.
with this award at the RDS Student Art
edition of of the Visual Artists News
Works by Stephen Brandes, Andrew
Mary Harlow and Kitty Phelan
Sheet.
agency in our pre-built environment: how people may take hold of that material world and reform it to their own specifications, needs, and desires. His concerns are about empowerment and the questioning of received wisdom.” http://alan-magee.com/
This service is for Visual Artists
with each
Awards prize-giving ceremony in the FIRE STATION RESIDENCIES
RDS Concert Hall today. The winning
The Critique Supplement relates to
the group show ‘We are playing at being
Fire Station is pleased to announce that
entry was an oil on canvas painting and
VAI's commitment to developing the
explorers’ at Galway Arts Centre (11 – 24
the following artists have been selected
according to the artist this prize-
professional contexts and infrastructures
Jul). The show was curated by Maeve
for studio residencies commencing in
winning work ‘communicates a tension
for artists working in Ireland, that have
Spring 2011: Nada Prlja (UK & Bosnia
between animals and human spaces’
recently included talks and critical
Herzegovina), George Bolster (USA &
and ‘relies upon the work as a principal
writing
in
Ireland), Magnhild Opdol (Norway &
motif and vehicle for understanding
partnership with The Ormeau Baths
Ireland), Martin Healy (Ireland) and
processes of marginalisation’.
Gallery, Belfast and The Lab, Dublin.
Maria McKinney (Ireland).
www.roscommonartscentre.ie
Dodds and Sonia Shiel were presented in
Mulrennan. The press release noted “this group exhibition playfully explores the capacity for stretching both time and space through narrative and materials in
Get in to The Roundup
order to create a new view of our own world.” Each artist was invited to show work that investigated the sometimes blurred line between fact and fiction, real and fake.
■■ Simply e-mail text and images
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editor (jason@visualartists.ie).
the roundup to the
www.galwayartscentre.ie
■■ Your text details / press release IN THE ASPHALT CITY Angry Hammers recently presented ‘In the Asphalt City’ a group exhibition at The Dock Sheds, Galway (16 – 30 Jul). Using a variety of disciplines, including sculpture, video, installation and drawing the works on show explored a diverse range of themes such as economics, identity and mortality. The artists involved were James Ward, Austin Ivers, Tom Singer, Ann Maria Healy, Dave Callan, Jonathon Sammon, David Finn, Alwyn Revill and Ian Hart. 5 CANVASES 5 DAYS Colm Mac Athlaoich’s show ‘Temple Bar Revisited’ at Monster Truck Gallery (16 – 24 Jul), featured the artists working in the space for one week, where he turned the space into a working studio. Over five days the artist interpreted the history of Temple Bar, working on one canvas per day. The resulting paintings were
bursaries
developed
Bláthnaid Ní Mhurchú from
A text by James Merrigan – the
Fire Station offers subsidised
Dublin won the RDS James White
winner of 'City Limits,' a visual art
residential studios for professional
Drawing Award worth €3,000 for her
writing award devised and run in
visual artists in Dublin city centre. The
entry entitled ‘Hut’. According to Ms Ní
collaboration by Dublin City Arts Office
studios are let for a period of between
Mhurchú, her pencil on paper work is
& Visual Artists Ireland is featured on
one year and two years nine months.
‘concerned with the assemblage,
page 14 of this edition of the VAN.
International artists may apply for
disassemblage and reassemblage of
The Critique Supplement reflects
should include: venue name,
shorter periods. Resident artists have
structures’. The RDS Printmaking
location, dates and a brief
the broader aims of The Visual Artists
free access to high end computers,
Award worth €3,000 was won by Linda
description of the work / event.
News Sheet to be relevant to the broad
software, WiFi, technical expertise and
Uhlemann for her entry entitled ‘The
spectrum of visual artists working in all
support, and also subsidised access to
House’. Ms Uhlemann is based in
■■ Inclusion is not guaranteed,
disciplines.
sculpture workshop facilities and
Monkstown, Co. Dublin and is a student
but we aim to give everyone
commissioned to reflect upon and
digital equipment.
at the Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art,
a fair chance.
critique a diversity contemporary Irish
The
reviews
are
www.firestation.ie/studios
visual arts practice – in terms of media,
Design and Technology. Other awards included the R.C
■■ Our criteria is primarily to
generation and geography. The review
RDS CRAFT WINNERS
Lewis-Crosby Award for Painting and
ensure that the roundup
writers have been drawn from a panel
section has a good regional
The RDS is proud to announce Northern
the Freyer Award which were won by
that has was assembled from an open
spread and represents a
Ireland based glass artist, Karl Harron
Sara Hanley and Aisling Drennan
call out held earlier this year.
diversity of forms of practice,
from Newtownards, County Down, as
respectively. The Peter O’Kane Solo
from a range of artists at all
the prize-winner of the prestigious RDS
Exhibition Award, sponsored by the
We’ve Moved
stages in their careers.
Award of Excellence worth €7,000, and
Cavanacor Gallery, Donegal, was won
After just under 5 years on North Great
the California Gold Medal, for his entry
by Darina Meagher who will now have
Georges Street, Visual Artists Ireland has
entitled Temple Artefact #0411. This
her work exhibited at the Gallery
moved to new offices. Our new address
piece displays an emphasis on design-
towards the end 2012 as part of her
and contact details are as follows –
led and innovative work. Mr Harron’s
prize. The RDS Student Art Awards will
Visual Artists Ireland, Central Hotel
piece also received first prize in the
travel to Farmleigh Gallery, Castleknock,
Chambers, 7/9 Dame Court, Dublin 2
Glass Category, one of the 20 categories
Dublin 15 from 18 August – 7 October.
T: +353 (0)1 672 9488 : +353 (0)1 672
in the RDS National Crafts Competition
9482 Email: info@visualartists.ie
which boasts a prize-fund in excess of
■■ Priority is given to events
taking place within Ireland,
but do let us know if you are
taking part in a significant
international event.
€28,000 annually.
www.rds.ie
ARTLINKS BURSARIES
10
The Visual Artists’News Sheet
September – October 2011
news ArtLinks is pleased to announce details
dynamic work and has been retained
his highly-effective promotion of Irish
of the recipients of over €25,000 in
for 2011, allowing audiences to
artists at home and abroad.
bursaries for its membership in the five
experience this award-winning design
ArtLinks partner counties of Carlow,
for another five months.
Kilkenny, Waterford, Wexford and
The rapid development of IMMA’s Collection, through his strategic
www.mermaidartscentre.ie
Wicklow for 2011. These awards are
Community) Micheál Rowsome; Newcastle West
frequently asked questions. Complete
Macra na Feirme; Visual arts; Limerick
and return the form by Friday 7 October
(Arts and Community)
2011 to claim your share.
acquisitions policy, and his innovative approach to IMMA’s Education and
Return Claim Form and for a list of
Dylan Tighe; Mental health experts;
www.ivaro.ie
Theatre; Dublin, (Arts and Health)
designed to support the professional
MAEVE CURTIS wins THREADNEEDLE
Community, National and Artists’
development of creative practitioners,
Irish artist Maeve Curtis has been
Residency Programmes are also seen as
Women’s Support Group; Visual arts;
Laragh
Pittman;
International
The Museum wishes to advise visitors
aged 18 and over, who are resident
selected for this year’s prestigious
having yielded rich rewards. Mr Juncosa
Dublin (Arts and Cultural Diversity)
that, owing to essential and extensive
within the ArtLinks five county
Threadneedle Prize in London. Selectors
is due end his term at the Museum later
partnership region and members of
Julie Lomax, (Head of Visual Art, Arts
this year.
ArtLinks.
Council England), Lisa Milroy, (Head of
IMMA REFURBISHMENT
Aileen Lambert; The Gap Arts
refurbishing works, the main building at
Festival Committee; Visual arts; Wexford
IMMA will be closed from 1 November
(Arts and Community)
2011 until 31 December 2012.
The
The list of all ArtLinks 2011
Graduate Painting, Slade School of Fine
SAPPORO BIENNALE GRAND PRIX
Cara Konig Brock* (Mentor Lynn
works, which will be carried out by the
recipients are as follows: Kilkenny:
Art) and Godfrey Worsdale, (2011
Irish artists Kevin Gaffney & Sally-
Kirkham); Connect Family Resource
OPW, will involve a major upgrade of
Lucy McKenna/Visual Arts €1,000,
Turner Prize Juror and Director, BALTIC
Anne Kelly have been awarded the
Centre; Visual arts; Louth (Arts and
the Museum’s lighting, security and fire
Maria
David
Centre for Contemporary Art) chose
Grand Prix from the Sapporo Biennale
Community Development)
O’Leary/ Music, €1,500, Patrick Joseph
only 52 artworks out of 4350
Art Competition. They are now
Rafter/Music, €1,500. Carlow : Marc-
submissions for exhibition and for the
commissioned to create work in
Community,
Ivan O’Gorman/Film €2,000,Rosalind
Prize to be held at The Mall Galleries in
Hokkaido, Japan, for presentation at the
Artform, Location, Context)
Murray/ Visual Arts €2,000, Emma
Central London this September.
Sapporo Biennale 2014.
Harper/Literature E1,000. Waterford:
Described as the ‘alternative to the
Jenny Fennessy/Theatre E3,000, Jane
Turner Prize’, the Threadneedle Prize is
Jermyn / Visual Arts €2,000. Wexford:
the UK’s leading showcase for painting
OCCUPY SPACE
Sylvia Cullen / Literature-Theatre
and sculpture that promotes the
Occupy Space is pleased to announce
€1,600, Helen Gaynor / Visual Arts
practice of representational art that
the recipients of the Graduate Residency
Douglas Carson; Architecture; Dublin
€1,400, Ian Doyle/Music €1,000, Joey
challenges
its
and
Award 2011: LSAD graduates Rachel
(Arts and Community)
Ryan/Music €1,000. Wicklow: Eamonn
assumptions.
With over £40,000 of
Healy and Ronan McGeough. Over the
Long term: KCAT, Jeffrey Gormley,
Sweeney/Music €2,000, Joanna Kidney /
prize
The
coming weeks Occupy Space will play
Callan Plus 500, Dance, Kilkenny (Arts
Visual Arts €1,000, Joanne Boyle /
Threadneedle Prize is one of the largest
host to the artists, where they are invited
and Disability)
Visual Arts €1,000, Sinéad O’Loughlin /
prizes for a single work of art in the UK
to develop a studio practice within the
Askeaton Contemporary Arts,
Theatre €2,000
and Ireland.
gallery. The award is intended to provide
Andrew Dodds, Paradise Regained;
support to recent graduates with an
Visual
interest in pursuing their artistic practice
Community)
Ryan/Music
E1,000,
www.artlinks.ie
money
language
to
be
won,
www.threadneedleprize.com / www.maevecurtis.ie
www.sapporo-biennale.jp/?p=1659
Project Realisation: (Listed as:
safety systems. Work will be confined to the main Museum building and will
Title,
include the installation of a new wiring
Short Term:Sligo RAPID Area
security capability and a more advanced
Artist,
Project
Implementation Team; Globe House; Sinead Dolan; Encounters; Film; Sligo (Arts and Cultural Diversity) Skated8;
Rosaleen
arts,
Limerick
Crushell,
(Arts
and
and lighting system, a greatly enhanced fire detection system. A new hoist for artworks and an additional fire escape will also be put in place. The works will significantly enhance the experience for visitors, with greatly improved lighting and flooring, and will restore access to the first floor galleries for wheelchair users and other lift-dependent visitors. In addition, these improvements to the buildings safety systems will enable part of the North Range to be used for exhibitions on a regular basis. The project will also reduce energy costs and enable the Museum to operate in a more
MERMAID ARCHITECTURAL AWARD
IMMA DIRECTOR HONOURED
and provides an opportunity to
Enable Ireland; Gráinne McHale;
The
intervention
On Tuesday 5 July, the Spanish State
investigate independent,collaborative
Access and Beyond; Music; Cork (Arts
transformed
awarded one of its highest decorations,
and experimental bodies of work. The
and Disability)
Mermaid’s gallery space in summer
the Order of Civil Merit, to Enrique
public are invited to view work in
County Wexford School of Music;
2010, received the accolade of Best
Juncosa, Director of the Irish Museum
progress and meet the artists at Occupy
Laura Hyland and Deirdre Grant; OSAMI
Cultural Building 2011 at the highly
of Modern Art since 2003. The award
Space on Thursday 25 August from 1pm
Project; Music + Dance; Wexford (Arts
sought after RIAI Irish Architecture
was made by King Juan Carlos of Spain
– 5pm. There will be a brief exhibition to
and Community)
Awards organised by the Royal Institute
in
follow on 2 & 3 September 2011.
of Architects of Ireland. Funded by
outstanding contribution to the arts in
Wicklow County Council and The Arts
Ireland and his work in promoting
Council, the ‘Unbuilding’ project began
cultural cooperation between Ireland
Artist in the Community Scheme
Artlink + Donegal Fishermen;David
also present exhibitions and projects in
in late 2009 and featured 12 artists and
and Spain. It was presented by the
Successful Applicants for the Arts
Farquhar, Endurance; visual arts;(Arts
an off-site location in Dublin, while the
3 curators. The project culminated in
Ambassador of Spain in Ireland, Her
Council / Create Artist in The
and Community)
highly-successful National Programme
11 new commissions, the winning
Excellency Ms. Mercedes Rico, at the
Community Scheme Second Round.
Female stitchers; Niamh White;
Unbuilding architectural intervention,
Ambassador’s Residence in Ailesbury
Research and Development:(Listed as:
Subversive Stitch; Visual arts; Dublin;
international speakers, film screenings,
Road.
Artist; Community; Artform; Location;
(Arts and Community)
architectural
‘Unbuilding’
that
local discussions and a rotating programme of exhibitions.
recognition
of
Commenting
Mr
on
Juncosa’s
the
www.occupyspace.com
award
Context) have jst been announced
The café, bookshop and grounds will also remain open to visitors. IMMA will
Niamh O’Connor; Focus Ireland;
recognised the high standards achieved
important period of my life in which I
Visual art/video animation/photography,
Organisation (IVARO) is pleased to
by Shaffrey Associate Architects,
have greatly enjoyed living and working
Sligo (Arts and Health)
announce the launch of Return 2011.
designers
‘Unbuilding’
in Ireland. I remember that when I was
Sinead
intervention. The selection panel
about to move here, some colleagues of
Stammering
commented on the fact that the
mine said that I would disappear from
Dublin (Arts and Community)
intervention was designed as a
the map by choosing to work abroad.
Rosemary Canavan; Foroige/Mercy
their permission are invited to claim a
temporary structure, with the ‘timber
This clearly proves them wrong. I also
Day Centre/ Kanturk, Literature; County
share of RETURN royalties. These
exhibition structure reassert[ing] the
modestly feel that my work has been
Cork;; Visual arts; County Cork (Arts and
royalties are collected from Universities,
possibilities of the Temporary, the
good for the already deep Spanish and
Older People)
schools and businesses that use
short-lived intervention as an approach
Irish relationships and for greater
Aislinn Delaney (Mentor Anthony
photocopying machines. A share of
to
and
celebrating
CLAIM YOUR SHARE The
Visual
Irish
Visual
creators
Artists
whose
Rights
artworks,
illustrations or photographs have been published in a book or periodical with
collaboration across the European arts
Haughey) Inchicore Community Drug
these royalties can be claimed by any
architecture as a communal as well as
sector
Team; Visual arts: photography; Dublin
artist or visual creator whose work is
an artistic activity.’
particularly relevant at this time of
(Arts and Community Development)
contained in publications which have
generally,
which
seems
These annual awards celebrate
crisis. This decoration will certainly
achievement in architecture throughout Ireland, and places ‘Unbuilding’ in the
Vukasin
Nedeljkovic;
Asylum
an ISBN or ISSN number (and are
frame in a very special way my
seekers in direct provision hostel; Film;
therefore available to be photocopied).
memories of Ireland.”
Dublin (Arts and Cultural Diversity)
Return is available to all visual creators,
company of previous winners, VISUAL
Enrique Juncosa’s tenure at IMMA
Kellie Guilfoyle; Enable Ireland
not just IVARO members. This is an
– Centre for Contemporary Art & the
has won widespread praise from the
Adult Services; Theatre; Limerick (Arts
annual scheme and payments will be
George Bernard Shaw Theatre (2010)
Irish arts community, more especially
and Disability)
made to successful claimants in
and Wexford Opera House (2009). The
for the number of leading international
Rosaleen
structure offers greater flexibility and potential to exhibit a diverse range of
Crushell;
North and South. www.imma.ie.
award. It closes in a grand way an
explaining
will continue in venues around Ireland,
www.create-ireland.ie
evening, 11 July in Wood Quay Venue
Theatre;
will continue in the New Galleries and
Cork (Arts and Health)
Visual arts; Cork (Arts and Community)
Association;
visitors in January 2013. Exhibitions
also continue on site during the closure.
Alison Cronin, Young People/GAA;
Irish
Museum is scheduled to reopen to
Marie Brett; The Amulet; Visual arts;
honoured and delighted to receive this
O’Loughlin;
approximately one year, and the
the Artists’ Residency Programme will
Enrique Juncosa said: “I feel both
the
works are due to be completed in
Cork University Maternity Hospital;
The awards presented on Monday
of
environmentally efficient manner. The
Kanturk
November 2011. The average payment
artists whose work he has brought to
Community Council & Kanturk Arts
in 2010 was E185. How to make a claim:
the Irish gallery-going public and for
Festival Architecture; Co Cork (Arts and
Visit www.ivaro.ie to download the
ERRATA July / August 2011 A small inaccuracy has been pointed out in the article entitled 'No Scene, No Chair, No Problem' that appeared in our last edition. In the feature, written by Curt Riegelnegg it states that "Camphill was founded by Patrick Lydon under the pedagogical philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, and is one segment of the general support system that has grown up in Callan in years previous." Etaoin Holahan of The Workhousetest project contacted the writer, and requested that we make an amendment to this statement – Holohan has pointed out that the use of the tern"founded" was not accurate, and it would be more accurate to state "Patrick Lydon is not the founder of Camphill Callan, but a co-worker within the organisation. He has pioneered many creative initiatives, such as the Abhainn Ri festival, now in its second year."
The Visual Artists’ News sheet
September – October 2011
11
REGIONAl PROFIlE
Visual Arts Resources & Activity: Dublin The Complex, Smithfield
The RhA School
lifedrawing Model 2011 Caroline Quinn Kick Start The Complex
Stephen Mc Kenna Masterclass. 201 Photo Ireland at The Complex – Nigel Payne exhibition
IRON by Mark Wale, with Eileen Pollock Mark Wale
ThE Complex is an open plan art space, with a raw
2012 with a mix of original, indigenous work and
industrial aesthetic. This look is demonstrative of
some high quality visiting projects. The Absolut
our programme, which features works across all
Fringe has a major new production ‘Paper Dolls’
the arts disciplines, from photography to live arts,
opening in September and The Complex is open
with a focus on removing barriers between artist
on Culture Night when Mob Fandango will be
and audiences.
playing as a free event as part of the city’s
It is led by professional artists who run the programme and also make their own work for
celebrations. Complex Youth Theatre begins on 24 September.
presentation in visual arts, performance art and
Last March the building was transferred to
theatre in the two available spaces. These artists are
NAMA and, despite our repeated attempts to
particularly interested in new work that engages in
engage in leasehold negotiations, and an abundance
a social dialogue and is not afraid to penetrate
of other available vacant properties on offer in
serious matters about our society and the way we
Smithfield, an application for a Tesco Express was
are living.
submitted and granted for our premises – though
In 2010 – 2011 the programme has comprised
without its off-licence. The application has recently
exhibitions from IMMA, DIT final year design
been appealed to An Bord Pleanála, giving respite
students, Dun Laoghaire College, St Kevin’s, Photo
of a number of months, and it is hoped that
Ireland, as well as our own visual arts shows ‘Yawn’
ultimately the application will be denied
(a mixed collection including work by Annemarie
permission.
Kilshaw), ‘Dig’ (Franc Myles) and ‘Couple’ (Mario
Smithfield was originally designed as a
Sughi). The next Complex exhibition ‘Shul’
cultural quarter. Unless progressive voices are
featuring the work of Roger O’Neill, Paul Hickey,
heard, its destiny looks set to follow its developers,
Judy Foley and James Locke, will open in late
who avoided their legal requirement to allocate
September 2011.
80,000 square feet for cultural use, except for the
The Complex started in 2009 with a site-
now redundant Lighthouse Cinema, and the
specific production of a new play ‘Complexity’. It
Square will become another nebulous retail park.
raised interest from other artists in the building’s
The Complex is flourishing as an arts space; it gives
use as a permanent space, for creating theatre work
distinctiveness to the Square, provides local
that was all-inclusive and accessible in a new and
employment and deserves its place in our
exciting way. An arrangement was made with the
landscape.
then owner, to transpose it, in the hope of raising footfall and creating a buzz.
Vanessa Fileding, Artistic Director
The Complex received some capital funding
Anne-Mari Kilshaw,
from the Department of Arts, DCC and also raised
Visual Arts Director
funds from the proceeds of ‘Kickstart the Complex’ in Vicar St hosted by Tommy Tiernan and Hector O’hEochagáin. Its programme started to materialise in February 2010 and is now booked through until
www.thecomplex.ie www.facebook.com/thecomplex.dublin info@thecomplex.ie
IN 1826, three years after the establishment of the RHA by Royal Charter, the Academy School opened its first life class in Abbey Street, Dublin. In 1941, after periods of excellence and others of negligence, it finally closed. The main reason at the time was the withdrawal of the government grant of £300 per annum. However the Academy was a diminished organisation then and perhaps the enthusiasm to continue was simply absent. Traditionally, Academy Schools were run by artists and had the aim of producing painters and sculptors with the emphasis on skills - teaching people how to draw, paint and sculpt to the standards of the professional master artist. Academy Schools fell out of favour in the mid 20th century. The practice of learning to draw and paint in the ateliers of established painters was discontinued almost entirely. The re-establishment of the RHA School was an attempt to revive the ethos of the Academy School in art education and to offer this as a supplement to 3rd level art colleges - a place where the skills of observational and analytical drawing, perspective, anatomy and colour theory could be taught by professional artists. The redevelopment of the RHA building in 2008 involved a provision for the RHA School & Studios. The facilities were all designed to provide for the needs of the artist. There are four individual studios, two large group drawing studios, a kitchen and library. The RHA School has its own School Board made up of artist and Honorary Members of the Academy. There is the School Principal whose role is to oversee all the activities and programmes and the ongoing development of the school. In time, as the school grows, a vice-Principal will be elected also. There is also a newly formed School Management Committee to meet the operational needs of the school and studios. There was great ambition for the School from the outset, however the School opened as the economy declined, so rather than launching a full school programme, an atelier format of activities has organically evolved. In response to demand from artists, over the initial two years, drawing marathons were offered on a regular basis where artists came to draw intensively from life models for
Artists Drawing-Painting session. 2011
a week at a time, lecture series were held with artist and Honorary Members of the Academy, weekly Members life-drawing took place and the studios were occupied by invited artists on short threemonth residencies. An emerging artist studio award was offered in 2010 to four artists. Since the re-opening, the school studios have had 42 resident artists, over 200 artists have attended the drawing marathons, 66 artists have attended the master classes and there have been over 1000 attendees at the lectures. Through the process of offering all these activities to date, the RHA School has devised a comprehensive programme of lectures, master classes and life-drawing days which will be to the benefit of artists hoping to expand or develop their own practice. In addition three of the artists studios are offered annually through an open competition application process. The drawing days, which have been a staple of the RHA School always and had been the realm of RHA Members and invited artists only, are now being opened up and offered through an open call application process also. While allowing the school to develop, the ethos of the school has remained true to its core beliefs of imparting knowledge and expertise from senior artists and academicians to those artists seeking a place to learn these lost skills. The upcoming RHA School Autumn programme is in place, offering three master classes, eight lectures and 28 life drawing day-long sessions over a 14 week term. All our artist activities are subject to an application process. Three of the individual artists studios are to be offered in six sixmonth slots for 2012, the deadline for the studio applications is October 14th. All the school activities are both self-financing and non-profit making, enabling the RHA School to offer artists low-cost subsided studios and cost price courses and classes. Applications and all general enquiries for all the School and Studio activities should be directed to the Academy & School Co-ordinator Ciara Timlin Phone 01 6612558 Email Ciara@rhagallery.ie For full details of the autumn programme see www.royalhibernianacademy.ie Mick O’Dea RHA, School Principal
12
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
September – October 2011
REGIONAL PROFILE
Dublin Local Authorities Arts Offices: A Questionnaire What are your visual arts policies? What are the biggest challenges facing you in terms of Visual Arts resources, programming and development? Could you outline a couple of your key visual arts projects ? Are there any distinctive qualities to the types of visual art practices and resources you support for your local authority? What are your hopes and ambitions for visual arts activity and resources within your local authority and greater Dublin area?
ionnuala Hanahoe Park Reflecting part of ‘Hopeful Structures’, curated by Sally Timmons as part of Dublin City Council’s Emerging Curator Award 2010
Niall de Buitlear, Untitled paper sculptures and drawings 2010-2011, installation view, The LAB
atricia McKenna On the Line. Mixed Media, variable dimensions. 2011
Martina Coyle, Efflorescence, installation, Railway Street, Balbriggan, 2009
Dan Dubowitz & Fearghus ó Conchúir, Tattered Outlaws of History, Installation, Skerries Martello Tower, 2008
DUBLIN CITY
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown
Fingal
Sheena Barrett, Curator of The LAB and Assistant Arts Officer, Dublin City Council www.thelab.ie
Carolyn Brown. Assistant Arts Officer – Arts Supports and Operations. www.dlrcoco.ie/arts
Rory O Byrne. County Arts Officer. www.fingalarts.ie
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council values the visual arts and is committed to hosting an annual visual arts programme. This year in September we have ‘Outside the Lines’, an exhibition of contemporary drawing practice curated by Ashleigh Downey and Síle O’Sullivan in County Hall in Dún Laoghaire. Later in the year we are presenting an Open Submission Exhibition in Dundrum, which will be curated by Annette Moloney and Maeve Mulrennan. The exhibition will feature contemporary visual arts practice by artists living or working in the county in a variety of locations around the town. In addition dlr Arts Office supports visual artists through a scheme of grants. This results in a number of exhibitions and events as well as the development of artists throughout the county. We also run an Artists Network that provides professional development and networking opportunities. The challenges facing the visual arts in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown are the same as elsewhere in the country; as with everyone there is less funding and resources than in previous years. That said the recession has opened up opportunities for artists too, for instance in Dun Laoghaire, visual artists are amongst those availing of a pop-up shop initiative managed by the council. We’ve had a very successful visual arts programme over the years including the Concourse Programme, Concourse Offsite, several open submission exhibitions and working with IMMA on the National Programme. I am also very proud of the quieter programmes such as our residencies, which have in the past seen visual artists such as Julie Merriman in residence with Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company and Jennie Moran in residence at Airfield. We have also commissioned interesting work though a number of public art programme residencies including work by Gary Coyle; Noel Bowler; and Brian Maguire, Dominic Thorpe and Brian O’Connor working together. That said if I’m honest I’m always most excited about the next project we’re working on, so in this case I’d have to say I’m really looking forward to Outside the Lines in September which will further the public’s perception of drawing and the Open Submission Exhibition which offers us an opportunity to see the breadth of contemporary visual arts practice taking place in the County. Our aims are threefold in relation to visual arts, we aim to offer a strong visual arts programme with a strong participation and learning ethos, to provide opportunities for the public to engage with the visual arts as creators, participants and spectators and to offer support for artists to develop their practice through our grants scheme and our Artists Network. I think now is an exciting time for the visual arts in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. There is a lot of arts activity taking place and artists of all levels from emerging to established are working in the county. Our aim for the next few years is to open up more opportunities for people to get involved in the visual arts, be that as creators of work, spectators at an exhibition or event or as participants in a visual arts project. I’m also really excited about the proposed new Library and Cultural Centre in Dún Laoghaire, which will have a purpose-built gallery giving visual artists a top class venue in which to exhibit their work.
Fingal Arts Office seeks to provide a range of opportunities for engagement with the arts in a variety of contexts, with strong policies and programmes in the areas of public art, education, professional development and more. We have a particular remit to continue to develop programmes that promote the highest standards in professional arts practice while being inclusive and sustainable. We are conscious that every project initiated in Fingal gets enough critical reception, not just in our local papers, but nationally and internationally, this is a big challenge. Funding is a concern among all arts organizations and everyone is pairing back. For us it is about directing our funding toward what we feel reflects the current climate, education, practical assistance for graduates along with critical reflection. In the areas of public art, education and events we have ran many ambitious projects. These include the following: Martina Coyle, Efflorescence, was a temporary, site-specific installation on Railway Street in Balbriggan. The artist re-created a bridge, which was part of the former Smyth & co Textile factory; it was well received by locals as was the text by Gemma Tipton that accompanied the project. Dubowitz & Fearghus O’ Conchuir, Tattered Outlaws of History was a 12-screen installation in the derelict Martello tower in Skerries which combined dance, history and a large level of public engagement, the project attracted thousands of visitors and received a huge amount of media coverage. The work was shown again this summer in Jaywick Martello Tower, Essex. Brian Duggan’s, O’Machine O’Machine was a two-part project, which included a book of new fiction Three Thousand & Nine and film, The Measure. The book featured local writers, who were selected by the artist, arts office and John Banville it also included an essay by Francis McKee. The film premiered in the Sillogue water tower on the M50 and later in Draíocht in Blanchardstown with special event featuring the artist in conversation with Francis McKee. The film will show in the CCA Glasgow and other locations in 2011/12. Drawing Day, took place in Newbridge House and included free workshops by James Hanly, Paul Mckinley, and Zara Wood from the UK. In Colour was an exhibition and education programme that looked at key Irish artists, which featured on the Leaving Certificate exam art history paper. Borrowing works from LGCA, AIB and the Arts Council the show was accompanied by an education resource and artist talks series featuring Robert Ballagh, Alice Maher and Martin Gale. In the area of public art we support a wide range of possibilities, we take risks, we also have a huge education programme that delivers yearlong artist residencies in schools and this is ongoing. We support our graduates through a variety of opportunities advice and professional development. We hope to continue to programme to the highest standards, to document, promote and reflect during this challenging time so that we are ready for the next economic change.
Dublin City Council recognises arts and culture as integral to Dublin City’s identity and quality of life. In the Arts Office, our role includes advocacy, mediation, programming across the City’s neighbourhoods, and sponsoring arts initiatives that connect artists and the public in a variety of contexts. We support established and emerging artists and curators through advice, critical response, funding, opportunities for work, and infrastructure. Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, owned and funded by Dublin City Council, houses one of Ireland’s foremost collections of modern and contemporary art. The Arts Office is based at The LAB (1), a purpose built facility which includes galleries, rehearsal and incubation space, meeting and conference facilities and houses The Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT) MA in Visual Arts Practices (MAVIS). The LAB Gallery aims to provide significant opportunities to further artists’ careers at critical points in the development of their practice. We are committed to supporting emerging artists and to working with more established practitioners who are investigating new and diverse arts practices. We work with artists to provide a programme of talks, seminars and publications to stimulate dialogue, inspire new thought and develop new audiences for the visual arts. We aim to create a permeable space with a healthy eclecticism to function in multiple ways for multiple stakeholders, supporting our community of users while being open to new ways of working. Through commissioned essays and our publications we aim to support a critical community often underrepresented in our regular media. In partnership with Visual Artists Ireland, we have developed an art writing award. 'Building on Open Spaces', (2) a programme of partnered events, talks and critical response through which we aimed to stimulate dialogue, inspire new thought and suggest creative partnerships to support artists engagement with Dublin’s open spaces, in 2011 Dublin City Council launched the Dublin City Public Art Programme (3). Managed by Ruairí Ó Cuív, the programme is designed to offer different kinds of opportunities for artists to make new artworks. There is respect for the different ways in which artists work and the programme offers potential for the enduring artwork as well as temporary or time based work. In response to the critical lack of working spaces for artists in the city, Dublin City Council opened The Red Stables Artists Studios which houses artists’ day studios, an Irish Artists’ Residential Studio and an International Residential Studio in 2006. This year we will also be launching additional residential studio spaces at St. Patrick’s Lodge and Albert College Cottages. We have an incredibly vibrant and dynamic visual arts community living and working in the city. Dublin City Council Arts Office seeks to support this local energy through practical partnership and by facilitating networking, collaboration and international exchange and opportunities for the public to engage with quality arts experiences. Notes 1. See www.thelab.ie for exhibitions programme etc 2. To download Art in Urban and Suburban Open Spaces research document prepared by Vagabond Reviews see http://www.dublincity. ie/RecreationandCulture/ArtsOffice/Programmes/Documents/Art_in_ Urban_and_Suburban_Open_Space.pdf See www.dublincitypublicart.com
The Visual Artists’ News sheet
September – October 2011
13
REGIONAl PROFIlE
Dublin Arts Offices
United Arts Club
SOUTh DUBlIN
the United Arts Club has since its foundation in
Orla Scannell. Arts Officer. http://arts.southdublin.ie
What makes a creative city?
1907 been a centre for people interested in the arts; literature, music, painting, drama, film; and good conversation. It is a place to unwind, meet and make friends, encounter acquaintances and enjoy art. Situated in the heart of Georgian Dublin, the Club provides an oasis of tranquillity in the centre of the city. Every month we run a diverse programme of events for our members and guests. These include art exhibitions, concerts, recitals, discussions, lectures, poetry readings and honorary dinners. The Club, steeped in history, occupies an important place in the artistic and social life of the city. Our members include painters, sculptors,
Refunct Media 'Glitch Festival' Rua Red
moviemakers, musicians, playwrights and poets, novelists and journalists, architects and designers, academics, diplomats, doctors, dentists, lawyers, scientists and students, all with a keen interest in the arts. The election of new members is carried out monthly by the committee. Candidates must be proposed and seconded by members of the Club. Membership is open to practitioners in all disciples of the arts, as well as to people who have a genuine interest in the arts.
Refunct Media 'Glitch Festival' Rua Red
South Dublin County Council Arts Development Strategy recognises that professional artists are central to the creation of a vibrant cultural environment and the realisation of high quality creative arts practice in the county. Opportunities
The late 19th century saw a great revival in literature and art in Ireland. Drawing on the rich legacy of Irish history and mythology, a cultural renaissance was initiated, under the influence of W.B. Yeats, George "AE" Russell, Lady Augusta Gregory and others. As well as founding the world famous Abbey Theatre, these writers, along with
that allow artists to explore their creativity and
Ellie Duncan, Count Casimir and Countess
produce innovative and ambitious works are
Constance Markievicz, founded the United Arts
integrated into such programmes as the artist
Club, which came into existence in 1907. Unusually
bursary awards, public art commissions and artistic
for its day the Club offered full membership to men
residencies. It supports a number of visual arts programmers and provides facilities for the creation
and women from the start. The Arts Club was envisaged as "combining the unusual advantages of
and exhibition of artwork such as Rua Red South
a social club, open to both ladies and gentlemen,
Dublin Arts Centre
with features of special interest to workers in art, in
The shrinking funding environment has
music, and in literature." It was immediately a
placed greater demands on Local Authority
popular success and became a home from home for
resources and this presents a challenge to creating
practitioners of all artistic disciplines.
more opportunities for artists. Other challenges
Lively interaction, discussion and debate on
include connecting local audiences with the visual
all aspects of the arts ensued, and continues to this
arts and developing visual literacy with children.
day. The United Arts Club membership has
Key visual arts projects have been realised
numbered many of Ireland's most distinguished
through public art commissions such as Moving
artists and writers among its members. Many of
Dublin by Anne Cleary and Denis Connolly, a filmic essay about contemporary Dublin, and a collection of photographs, essays and video. www. connolly-cleary.com A=AGHT by Jackie Summell who developed is a semi-utopic virtual space/town whose rules, population and culture are generated by a facilitated exchange between youth from New Orleans and Tallaght. Adult artists and cultural workers from both cities developed projects that encouraged youth participants to explore historic moments, social grievances, ethnic and racial disparities in order to invent a place of creative resolve. www. Aequalsaght.org There is a diversity of practices amongst programmers and artists across the county. A primary criterion for support is excellence in all artistic disciplines and practices. South Dublin County Council would hope to see increasing attendance at visual arts exhibitions and events across a broader social and demographic profile of audiences and increasing the opportunities for interaction between artists and the public.
these have served on the committee and been a major influence at home and abroad in the promotion of the arts in Ireland. Over the years the Club became a vital social amenity attracting not only artists from all disciplines but also patrons of the Arts. Thanks to the generosity of some of the painters and members the Club has a small but important collection of paintings donated over the years. Some of our active societies include: Irish Hellenic Society; Irish Pen Society; Watercolour Society; Mythology Group; John McCormack Society; Ireland Australia Association; Irish Chinese Cultural Society; Irish Byron Society; Shaw Society; Dublin Chess Club; Opera Circle; Bridge Club; Wagner Society; Eblana Writers; Women on Air. Past Presidents: Founder - Eileen Duncan 1907; Dermond O’Brien PRHA 1919 – 1945; Thomas Bodkin 1946 – 1951; Lennox Robinson 1951 – 1958; Padraig Colum 1959 – 1972; Michael MacLiammoir 1972 – 1978;Michael Scott 1978 – 1989; Gladys McCabe 1989 – 1989; Thomas Ryan PRHA 1990 – present. More information can be found here: www.dublinarts.com http://www.facebook.com/unitedartsclub
Aine Ni Afhaoláin, The Day I saw you, projected as part of International Guerrilla Video Festival Dublin 2009, a mobile exhibition of video art held February 2009 as part of Dublin City Council’s Open Spaces programme
WhAT makes a creative city? Of course creativity is part of everyone’s life but for the sake of definition Alina Rusakova’s paper Entrepreneurship and Cultural Creativity (1), characterises four specific fields of creativity – scientific, technological, economic creativity and cultural. But what are the relative values of cultural creativity in a creative city. I often find the traditional interpretation of the ‘creative city’ a little troubling. It veers too much towards the technology-led industries at the cost of the cultural industries, and in doing so seems to place resources and jobs within an area that is susceptible to migration. Ireland only needs to look at Dell to know that this has a ring of truth to it. Technological creativity also seems to dominate the popular understanding of the Smart Economy. However this is not born out in the detail of what a ‘smart economy’ might be, the Government policy paper Building Ireland’s Smart Economy (2008) (2) , notes that a smart economy, “involves leveraging the Arts, Culture and Creative Sectors as world class business sectors”. Additionally, Dublin City Council’s own paper Defining And Valuing Dublin’s Creative Industries (3), makes reference to the importance of the cultural industries citing the Dublin Economic Development Action Plan (2009), which “includes measures to support the role of the creative industries in developing the knowledge economy through the delivery of local cultural/ economic strategies in recognition that culture is essential to Dublin’s economic vitality.” So it would appear that in Dublin the importance of Cultural Creativity is embedded into the idea of a creative city and is already part of the broader agenda. On a European level cultural creativity has been long recognised as having an important impact on the wider economy. Empirical economic evidence, cited in The Economy of Culture Europe (2006) (4), shows that the cultural and creative industries outstrip many other leading industries by factors of billions of euro, and that the cultural and creative industries are also bound together and reliant on one another. Unfortunately this interdependence is often ignored and a separation is often made that attempts to place the arts and culture in a secondary place to the other creative industries, perhaps because some industries are more easily defined as innovative economic generators. Nevertheless, there is also a body of research that directly supports the connectivity between the arts and innovation. In the recently published paper Culture-led local development (5), Professor Pier Luigi Sacco, from the University of Milan, analyses two separate rankings for European countries, the first for innovation (6), and the second for participation in the arts (7). Five countries – Sweden,
Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands and France – appear in the top seven of each chart. His conclusion taken from this comparison is that “active participation in the arts enhances problem solving and stimulates lateral thinking thereby making a country or its people more innovative”. So if we consider “cultural and personal creativity as a characteristic of self employed individuals” – as Alina Rusakova has put it – and that as report by the Utrecht School of Arts has noted “one of the key arguments is the need to focus on incentives for culture based creativity as a resource for creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation, rather than solely focussing on technologic innovation”(8) – we can argue that a truly creative city has a dimension that includes ‘cultural creativity’. This form of creativity is often a characteristic of the self-employed – and moreover such culture-based creativity can be a resource for entrepreneurship and innovation. So it appears that on a micro-level the artist could be at the core of a city’s creative resource. In spite of this, the reality is somewhat different. To quote Utrecht School of Arts report again “the cliché of the artist who cannot manage a business and lacks financial skills is still commonly held among economic policy makers” It appears from these analyses, that creativity is about arts participation for a city at all levels, that participation can enhance innovation and (at a time when proof is needed) a city in which cultural creativity is not only valued but pursued, has the proven potential to greatly enhance economic growth. A creative Dublin can be one in which the artist can act as the agitator, investigator, opportunist and catalyst for new ideas and new ventures. It’s a place in which entrepreneurship and cultural creativity have a common bond and where the artist can take on the role of entrepreneur. Yet in Dublin, as elsewhere, the role of artist as entrepreneur still remains fluid and its potential is perhaps an opportunity still to be fully tested? Jim Doyle South East Area Arts Officer Dublin City Council Notes 1. Entrepreneurship and Cultural Creativit Creativity - Alina Rusakova’s 2. Building Ireland’s Smart Economyy (2008), Department of the Taoiseach 3. Defining And Valuing Dublin’s Creative Industries – Dublin City Council 4. Economy of Culture 2006. Study prepared for the European Commission (Directorate-General for Education and Culture) October 2006. Economy of Culture 2006 5. Culture-led local development:t:t A reference framework, Pier luigi Sacco, Department of Arts and Industrial Design, IUlM University, Milan 6. The Global Innovation Scoreboard d 200: The Dynamics Of The Innovative Performances Of Countries (Italian National Research Council, CNRIRPPS) 7. Ranking Active Participation to Amateur Artistic. Activities by Citizens Euro-barometer 2007 8. The entrepreneurial dimension of the of the cultural and creative industries Utrecht School of Arts
14
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
September – October 2011
City Limits
The New Collectivism James Merrigan,considers how Dublin-based collectives have used collaborative strategies to address the challenges of sustaining Art Making and Discourse in DUBLIN CITY. James Merrigan is the winner of City Limits, a visual art writing award devised and run in collaboration by Dublin City Arts Office & Visual Artists Ireland. City Limits was devised as a developmental opportunity for writers, as part of Dublin City Council Arts Office and Visual Artists Ireland’s commitment to encouraging and supporting critical dialogue around contemporary visual arts practices.
"I will do anything for you I can but I am afraid it will not be a great deal. The chief use I can be, though probably you will not believe this, will be to introduce you to some other writers who are starting out just like yourself, one always learns one’s business from one’s fellow workers..." Letter to James Joyce from W.B. Yeats,1902 (1) Over the last few years a burgeoning climate of collectivism has emerged in Dublin. Although the backdrop to this discussion is Dublin, it would be short-sighted to define ‘new collectivism’ only within the concrete parameters of Dublin city; as Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “The city is always recruited from the country.”(2) Nicholas Bourriaud used a similar loophole when he avoided the strong tradition of ‘British only’ artists showing work at the Tate Britain’s Triennial in 2009, by defending his international cohort of artists for his Alter modern curatorial with the words “passing through,” making them somehow eligible because they fit the profile of his “radicant” transient artist. (3) The same can be said for these collectives – the original Francis Street version of Monster Truck Gallery is one exception in this sense, as it is still going strong after five years in Dublin – I will give my reasons later why I define Monster Truck Gallery as a collective. After much legwork, that included conversations with individuals from collectives and attending symposiums – where one individual would ‘represent’ the collective – what was common among the majority of collectives was an ill-defined, scatterbrained ideology that had no centre. This is an understandable side effect of the collective brain, where a Borg-like consensus (4) will replace the usually strong convictions of the individual. I must also state that my definition of collectivism is not tied to the amateur, DIY definition of the word in the context of visual art initiatives on the fringes of the established, but includes the professional state funded institutions that form other types of collective cliques. The collaborations, collectives, events and exhibitions, which are the focus of this text are included because they represent a subtle form of collectivism, that is on the verge of changing how art is made, or breaking the ‘bad’ habit of individualism and art. I will signal instances when collaborations have happened by the equal measures of chance and intent, or when collectivism has been a symptom of the institution. The groups I talked to included The Good Hatchery and Visual Artists Workers Forum, while I also profile Monster Truck Gallery and past collective initiatives such as the Defastenism Movement. Perhaps a good place to start from is a point in time when everything in the Dublin art scene seemed to be changing for the good – if you believe the hype. In 2009 Brian Dillon and Maeve Connolly wrote an overview of Dublin’s art scene in the City Report for Frieze Magazine. At the time the country was economically punch drunk – two years later we are still staggering. Dillon and Connolly’s report was optimistic, running under the by-line “Despite the decline of Ireland’s ‘Celtic Tiger’ economy, Dublin’s artist-run and institutional spaces are thriving.”(5) In 2011, Gemma Tipton wrote a similar overview of the “thriving...grass roots” art scene for the Irish Times. (6) Soon after Dillon and Connolly’s report, Lee Welch’s FOUR Gallery shut shop. This was followed by the closure of the Benburb Street art space, thisisnotashop. The clichéd claim that was banded around was recession was good for art, and that new DIY energies would develop alternative ways to negotiate the less bustled Dublin streets in the shared formation of ‘collectivity’. Looking further back, the first ‘local’ and visible instance of what could be termed the ‘new collectivism’ was the Defastenism movement – founded by undergraduate students at the National College of Art & Design in 2004. “Defastenism” has the twang of college politics and institutional revolt, the ‘ism’ harking back to an era of art manifestoes – not, by the way in a post-modern ironic way; but via serious post war artists such as Mondrian and Rothko. Collectives like Defastenism rarely spring out of the institution – fundamentally, art colleges promote the spirit of competition and individual progress. I’ve defined Monster Truck as a collective. My reasoning behind this description is based on the Francis Street version of Monster Truck
Gallery and Studios, which between 2006 and 2010 had a core group of individuals who ran, curated, rented the studios and showed periodically at the space. I am not saying that this was an nepotistic arrangement, rather that it was a necessity to keep the core group of hardworking and determined individuals together in order to survive. Monster Truck relocated to Temple bar Dublin in 2009. The ‘new’ Monster Truck is a different animal, inviting new energies in the form of curators and emerging artists into the Monster Truck family. In essence, we could say that the ‘amateur collective’ at Francis Street provided the groundwork for their more professionally minded incarnation at Temple Bar, which neighbours Temple Bar Gallery & Studios, and does not seem out of place or out of its depth. It must also be said the sustainability of Monster Truck was not based on the anti-establishment ideology of many of these amateur organisations. Monster Truck fertilised a relationship with the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) in 2008, one of the oldest and respected arts institutions in Dublin. Patrick T. Murphy, RHA Director summed up their initial exchanges by saying: “What we decided to do was take the spare capacity that exists in the RHA during the redevelopment of Ely Place in areas such as administration, marketing, curating, educational activity, financial management and Friends events and offer those services to Monster Truck to help them get across the message of the great work they are doing.” (7) Since then, the Monster Truck/ RHA collaboration has manifested into exhibitions such as Let’s Go, which was curated by RHA Exhibitions Curator Ruth Carroll. In 2011, the group exhibition entitled 'Life Vividly Lived (Part 2)' was manifested from a week-long residency on the Island of Inish Turk Beg in September of 2010. The artists were jointly selected by Peter Prendergast (Director of Monster Truck) and Patrick T Murphy, giving new credence to their ongoing and future collaborative exchanges. Collective gathering, debate and networking seems to be the main focus of the Visual Artists Workers Forum (VAWF), which “was initiated at VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art, Carlow, by Carissa Farrell and Emma Lucy O’Brien in 2010.” (8) It would be ‘recruited’ by the city through Tessa Giblin (Curator, Project Arts Centre, Dublin), Rachael Gilbourne (Artist/Assistant Curator, Project Arts Centre, Dublin), Anne Lynott (Curatorial Fellow, MAVIS, Dublin), Emma Lucy O’Brien (VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art, Carlow), and Ruairí Ó Cuív (Public Art Manager, Dublin City Council).” Speaking with Gilbourne in July of this year, the word “networking” was mentioned as a big part of the VAWF meetings, while her answer to my question regarding a VAWF “ideology” was an outright “No.” (9) I wrongly deduced left-wing intonations from VAWF’s initial forum entitled WORK IT in April 2011 at the Project Arts Centre Dublin. The awkward juxtaposition of ‘worker’ with ‘Visual’ is provocative, but it is too early to tell whether the voices will the heard beyond the site of the forum. There have been recent instances in Dublin when individual artists have given up their individual art practice for the collective, such as the group show 'Offline' – curated by Rayne Booth, at Temple Bar Gallery & Studios Dublin, where Eilis McDonald’s overarching presence amongst the other five artists through her scatter installation of ‘found objects’, called in to play the position of the individual within the collective. Also in 2011, Michelle Browne’s solo show at the LAB, Dublin, entitled ‘out on the sea was a boat full of people singing & other stories’, was headed by Browne’s name in the literature and advertising for the exhibition, but the most prominent aspect of the solo show was the ‘collective voice’ heard from Browne’s videos. The activities of Ruth E. Lyons and Carl Giffney of the Good Hatchery can be discussed here through my “loophole” of Emerson’s recruitment of the country to fuel the elements in the city. Lyons and Giffney literally illustrated this in their timber and photographic portraits of rural water towers found in the midlands for Paul Murnaghan and Sally Timmons’ group show entitled This Must Be The Place at IMOCA Dublin in 2009. Lyons and Giffney were invited to make a work on the back of their efforts in which they “offer studios and workshop spaces to artists for the realisation of ambitious art works free of charge” at a 19th Century hayloft in rural County Offaly. (10) The show at IMOCA could be termed a collective endeavour as it brought together ten artist-led organisations currently working in Ireland and asked them to consider the question, “how do we think?” For the context of this text, The Good Hatchery represent a less subtle and rare form of collectivism with a strong ideology that ironically speaks of sustainability (what other amateur collectives strive for) in their use of base materials and elements such as light and water. Speaking with Lyons and Giffney at the Fire Station Studios Dublin in May of this year they disclosed that they had been invited to make six
works under the ‘Brand’ of the “Good Hatchery,” not to mention the invites they turned down.(11) What I deduced from our conversation was the pairing of Lyons and Giffney as a collaborative art practice happened by chance through the initial invitation for the IMOCA show. More significantly, for the five projects that have followed, ownership and responsibility has been placed on the shoulders of the ‘Brand’ of The Good Hatchery rather than the individual. In July of this year the Photo Ireland and Gradcam symposium Collaborative Change – commons, networks, exchange, questioned this new collectivist mindset of free co-operation in the exchange of education, funding and distribution of the arts. A Skype presentation by Michel Bauwens at the Collaborative Exchange symposium provided a brilliant overview of the underpinnings of collective networks, beyond the city to encompass a global scale – what he described as a tri-archy of “peer production, governance, property.”(12) Bauwens convincingly presented the business of sharing and producing on a global scale. However, there were issues he voiced himself to do with the sustainability of these models – specifically the reality of the state and other large institutions as “unmovable presences”. Sustainability was also called into question regarding the presentation by Dublin based Provisional University who voiced their opinion concerning capitalist forces promoting the ‘marketability’ of the education system. The fact is, without private funding alternative positions such as theirs, will always depend on the resources of state universities, not to mention the accreditation that ‘proper’ universities offer the individual to further their career in the arts. Further afield, the New York art collective The Bruce High Quality Foundation has managed to manufacture an unaccredited ‘art school’ through private benefactors and miniscule public funding. However, its actions are packaged as art rather than empty rhetoric. Roberta Smith has described ‘The Bruces’ provocative antics as “sharp, well-aimed and unusually entertaining form of institutional critique.”(13) There are two reasons why I included Yeats’ letter to Joyce at the start of this text. The first is the context of Dublin Contemporary 2011. In a perverse way the letter intentionally references the recent reshuffling of Joyce for Yeats – who is the new creative mascot in the relay to Dublin Contemporary. The late Irish Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald once said that “tribalism” in this country was borne from the provincialism promoted by the GAA. In the context of Dublin city, the tribalism that is evident amongst the art institutions amidst the reshuffling of more than just mascots in the roll out of Dublin Contemporary, has unveiled a Dublin art scene that is more tribal than ever, and as one anonymous commentator said, has triggered a welcome cull. So just like the amateur organisations in Dublin city – who I like to call the ‘timber frame proletariat’ – who continually shift and evolve in their ambition to survive one more day, the established institutions and artists have realised for the good that their foundations are not fully set after all, and the need for change is long over due. Secondly, the letter illustrates a need for community in the formation of the individual’s career. Jean-Luc Nancy tells us that the ‘limit’ of the individual determines the emergence of the “community.”(14) The “limit” in Joyce’s case was Dublin, until he would recruit Dublin as the site for Ulysses. In a sense, Joyce is the epitome of individualism: Joycean being a term that tests the limitations of the collective as a source of creative output. Today, individualism is a bad word – it is whispered rather than shouted aloud. Personally, I think a bit more tribalism and individualism would be good for art in Dublin; for the reasons I have already outlined. The truth is, behind the ‘lemming revolt’ of collective cliff diving there could be individuals, like Joyce or Yeats waiting on the collective’s shoulders to make their mark. James Merrigan is an artist and art writer http://jamesmerrigan.blogspot.com http://billionjournal.blogspot.com Notes 1. John Kelly and Ronald Schuchard, The Collected Letters of W.B. Yeats, Volume 3:1901-1904, (Clarendon Press 1994) p249 2. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Farming, 1870, from The Collected Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson: Society and solitude, (Eds) Douglas Emory Wilson, Ronald A. Bosco, (Harvard University Press, 2007) 3. Tom Morton interview with Nicolas Bourriaud, Tate Triennial 2009, (Frieze Magazine, Issue 120, Jan-Feb, 2009) 4. “The Borg are a fictional pseudo-race of cybernetic organisms depicted in the Star Trek universe... organised as an interconnected collective, the decisions of which are made by a hive mind, linked by subspace radio frequencies.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borg_(Star_Trek) 5. Brian Dillon and Maeve Connolly, City Report, (Frieze Magazine, Issue 124, June-August 2009) 6. Gemma Tipton, Leaving space for the grassroots, (The Irish Times, Monday, May 16, 2011) 7. Monster Truck website: http://monstertruck.ie/blog/?page_id=14 8. Visual Artists Workers Website: http://visualartsworkersforum.blogspot.com/ 9. Conversation with Rachael Gilbourne, Temple Bar, Dublin, June 2011. 10. The Good Hatchery Blog: http://thegoodhatchery.wordpress.com/11 Conversations with Ruth E. Lyons and Carl Giffney of The Good Hatchery at the Mermaid Arts Centre Bray and Fire Station Studios, Dublin, March and April of 2011. 12. Quoted in literature for Collaborative Change – commons, networks, exchange, (Gradcam, July 2011) 13. Roberta Smith, The New York Times, Artists Without Mortarboards, (September 9, 2009) 14. Jean-Luc Nancy, The Inoperative Community, (University of Minnesota Press, 1991) p4
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
15
September – October 2011
Residency
Magnhild Opdøl Beware pencil on paper, and bronze ball, 2010
Magnhild Opdøl Bunny Bunny Bunga Bunga taxidermy rabbits, 2011
Magnhild Opdøl Studio shot, The Tony O’Malley Residency, work in progress, 2011
Magnhild Opdøl Circle pencil on paper, 2010
Magnhild Opdøl Work in progress, deer legs, 2011 onwards
I travel back home to Norway on a regular basis. Walking in the
Hunter / Gatherer
wilderness, take photographs and collect materials. Out of convenience
Irish-based Norwegian artist Magnhild OpdØl discusses her time on the inaugural Tony’ O’Malley residency, awarded and administered by the RHA, Dublin.
animal in my hand luggage at Dublin Airport. I’m nervous enough
“I roamed the countryside searching for answers to things I did not understand”.(Leonardo da Vinci)
and necessity all my taxidermy sculptures are therefore made in Norway, I think it would be difficult to explain the dead, defrosted bringing the finished sculptures.
life, all from deer and lovely birds, to eagles and wolfs are part of our
During the residency I’ve been working towards an exhibition for Galway Arts Centre (7 – 29 October). The show is based on the various narratives that I’ve been researching during my time in Callan. Some
All the animals, the dogs, the cat, sheep, cows, hens, goats and the wild surroundings. The changing seasons, lying on all fours with my face to
these stories are prompted by objects that I have discovered by accident,
Ireland is a place I seem to be drawn back to. I completed the final
the ground smelling the dirt and seeing things grow and live.
often when travelling in Norway. I have also been developing new
two years of my BA at NCAD in 2004 after studying at Nordiska
Continuing with the cyclical nature of life I also like to see how death
works in different media that I haven’t worked with before such as
Konstskolan in Finland for two years. I returned once again in 2005 and
changes things, an animal, a person or other organisms. The body
moving images (I don’t like to call them films because they aren’t that
completed my MFA in NCAD in 2007. Various opportunities have kept
becomes limp, the eyes empty, but there is still an amazing beauty in
to me). At the same time I’m influenced by what I read and watch. I’m
me working here as an artist – including exhibitions, residencies,
these still objects. The dead through decomposition once again
influenced by storytellers like David Lynch and his strange world, the
studios and funding.
becomes new life.
Dogma concept in choosing more DIY solutions in the production of works along with the authors such as Murakami and the Swedish
Currently I am on a residency in Callan just outside Kilkenny in
The core of my work is the poetics of the dead. My drawings show
The Tony O’Malley Residency, which I was awarded in September 2010.
an investigation into the nature of death. Working in a highly detailed
The residency was established by Jane O’Malley in the house where her
manner, I examine and render the surface and structure of fur, bone
Life as a visual artist in Ireland is challenging, as it is anywhere,
husband Tony O’Malley grew up. The residency is awarded and
and insides, but as I investigate the detail I get past the grotesque
but the economical situation in the past couple of years has not made
administered by Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin. I responded to
matter and the images becomes a more poetic way to render the dead,
it any easier. It has occurred to me recently to move back to Norway,
the open call for the residency last year and was selected as the first
but at the same time revealing the reality. Even though the drawings
seeming like the best solution for a continuing career as an artist. It has
recipient of the O’Malley Residency from a shortlist.
are viewed as representative I also see them as an abstraction. The
not had a big crisis, and there are numerous artists’ grants and good
drawings offer a fractured and restructured reality – a subjective
conditions in connection with producing shows for galleries, museums
synthesis of information, reality and death.
and arts centres compared with Ireland. I have been invited to exhibit
The house is beautiful with an attached studio and garden. After living in small apartments in Dublin for almost a decade, I felt like a
crime-writing duo Roslund & Hellstrom.
spoilt child moving into this huge space. Here I can work on several
The process continues with the sculptural works. The sculptures
in KUBE Art Museum, Tegnerforbundet (The Drawing Centre for those
projects at the same time, and not bother to pack things neatly away
stem from materials I find, or that I look for around me, in nature or in
who don’t speak Norwegian) in Oslo and Haugesund Kunstforening in
before switching to something else, there is room for everything all
wasteland. By adding or deleting elements, and constructing new
2012 – 2013. I’m finally starting to establish a network in Norway.
sprawled out on walls and floors.
constellations the result is configurations that clearly resemble natural
When moving to a small Irish town in the middle of the
forms, while eluding a fixed interpretation.
On the other hand, I’m having a great time in Ireland. I work well here and it might be a really positive thing to be away from the source
countryside I thought that the surroundings would influence me and
I recycle both in choosing the images and the materials. The
of inspiration. I’ve been offered a lot of great opportunities in the past
that I would find lots of inspiration and material for new works and
drawings refer to a classical style of Dutch still life and Renaissance
and I have shows and some further residencies lined up for the next few
directions for my practice. As it has turned out, it didn’t. The further
drawing, and for the sculptures and installations I use materials that is
years in Dublin. Ultimately, despite the bad economy, low income and
away I get from my roots in Norway the more clearly I can see things
useless and has been thrown away by others. I collaborate with the
(even though politicians try to convince us differently) high costs, I
about the country I grew up in and how important they are to me. The
hunting teams in the area where I grew up. They now collect all their
will stay and continue a full time career as a visual artist in Ireland
Scandinavian sense of humour is irreplaceable and integral to my
leftovers; heads, legs and such. My parent’s then stuff it all in their
Being the first recipient of The Tony O’Malley Residency in Callan,
practice. An old dirty fairytale is great for a ‘narrative’ or starting point
freezer for future use in my taxidermy based sculptural works and as
and with nearly a year out of Dublin, I have had time to continue my
for a new project. As are the films by Finish director Aki Kaurismaki
source materials for drawings. Some of my works are reinterpretations
work and development in many ways. I have had the physical space to
that have a subtle, not laugh out loud humour, that influences my
of artworks from art history and I often refer to other artists in my
try out several projects simultaneously, to think and read more, and
work. I try to have fun while working and there is often a story behind
work.
discover a new side of Ireland. I have the time to work towards
a piece, real or fictional. These influences don’t rest on the surface of the work but mark it through out its making.
Both the drawings and sculptural works that build installations
exhibitions in peace, and really enjoy the studio.
evolve around elements surrounding death; the curious eye of the
As I said before, the residency’s locale has not directly influenced
Of course the Irish country side is beautiful and I’ve seen some
viewer, the fearful eye of the escaping animal and the playfulness of
my work and living outside Dublin feels like your ‘out of the loop’– but
amazing moments in the early hours of the morning, the sun coming
the hunter. But also the following process of decomposing will be part
it has certainly given me time and space to quietly work away.
through the misty cold mornings through the winter, colouring the
of the work, and bringing the animal back to an eternal life through
landscape pink and velvety. But for my work I look for more drama,
taxidermy or sculpting. I’m interested in the beauty of this process and
Magnhild Opdøl
darkness and twisted tales that feed my thoughts and imagination. The
often use materials that has a long tradition within art, to make the
http://magnhildopdol.blogspot.com/
country roads allow me the opportunity to document road kill to use
object into something finer through the choice of materials, even
as material or a basis for future works.
though the object is something useless or destroyed. Through the use
My interest in death and the dead has always been with me. Growing up on a farm in Norway I have been surrounded by a lot of life.
of these techniques and materials I have a bigger freedom to play with the images and sculptures, and give them dual meaning.
The LAB Foley Street Dublin 1 T: 01 2225455 E: artsoffice@dublincity.ie www.thelab.ie
North St, Skibbereen, Co.Cork t: +353 28 22090 e: info@westcorkartscentre.com www.westcorkartscentre.com
Islanded in a Sea of Stars Ruth E. Lyons 1 September – 8 October 2011 Preview 1 September 6 – 8pm
Afterwards Mark Garry 1 – 17 September
Quantified Self
Michelle Browne, Cliona Harmey, Saoirse Higgins and Bea McMahon present new work in collaboration with Shimmer Research as part of Innovation Dublin 2011. 19 October – 3 December 2011 Preview 18 October 6 – 8pm
Amy Walsh, Saturday Swimmers, photograph taken using the Kite Aerial Photography (KAP) technique.
Amy Walsh Freefall 23 September – 19 November An exhibition of aerial photographs, photographic stop motion animations and an interactive audio visual work. Culture Night. Friday 23 September Amy Walsh will present an Artist’s Gallery Talk at 6.30pm followed by the exhibition opening from 7.30pm to 9pm.
Talking bout Money Money - Level 2 with Gaby Smith. Thursday 6 Oct (14.00 - 17.00). Price: ˆ 80 / 40. Places 10.
Visual Artists Ireland PROFESSIONAl DEVElOPMENT TRAINING PROGRAMME www.visualartists.ie/education AUTUMN / WINTER 2011
Developing Proposals Level 1 with Marianne O'Kane Boal Neva Elliott. Thursday 13 Oct (10.30 - 16.30). Price: ˆ 80 / 40. Places: 15 - 20. Documenting Your Work with Tim Durham. Thursday 20 Oct (10.30 - 16.30). (will be run in response to the level of interest from artists). Price: ˆ 80 / 40. Places 10. Developing Proposals Level II - Clinic with Kerry McCall and Eilis Lavelle. Thursday 27 Oct (10.30 - 16.30). Price: ˆ 80 / 40. Places: 20. Legal Contractual Issues for Artists with Lynda Scales Patricia Clyne-Kelly. Thursday, 17 Nov (10.30 – 16.30). Price: ˆ 80 / 40. Places 15 Art in Public – clinics with Sarah Searson Cliodhna Shaffrey. Thursday 24 Nov (10.30 -
Visual Artists Ireland is pleased to announce its Autumn Winter 2011 Programme of
16.30)Price: ˆ 80 / 40. Places: 20.
Professional Development Training. For full details of all training events listed below, please refer to our website: www.visualartists.ie/register-for-our-events/ BRAY Documenting your Work with Tim Durham. Friday 9 Sept (10.30 - 16.30).Venue: Mermaid Arts Centre Bray Co. Wicklow. Price: ˆ 80 / 40 Concession rates applies to VAI members. Places: now full but standby list being taken. DUBLIN Writing the Artist's Statement CV with Kerry McCall. Thursday 15 Sept (10.30 - 16.30) Price: ˆ 80 / 40. Places: 11 Taking the Plunge! - Models of Trans-cultural Exchange. In partnership with EU
BOOkINg / FURTheR DeTAILS Concession rates for workshops apply to Visual Artists Ireland members. To register and to see full details for all these events please check out our website: http://visualartists.ie/education/ register-for-our-events/ Early booking is advisable as places on workshops are limited and only guaranteed upon receipt of payment along with advance information. All bookings are on a first come, first served basis. An online registration system is now in place for all our events. Artists registering may proceed to payment via PayPal or simply register and then pay by, Cheque or Credit/ Debit Card over the phone. Cheques should be made payable to Visual Artists Ireland. Cancellations received less than ten days prior to a workshop will not be refunded. Unless otherwise stated all training events will take place at Visual Artists Ireland offices.
Cultural Contact Point Ireland. Wednesday 21 Sept (13.30 - 18.00). Venue: Goethe Institute, Dublin. Free Event. Places: 40. Insurance for Visual Artists - with O'Driscoll O'Neill Insurance Group. Thursday, 29 Sept (11.00 - 12.00). Free Event. Places: 25. Talking about Money Money - Level 1 with Gaby Smyth. Thursday 29 Sept (14.00 17.00) Price: ˆ 80 / 40. Places 20.
Monica Flynn, Professional Development Officer, Visual Artists Ireland, ground Floor, Central hotel Chambers, Dame Court, Dublin 2 T: 00353 (0) 1 672 9488 e: monica@visualartists.ie www.visualartists.ie
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
Critique Supplement Edition 1. September / October 2011
Installation shot of Rooms 2 and 1. Photo: The Golden Thread Gallery
Welcome to our new Critique supplement which will appear with each edition of of the Visual Artists News Sheet. Each Critique supplement features six reviews of exhibitions, events, publications and projects – that are either current or have recently taken place in Ireland. Critique relates to VAI's commitment to developing the professional contexts and infrastructures for artists working in Ireland, that have recently included talks and critical writing bursaries developed in partnership with The Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast and The Lab, Dublin(1). Critique reflects the broader aims of The Visual Artists News Sheet to be relevant to the broad spectrum of visual artists working in all disciplines. The reviews are commissioned to reflect upon and critique a diversity contemporary Irish visual arts practice – in terms of media, generation and geography. The review writers have been drawn from a panel that has was assembled from an open call out held earlier this year. Note 1. A text by James Merrigan – the winner of 'City Limits,' a visual art writing award devised and run in collaboration by Dublin City Arts Office & Visual Artists Ireland is featured on page 14 of this edition of the VAN.
Production Editor: Jason Oakley Layout: Jason Oakley Proofing: Anne Henrichson Contributors Fiona Fulham Aine Phillps Aliesa Kliest Alison Pilkington David Brancaleon Mary Catherine Nolan
Contact Visual Artists Ireland. Ground Floor. Central Hotel Chambers. 7–9 Dame Court. Dublin 2. T: 353(0) 1 6729488 E: info@visualartists.ie www.visualartists.ie The views expressed in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, do not necessarily reflect those of the editor, editorial panel or Visual Artists Irelands’ Board of Directors.
'Convergence: Literary Art Exhibitions' Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast 16 June – 6 August 2011 Curated by Dr Christa-Maria Lerm Hayes, ‘Convergence: Literary Art Exhibitions’ attempts – and I would argue, succeeds – in exploring the way(s) in which many contemporary artists appropriate from; and are inspired by, various works of literature. It considers the many relationships between art, literature and exhibiting, opening up potential ways of thinking about and / or of seeing these relationships. The narrative is of a cyclical nature, reflecting the process of making work from work, which in turn gives rise to other work and so on.
The exhibition is divided into four rooms, with an additional two reading spaces, and two more separate works – one of which, by Michalis Pichler, serves as an introduction to the exhibition, as a kind of prelude or prologue. The second, by Eric Zboya, emphasises the cyclical nature of the show, joining beginning and end and signifying a visual invitation to start again. Another element of the show was simple shelf in the foyer housing the sort of tourist material often associated with visiting literary monuments or museums, highlights the distance between that kind of material and the conceptual works in this exhibition. The first work encountered is a Michalis Pichler’s Un Coup de Dés jamais n’abolira le Hasard (2009) – a musical piece represented on video. The title refers to a visual poem by Stephane Mallarmé, which had been made into a new work by Broodthaers, blacking out the words into a graphic pattern. Broodthaers’ piece in turn was reinterpreted by Cerith Wyn Evans (who has work in another room), who cut out these black lines. Finally (or maybe not) Pichler has mounted these cut out pages on an automatic piano mechanism, essentially making the poem a piece of music. This intriguing and satisfying piece exemplifies the kind of layering and multiple readings of work which underpin Convergence. There is a quiet logic to the layout of the show, relationships which link one room to the next or refer back to other ideas already expressed. The tendency is to lose yourself minutely in each individual work and come back to the space to realise the broader connections between that piece and others in the room, an overview of how things fit together, a sort of micro and macro view. Julie Louise Bacon’s intriguing works, Lonesome No More (Or An Homage to Kurt Vonnegut) and The Twins (both 2011), reflect this double perspective on the world through
Julie Louise Bacon, Lonesome No More (Or An Homage to Kurt Vonnegut), 2011Julie Louise Bacon, The Twins, 2011. Photo: Paul Moore
her two viewfinders, one of slides of the New York skyline, the other of the earth from space. The jigsaw puzzles of war-torn remains in Afghanistan are re-assembled as swirls on the wall, reminiscent of galaxies in space or being sucked into a vortex. A looking from without and within. Vonnegut’s black humour is reflected in the afghan carpet with motifs of tanks and guns and the twin tower plinths on which the puzzle boxes sit Several trains of thought run through this exhibition, which sometimes accentuate the separate rooms, sometimes override the distinctions between them. The concept of monument is teased out in several of the works, especially those of Sean Lynch and Andrea Theis, exploring how writers or works of literature are honoured, questioning how the canon is understood, challenging that and re-interpreting it. These explorations highlight the need for multiple readings of work, that no single interpretation should or could be absolute or final. A piece of work made from or inspired by a writer or work of literature may after all be the most appropriate form of tribute. Monuments imply fixed, final, dead. That cannot be said of literature which is renegotiated, reborn with each new reading, encouraging critical consideration of the world we inhabit, when we re-emerge from this other space.
Davide Cascio, Polyhedra: Space for reading Ulysses by James Joyce, 2004. Courtesy Museo Cantanale D’Arte, Lugano. Photo: Fiona Fullam
Re-writing, close reading, drawing practice, inscribing and writing by artists: all are represented. The relationship between writing and art has a rich and broad base and although it is not new, as evidenced by the various generations of artists (and writers) represented (and referenced) in this exhibition, it owes much to the work of writers, artists and even composers from the 60s and 70s, including John Cage, James Joyce, Stephane Mallarmé, Kurt Schwitters, among many others, who were then beginning to explore interdisciplinary practice. Curators such as Harold Szeemann have explored this area, but only in the last few years do we see these references to literature curated into international and highly regarded exhibitions. What was once considered sterile or non-political is now being appreciated for its depth and breadth, its ability to consider the human condition, how we think, how we communicate with each other. The relationship of language to human existence is central and in my opinion this exhibition, which brings such a diverse range of works and artists together with this central concern, is an important one. It is an exhibition which demands time, but one which is dynamic, inspiring and long overdue. You will want to see it a second time. ‘Convergence: Literary Art Exhibitions’ is on show at Limerick City Gallery of Art during September 2011. Fiona Fullam
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet CRITIQUE SUPPlEMENT
sergei sviatchenko 'Mirror by Mirror' West Cork Arts Centre, Skibereen 23 July – 13 August 2011
September – October 2011
'Collective Consciousness' Galway Arts Centre 29 July – 27 August 2011
Kathleen Furey, Once in a Lifetime, mixed media 2011. Photo: Áine Phillips
Sergei Sviatchenko 'Mirror by Mirror' installation view. West Cork Arts Centre
SERGEI Sviatchenko’s Mirror by Mirror is a tribute
to bring into the gallery space something about the
to Andrei Tarkovsky’s Mirror Mirror. The installation takes
towering figure of Tarkosky.
up three gallery spaces; two for the artist’s 14 large
It so happens that Mirror by Mirror coincides
printed photo-montages and one for screening
with 'Sound and Vision', the film strand of this
Mirror. In the middle room, a black and white
year’s Skibereen Arts festival which includes Gerard
grainy two-minute film by Sviatchenko, Street and
Hurley’s The Pier Pier, just premiered in Galway, Marine
White, follows a girl dancing happily down a side White
Court Rendevouz Rendevouz, an intriguing installation between
street, waving a strip of white paper and making it
documentary and fiction by Chris Petit and by the
float across the screen as she moves while behind a
amusing English writer Iain Sinclair, with voice-
curtain next door, Tarkovsky’s autobiographical
overs of texts and combinations of documentary
Mirror plays again and again, a moving reminder of
footage and imaginary stories and, among other
how your attention can be drawn to small things
works, Nebula by Mary Wycherley and Hah by
and to a personal dimension within the expanded
Wycherley and Mary Noonan. The problem is that
time of continental film-making. As well as a
the implicit minimalism of such works, rarely
screening of Mirror, on 30 July the show also hosted
leading to metaphor or symbol or worthwhile
a lecture by Marina Levitina of TCD, exploring
formal experimentation, reduces the opportunities
history and memory in Tarkovsky’s film.
of cinematography to exploring the movement of a
The large format exhibition catalogue, which
hand out of focus or dancing along a surface. In this
includes even larger folded posters, is an
respect, such works are a cipher of ‘canonical’
indispensable key to the exhibition, to its
moving image for the (art) academy; of what it
background and relation to Tarkovsky; so necessary
deems acceptable. However, this type of practice is
that its texts (by Tarkovsky’s sister and others)
challenged here by other works also featuring in
should also be pasted on the walls of the gallery.
this year’s Skibereen Arts Festival; the more
The catalogue contains many of the same images
substantial The Window, by Julius Ziz, a Lithuanian
montaged in the installation (but on some sheets
who lives in Clare and exhibits internationally. I
not exhibited the stills are themselves cut out into
say ‘substantial’ because The Window explores
shapes, pasted onto card, as objects handled by
cinematic language more than the installations by
people in a three-dimensional space who are in
visual artists in the festival, but also Albert
turn photographed). There are also poems by
Lamorisse’s fiction film short, the classic Red
Sviatchenko, a Ukrainian living in Denmark, which
Balloon (1956) and Pierre Perrault’s and Michel
help to understand this work. The selection
Brault’s quasi-ethnographic documentary Pour la
displayed on the walls, featuring a child, mother,
Suite du Monde (1962); an important cinéma vérité
father, a couple, are abstractions, combinations of
filming of old fishermen of Quebec.
black and white frames from Tarkovsky’s film,
The hinge for viewing 'Mirror by Mirror' is
discarded at the time and now in Sviatchenko’s
Michail Bakhtin’s “dialogism” translated into
possession, cut out from their context and
“intertextuality” by Julia Kristeva –how a text or an
juxtaposed to colour photographs of people and to
image is not a standalone, but dialogues with other
flat saturated colour backgrounds.
works, intentionally or unintentionally. Both
Although Sviatchenko wanted to: “create
theorists explored creatively how artists create and
connections between fragments of consciousness
works are received. The dialogism, real or imagined,
and unconsciousness, and to show how important
of Tarkovsky and Sviatchenko, and the inevitable
those flashes of feelings are to our existence”, as he
internal dialogue of any work, and the external
says in a note in the catalogue, it is the homage
overlapping, I have already described. Maybe this
aspect which dominates the installation, because
is where active participation begins.
ultimately his construction is overshadowed by the achievement it is celebrating. In Mirror, abstract
Dr Brancaleone teaches at LSAD. He has
history is brought into a live conversation with the
contributed articles to Circa, Enclave Review,
everyday and with the witness’s own experience,
Stimulus Respond, Vertigo, and Experimental
childhood, and family history, as Tarkovsky’s sister
Conversations, Muse, Italian Studies, Per
explains in her essay of reminiscences and
Leggere, Artists Newsletter, Arts Business
commentary. Sviatchenko’s homage serves as an
Exchange, British Journal of Sociology of
architectural frame to the film, above all
Education, and Irish Educational Studies
memorialising his experience which, in my view,
Journal. He has recently made four art
remains very private. Montage here is far from the
documentaries and is currently researching
dynamic, cinematic form theorised by Eisenstein,
Godard and planning to translate into English
Vertov and practised by Godard; but it does manage
texts on film by Cesare Zavattini.
lisa Sweeney Hive, mixed media. sound recording, 2011 photo: Áine Phillips
Artspace at Galway Arts Centre 29 July 2011, photo: Áine Phillips
GALWAy’ ALWA S oldest and most established artists ALWAy’ collective, Artspace, marked its 25th birthday at the Galway Arts Centre, with ‘Collective Consciousness’ a month-long exhibition of selected members work, running alongside a programme of workshops, talks and discussions. Sixteen artists exhibited works over two floors of GAC with one room designated as a satellite space for the studios – transposed from Artspace’s home in the industrial suburbs of Galway into the heart of the city. This adjunct studio space functioned as a publicly visible and accessible artlaboratory; occupied by Artspace members in relays. These mini-residencies provided visitors with intimate encounters with various art making processes – as well as producing the context for a series of workshops and talks. These pedagogic and discursive events included sessions on collaborative drawing and a Sumi Ink Club workshop with Anne O’Byrne – intriguingly entitled Drawing to fortify social interaction. These events also aimed to entice debate and interaction with sister art collectives in Galway, such as 126 and Lorg Printmakers. The characterisation of the show as a ‘collaborative event’ mirrors the trajectory of Artspace over 25 years. As a collective, its mission has been to evolve an artistic community with shared values of creative support and cultural exposure. Its arc of experience spans the studios founding in a city centre location (neighbouring the GAC); to moving to the utilitarian Liosban commercial estate. The studio has 21 current members, who each enjoy international careers and established practices. The current show revisits the original ideological intentions of the collective, as senior founder Catherine Ó Leanacháin asserted in her opening speech, to represent and confirm the collectivism and collaboration of Artspace. The works in ‘Collective Consciousness’, curated by Maeve Mulrennan, displayed some ingenious interpretations of the title, which was derived from the terminology of the French sociologist Émile Durkhiem(1858–1917). Dukheim used the term to refer to shared beliefs and moral attitudes that “form a determinate system with a life of its own. It can be termed the collective or common consciousness.”(1) It is an idea that brings to mind notions of the ‘hive mind’. An illustration of this latter concept was wittily expressed in Lisa Sweeney‘s Hive, a small shack or hut sized construction in Hive salvaged wood encasing the recorded sound of buzzing bees. The ‘entrapment’ alluded to in this sealed scrap-cabinet, problematised the acceptance of a hive mind in society or politics. Political systems were satirized more furiously in Ben Geoghegan’s Notice to the Public, a framed copy of a local government public notice hung ominously in the stairwell of GAC confronting the visitor with this mandate: “You cannot
participate in any debate…” This piece proved an effective antithetical manifesto for the exhibition, evincing the obvious benefits of enlightened and accessible approaches to public engagement. Geoghegan’s exposure of the methodologies of power, relating to suppressing discourse and exchange, directly contradicted and complimented those of Artspace’s expressed mission. Simon Fleming’s assemblage Lo que hago para my vecino el lo hara para mi, a miniature favela of cardboard lean-to’s, floated high above a debilitated ladder, alluded to dysfunctional collectives in the wider world. The implied inhabitants of Fleming’s favela are poorly served in this imagined zone, its ground an industrial pallet loosely strewn with a mat of Astroturf. Fleming’s work offered a dystopian metaphor, which pricked the conscience – as we all know our world is one where most must live in very unsympathetic conditions. Social or collective turbulence was lyrically regarded in Louise Manifold’s Flock of Falling – an animated film portraying cascades of falling birds, a phenomena she encountered in the US where reported showers of birds plunged from the skies. This work could be read as an analogy for reversals of the natural order and other environmental upheavals. Intense relationships with nature were explored by Laura Brennan in her mysterious landscapes – three paintings on canvas were redolent of contemporary tropes of abstraction. But the works were also sometimes accidentally figurative – via the play of paint on surface. In Brennan’s Wild Wood a perfect forest of intricate trees emerged from the physical, material suction of oil paint off the surface of the canvas. The most gratifying works in this show were those that responded to the theme – and overall the diversity of interpretations prompted humorous and unexpected connections. Some of the more provocative translations of the notion of ‘Collective Consciousness’ included Kathleen Furey’s Once in a Lifetime – a ‘wonderkammer’ of compiled objects and imagery. The deceptively child-like simplicity of Furey’s motifs revealed a complex psychological depiction of states of awareness and belief. Mariann Hughes Browne’s paintings of swimmers appeared suspended in pools of consciousness. Dave Finn’s All my Shite Ideas Ideas, was a collection of his worst artistic ideas on scrunched up paper, thrown high up into a suitable corner of the gallery. This was the perfect resolution for some bad art by a good artist – executed in a spirit of consciousness about what being in a collective means. Dr Áine Phillips Notes 1. Emile Durkheim quoted in Kenneth D. Allan (2 November 2005). Explorations in Classical Sociological Theory: Seeing the Social World Pine Forge Press. p. 108.
The Raw & The Real Dublin Contemporary 2011
Mark Cullen, Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space, Mixed media installation with plastic and mylar, variable, 2010, Courtesy of the artist, Image courtesy of Mike Hannon
Thomas Hirschorn, The Green Coffin, wood, spray paint, polystyrene, hands made of synthetic resin and ceramic, watches, tape, prints, cardboard, fabric, chess, chessboards, crustaceans made of plastic, sculptures, photocopies, handbags, 3.59 x 11.29 x 4.36 M, 2006, Courtesy Galleria Alfonso Artiaco, Naples
For the first edition of Dublin Contemporary, lead curators Jota Castro and Christian Viveros-Fauné curated a selection of works with a title that was intended to be purposely enigmatic: ‘Terrible Beauty: Art, Crisis, Change & The Office of NonCompliance’. Blending the aesthetic, social and political, this first edition of the quinquenniale that is Dublin Contemporary presents thought-provoking works by one hundred and four international artists, in a variety of media, most of which are new commissions. Several threads run consistently through the show, including the presentation of historical artworks which the curators feel deserve a new reading in today’s global, information-saturated reality; pieces produced by important as well as underexposed artist collaboratives; installations and discrete works by young Irish artists who have been furnished with special conditions for production and generous exhibition spaces; a route for street art throughout the city that includes more than twenty-two sites; and, finally, The Office of Non-Compliance, an ultra democratic platform for critical expression, that will operate throughout the entirety of the exhibition. As one of the youngest artists of the Arte Povera generation, Claudio Parmigianni’s 2009 work exemplifies this type of discourse, bringing the historical forward into today. Composed of a pile of books – reflecting a biographical selection - and a church bell bound together with a rope, the entire piece is constructed around the tension between religion and culture, their oppositions, and the significant silences and echoes they create. In another example, the artistic partnership that is Vedovamazzei have appropriated and transformed human ashes to create original drawings that speak to the continual process of creation while also addressing existential questions about the self-sufficiency of the artistic process itself. Elaborating on the phenomena of quotation, appropriation, re-contextualization, recycling and repetition, Irish artists such as Mark Cullen and Nevan Lahart, have produced newly commissioned pieces for Dublin Contemporary. Their critique of representation and the unspoken rules that confine the formal art world is set forth in scrappy, inventive art works that also form a part of the show. Also, and as part of a collaboration between Dublin Contemporary and the local artist agency Anewspace, and in a significant spirit of non-compliance, works by the artists Mark Jenkins, Conor Harrington, D*Face, Maser and others will be on display throughout the city. In a time of financial crisis and street riots, the exhibition ‘Terrible Beauty: Art, Crisis, Change & The Office of NonCompliance’, presents ideas of non-compliance as well aesthetic and political strategies for the viewer to take on board. Every element of the show speaks to the public about themes that engage both art and the social, be it by examining the meanings of our media rituals, as is the case in Thomas Hirschhorn’s gigantic Green Coffin work, or via Teresa Margolles’ profoundly affecting installation, in which a tiny amount of water used to wash dead bodies is cycled through a bubble machine, taking us on a journey between the oblivion of childhood and the finality of brutal death. These works and others in this rich exhibition force us to recalibrate our most quotidian experiences and reconsider the fundamentals of what is real. Liliana Rodrigues, Curatorial assistant, Dublin Contemporary 2011
Roadworks: The Office of Non-Compliance Hits the Road September 6 – October 31
In recent years, there has been an upsurge of interest in street art. A highly democratic art form that escapes easy definition, examples of this evolving medium have long covered the streets of Dublin—with dissent, political concern and committed reflexivity gaining prominence in the period following the demise of the 'Celtic Tiger' economy. In this generously agitated spirit of protest, Dublin Contemporary 2011 has collaborated with ANEWSPACE (Dublin) to commission a host of Irish and international artists to cover 22 urban sites in what amounts to a restlessly creative walking tour of the city. From the Iveagh Gardens to Camden Street, from Angier Street to St. Stephens Green Centre, from Temple Bar to O’Connell Street, Dublin is literally awash with the radically accessible, communicative potential of the street. List of artists: Jor (IRL), James Earley/inputout (GBR), Will St. Leger (IRL), Morgan (IRL), Maser (IRL), DMC (NI), Foes Crew : Kube Roik Omin (IRL), Conor Harrington (GBR), Escif (ESP), D*Face (GBR), Mark Jenkins (USA), Prefab (collective) (GBR).
Mark Jenkins , Seoul, 2009, Courtesy of Carmichael Gallery
Maintenance and Repair Mid 20th century American painter and critic Fairfield Porter had an image he conjured on a few occasions in his writing. He related a brief tale about the remnants of a tribe of American Indians who migrated through the wilderness of the Southwest in ramshackle automobiles that had been left for scrap by their more affluent owners. Upon being asked, by an incredulous Caucasian witness, how they had gotten the machines running again, one of them said only, “You white people think everything is dead.” The moral is fairly simple. Dirt-poor by any conventional definition of wealth, the travelers were able, by their collective, instinctive ingenuity and resolve, to resuscitate the corpses of spoiled consumers’ hardware. In doing so, they subverted not only the tenets of capitalist exchange, but, seemingly, the even more unyielding natural limits imposed by the laws of oxidization and combustion, which should have prevented their cruising around the place in hopeless rust-buckets. They repaired and ran the vehicles by ignoring the implausibility of the act. Emulating that sort of mentality, Dublin Contemporary pronounces itself a platform for the rational and effective renegotiation of social principles. To that end, curators Jota Castro and Christian Viveros-Fauné have enlisted those with bits of the foundation under their fingernailsthose with a stake in the success of a strange venture on their patch of land. By and large, these people won’t be getting on a plane after the wine has been drained. They’ll be around to see the Earlsfort Terrace return to generously sunlit vacancy, while they stoke the fires and insulate their own houses for the winter. The exhibiting Irish artists, down to the youngest, have experienced seismic change in the state of their country. Though only one of them has gone so far as to create a persona to match the trying times, quite a few have been alive to see territorial incursions and societal breakdown lead to guerilla combat, and everyone, more recently, has felt the lingering clench of the economic crisis. Irish artists have long been within spitting distance of bitterness and bloodshed, and, unlike many of their European counterparts, they have often been exposed to such contention without the luxury of an exit strategy. Dublin Contemporary seeks to exhibit those who inhabit the interstices between locations, affiliations, and all of those usual coordinates by which we identify others. Some of these artists no longer live and practice in Ireland, and a few are more active internationally than they are at home. The non-loyalist undercurrent is not quite an accident either, as the exhibition’s notion of “art, crisis, and change” implicitly endorses a bit of roguishness and wandering, echoing an already pronounced attention to the economically or culturally dispossessed, the self-exiled, and others on the fringes. Conversely, there is the inclusion of figures of international caliberrequisite in international festivals but here deliberated over with a specific rationale- like Willie Doherty, James Coleman, and Corban Walker, current representative of Ireland at the Venice Biennale. At the other end of the spectrum is a handful of artists between 20 and 30 years of age who have rarely, if ever, exhibited outside of Ireland. And, with a total of 34 Irish artists included, there is a substantial margin in between. The spaces partly dedicated to Doherty, Coleman, and Brian O’Doherty are evidence enough of their accepted stature, though, for all their name recognition, the three veterans have spent much of their careers skirting the pale of the art world. Coleman practiced for decades before commensurate recognition found him at home, accumulating a host of acolytes internationally who have themselves influenced subsequent generations. Never quite amenable to the casual viewer, the semiotic distancing of Coleman’s opaque, anti-narrative work has lent itself to intricate analyses by post-modern priestess Rosalind Krauss and other scholars, and defined him as the roving pioneer of a spacious and ever-expanding corner of contemporary practice. With a new commission in the Royal Hibernian Academy, Coleman’s idiosyncratic meditations will be set beside the overthe-top lushness of American Lisa Yuskavage’s painting, harmonizing in two octaves of agitated, quasi-voyeuristic encounters. Born in Derry and having cut his teeth on the dark wit of appropriated reportage, Willie Doherty is more gritty and insistent in his manipulation of symbols. Doherty’s work pitches camp in the eye of the storm, the antispectacular processing of violence that is particular to those who’ve been neighbors to turmoil. His video work and photo-stills are blunt and muted, like the shock that follows trauma. Due a retrospective, the exhibition of his work at the Hugh Lane could be said to provide a point of origin for
Dublin Contemporary at large, with its unblinking and cautiously optimistic salving of the wounds wrought by prolonged hatred. Brian O’Doherty, having recently retired the various alter egos he had devoted to different compartments of his art-making and writing practice, will be exhibiting guise-less at the National Gallery of Ireland. O’Doherty has long cast a playfully reductive eye on art world trends and tropes, with elements of Irish culture and language often exploited as formal devices, as in the Ogham sculptures he began in the sixties. She is known as Ireland’s preeminent performance artist, but what often goes unnoticed in Amanda Coogan’s public provocations is the degree to which she thoughtfully coaxes ciphered meanings out of a chosen scenario. Whether in wielding an AK47 at a sunny family festival or resolutely chewing through 2 meters of chocolate, her body is the tensor with which she tests the resistance of normative life. Corban Walker exploits his own particular physique- his height is almost 2 feet below average- to very different effect. Where most architects and designers strive to accommodate the ergonomics of the average person, Walker, astutely and perhaps somewhat vengefully, arranges his exhibition spaces to redirect or impede that average person, and thereby force a fresh understanding of spatial constraints and scale relations. Eamon O’Kane’s mult-faceted body of painting, sculpture, and installation unexpectedly reconfigures the more predictable aspects of runof-the-mill exhibitionary frameworks. The deft use and subsequent repurposing of traditional media is also common to the work of Niamh O’Malley, who overlays projected recordings atop painted versions of the same staging area, or restores an expanse of forest onto the gallery wall that obstructs the original view. For both artists, it is the interplay of layers of static setting and fluid narrative that never quite achieves truth, so much as it dissects the anatomy of the multiple fictions at work. Jaki Irvine uses projection in a technically more straightforward way, but one that itself contains distinct narratives that seem to flow in and out of one another, obfuscating the comprehension of a linear series of events. Including usually a single actor, if any actors at all, her misaligned sequences elude one another’s logic only to find a subtler plane of coherence. Similarly, photographer and filmmaker Paddy Jolley refrains from clarity to privilege the impact of incredible moments, the physical forces of the universe misbehaving in ways ordinarily reserved for rambunctious humankind. Along with perennial expressionist Brian Maguire, painters like Mairead O’hEocha and Nevan Lahart take their medium to alternate extremes, favoring breezy virtuoso landscape and ragged gluts of cartoonish cynicism, respectively. Edging too into the effervescent graphics of globetrotting graffitist Maser, the range of constructive styles dodges the typical bracketed standards of biennial-prepped works on canvas. The two youngest Irish artists are Siobhan McGibbon and Ella Burke, with Alan Butler, Ciara Scanlan, and Richard Mosse close behind. Working out of a range of methods, these artists tend to favor a more visceral approach, often, as in Scanlan’s faux-trash television programs and Mosse’s altered photographs of conflict zones, to the point of aggressive immediacy. Not surprisingly, these are the Irish artists who seem to fit most snugly into the overarching curatorial motivations behind Dublin contemporary. That their practice, in some cases still in the journeyman’s stages, maintains the vibrant wobbliness of experimentation is a reinforcement of the exhibition’s ethos, in the prioritizing of energy over established strategy. After all, it’s more important than the finish on the paint job that the ignition starts. Dublin Contemporary has been designed to facilitate nonconformity, which polish doesn’t take to very well. The rugged terrain ahead make different means necessary, and who should be better suited to imagine those means than the ones who regard the exhibition space as their turf to begin with? Ireland has had its share of crisis lately, but in the following perestroika, that may leave them uniquely capable of edifying contemporary art’s social consciousness. Fairfield Porter’s itinerant motorists were compelled by the imaginative determination that has historically been the attribute of vagabonds, nomads, and others who have lost or ceded stability. That compulsion seems fruitless to the uninitiated, until, of course, it produces results. The prevailing authorities will do what they do best and be slow on the uptake. Same as always, the comfortable are reliably mystified that the troubled have such skill at mending things. Curt Riegelnegg
Maser, Urban Lover, Courtesy of the Artist
Claudio Parmiggiani, Senza Titolo, Bell, books and ropes, 150 x 70 x 70 cm, 2009, Courtesy of Meessen De Clercq and the artist
Nevan Lahart, A lively start to a dead end, Mixed media, XL, 2010, Courtesy of the artist
Dublin Contemporary 2011. Talks & Lecture Series – part of Dublin Contemporary Education Programme sponsored by KPMG The Art of Contemporary Collecting
The Poetry of Vision: Earlsfort Terrace Revisited
Have you ever thought about collecting a piece of art? This series of drop-in seminars aims to demystify the art of collecting contemporary art, exploring different types of collections, meeting with passionate collectors at all stages of the collecting ladder and looking into artistic and financial concerns for someone beginning or adding to their own collection. All talks are FREE.
The Poetry of Vision: Earlsfort Terrace Revisited will take a look at the past incarnations of Earlsfort Terrace and will explore, through a series of public discussions and talks, the history ROSC and UCD at Earlsfort Terrace. All talks are FREE
The National Gallery of Ireland. Tuesday 6 September at 10.30am. Marcel Duchamp's Heart. Artist’s talk – Brian O’Doherty. National Gallery of Ireland.
The Douglas Hyde Gallery Film Screenings: Alice Neel Dir. Andrew Neel; 2007; Colour; English; 82 mins. Tuesdays at 1.15pm and Thursdays at 5pm throughout the exhibition.
Curating a Contemporary art exhibition: Dublin Contemporary. Tuesday 27 September at 10.30am. Lecturer: Aideen Darcy, Curatorial Manager, Dublin Contemporary 2011. National Gallery of Ireland.
This documentary, directed by Alice Neel’s grandson, Andrew, uses intimate family interviews and archival footage to explore the artist’s tumultuous biography and the legacy of her art. All are welcome, admission free.
Monday 19 September. Art and Architecture: The Aesthetic Vision of Scott Tallon Walker. Niall Scott, Scott Tallon Walker. 6pm. Dublin Contemporary, Earlsfort Terrace, D2.
Dexter Dalwood at Dublin Contemporary. Tuesday 11 October 10.30am. Artist’s talk. Dexter Dalwood. National Gallery of Ireland.
Wednesday 14 September. Passion-Obsessive: The Collection of Jota Castro. Jota Castro, Curator and Collector. 6pm. Dublin Contemporary, Earlsfort Terrace, D2.
Monday 3 October. ROSC a Retrospective . Dr. Marie Bourke, Keeper and Head of Education, The National Gallery of Ireland. 1pm. Dublin Contemporary, Earlsfort Terrace.
Dublin Contemporary: Panel Discussion. Tuesday 25 October – 10.30am. Chairs: Jota Casto, Brussels-based Franco-Peruvian artist & curator, Christian ViverosFauné, New York-based Chilean writer & curator. National Gallery of Ireland
Wednesday 21 September. Creating your Art Collection: Where to Start and How to Enjoy the Journey. Speaker: Fiona Bailey, Mondrian’s Room. 6pm. Dublin Contemporary, Earlsfort Terrace, D2
Wednesday 19 October. The Poetry of Vision: The Vision that Created ROSC Dr. Marie Bourke, Keeper and Head of Education, The National Gallery of Ireland. 6pm. Dublin Contemporary, Earlsfort Terrace.
Wednesday 28 September. Mason Hayes+Curran: Developing a Corporate Art Collection. Declan Moylan, Chairman, Mason Hayes+Curran. 6pm. Dublin Contemporary, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2.
Friday 28 October. Earlsfort Terrace Revisted. Loughlin Kealy, Professor at UCD from 1996 to 2005 and Owen Lewis, Dean of Architecture and Engineering 20012007, will discuss their memories of the Terrace in an Open Forum. 6pm. Dublin Contemporary, Earlsfort Terrace.
Wednesday 7 September. Why Collect? Charles Horton, Head of Collections, the Chester Beatty Library. 1pm. The Chester Beatty Library, Dublin Castle, D2.
Wednesday 5 October. Live with the Art you Love. The Story of the Own Art. Mary-Alice Stack, Director, Own Art, The Arts Council of England. 6pm. Dublin Contemporary, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2. Wednesday 12 October. First Love: What started you on the road to collecting? Bring along the first piece of art you ever bought and discuss it with others.
Sunday 6 November. Mixing the Historic with the Modern: Dublin Contemporary in Perspective. Lynn McGrane, Education Officer, Dublin Contemporary. 3pm. The National Gallery of Ireland
6pm. Dublin Contemporary, Earlsfort Terrace, D2.
Explore Dublin Contemporary 2011
Introduction to Contemporary Art
In Session and In Context explore the processes of making and thinking about art. The sessions are aimed at Third Level students, but all are welcome to attend.
The Introduction to Contemporary Art series is a weekly, drop-in series of lectures exploring different themes in contemporary art. This series is perfect for visitors who are new to contemporary art, or those who simply wish to delve a little deeper and find out more. All talks are FREE.
In Session: An artist- led talk on the process of making. This session is aimed at practice-based visual art students, but open to all.
Tuesday 13 September. Contemporary Art: Where Do I Start? A general overview of Contemporary Art. Fiona Loughnane, Associate Lecturer, Department of Visual Culture, NCAD. 6pm. Dublin Contemporary, Earlsfort Terrace, D2 Tuesday 20 September. The Body: Representing, Transforming and Transcending the Body in Contemporary Art. Barry White, Curator, Dublin Contemporary 2011. 6pm. Dublin Contemporary, Earlsfort Terrace, D2 Tuesday 27 September. The Art of Critical Reflection: Society and the Moving Image in Dublin Contemporary 2011. Liliana Rodrigues, Curator, Dublin Contemporary 2011. 6pm. Dublin Contemporary, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2 Tuesday 4 October. Crossing the Line: Contemporary Art and Science. Dr. Michael John Gorman, Director, Science Gallery Dublin. 6pm. Dublin Contemporary, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2 Tuesday 11 October. Experiencing the Meaning 0f Artworks Dermot Moran, Professor of Philosophy, School of Philosophy UCD. 6pm. Dublin Contemporary, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2 Tuesday 18 October. Ignore, Engage, Destroy, a discussion on street art. Panel including John O’Reilly & Will St. Leger. 5pm. The LAB, Foley Street.
Monday 17 October at 6pm. In Context. An exhibitionbased talk which will introduce pertinent themes in contemporary Visual Culture. This session is aimed at History of Art and Visual Culture students, but open to all. Monday 24 October at 6pm. €6 per session
In Collaboration with… Dublin Contemporary will partner with a number of galleries and institutions to offer a wide range of talks and seminars. All talks will be free of charge and open to the public. Temple Bar Gallery + Studios Mediations on a (Not Too) Distant Future: Singularity, Science Fiction, and the Films of Martin Healy. A public Discussion with Dara Waldron and Martin Healy Venue: The Office of Non-Compliance, Dublin Contemporary. Wednesday 7 September, 4.30pm. (An ancillary event to Martin Healy’s exhibition 'Fugue' at Temple Bar Gallery and Studios from 2 Sept – 8 Oct) Concentration City. Irénée Scalbert & Simon Walker, Carl Giffney and Culturstruction. This public discussion will touch on subjects such as Nature and the city, community, participation and building, the Invisible city, Gesture and Planning and the city as unpredictable. The Office of Non-Compliance, Dublin Contemporary, Thur 27 Oct, 6pm. (An ancillary event to the exhibition ‘Conquested’ at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, curated by Aoife Tunney 21st October – 26 November)
Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane Wednesday 14 September at 11am. Coffee lecture: Willie Doherty; The Walls. Lynn McGrane, Education Officer, Dublin Contemporary 2011. Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane Wednesday 14 September 2011/11.00am (€5/ to book a place please call 01 2225550). Coffee Lecture: The Walls (1987) by Willie Doherty. Lecturer: Lynn McGrane, Education Officer, Dublin Contemporary 2011 Sunday 18 September 2011/1.30pm. Public Lecture Willie Doherty: Marks and Stories. Lecturer: Dr Colin Graham, Lecturer National University of Ireland, Maynooth. Sunday 2 October 2011/1.30pm. Artist’s Talk: The artist Willie Doherty will present a lecture on his current exhibition DISTURBANCE. Sunday 23 October 2011/1.30pm. Film Screening: Picturing Derry. This fascinating documentary presents an analysis of photographic images of Derry from photojournalists, newspaper photographers and community groups, which discusses how images can be used and interpreted in a number of different ways, and how this, in turn, affects viewers’ impressions of reality. (Dir. David Fox, Sylvia Stevens, Faction Films, 1984, 60 mins).
Introductory talks on the exhibition will be given on Wednesday, September 21, at 1.15pm; and Wednesday, October 12, at 1.15pm. Jeremy Lewison, advisor to the Estate of Alice Neel, will give a talk on the artist’s life and work. Wednesday, November 2, at 7pm.Long Room Hub, Trinity College. Tickets are free but limited in number; please contact the Gallery in advance to reserve a place. Trinity College Dublin Wednesday 12 October at 7pm. Art & Politics: A New Realism? Towards an evolving understanding of art in our times. Christian Viveros Faune. Emmet Theatre, Trinity College Dublin.
Other Highlights Wednesday 7 September. Artist talk: Eamon O’Kane will talk about his work. 10am. Dublin Contemporary, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2 Saturday 22 October. Artist Talk: Dublin Contemporary artist Amanda Coogan will discuss her work through Irish Sign Language. This talk will be interpreted for a hearing audience. 6pm. Dublin Contemporary, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2 Saturday 1 October. Art, Crisis, Change: Towards a New Resourcefulness. A panel discussion with Dublin Contemporary curators Jota Castro, Christian ViverosFauné and Aideen D’Arcy. 3pm. Dublin Contemporary, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2
Visitor Information Opening Times Mon – Wed. 11am – 7.00pm Thurs – Fri. 11am – 9.00pm Sat – Sun. 11am – 8.00pm Box Office Tickets for Dublin Contemporary are available via www.dublincontemporary.com Prices start from €6 for children (under five years free) with a full-day adult ticket costing €15. Special group rates available contact 01 6789116 for further details. Other discounts available. Getting There The main exhibition venue is well-served by all major transport in the city including Luas, Bus & DART. Detailed information for domestic and international visitors is available from www.dublincontemporary.com. Transport partners packages and special promotions will be updated regularly. City-centre parking is widely available and group bookings requiring coach transfers can be accommodated on site with prior arrangement via box office. Services Dublin Contemporary facilities will include family area, café, shop and connectivity areas for media and public. These areas will be open to the general public throughout the event. Accessibility Dublin Contemporary will be an accessible event. For special needs please contact the box office and advise requirements in advance. Information www.dublincontemporary.com
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet CRITIQUE SUPPlEMENT
September – October 2011
Niall De Buitlear 'out of order' The lab, Dublin 8 July – 19 August 2011
harin Farocki Human Kinetics: Deep Play harun Farocki, 2007. Shown as part of 'Recognition and Tracking' The Model, Sligo. (2 July – 21 August 2011)
harin Farocki 'Recognition and tracking' The Model, Sligo 2 July – 21 August 2011 ThE Model, Sligo has a good track record of introducing Irish audiences to important international artists and Harun Farocki, once described as “Germany’s best known unknown filmmaker” is a good example of this. Harun Farocki’s long career spans several decades. The Model is showing a selection of Farocki’s key installation works, along with weekend cinema screenings of his films. The title of the show – ‘Recognition and Tracking’, is apt when describing Farocki’s work as he has spent over 40 years tracking and critiquing how the technology that produces images has developed; and how these images are utilized by powerful institutions. This technology is eventually subsumed into the leisure and entertainment industries in the form of computer gaming, Sat-nav and the recent unsettling use of voice and face recognition in gaming and other social network sites. Farocki employs a range of filmic techniques ranging from montage, surveillance, military and video game footage. His earlier work bears all the hallmarks of agitprop cinema and some engaging pieces are to be found for viewing in one room, but it is Farocki’s video installation work that makes it worth the trip to The Model. Since the early 90s Farocki has consistently engaged with the space of the art gallery or museum as a place to encounter his work. As such his work has been hugely influential on at least one generation of video / film installation artists. Farocki’s films are in a constant dialogue with images and image making, and with the institutions, which produce and circulate these images. What is most compelling about Farocki’s work is the way he uses images to critique the production and consumption of images. In the galleries are four of Farocki’s best known video installations including the intriguing Deep Play (2007). First shown at Documenta XII Deep Play is a 12-screen projection documenting the 2006 world cup final from multiple viewpoints and from a variety of media sources: FIFA footage, artist’s own footage, stadium surveillance footage and 2D animation sequences. Deep Play, which runs for the actual length of the football match is a visual slice and dice of imagery, a dozen different perspectives from various technologies shown simultaneously (including presumably Zidane’s infamous head butt.) It could be described as visual overload but in fact the display of multiple screen showing multiple forms of images is becoming commonplace for the sophisticated viewer of today and for the general user of visual media. Deep Play is a complex and engaging piece that asks the viewer to consider the nature of what we are seeing and also whether by seeing too much are we missing the ‘actual’ event?
It is widely accepted that military technology has filtered down into the leisure industry. However, in Serious Games I – IV (2009-2010) Farocki examines how computer animation and video game technology is used to train American soldiers before battle and also used therapeutically by allowing soldiers to reenact previous combat trauma again in the virtual world. Each sequence explores a different facet of the central themes of the work; the connection between the computer game, real war and therapy. In one sequence – entitled Immersion, a series of double screen projections show soldiers / players and the virtual world they are engaging with as a form of preparation for the real combat terrain they will eventually enter. The soldiers, sitting at screens, guide their avatars through the eerie terrain, themselves guided by a therapist who prompts them to explore their feelings as they relive the trauma of the event. In another sequence Watson is Down a trainee’s avatar is killed, the soldier watches as his avatar’s fictional death is referred to with the term “down” or “out” as if in a game. The soldier’s reaction is one of dismay and frustration yet his expression shows how impossible the simulated “down” of a fictional death will ever prepare one for the real thing. Perhaps the most chilling of the pieces in the exhibition is the installation The Eye/Machine (20002003). Farocki’s eye, unlike Digov Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera examines the mechanical gaze, an unknowing eye that sees. ‘Man’ is taken out of the equation, as it is the machine eye that roves, seeing all but knowing nothing. Farocki gained incredible access to footage from so-called “intelligent machines” used during the Gulf War. Bombs with cameras attached to them relayed images straight to a computer that was able to adjust the bomb’s trajectory as it headed towards its target. Machines talking to machines was once the realm of science fiction. “Eye Machine” skilfully examines, how all to quickly the human eye can become irrelevant. The fourth work Workers leaving the factory for 10 decades (1995) is an engaging montage of some moments from recognisable films such as Lar’s Von Triar’s Dancer in the Dark of people doing just that. As well as positioning a chronology of images of representations of workers, Farocki alludes to nostalgia for a traditional type of work, to cinema as a mode of production, and the “dream factories” of Hollywood’s golden era. It has often been said that great art has the potential to change the way we look at the world and Farocki’s work is not for the rushed museum visitor. Each of Serious Games I_IV last for 15–20 minutes, Deep Play is the longest piece about two hours but a lengthy stay is a richly rewarding one. Farocki’s work deserves a wide audience here in Ireland and he is certainly something of a coup for Model Arts Centre. Farewell to the tag “Germany’s best known unknown filmmaker” – Farocki is arguably Germany’s most important and influential filmmaker.
FROM afar, on a window, the drawing looks like a tribal pattern of circles and white contour lines. It is so smooth it could be a transfer or a large window sticker. When I come up close I can see that it was not made by a machine – as I had initially thought – but by hand with an ordinary white paint marker. Thus begins my experience of Niall the Buitlear’s show ‘Out of Order’ at the LAB in Dublin; an exhibition that presents a body of work that operates on two levels: from a distance and up close and personal. Entering the main gallery I encounter what feels like the heart of the exhibition, a series of dark small-scale sculptures, carefully displayed inside three glass vitrines. They seem like solid, heavy objects, perhaps made of clay or ash and perfectly geometric, though with slight variations in height, shape or width. They resemble miniature buildings, slightly alien, with expertly twisted turrets and towers, or a series of experiments of someone trying to build a new contraption. Viewing these works at close quarters, one can see traces of the artist everywhere, in the silver working lines of a pencil or on a small edge where one strand of paper (for they are made of ordinary black paper) meets the next. It’s enjoyable to see this indication of process, the slight irregularities. De Buitlear has stated that, “the [works] are not perfect or geometric, that is not their purpose. If they were, that would be something a computer could do” (1). The other work downstairs consists of a series of framed drawings with white lines on the same black paper. At a distance they look like ground plans or maps and at the same time remind me of Mayan or Aboriginal art, the primitive patterns evoking something mysterious. On closer inspection the lines are slightly transparent and not so rigid. It is hard to gain access to the meaning behind this work, because it is so focused on the surface, as if the artist was totally absorbed in the process of making. On the walls in the upstairs gallery hang another set of drawings, black ink on white paper in the shape of cartoon speech bubbles. They are based on a misreading of a photograph of a threedimensional sculpture, pictured from above so that,
Niall De Buitlear.untitled. marker on window. 2011
to the artist, it appeared to be a drawing. From afar the drawings look almost tangible yet after zooming in they become interesting in their unevenness, the overlap of marker on marker, the slight quiver of a line. I’ve started to look for these marks now, minuscule signals of the artist. In an interview conducted after I’d seen the exhibition Niall and I briefly spoke about the type of art some men make, ‘macho’ art, the art of biennales – shows of power and might. This work isn’t about making grand, sweeping statements. It doesn’t talk about war, poverty, sex, love, lust or desire. All the works in his show are small, quiet, refined even, a continuation of previous work. Niall didn’t want to make large works with a ‘wow’ factor, the kind of work people enjoy purely because of its scale or complexity. I asked Niall if he avoids direct references. He stated there are no obvious reference points, rather, there is an elemental aspect to this work that could relate to a number of things: minimalism, aspects of craft, design and utilitarian objects. But also symbolism, the occult, Neolithic stone engravings, ancient Irish mark-making – “The process is to discover something rather than to project something out, so it’s bound to hit on similarities to other things.”(2) The works in this show focus on the act of making – so much so that the materials, unlike some of Niall’s earlier work, cease to talk about the outside world. They become tools of expression and of process, functional and formal, as if they exist only to give shape to drawings and sculptures. Niall agreed, “now it’s just about materials from an art shop, so that the other elements can take over” (3) . This work is undoubtedly about process – and it is highly personal; the artist followed a nearly instinctive and subjective path, each piece referencing a specific thing, an earlier work perhaps, or a chance encounter. It might have been a challenge for some visitors (who didn’t get the chance to interview the artist after seeing the show) to fully experience these nuances in the work – to get into them, so to speak. What remained for the viewer were marks, traces, echoes of the artist’s physical presence on the outside surface of works that describe an inner world. Alissa Kleist Notes 1. In conversation with the artist. 2. Ibid 3. Ibid
Niall De Buitlear. untitled. pencil on paper. 2011
Alison Pilkington Niall De Buitlear. untitled. paper sculptures & drawings 2010 – 2011
Niall De Buitlear. untitled. paper sculptures & drawings 2010 – 2011
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet Critique Supplement
September – October 2011
Ian Burns, In Increments, 2011 wood, lights, magnifying glasses, timing system 215 (h) x 90 x 60cm (including projection). Courtesy of the artist and Mother’s Tankstation
How did he do that? All nine pieces in ‘Supreme Fiction’ – Ian Burns’ show of works from 2005 to 2011 at the Butler Gallery, Kilkenny pose that question. Each is an assemblage of wires, video screens and ‘stuff’—a mirror ball, a dustpan, a chair, and a light bulb—brought together to create visual, aural and kinetic experiences where the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. In six of the works, video is at the core. But these are not video pieces in the traditional sense. The screen is integrated into the sculpture and the works question your perception of what you think you see. There is, as Burns put it during his talk at the gallery, a tension between what his video imagery and sculptural elements suggest and their actual make-up from found objects and various assorted ‘stuff’. Burns thus draws the viewer into an active, rather than passive relationship with his works. The key question isn’t just merely, “how?” – when you realise that what you thought was a polar icecap, is in fact a scratch on the wall. Instead you begin to wonder about our unquestioning acceptance of what we see on screen. The fact that Burns challenges us to do so in a way, which is neither patronizing nor disdainful of the viewer, is a testament to his openness to the viewer, as well as his technical skills. And skill is a keyword for this exhibition. For Burns, one of the intriguing issues in contemporary art is the relationship of art making and skills. As the artist explained in the gallery talk, in the studio he “creates his own dilemmas”, plays around with and “gives in to” his materials. For example a wooden ruler, which he found on a window ledge at his studio at IMMA, was –re-purposed as a flagpole in The alternative you have when you are not having an alternative; in Spirit, hurleys and spirit levels serve as struts and supports. But the role of re-deploying ‘stuff’ in his work goes beyond that of merely challenging ideas of perception or making skills. Specifically, Burns’ work embeds and references various ideas and meanings. For example, the crystal plate in Glacier is part of the internal narrative of the piece – referencing items carried on fatal Arctic expeditions. The number of editions – 15 – Burns made of Making an Image is not arbitrary. The work, which references Olafar Eliasson’s Waterfall Project for New York, references the value of the commission – $15
million (www.nycwaterfalls.org). A recent work, In Increments, created specially this Butler Gallery exhibition, is according to Burns, something of an exception – in that it isn’t concerned with delivering ‘meaning’ in terms of references, but rather engages the viewer through the artfulness of the construction. The work comprises a series of light bulbs that project through magnifying glasses and incorporating a timing system, that project a number of random words onto the wall. The mechanism produces clicking sounds as the switches for the bulbs go on and off. The construction and aesthetic of this work makes it a viscerally appealing piece. For this viewer, it was one of the more satisfying pieces. Another was Colony Cam. One of Burns’ earliest works – this assemblage contains fewer physical objects than are found in the others. Here the focus is the image on the screen, which you gradually discover to be neither the real-time representation of a coloniser’s flag, nor the creation of one by the artist. Rather it is an illusion produced using a piece of paper on a pin. What In Increments and Colony Cam have in common is a kind of autonomy, a separation from the artist and his intent, which allows the viewer greater freedom in responding to the work. It may seem impertinent to suggest that an artist of Burns’ calibre, with an already established international reputation, is not quite there yet. But Burns is a relatively ‘young’ artist, having graduated from art college less than 10 years ago, and it is not unreasonable to suggest that he is still exploring his materials and honing his technique. In all his pieces, there is a sense of intelligence and engagement with materials, the viewer and the world. And there is also a certain playfulness, never flippant. But in my view, some of his works seem to be too tightly controlled. For example – the fourwheeled drive turning the globe in Makin’ Tracks is a bit of a one-liner – consumerism making the world go round. In my opinion, Burns approach could be looser, allowing some instinct to take over from intellect. Overall though, Given Burns’ engagement with issues of process and his exploration of issues around viewership, I believe that the evolution of his work is well worth following—an evolution that will, I suspect, shift viewers’ engagement with his work from questioning “how?” on to an admiring “wow!” Mary Catherine Nolan Note All quotes / references to the views of Ian Burns, are drawn from the artists comments during a gallery talk that took place at the Butler Gallery on 9 August 2011.
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Image: NSK, Ljubljana, 1986
Ian Burns 'Supreme Fiction' Butler Gallery, Kilkenny 6 August – 9 October 2011
The Visual Artists' News Sheet
25
September – October 2011
profile
In-Flux
Megs Morley discusses recent artist-led activities and initiatives taking place across Ireland.
Basement Gallery exhibition – BPS documentary( An unfinished project)
Catalyst exhibition 'Multiple' in In-Flux. Catherine Roberts Handcrafted caravan nesting boxes designed to appeal to both caravan lovers and bird life alike 2011
In the context of economic recession, institutional corruption, bank bailouts, climbing unemployment and social and political upheaval, suspicions in the status quo have been raised, and there is a renewed interest in practices that position themselves as independent, collective and autonomous. Within this field, the vast majority of artists work, many participating in artist-led activity at one level or another, either through their involvement in the various studio groups dotted all over Ireland or through other voluntary contributions to impromptu exhibitions, live events and temporary gallery spaces. Once considered as merely a means to an end, a necessity ‘to get things done’, artist-led activity in Ireland has developed into a much more defined and critical force than ever before. Positioning themselves firmly outside of the mainstream and dominant discourse, artist-led activity in Ireland has moved far beyond the convergence of common needs, into a self-aware and savvy know-how of an autonomous critique. In the recent Dark Matter, Art and Politics in the Age of Enterprise Culture Gregory Sholette positions this type of non-institutional, selforganised activity made “in the shadows of the formal art world” as a firm cultural resistance, the significance and potential of which on a global scale has, as yet been unrealized. Sholette goes onto to explore the notion of a re-examination of art history whereby this “Dark Matter” demands visibility, a shift in politics and the re-distribution of power. To this end, pointing to the far larger mass of dark matter – “something has changed, dramatically altering the relationship between visible art and its shadowy other- dark matter is getter brighter.” (1) The recession and the resulting plummeting property costs, has made it possible for the development of this type of independent practice that was once out of reach to many artists before. While commercial galleries are folding, artist-led spaces are burgeoning. And, with the initiation and success of The Creative Limerick (2) initiative in 2008 contributing to much discussion and debate about potential creative use of disused spaces in both in Limerick, and beyond, the scene seems set. One of the initiatives to have benefited from Creative Limerick is Occupy Space, an artist-led project and gallery space situated on Thomas Street, the centre of Limerick city in a large commercial space provided rent-free by O’Malley Engineering and Creative Limerick. Occupy Space was established in 2009 by a group of artists, to address the lack of relevant contemporary art venues for recent graduates and emerging artists to stay in Limerick to develop their careers. (3) In their most recent (and most ambitious) project to date ‘In-Flux’ (26 – 29 May 2011), Occupy Space invited 10 Irish and European artistled spaces; 1646 (The Hague), Basement Project Space (Cork), Block T (Dublin), Catalyst (Belfast), 126 (Galway), Monster Truck (Dublin), Transmission (Glasgow), Transition (London), SOMA (Waterford) and Wolfart (Rotterdam) to present pop-up exhibitions across the five extensive floors of the Thomas Street Centre, an 11,000 m2 landmark building in Limerick city centre. Moving beyond the role of representing
bringing together non-profit artist-led spaces to present alternative exhibitions rather than commercial galleries striving to sell work.” (4) In bringing these groups together, Occupy Space aimed to create a temporary site for the exchange of ideas and concerns and to provide an alternative network for self-organised, artist-led spaces. In the spirit of self-organisation, the invitation extended by Occupy was an open one, allowing each organisation the freedom to respond and represent their activities in their own way. A diverse range of approaches towards the premise of 'In-Flux' was taken by the organisations, through which central ideas of DIY, risk, experimentation and vibrant exchange were implicit throughout the exposition. Many of the groups were established in very recent years, with the oldest being Transmission (1983) and Catalyst Arts (1992), but interestingly, they were all initiated by recent graduates who shared the intention to show underrepresented art and to create spaces for experimentation and risk-taking not provided for by larger institutions. It was clear through In-Flux” that these intentions were explored more explicitly by some of the spaces than others, the Basement Gallery in Cork perhaps being the most radical through the presentation of unfinished works in process marked by a confrontational DIY aesthetic of raw cardboard and assembled materials in an attempt to present a simulation of the various social events that form the core of its activities and its members practices. In sharp contrast to this, the Catalyst Arts exhibition was a slick and sophisticated presentation of their project Multiple a pop-up shop of souvenirs, paraphernalia and lo-fi, low cost commodities made by 14 local Belfast artists. The artists’ products ranged from the immaculately crafted Cat Roberts diorama of miniature birds and caravans to the sardonic twist of delicately embroidered dole tickets and cast buckfast lid earrings by Sinead Bhreathnach Cashell. In her essay in the 2009 EV + A catalogue, Sarah Glennie takes an account of the Irish Art scene from her arrival in 1995, mentioning the slow development of artist-led activity and collectivity in Ireland with a change in recent years in reference to a number of projects from 2000 on (5). And while it is true that the 00s marked a new awareness and interest in collective practice, Ireland does have a long history of artists self-organisation (6), but here-in lies a substantial issue for past and present artist-led initiatives in Ireland; how can “dark matter” be referred to when it remains invisible? Due to the temporal nature of much of the artist-led activity in Ireland, it can be difficult if not impossible to trace the impact that these artists and groups have had in the development of the Irish Art scene. Many artist-led groups are transient, with specific goals that once attained, mark their end. Others find ways of sustaining themselves by developing into middle- or large-scale institutions, in fact upon closer examination very many of Ireland’s arts centres, project spaces, resources, organisations and studios began as artists collectives or groups. And just to take Limerick as an example here, a deeper exploration uncovers many examples of collectivity and self-
Block T exhibition 'Mesh' in 'In-Flux' Neill Carroll Working Backwards (mountain from a molehill)
organisation, which despite now existing most vividly in memory, provided the energy, context and inspiration for future initiatives to take place. I have no doubt that if it were not for the work of artists like the Limerick Women’s Collective (1981), All plus 10 sorts (1984-1991), The Dail Co-op (1987 – 1992), the Flag Café (1988 –1992), RAP (1996 –2002) and the many other marginal and now defunct artists groups that existed in the city throughout the years, that today’s Limerick scene would be an entirely different one. So when considering the event of ‘In-flux’, and in relation to it, artist-led activity in Ireland at present, the New York Alternative Space movement was brought to my mind. The ‘movement’ also due to recession and cheap rent, spawned a whole generation of alternative and political art spaces, groups and movements in New York in the 70s and 80s right up until the mid 90s when capitalizing on this ‘bohemian presence’, Mayor Rudolf Giuliani dismantled the city’s rent control in the East Village, Soho and Chelsea, resulting in sky-rocketing real estate in these areas and spelling the end of much of this largely radical art scene. Group Material, one of groups of this period, was and is particularly remembered because of their series of works and exhibitions on Aids and Democracy. In ‘Show and Tell: A Chronicle of Group Material’ by founder Julie Ault, a timeline of all of Group Material’s projects (1979 –1996) also includes Ault’s selection of archival documents that expose the internal discussions and arguments that shaped Group Material’s structure and activities. This exposure to the members internal negotiations, navigates through the contested issues of democracy, organisation, power, ethics, and through the discussions that shaped Group Materials political and social commitment and by extension, its legacy. And here remains one of the crucial issues for artist-led initiatives that the current recession has somehow spawned; what happens when economic recovery can spell the end of cheap accessible space? And what is/ what can be the legacy of all this activity? Now, when working and acting collectively is a political statement in itself, and when DIY is a philosophy of autonomy rather than need, there is the potential for these self-organised, micro-institutions, collectives and artist-led organisations to embrace their position of independence, and critical distance, and to completely circumnavigate the dominant institutional art world and in the case of ‘In-flux’, surpass it completely. Megs Morley is an artist & curator based in Galway. Notes 1. Gregory Sholette Dark Matter, Art and Politics in the Age of Enterprise Culture Pluto Press 2011 2. See: Good from Bad. Ciara Peters profiles the aims and achievements of Creative Limerick VAN: May/June 2011 and also www.limerickcorp.ie/Press/ Pressreleasesarchive/2009/ 3. http://www.occupyspace.com/ 4. http://www.occupyspace.com/ 5. Sarah Glennie, Has it been that long? 1995 –2009, a curator’s memories in Reading the city Eva 2009 p.29 6. The Irish Artist-led Archive homed in the National Visual Arts Library (NIVAL) holds documentation relating to over 75 artist-led initiatives in Ireland www.theartistledarchive.com
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The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
September – October 2011
SEMINAR
A&E: Analyse and Experiment Seán O Sullivan a board member of the Black Church Print Studio, Dublin, reports on A&E, an ongoing series of public discussions organised by the studio.
Sam Keogh hanging his paintings during A&E, 7 February 2011
An audience member inspects work by Sam Keogh, A&E, 7 February, 2011
The Black Church Print Studio first opened its doors in 1982. Today, it occupies a five storey repurposed clothing factory with both Monster Truck Gallery and Temple Bar Gallery and Studios. It is a place where the oldest printmaking methods, such as etching and lithography can easily cohere with new developments in photoreprographics and computer-aided design (2). The studio is a fully communal space; it has 70 full-time members and operates a public programme that includes international residencies, night classes and technical demonstrations. The challenges presented by working in a shared space are naturally offset by a really meaningful value in the friendships that come from working closely alongside others. Members share acid baths, ultraviolet lights and an inkjet printer the length of a Mini. In the later months of 2010, many of the artists who work in the Black Church Print Studio had expressed an interest in forming a peercritique project. This came from a desire to have a greater deal of skillsharing and critical engagement with one another – the studio is full of people who master very distinct processes and skills. We were further motivated by a feeling that we worked together every day, but knew very little about one another’s practices. In October, a group of 10 Black Church Print Studio artists met to plan the project that would become A&E, a regularly occurring critical seminar programme. The group were quickly in agreement that the discussions should be publicly open, and would make a strong effort to address fields outside of printmaking. The planned structure was roughly that we would invite artists, writers and curators to discuss their work publicly, amongst their peers, and that an invited moderator would keep the discussion in flow. It was agreed that Colin Martin, Mary A. Fitzgerald and I would manage the project, and select its contributors. My notes from that October recall a multitude of discussions where we wondered how to best run our programme without a budget, although I expect that we weren’t the only ones in Ireland asking that particular question. The first A&E took place on 6 December 2010.Our neighbours in (1)
An image presented by Sofie Loscher during the Second A&E, 7 February 2011
Monster Truck Gallery kindly agreed to host it in their gallery, which sits at street-level in Temple Bar and has an impressively large front window. Colin Martin and I presented our own work, while Pallas Projects co-founder Brian Duggan acted as moderator. The two conversations lasted for a combined 90 minutes. Colin Martin showed a selection of short films that he had completed during his MFA at NCAD. Each one was a crisply coloured, slow take that hovered through very a large open space: a film studio’s sound stage, the National Museum of Ireland as it looked under refurbishment, and across a rural wooden footbridge. The audience were interested in discussing Colin Martin’s process of shifting his print work into film. I presented a short set of line drawings that I had been working on for nearly two years. These hypothesised a reconstruction of the Sumerian Ziggurat at Ur – an ancient religious structure that predated the pyramids. Brian Duggan peppered the conversation with suggestions and challenges; he suggested that I go to Iraq and visit the ruined monument for myself – I haven’t done that yet. I think it’s outside of the green zone. Eight weeks later, the second session of A&E had been organised and publicised. This time, attendance rose from 20 in December to a now quite substantial 50. It featured artists Sofie Loscher and Sam Keogh, and was moderated by Clodagh Emoe. Sofie Loscher had prepared 11 photographs of her readymade sculptures; these images were reproduced in a large projection, near to 15 feet across. Loscher uses materials such as magnetic ferro fluids and checkout till rolls, manipulating them into a state of structural flux. She took care to emphasise her focus on the process of actually making the work, on the acts of constant repetition that characterise her practice. Clodagh Emoe was quick to highlight the significance of the artist’s chosen materials, and the objects’ serene setting when they were photographed. During a project residency in Temple Bar Gallery and Studios, Sofie Loscher had started unravelling till rolls, removing their cardboard core and rolling them back up tightly with a hemispheric
protrusion from their top. To complement this work, she showed photographs that she had taken of geological activity in Iceland – a geyser that was just ready to burst upwards; it had formed a swollen bulb, and in the following photograph, broke upwards into an explosive column of steam and water. Sam Keogh arrived with a suitcase bursting at the edges with paintings and sculptures, and knotted closed with a scarf. He had taken the prospect of peer-critique quite literally and thus dispensed with the projector. Keogh took our chairs and asked that the group stand around the room in a circle. Once everyone was in place, he walked around the room, unpacking his paintings and hanging them around people’s necks. The works were backed on a light coloured wood, and had thin ribbons strung to their frames. Each one depicted a bright shining stone, lit in fluorescent blues and pinks. Keogh also handed out fistsized stones, shining again, and sculpted with cheap model-making materials. The volume of chatter in the room had risen progressively, but once the excitement of standing up subsided, the artist asked everyone to discuss the works publicly. He would not be making any further declarations. For the first 10 minutes, the discussion was confined to a group of about ten people, but over time the audience as a whole began to develop quite divergent views, and our discussion became unexpectedly, and usefully, contentious. It seemed like precisely the sort of situation that would demand a moderator to highlight and further interrogate the most valuable arguments, and Clodagh Emoe performed excellently. Sam Keogh’s paintings appeared as part of the exhibition ‘Repo Man’ at the Kerlin Gallery this past May. The most recent A&E session took place on Monday 4 April; it was formatted as a panel discussion on art criticism, and sought to present the different sorts of philosophies and ethos that would be brought forward by new critical organisations such as Paper Visual Art Journal and Billion Art. Timothy Stott, James Merrigan and Niamh Dunphy were invited to give presentations on the topic; Kevin Atherton moderated the panel. Tim Stott began the evening with a discussion of theory; he explained the historical lineage of the term as it dates back to ancient Greece, and the discursive influences that have produced our current understanding of it. Stott claimed that the speed that art criticism works is very different to the speed of the exhibition – that criticism and exhibitions communicate in different ways, each having their own heuristics and textures. He remarked that the territory of art criticism lies in a place beyond the constant updating of facts, or of providing commentary from one’s experiences. Instead, he claimed that criticism depends upon the authority that is granted by an appropriate use of knowledge. Stott is currently a doctoral research scholar, and the joy that he takes in language shone through in his discussion, particularly in his extended opening remarks. James Merrigan stood up to talk about Billion Art Journal, his frequently released online publication that endorses an artist-centric model of art writing. He discussed his focus on the art object, and his desire to publish writing every two weeks, which allows him to be, as he put it, relentless. Merrigan went on to discuss the French philosopher Jacques Rancière with members of the audience, and made extensive reference to recently published works by Dublin-based writers Declan Long and Gemma Tipton. Niamh Dunphy spoke about the editorial ethos behind Paper Visual Art Journal, an online publication that focuses heavily on emerging art practices. Paper was founded two years ago, in response to what its creators saw as a vacuum of critique and dialogue around emerging artists particularly. Dunphy spoke about the responsibility of editors to reduce and mediate overwriting, and work towards the presentation of clear, descriptive language. Kevin Atherton set the pace with a string of questions throughout the near-two hour discussion. He brought a good sense of humour to the job of moderator, and an end to the awkward pauses that typically follow a request for questions. The responses bled into the comments section on Facebook that evening, and ended sometime the following day. At the time of writing we were preparing for the next A&E session, which featured presentations by David Lunney, Alison Pilkington and I. It took place 22 August as part of ‘Transference’, an exhibition curated by Clíodhna Shaffrey and Cliona Harmey which took place in Monster Truck Gallery and Broadstone Studios between 4 – 20 August 2011. Seán O Sullivan Notes 1. http://www.print.ie/ 2. Kate Betts, Milestones (Dublin: The Black Church Print Studio, 2007) p4
The Visual Artists' News Sheet
September – October 2011
Opportunities COMISSIONS
COMmissions
LUAS DOCKLANDS The
Railway
Procurement
Agency(RPA) wish to commission a new public art work as part of the construction of Luas Docklands Project (extension of the Luas Red Line to the Point). The vision is to commission an original and innovative artwork that reflects contemporary art practice. The competition is open to practitioners in the areas of: Visual Arts; Theatre; Performance; Literature; Film Making, and other art forms as recognized by the Arts Council of Ireland. Proposals may be made for temporary or permanent artworks. Proposals must take into consideration the implications of working within the constraints of this document. It is critical that proposals submitted are simple to understand, realistic in terms of concept, budgets and implementation, and achievable within the given timeframe. The total budget for the project is €35,000. This amount to include artists fees, design development, fabrication, supply, foundations, installations and landscaping works, artists insurances (public liability & where appropriate contractor), certifications and training, health and safety costs, VAT, and all other expenses and charges. No fax or email submissions will be accepted for this project. Address RPA Luas Docklands Project Applications,
Visual
Artists
Ireland, Central Hotel Chambers, 7/9 Dame Court, Dublin 2 Deadline 5.30pm16 September OFFALY Call for artists of all disciplines to submit a proposal on creating an artistic interpretation of the Grand Canal in Offaly. The Grand Canal is one of Offaly’s best natural resources and it is an artery that we would like to celebrate for its historical, cultural and social impact on the county. Total budget is €50,000, in which 2 to 5 proposals may be commissioned. Proposals may be from individuals or collaborative and may be cross disciplinary. Website www.offaly.ie/eng/Services/Arts_ and_Culture/ Email arts@offalycoco.ie Telephone 0879357400 Deadline 3pm 9 September
C. S. LEWIS SQUARE Belfast City Council call for Expression of Interest for the Commissioning of an artist to produce public art at the C. S. Lewis Square, Holywood Arches, Belfast. C.S Lewis, one of Belfast’s famous sons has been chosen as the inspiration for the design of the square and Public Art specifically focusing on ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’. Successful artists selected will be required at the next stage (Stage 2) to submit their proposals for one or more pieces of Public Art up to the total value of £280,000 excluding VAT. All associated costs are to be included within the allocated budget. Successful artists will receive a development grant of £1,000 to prepare their maquettes as part of their Stage 2 submission. Applicants will need to register with bravosolutions.co.uk to obtain the full brief and application form: www.e-sourcingni. bravosolution.co.uk. All requests for information or clarification should be submitted by email via the eSourcingNI portal for the attention of the Project Management Unit. Deadline 12 noon 14 September Telephone Bravo support: 0800 368 4850 Email help@bravosolution.co.uk. Web www.communitygreenway.co. uk BALLINA Mayo County Council invites artists to develop proposals for two new commissions. The first is for a permanent wall based, suspended or window mounted internal artwork in the foyer of the newly developed Ballina Arts Centre. All art forms will be considered though the outcome is assumed to be permanent. A second commission is for the new nearby Riverside Walkway. It is envisaged that the artwork for the Walkway will be sculptural due to the nature of the proposed site and the fact that North East Mayo has very few examples of sculptural work. Artists can apply for either or both commissions. Contact Gaynor Seville, Address Public Art Co-ordinator, Mayo County Council. Email gseville@mayococo.ie Telephone 094 904 7561 Deadline 17 October 2011 Web www.mayococo.ie.
ARDSCOIL RIS LIMERICK The school extension and refurbishment project is on site since December 2009 and is due for completion in 2012. The project has a budget up to a maximum of €36,000. The commissioned piece can be a single piece or a multiple installation item. It is intended that submissions will be sought from artists interested in seeking this commission in a format that is a Single A3 concept sheet (one side) and a single page A4 containing a written description / intention of the project. Deadlines Site Visit: 3.30pm 14 September 2011 Initial Submissions: 12 noon 12 October 2011 Initial Assessment: 28 October 2011. Contact Richard Rice at Healy Partners Architects Email rrice@healypartners.com. CONFRENCES, LECTURES, conferences / TALKS TALKS GOLDEN THREAD Golden Thread Belfast. Thursday Talks, 1pm – 2pm. 15 September: Ruth Graham in conversation with people who have been “the subjects” in artworks. 22 September: Colin Darke and Peter Richards in discussion about the history of storytelling in artistic practice. All talks are free and tea and coffee will be provided, places are limited so please RSVP to book your place. Email info@gtgallery.co.uk. Web goldenthreadgallery.co.uk TALKS AT IMMA Wednesday 14 September 2011, 5pm – 6pm. Lecture – Barrie Cooke: An exhibition response. Critic and author Bruce Arnold, presents a critical response to the current exhibition of works by Barrie Cooke. Saturday 1 October 2011, 12pm – 1pm. What is …? Talk Series: What is Performance Art? Saturday 8 October 2011, 12pm – 1pm. What is …? Talk Series: What is New Media Art? This is accompanied by an essay and presentation by Maeve Connolly titled Art and (new) Media. Tickets are required for all events unless otherwise stated. Web www.imma.ie COURSES, TRAINING, courses / Training WORKSHOPS workshops CHILDREN services training Children in Northern Ireland have released their training prospectus relevant to Children’s Services Training. The prospectus provides an overview of the workshops that CiNI will provide during 2011-2012.
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Specifically note the following as these may be training needs required at this time for artist staff, Board members and or volunteers. 21 September 2011: Child Protection Basic Awareness, 26 & 27 September 2011: Designated Officer Training, 29 November 2011: Child Protection Basic Awareness. Web www.ci-ni.org.uk/downloads/ training-prospectus.pdf ETCHING COURSE Etching course commencing again in September, running for 6 Tuesdays (6pm – 8pm) followed by one full day Saturday (10am – 4pm), provisionally set to commence on Tuesday 27 September. Cost: €275, maximum two participants with two tutors. Email jackie@graphicstudiodublin. com DARKROOM, BLOCK T New Darkroom courses beginning in Block T from 17 September 2011. DPD01 Introduction to the Black and White Darkroom, DPD02 Intermediate Black and White Darkroom Techniques, ADP01 Advanced Darkroom Printing, ICD01 - Introduction to 35mm SLR film cameras. Web www.blockt.ie Contact Laura Email info@blockt.ie Web www.blockt.ie
DRAWING COURSE Cork – Eight week beginner’s drawing course. Using specific keys and tailored lessons students will gain confidence at a comfortable pace. Numbers limited to 5. Also painting classes resuming in September. Email geraldineoriordan@yahoo.ie ART CLASSES, HUGH LANE Art History Courses and Seminars at The Hugh Lane. Hugh Lane: Founder of a Gallery of Modern Art for Ireland (29 Sept – 17 Nov 2011). Avenues into Modern and Contemporary Art (8 Oct –10 March 2012). Seminar: Art and Conflict/Post Conflict (3 Nov 2011). Autumn Art Classes will take place at The Hugh Lane from September to November 2011. New Perspectives Through Drawing; Life Drawing; (8 Oct – 3 Dec 2011). Aspects of Drawing (11 Oct – 29 Nov 2011). Starting Your Portfolio (18 Sept 2011 – 29 Jan 2012). Web www.hughlane.ie/education
BRONZE CASTING COURSE A two-day bronze casting course by Helle Helsner will be held in 8 & 9 October at The Painter’s Palette, Moycullen 10am – 4pm. Course fee of €200 includes all materials, teas and lunches for both days. Web www.ThePaintersPalette.ie STAINED GLASS COURSE Stained glass course by Deirdre Cairns at The Painter’s Palette in Moycullen 24 September 9am – 6pm. Course fee €95 includes all materials, teas and lunch. Each student will complete a 12 x 12 stained glass piece. Contact Grace Telephone (091) 556523 Email info@ThePaintersPalette.ie. Web www.ThePaintersPalette.ie PAINTING COURSE, FRANCE 11 – 18 October. Una Sealy ARHA is leading an Autumn painting course in Collioure, the French Mediterranean port town made famous by Matisse and Derain. The course will cover all the fundamental aspects of painting, and will suit people of various levels of experience who wish to develop their skills in a professional environment with an experienced tutor. The cost includes 7 days of accommodation, 5 days painting course, with lunch and dinner. €850 excluding flights and transfers. Web www.colliourepainting.com. LIFE DRAWING Lifedrawing will commence in Ballsbridge College, Dublin on 25 September from 6pm to 9pm. Professional Models and Tuition provided. The cost is €150 for 10 weeks. Classes are now enrolling for September. Drawing tutor: Sinead Rice Email info@ballsbridge.cdvec.ie Telephone 01 6684806 Web www.ballsbridgecollege.com CIT MASTERS MA: Art & Process (MA:AP) is a new 12 month taught masters in Fine Art at CIT Crawford College of Art & Design. This intensive programme enables students to investigate, develop and position their art practice, offering city centre studio space, innovative approaches to teaching, and professional experience through collaborative projects. The course runs from January to January and will commence in Jan 2011 Deadline September 30th 2011. Web media.cit.ie/maap
Email trish.brennan@cit.ie MA QUEENS BELFAST Queen’s University is introducing a new MA in Arts Management. This course will take advantage of the strong existing links between Queen’s Drama, Creative Writing, Film Studies, Music and Visual Arts courses and Northern Ireland’s wider cultural sector. The MA is designed for graduates and earlycareer arts managers and is planned for introduction this September. Contact David Robb Email d.robb@qub.ac.uk Telephone 07799328646. Deadline mid September 2011 Web www.qub.ac.uk/lla FUNDING, funding / BURSARIES
AWARDS,
awards
SIAP The Support for the Individual Artist Programme (SIAO) offers a collection of schemes designed to meet the needs of individual artists working in Northern Ireland. General Arts Awards, Major Individual Awards, Artist Career Enhancement Scheme, Self-arranged Residencies and Professional Arts Abroad will open for applications. The Programme opens on 15 August. Online applications are available. Deadline 4pm 16 September Web www.artscouncil-ni.org REEL ART 2011 Reel Art is designed to provide film artists with a unique opportunity to make highly creative, imaginative and experimental documentaries on an artistic theme. Operated in association with Filmbase and the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, Reel Art will wholly support three films with grants of €70 –€80,000 per project. Reel Art films will premiere at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival in February 2013. Only proposals for original, imaginative and aestheticallydriven treatments of arts subjects will be considered while proposals that offer visually engaging, creative and experimental approaches to their subject will be prioritised. Applications must be sent by hard copy only. Address Filmbase, Curved Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2. Web www.reelart.ie. Telephone 01 6796716
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The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
September – October 2011
opportunities Email info@reelart.ie Deadline 5pm 16 September
Artist in the Community Applicaations now being acceted for the Artist in the Community Scheme Bursary Award 2011 The The Arts Council have provided a €10,000 bursary award, to support and nurture professional arts practice, specifically directed at artist(s) who have collaborated and practiced in community development settings and contexts. Deadline 5pm 24 October Address Create, 10/11 Earl Street South, Dublin 8. Web www.create-ireland.ie CONCRETE AWARD Applications sought for the Irish Concrete Society special Award scheme for sculpture. The Society is sponsoring a cash prize of €1,000 to the winning sculptor. Entries are eligible which use concrete as the main visual element in the sculpture. All entries will be displayed at an Awards Evening held in early 2012, at which the winner will be announced. Deadline 28 October 2011 Contact Emma Flood Telephone 041 9876 466 Email secretary@concrete.ie Web www.concrete.ie WORKPLACE SCHEME Visual Artists Ireland, on behalf of the Arts Council, invites applications for grants of up to a maximum of €30,000 towards the running costs of visual artists’ workspaces. In keeping with the Council’s policy document ‘Visual Artists’ Workspaces in Ireland – A New Approach’, it is continuing this scheme with the aim of assisting group studios throughout the country to provide the best possible environment for working visual artists and, where feasible, to enable a level of subsidy for resident visual artists. The scheme will award grants of up to €30,000 towards running costs such as light, heat, rent, artists’ development programmes, administration and/or appropriate salary costs (capital costs cannot be applied for through this scheme). The funding will be a once-off grant for 2012. There is an overall total available fund of €230,000. Please note that incomplete applications will be deemed ineligible. The scheme is administered by Visual Artists Ireland on behalf of the Arts Council. Applications
should be sent in hard copy and electronic format (Word format) to: Visual Artists’ Workspace Scheme 2012, Visual Artists Ireland, Central Hotel Chambers, Dame Court, Dublin 2 Email acworkspaces2012@visualartists.ie Contact Damien McGlynn,dmcglynn@ visualartists.ie Telephone 01 6729488 Deadline 5.30pm 15 September
DEIS AWARD The purpose of the Deis Award is to provide support for traditional arts projects, or projects involving collaboration between the traditional arts and other artforms. Proposals are accepted from all areas in the traditional arts. Deis proposals are currently accepted on a rolling basis. Closing Date: 9 September 2011, if your activity is due to commence after 21 October 2011. Contact Eimear Harte/ Karen Lee Walpole Telephone 353 1 619 7807/ 353 1 618 0282 Email eimear.harte@artscouncil.ie/ karenlee.walpole@artscouncil. ie JOBS jobs ADMIN ASSISTANT The Model, Sligo is seeking an Administrative Assistant with responsibility for the bookshop. Email emermcgarry@themodel.ie. Telephone 071 91 41405 Web www.themodel.ie Deadline 9 September 2011
TECHNICIAN The Mermaid Arts Centre seeks Arts Centre / Theatre Technician. Salary: €28,000. Closing Date 5pm 19 September Contact Fionnuala Downes Email admin@mermaidartscentre.ie Telephone 01 272 4300 Address Mermaid Arts Centre, Main street, Bray, Co. Wicklow CITY ARTSQUAD City Artsquad requires community artists and or muscians. Must be eligble under FÁS criteria for community employment. Contact Fiona Clarke Telephone
01 4547026 Email cityartsquad@hotmail.com INTERNATIONAL OPPS
INternational OPPS
D OPPS
ireland
SCENIC WORLD Open Call for Submissions for local, national and international artists to exhibit within the splendour of the unique rainforest within the World Heritage listed
Blue
Mountains.
DRAWING SIENA ITALY Call for artists to take part in an exhibition based on the theme of drawing, bringing artists from all over the world together to celebrate the act of drawing on a postcard sized work. The postcard-sized artwork can be in any media. The title of the exhibit is ‘Drawing Connections’. All work will be documented and exhibited during the inaugural exhibition of the Siena Art Institute, 24 September 2011. There is no limit to the number of submissions you can send. No entry fee. Submissions will only be accepted via post, not via email, since we are looking for original works of art, not scans or digital copies. Deadline 15 September 2011 Address Drawing Connections, Siena Art Institute, Via Tommaso Pendola 37, 53100 Siena, Italy. Email info@sienaart.org Web www.sienaart.org/call-for-submissions.html
AUSD20,000 Acquisitive Award.
CATALYST ARTS MediaHolidays group from Art Association Rajataide, Tampere, Finland and Catalyst Arts Gallery, Belfast, Northern Ireland are collaborating on a media art happening taking place in both countries. MediaHolidays and Catalyst Arts invite artists based in Finland, Northern Ireland and Ireland to apply. We are accepting submissions of video art (max 5 mins), portable media installations, sound art, performances and art talks or presentations. Submissions should include: a proposal of the work intended, C.V, Max 6 images, good quality photographs of the work can be sent in hard copy, via email or artists can send a link to a website containing the images, For video and time-based work, please send us a web -link or DVD, each video should be no longer than 5 minutes (max 4 videos). Email mediapyhat@gmail.com Address Galleria Rajatila, Hämeenpuisto 10, 33210 Tampere, Finland. Deadline Friday 14 October Web www.catalystarts.org.uk / rajataide.fi/index_eng.html
tion?' Matthew is looking for one
Held between 16 February and 11 March 2012, this outdoor exhibition will provide artists with an opportunity to exhibit their works within the natural splendour of the World Heritage listed Blue Mountains. Please complete and return the entry form together with the entry fee by to: Sculpture at Scenic World, PO Box 1042, Katoomba NSW, 2780, Australia. Telephone +61247800245 Email lizzym@scenicworld.com.au Web www.scenicworld.com.au/sculpture Deadline 23 September
THE CORE PROJECT Matthew Nevin, one of the curators at MART, is working on international visual art project called ‘The Core Project – One world. Two minutes. One quesvideo entry from one person in every country. By collaborating with artists and residents across all the sovereign nations of the world to create one piece of work broadcast to millions. Submit you or your friend’s details here: www.the-core-project.com/submit.html. Email info@the-core-project.com Web www.the-core-project.com.
IRISH WORKS ON PAPER The Lockhart Gallery at the State University of New York at Geneseo is looking for submissions for its spring 2012 exhibition, ‘Contemporary Irish Works on Paper’. All pieces must be on paper and no larger than 16 x 20 in. For further information please contact Corinne Smith, gallery co-ordinator at SUNY Geneseo. Telephone +1 (585) 245-5813 Email crs2@geneseo.edu Web www.geneseo.edu/galleries/ home Deadline December 2011
MARKET STUDIOS The Market Studios, Dublin 7 are currently accepting proposals for new work from artists, curators and creative professionals seeking an established gallery space to rent. Rental is €300 per week for group shows (discounts are available to individuals or for shorter events) for two spaces; Gallery One (5 metres square approx) features great natural light as does Gallery Two (2.35 x 5.25 metres approx) which easily converts to a darkened space making The Market Studios’ gallery suitable for a diversity of visual art projects. Address The Market Studios, Corner of Mary’s Lane and Halston Street, Dublin 7. Telephone 087 7778215 Email themarketstudios@gmail.com Web www.themarketstudios.ie Deadline Monday 31 October
HIGHER BRIDGES The 4th ’1 FT SQ’ small works Christmas exhibition of visual art will be held open on Friday 2 – 21 December 2011 in the Higher Bridges Gallery at The Clinton Centre, Bemore Street, Enniskillen. Entry fee is £10 per work (up to 3 works permitted per artist).Cheques should be made payable to ‘Fermanagh District Council’ and paid on day of delivery only. Deadline 23 September Email diane.henshaw@fermanagh. gov.uk. Web www.fermanagh.gov.uk THE JOINERY The Joinery is currently seeking submissions from artists or artists groups for their exhibition programme from December 2011 onwards. Successful applicants will be invited to rent the space for one or two weeks. Interested artists should send a full, detailed proposal, bio / statement, along with five or six good quality images or video. Contact Niamh or Miranda Email thejoinery@gmail.com Deadline Friday 9 September Web www.thejoinery.org RUA RED CALL RUA RED open call for a Winter Exhibition. This open submission exhibition is an opportunity for local and national artists and
craft makers to exhibit their work in the expansive space of Gallery One. The exhibition will feature a cross section of emerging and established artists and craft makers. Artists are invited to submit a maximum of three works. Application forms and guidelines can be downloaded from our website or by contacting RUA RED reception. Telephone +353 (01) 4515860 Email info@ruared.ie Web www.ruared.ie Deadline 5pm 23 September
WEXFORD FILM FESTIVAL The 3rd Wexford Independent Documentary Film Festival Invites local Film Makers to participate by submitting their films for inclusion. Those interested should send a DVD of their work to Kevin Ryan, St Anne’s, Waterloo Road, Wexford. The ideal candidates will be short documentaries (20 minutes or under) or Wexford linked concepts, but this does not exclude other interesting or longer proposals. Telephone 087 9735127 Email kevinryan70@hotmail.com Deadline Sunday 18 September 2011 TAPESTRY Tapestry Foundation & Art Matters Collective: Call for Submissions. Tapestry Foundation and Art Matters Collective presents its first project, ‘Tapestry A-Side’, dedicated to fund-raising for Cancer Research and Support. We would be honoured to accept a variety of work such as paintings, sculptures, films, writings, music, photography etc. As part of this project we would like an Irish craftsperson to create a piece entitled Tapestry that will be available to buy online and in selected shops. This piece will trace the roots of Irish traditional tapestry and embroidery work.50% for each sale will revert to the artist and the other 50% to the cause, as a way of also promoting the artists. Web www.tapestryfoundation.ie. Email admin@tapestryfoundation.ie. Deadline end of October 2011. WESTPORT ARTS FESTIVAL Visual artists are invited to submit work on the theme ‘Things That Matter’ for inclusion in an open submission exhibition in J. McGing’s Bar during Westport Arts Festival 2011. The exhibition will run from Friday 30
The Visual Artists' News Sheet
September – October 2011
29
opportunities September to Sunday 9 October 2011. All submissions must be made using beermats as a support/base material. All works must be unframed. Deadline 4pm Friday 23 September Email beermatart@gmail.com.
ART WAVE Art Wave is looking for artists’ submissions for the 2nd Splash Art Festival. A 2-day festival of art, music and dance. It will take place in the Back Loft , La Catedral Studios, 7-11 St. Augustine Street, Dublin 8 and will be held 12 – 13 November. To submit your works please send an email to magda@artwave.org with following: 3 – 5 photos of your works (small resolution, max. 800 x 600 pixels) or a link to your music/performance track/film, Artist statement or CV, Information if you are going to use wall or floor space (if you are using the floor how much space do you need Deadline Midnight Friday 9 September Web www.art-wave.org / www.lacatedralstudios.org
DUNDRUM OPEN Visual Arts Practitioners working, living or originally from Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County are invited to submit proposals to the exhibition Dundrum Open 2011. Working with the theme of unfolding narratives this contemporary art project will take the form of an Open Submission exhibition along with a series of Direct Invitation Commissions focusing on temporary site-specific works. The overall project will be based in Dundrum, Co. Dublin and will take place in early November 2011. Deadline 15 September Contact Ciara King, Assistant Arts OfficerArts Programme Development Email cking@dlrcoco.ie Web www.dlrcoco.ie/arts.
WORLDS END Worlds End is a five month project at the Guesthouse in Cork which invites individual artists, collectives, groups and educators to undertake short residencies with which to coordinate an event, present a work in progress or engage with a new strand of production which becomes public for at least one event. Running from August through December residencies range from 1 night to two weeks. Conceived of and facilitated by Stephen Mc Glynn.
Web www.theguesthouse.ie/index. php?/residency/residents-2011.
FILM WORKS ON DVD Open Submission for film works on dvd. For the duration of the Dublin Contemporary 2011 films from various artists will be shown in the reception area of the Cross Gallery with the monitor showing out towards the window of the gallery thus including a pedestrian audience along Francis Street. The viewings of these films will be dictated by the gallery and could be several films in one day or a film a day. Please send dvd to Mark St.John Ellis. Address Mark St.John Ellis, Curator / Director, Cross gallery and nag, 59 Francis Street, Dublin 8, Ireland. Telephone +353 1 473 6978 Email info@crossgallery.ie Web www.crossgallery.ie
COCKLESHELL The Cockleshell Gallery in Duncannon Co Wexford is now looking for artists to apply for its 2012 Visual Arts Programme. We accept submissions in Painting, Photography, and Sculpture. Submissions/proposal should include 4 copies of artist’s C.V., 4 copies of artist’s statement, 6 – 12 good quality photographs of recent works. An indication of time required to put show together if successful, price points you currently sell at and an indication of why you wish to exhibit at this venue. Please also include self-addressed, stamped envelope for return of submission/proposal. Address Peter Murphy, Front of House Co ordinator, The Cockleshell Gallery, Duncannon, New Ross, Co Wexford Deadline 7 October 2011. Telephone 051 389990 Email cockleshellartscentre@eircom. net Web www.cockleshellgallery.com CUSTOM HOUSE STUDIOS Custom House Studios are now inviting submissions for exhibitions and use of studio space for 2012 and 2013. The Studios complex houses 7 artists studios, exhibition space, and print studio. These facilities are housed in the historic Customs House building on the Quay in Westport, Ireland. Studio Occupancy: Artists are now invited to submit proposals for year long use of Studios in 2012
and 2013. Artists are now invited to submit proposals for short term use of Studios during the years 2012 and 2013. Exhibitions: Artists and Curators are now invited to submit proposals for exhibitions at Custom House Studios gallery during 2012 and 2013. Please send on letters of interest, CVs, documentation of work and 8 – 10 images. Address The Manager, Custom House Studios, The Quay, Westport, Co. Mayo, Ireland Deadline 30 September Web www.customhousestudios.ie JAM ART FACTORY Jam Art Factory are currently accepting open submissions for 2011. We are situated on busy Patrick Street, Dublin between St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Christ Church. We work with up and coming and established artists. Email jamartfactory@gmail.com. Deadline December 2011 Web www.jamartfactory.com
IONTAS GALLERY The Iontas Art Gallery in Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan calls for submissions for the period June 2012 – May 2014. Artists are required to provide a proposal for an exhibition, a C.V., images of current work and images of proposed work. Address To be sent to Carmel Rudden, Iontas Centre, Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan. Telephone 042 9753427 Email carmel@iontascastleblayney.ie Web www.iontascastleblayney.ie Deadline 30 November GALWAY ARTS CENTRE Galway Arts centre is seeking applications for its Visual Arts and Education Programme June 2012 – June 2013. The window for applications is 1 July – 30 November 2011. To apply please post hard copies of your CV (max. 2 pages), Artist’s Statement, digital images / video / sound files on CD or DVD and a proposal of how you would like to engage with the Gallery. Galway Arts Centre will accept hard copy applications only. All applications will be discarded after adjudication unless a SAE is provided. Address Submissions 2012 – 2013, Galway arts Centre, 47 Dominick Street, Galway, Ireland. Web w w w. g a l w a ya r t s c e n t r e . i e /
events/view-event/164.html. Deadline 30 November
CARNEGIE KENMARE The Carnegie Arts Centre in Kenmare is currently seeking submissions from both emerging and established artists to develop its visual arts programme for 2011/12. The Carnegie is looking to offer a challenging programme of contemporary visual arts to the community and we welcome proposals from individuals or groups of artists working in any media. Interested artists should send applications either by email or post marked ‘Submissions’ containing a short CV and a proposal or statement along with good quality images or video and, if possible, a website address. (Please send an SAE if you require return of your material) Address The Carnegie Arts Centre, Shelbourne Street, Kenmare, Co. Kerry. Telephone 064 6648701 Email info@carnegieartskenmare.ie Web www.carnegieartskenmare.ie Deadline Ongoing OTHER / HELP NEEDED Critcal Bastard Critical Bastards Magazine is a bi-weekly handwritten A5 magazine. The magazine is dedicated to reviewing visual art exhibitions and public art in cities across the island. Once every 4 issue we send a writer to review an international art exhibition. The magazine is made by artists who wish to engage with art viewing on an active level. Submissions are open to all artists. We are particularly looking for ‘correspondents’ for Galway, Cork, Dublin, Derry. Other regions are also welcome. Contact Iain Griffin Email iaingrif@talktalk.net. PRISM PHOTOGRAPHY We are looking for regular contributor(s) who has/have keen interest and proven record in writing about fluid identity of photographic image. Prism is a bi-monthly, on-line photography magazine featuring the works of established and emerging image makers from across the globe. As Prism works on volunteer basis, unfortunately contributions are not paid for. Telephone 087 6451473 Email info@darekfortas.com Web www.prismphotomagazine.com
Deadline October 2011
Web www.southtipparts.ie.
VISUALLY IMPARED ARTISTS Award winning Documentary film maker is researching a piece on artists (of any discipline) who are losing their sight or who are already visually impaired. Please contact Hilary. Telephone 087 2359515 Email hilary@hilaryfennell.com
CILL RIALAIG ARTS CENTRE The Cill Rialaig Project in southwest Kerry invites applications for residencies for September 2011 to December 2012. While residents are primarily visual artists, they also include photographers, writers, poets, screenwriters, applied artists, musicians and composers, architects, and their peers, from Ireland and abroad. Residencies are offered free of charge, although there is a small service fee for utilities. The selection committee meets twice a year, and the next deadline for applications is 15 September 2011. The following deadline is 15 March 2012. Contact Mary O’Connell Email cillrialaigarts@gmail.com
EMAIL ART SCAM We have received warning of an art scam currently operating and targeting artists and galleries in Ireland. The methods are described below. VAI recommend that all artists practice extreme caution when dealing with buyers over email. Always research buyers and never give out unnecessary personal information. “Artists are emailed by a person who claims he is a dealer/ collector and wants to buy some of the artist’s work. His contact in Ireland has recommended the work to him and he also liked the images he has viewed on the artist’s website or gallery website or arts mags. He then asks for more images of work that you might sell to him. The artist who then sells work to him will find that the shipping address is in Australia and he uses a particular shipping company in Ireland. The cheque and shipping company will arrive on the same day. The artist will pay the shipping cost in cash and the cheque will bounce. So the artist loses the painting and cash.” If you require further advice, contact Visual Artists Ireland. Telephone 01 8722296 Email info@visualartists.ie RESIDENCIES RESIDENCIES SOUTH TIPP ARTS South Tipperary County Council Arts Service is initiating a Curation and Development Residency. Curators / Artists are invited to submit a proposal (including a budget), for this residency which will be selected by an independent panel of relevant arts experts and practitioners. The total budget for the residency is €11,000. Deadline 28 September Address Sally O’Leary, Arts Officer, (Curation and Development Residency), South Tipperary County Council, County Museum, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. Telephone 052 6134565 Email sally.oleary@southtippcoco.ie.
ARTERRA, PORTUGAL ARTErra is a rural artistic residency in Portugal, which can provide all the inspiration needed for artists to develop their projects. The application must contain the following elements: Curriculum Vitae and Bio; Portfolio, videos, photos, music; Description of the project to be undertaken at ARTERRA, including the project’s objectives, needs and expectations of residence ,work methodologies, and all the details necessary to understand the proposal; Ideal dates and time for the residence; Complementary information (needs for meals, number of persons involved, technical requirements, work characteristics and other additional information relevant to the work process). There is no application fee. ARTerra is open all year. The application is ongoing. The artists can stay from 3 days to 6 months. Telephone +351963779054 Email arterra.geral@gmail.com Web arterra.weebly.com STUDIOS / spaces Studios LEITRIM SCULPTURE CENTRE Studios in the Factory, New Line would suit artists working in stone, metal, glass, wood or other sculpture materials. Studios at “Sheehans” on Main Street would suit artist working either in two dimensions ie painting, printmaking, graphics, digital media or lightweight sculpture. Rent is charged at €100 per month and it includes: all utilities, broadband, canteen, library. Address Leitrim Sculpture Centre, New Line, Manorhamilton, Co Leitrim Telephone 071 985 5098
The Visual Artists' News Sheet
September – October 2011
30
opportunities Email
Street, Dublin 8
MONSTER TRUCK
info@leitrimsculpturecentre.ie
Telephone
Monster Truck Studios has one
Web
087 6486651
large studio available. Broadband,
www.leitrimsculpturecentre.ie
24hour access, natural light.
simonecrowley@gmail.com
Email info@monstertruck.ie
MOXIE STUDIOS
Web
Fitted-out desk workstations, two
DOUBLETAKE ARTS STUDIO
new studios and one new work-
Tallaght Community Arts Artist
shop now available at Moxie
in residence opportunity and
Studios; one studio with sink
DoubleTAKE Arts studio call for
CENTRAL HALL STUDIOS
becoming available. Contact
volunteer Artist mentors. Artist
Studio Space available at Central
bear@mox.ie for more informa-
in residence opportunity – A
Hall
tion or to arrange a viewing.
bright, spacious studio with lots
Waterford. Spacious, bright old
Web
of natural light. Situated within
building, 24/7 access, wi-fi, kitch-
www.mox.ie
Rua Red arts centre which houses
en facilities. Shared space with
all manner of tech. And arts sup-
two others n a friendly relaxed
port (see www.ruared.ie), Studio
environment.
1 also known as DoubleTAKE
Contact
arts studio is available to a suita-
Louise Flynn
ble artist for approx 44 hours per
week at no financial cost. In
louisejflynn@yahoo.ie
return for the shared use of this
Telephone
arts studio we require you to
087 7572810
STUDIO9 ARTBASE 9 North Great Georges Street, Dublin 1. €100 monthly includes wifi internet, heating and electricity. Small space – approx 50 square feet.
Studios,
The
Quay,
commit to 8 hours per week
Email jroconnell2002@yahoo.co.uk.
working as a volunteer artist mentor for the DoubleTAKE studio.
STUDIO 23 Range of studio spaces available with wi-fi, parking, disabled access,
monstertruck.ie
workroom/conference
space, intercom, consultation rooms. Suit artists/designer/ crafts/writers/performers.
RESIDENTIAL STUDIO, BERLIN Live in studio space Berlin. Available September & October.
Contact
This is a large, professional artist
Sharon/ Ruth Clancy
studio, set in a complex of studi-
Telephone
os, with gallery and events space.
086 3708766/ 01 4628180
Rent €490 a month with deposit.
Email ruth@tallaght-arts.ie for further details
Email whelano@ncad.ie. Address
Address
Atelier: Atelierhaus Mengerzeile
Studio 23, City Business Park,
BRUNSWICK MILL STUDIOS
Derriaghy, BT17 9HU
A studio space share will be avail-
able from the beginning of
askstudio23@hotmail.com
September at BMS. Bright, self
Telephone
contained (share with one other),
02890-600-413
24/7 access, high speed internet,
Web
size approx 10 m sq, €82 per
www.myspace.com/studio23col-
month (does not include bills
lective / www.studio23art.net
approx. E60 a year). Centrally
1-3 [303], 12435 Berlin, Germany. Web www.atelierhaus-mengerzeile.de
WATCH OUT!
located, close to Smithfield Square. Taking part in “Visit STUDIO SPACE BRAY Shared Studio space to rent, just off the Main Street in Bray, 24 hour access, included in the Rent is lighting, electricity and parking. Space is semi-partitioned off and is shared with a mix of
2011″. Email carolryan2000@hotmail.com. Web www.visitstudios.com/brunswickMill.html
We strongly advise readers to verify all details to their own satisfaction before forwarding art work, slides or monies etc.
designers, crafts-people and artists, and has a real family atmos-
PINHOLE PHOTO STUDIOS
phere. Rent is €150p/m.
Centrally located studio, fully
Contact
equipped. Suitable for semi-pro-
Sarah
fessional photographers, inter-
Telephone
ested in developing, enriching
087 2922699.
and learning new skills in a comhappy to invite you to the launch party of new Pinhole photogra-
Two artists studio spaces availa-
phy studio on Friday 2 September
ble in small studio on Mill St,
at 6pm. We will start the night at
Dublin 8. The studio contains
MadArt Gallery (Pinhole is locat-
seven artists spaces, shared kitch-
ed in the same building on the
en and toilets. One has its own
first floor).
window. They are available from
Address
21 August, please contact Simon
Pinhole
to view. Electricity is included in
Gardiner Street, Dublin 1.
the rent. Rent: €100-120 per
Studio,
57
Telephone
month.
01 8192039
Address
Web
Paper Lantern Studios, 15/17 Mill
www.pinhole-studio.com
Lower
Creative Ireland: The Visual Arts,profiles 100 leading contemporary Irish visual artists active from 2000 – 2011. A broad overview and analysis of the issues confronted by Irish artists is addressed in five thematic essays, by leading Irish cultural commentators, Valerie Connor; Colin Graham, Fiona Kearney, Mebh Ruane, and Brian Hand. Published by Visual Artists Ireland. Cover price €25
fortable environment. We are MILL STREET
Creative Ireland: The Visual Arts, edited by Noel Kelly and Seán Kissane, provides a rigorous survey and appraisal of Irish contemporary visual arts practice through the critical optic of local, national and international perspectives.
Don’t forget Do look at the advertisments in this VAN, also check our web site & subscribe to our e-bulletin for further opportunities.
Available from leading gallery bookshops accross Ireland and internationally. Copies can also be ordered from: www.printedproject.ie www.amazon.co.uk
The Visual Artists' News Sheet
September – October 2011
31
PROFILE
Change is Coming
noticed about the Northern Irish art scene, is that many artists I encounter where doing amazing work and getting great opportunities outside of the country; but no one knew anything about it except those
Bronagh Lawson Founder OF www.creativechangeni.com profiles the resources AND supports offered to artists by this ambitous new endeAvour.
in a very tight circle. I also noticed some information could only be received if you went to the right pub or artists talk (if you could figure our when they were on). From an equality basis this is clearly appalling – where does it leave those with childcare responsibilities, disabilities or no transport? With CreativeChangeNI all artists can keep up-to-date with the latest opportunities and events. One of the questions I was asked when commissioned for this article was to outline and discuss the key steps that in my opinion need to be taken to address the needs of artists in Northern Ireland. To my mind there 10 simple steps that could be taken to help artists in Northern Ireland. 1.
Write up and distribute a one page document on social security
artists and keep this up-to-date. Many artists due to the nature of
their work can spend time with financial worries, clear precise
information is required at key times to alleviate financial stress.
support / HM Revenue and customise support suitable for visual
2. Set up Steps to work programme for visual artists. The music
industry has one at the Oh Yeah centre to give musician time to
develop their careers; artists need the same time to figure out
their next steps.
3. Deliver training in art marketing/ networking/ social media. I
have received so many invites with something missing from
them like location or time, artists need to realise that just
because their visual language is good it does not mean they
understanding marketing. Social media and online networks are
becoming more and more important, opportunities are found
and offered online. Some artists don’t feel comfortable in the
online world and require some support taking the next step.
4. Northern Ireland needs a proper art fair Belfast and Derry would
If one person dreams alone, it is only a dream.
Social networking is revolutionising event management; and a
When many people dream together,
whole generation of artists are linking up and affecting change at a
It is the beginning of a new reality.
faster pace than ever before. There is perhaps something wrong when Friedensreich Hundertwasser
your Facebook events page and your Twitter account is giving you information, which is more up-to-date and relevant than any paper-
CreativeChangeNI is a community website where artists and
based product you can buy or receive for free.
individuals / organisations, who are interested in art and change in
On the other hand, it is easy to dismiss social media; and I think
Northern Ireland, can become members and contribute to the content
there is a whole generation of older artists who are doing just that – but
of the site. The site has been designed to be as easy as possible to
once over the initial shock of how it works it’s extremely liberating and
contribute to – and members have sections for video, photos, blog
great fun. I know of people who have come across exhibiting and
posts, rants, events, openings etc. It has full cross platform functionality
performance opportunities simply by being connected to social
to Twitter, linked in and Facebook.
networking sites. On CreativeChangeNI, I can spend much more time
Once a week, I send out an email with some pointers on what is
looking over someone’s profile and finding out about their previous
coming up that week and art gossip. At the time of writing this article
exhibitions and work than in a five-minute conversation at an art
CreativeExchangeNI has 400 members. Visual Arts Ireland has
opening.
approached CreativeChangeNI to see where it can partner with us and offer additional resources for artists in Northern Ireland.
To me we are on the cusp of a major shift in society, where a great bubble of creativity has expanded with a generation of artists who eat,
Why and how the site came about is simple – it’s linked to my
sleep and live online. Some older artists are missing out if they ignore
love of technology, innovation and equality; and I believe in the power
it, mainstream online and paper-based media is behind the curve,
and ability of individuals, communities and society as a whole to affect
which is always the case in moments of great change as they always
change. Change is something we need a lot of in Northern Ireland –
have the incumbent technology to deal with and restricted budgets /
thinking new thoughts contributes to that. Art is one of the key
staffing resources.
vehicles, which spark off new thoughts.
Sometimes all you need is the right technology, right people and
Before I moved back into art practice I had worked for 13 years in
the right attitude. Belfast itself has changed beyond recognition in the
the economic / community / equality development sector. The name of
visual arts sector over the last five years. There is a vibrant, exciting
my consultancy was Creative Change – because that’s what I did. I
24-hour scene of ever-changing exhibitions and an energy and vitality
helped individuals and organisations to creatively change.
within the artist community, expanded by artists graduating elsewhere
Networks are very powerful things, in previous generations access
and coming back and others deciding to stay put. The scene is changing
to many networks were restricted to an elite, in this era all you need is
the night-time of Belfast with activity and art lovers trailing through
internet access. So the logic and motivation behind the CreativechangeNI
once forgotten streets in search of the next art fix.
site is to primarily connect people; share information; offer
For example ‘The Art in the Dark’ series of films featured on our
encouragement and support for all the wonderful creativity out there
site, came about via a collaboration with Lamb and Text film and
– and speed up the processes of change. We are at the beginning of a
filmmaker Paul Moore. The thinking behind it was to capture the
new reality and it can all be built from the bottom up.
knowledge, interest and enthusiasm of artists and exhibition visitors,
Coverage of art in the mainstream media in Northern Ireland is
by filming exhibitions and talks and interview artists and audience
very poor, no local paper even features an up-to-date listing section.
members. I find it almost insulting the way local media in Northern
And even though I live in Belfast, before I got involved in the art scene,
Ireland ignore the culture on their doorstep, but rather gratifyingly the
I wasn’t really aware that one existed, it had very little visibility. In
BBC and other media outlets are now using the CreativeChangeNI site
contrast, when I visited other countries, I found I could easily access
for their own research.
galleries and exhibitions – while not realising the extent of the
As an artist who only started back into their professional practice
contemporary art scene on my own doorstep. If I felt like that – I
five years ago I was extremely frustrated at the way information within
thought there must be others too.
the sector was being circulated. CreativeChangeNI aims to expand the professional knowledge base for artists. One of the things I also have
be good locations. Cities all over the world have art fairs that
give the general public an opportunity in a short space of time to
see and buy Art. NI needs one with a proper selection process so
that more visibility and opportunity is given to local
contemporary galleries and artists.
5. Require all organisations dealing with artists to sign up to an
artist charter. During my recent years as a full time artist I have
never been treated so badly. No other profession would be
treated in the same manner; organisations dealing with artists
should be required to sign up to a professional charter stating
how they should be treated there is a European standard it
should be implemented and adhered to.
6. Public Sculpture selection should be taken away from local
authorities / partnership boards and an independent body set up
with artists on it to deal with all aspects of it. This would be
based on the Scottish model and insures a more artist-led
approach and take it way from local politics.
7. Training for personal advisors at social security office and
business advisors working on The Invest NI Business start
programme Training on creativity and in particular for business
advisors how the art world works so they can understand a
better approach to helping the artist that come forward for help.
8. Closer links between Invest NI and the Arts council in terms of
helping International reach. InvestNI currently do not see the
potential of art in international terms as an export growth area.
However its international office base and contacts would very
easily be used with more effect to support art export growth.
9. Lobbying training for art managers / artists. I once asked a group
based in Barcelona, whether they lobby their politicians, they
said “no we are the city of Picasso, Miro and Gaudi we have
creativity in our blood and so do the politicians”. Northern
Ireland politicians do not have the same attitude to
contemporary art. We need people who understand art who can
to lobby the Assembly – over and beyond what is currently being
done.
10. Set up of Artist Entrepreneurship Programme. Artists are very
entrepreneurial however this is often not translated into
financial liquidity. With some training and development this
could be developed to give people a more stable base to work
from. Bronagh Lawson
The Visual Artists’ News sheet
32
VAI REGIONAl CONTACTS
ART IN PUBlIC
Regional Perspectives
Art in Public
Visual Artists Ireland's Regional Contacts
September – October 2011
PUBlIC ART COMMISSIONS; SITE-SPECIFIC WORKS; SOCIAllY ll -ENGAGED PRACTICES; AND VARIOUS OThER llY FORMS OF 'ART OUTSIDE ThE GAllERY.' ERY ERY.' O’MAChINE O’MAChINE
MEANWhILE Title: Meanwhile Artist: Yvonne Cullivan
Northern Ireland laura Graham
Location: Castlerea, County Roscommon
Virtual Accessibility
Commissioner: Roscommon County Council Arts Office Budget: ˆ 38,000
FOLLOWING on from my last column, which commented the usefulness of blog sites, it is worth considering the actual piece of technology we access the internet on. At the risk of appearing glib or patronising, most of us use computers for so much more than just shopping, communicating with friends and booking holidays, don’t we? No, we don’t. The tech savvy do, and artists who use new media do – but most of us use it in a fairly utilitarian manner. In the world of new media, which aside from seeing a global explosion in every other area of life, has had its own mini-explosion in the art world with increasing numbers moving towards film and video, animation, web design, sound art etc, possibilities are open on a global scale, and although this has been done to death in marketing campaigns and government promotions, the fact remains that a working knowledge of new media can expand opportunities, cue DAS – the digital arts studios – based on Belfast’s Queen Street which has been doing just that for workshop participants, resident and international artists alike. Formed some years ago, DAS has been at the forefront of this explosion in creativity in the digital art field. The amazing software developments in film and graphics and easy accessibility to computers has introduced a whole new generation to alternative methods of creativity and in turn many have turned that knowledge into transferable skills and real time jobs. They are tools for artists, in a growth area. And the challenge is always there - faced by every artist - of how to make your art pay. DAS can’t necessarily solve that dilemma, but it can certainly teach you how to use the tools and media. DAS’s aim is to promote education, innovation and excellence in the digital arts by providing affordable access to specialised training, high-end equipment and technical expertise with an emphasis on artistic production. In April of this year Dr Angie Halliday was appointed as manager, her own background firmly grounded in film and video, her PhD awarded in Video Narratives and the Construction of the Female Subject.
Commission Type: Per Cent for Art Scheme Partners: Department of Environment, Community and Local Government unveiled: Publication Launch – 10 September 2011, 7pm, Trinity Arts Centre, Castlerea Materials: Primary Outcome; Publication entitled Meanwhile 136pp, Brian Duggan’s film and book project O’Machine O’Machine is the resolution of a Per Cent for Art commission for Fingal County Council. Duggan was awarded the commission following as short-listing from an open call. The project was commissioned by Caroline Cowley, Public Art Co-ordinator, Fingal Arts Office. O’Machine O’Machine part one comprises the publication Three thousand and nine nine. O’Machine O’Machine part two is a digital film, entitled The Measure (running time 19:06, Widescreen 16:9. French with English subtitles). Three thousand and nine is a 96-page pocket size book; and is described by the artist as “a revisualisation of the future in the year three thousand and nine”. It contains new commissioned fiction by the artist and three new writers, Daniel Boland, Niamh MacAlister and Pauline O’Hare. These narratives were selected from an open call and selected by the artist, the arts office and John Banville. The book also contains an afterword by Francis McKee curator and director of the CAA Glasgow, which offers a brief contemporary history of the origins of science fiction in Ireland. The digital film The Measure presents a journey through county Fingal, which uses E.M. Forster’s 1909 short novella The Machine Stops to develop a way of re-looking and re-thinking the landscape and the physical changes that have occurred in the county. As the artist explains “Forster’s story of the future is prophetic of the many realities in which we now live”.
160mm x 210mm, Edition of 500, distributed by Roscommon County Council Arts Office, Designed by Yvonne Cullivan and Atelier, www. atelier.ie. Secondary Outcome; four large-scale outdoor image installations in Castlerea town. Description: A participatory project with local groups and individuals in the town of Castlerea, Meanwhile commenced in July 2010 and was developed over the course of many months. The once widespread tradition of Rambling Houses in the area, alongside the notable absence of a contemporary collective space in the town and the evident decline in economic activity within the town, prompted the artist to explore local attitudes toward these losses. Collected conversation and photographic documentation compile the material for a publication entitled Meanwhile , which is both a response to and a reflection of a moment in the social history of Ireland - one that is both particular to Castlerea and indicative of broader economic, social and cultural dynamics. http://www.yvonnecullivan.com/meanwhile.htm
INVERTED OIL RIG
http://www.fingalarts.ie http://www.brianduggan.net
ROMAN SINGER
With new energy comes new impetus and Angie sees the purpose of artists increasing their digital IQ in a realistic and persuasive way. Focused on reinforcing and building on the good work undertaken by DAS since its inception, she is actively promoting the aim of DAS to build confidence, skills and literacy in digital arts by further developing the professional platform of DAS in Belfast. She sees new media knowledge and understanding as enabling artists to develop their practice through access to a wider range of media allowing them to expand their strategies. Not least quick and effective portfolio dissemination when needed, but going far beyond that into the realms of the media as an art form in its own right.
Artist: Alan Phelan Title: (working title): Inverted Oil Rig Location: Fr Collins Park, Clongriffen, Dublin. Commissioner: Dublin City Council Advertised: May, 2009. Sited / carried out: May, 2011 Budget: ˆ 40,000
The rapidity and ease with which work may be created now, together with streaming for internet, DVD, broadcast etc allows an effective crossover discipline. Creating art in the digital arena opens up possibilities for work only as varied as the artist’s imagination and as an art medium and it can take almost any form, eg. 3D software, created on line, a sculptural form is emailed to a foundry, and there, standing before you, is a piece of sculpture - after a bit of scraping and polishing!
Commission type: Artists nominated to shortlist by a curatorial
Over the summer months in DAS four artists, Lisa Byrne, Jackie Holt, Shelby Woods and Moira McIvor, all undertaking residencies in the UK and Ireland, gave talks about their work. In October DAS will be hosting an exhibition show casing new media art and work by past residents in Catalyst Arts, just round the corner in College Court,
different from various angles. The original piece was tied to a narrative
Workshops and talks are advertised through the web site www. digitalartsstudios.com and the studios are based at37-39 Queen Street, Belfast.
panel. Description: As the artist explains "the inverted oil rig sculpture is a development of a work originally made for a gallery context in 2005. The design was taken from this work and so the resulting sculpture can read like a 3d drawing as it is made from square metal profiles. Further additions were replacing acrylic rods with water jets. This activates the sculpture in its outdoor site and helps the work look
Lismore Castle Arts, Waterford recently announced the arrival of a new public sculpture by celebrated artist Roman Signer, Ball in Earth (12 Jun – 10 Jul). This is the artist’s first permanent work in Ireland. For the opening event visitors were invited to buy a ball bearing at the garden entrance to Lismore Castle Gardens, place the ball in a steel tube in the gardens and listen. The balls rolled to an underground bell, which resonates up the steel tube. www.lismorecastlearts.ie
about the newspaper heir Gordon Bennett Jr and an island in Siberia. This will be re-introduced during a series of naming workshops that will take place later this year find a name for the work. For the moment the piece connects directly to the sustainable design metaphors used in the park as the rig is notionally returning oil to the ground. The piece is a creative response to the alternative energy resource provided by the five wind turbines whichturbines, which dominate the promenade area of the park".
The Visual Artists' News Sheet
September – October 2011
33
VAI NOrthern Ireland – Evaluation
Programme, Partnership, Practice Liz Lennon outlines some key findings from her evaluation of Visual Artists Ireland’S Professional Development Programme for Northern Ireland
The VAI PDP in Northern Ireland is a success in its present form and there is a range of exciting possibilities in terms of future. The artists needs, strengths and range of experience must be at the centre of any future developments of the VAI PDP in Northern Ireland. If the eight principles (Context;Clarity; Commitment; Communication; Creativity; Collaboration; Coordination; Celebration) are used as a guide in developing both the partnership and the programme then the VAI PDP in Northern Ireland could become a model for other countries. There are a multitude of possibilities regarding the form that the VAI PDP could take. As a starting point the diagram below reveals a blended learning approach that reflects the range of perspectives, feedback and comments in this report. Each of the potential five elements meet a range of artists professional development needs and will require: Further discussion within VAI and with VAI PDP partners The development of a specific action plan with resourcing needs
and opportunities
A reimagining and transformation regarding the way VAI as an “They provide a very good practical insight into related areas of working as an artist. For instance, the workshop on social media recently held in Belfast was excellent and was very informative. I learned a lot at this course.” Artist comment. “It is so stimulating and refreshing to meet other artists and to hear what their obstacles are. You realise that you are not alone as a struggling artist”. Artist comment. I have just completed an evaluation of the VAI Artists Professional Development Programme in Northern Ireland. A lot of very interesting information was gathered and will be available in my full report. In the interim I would like to share some of the highlights and some suggestions I have made about the future of the Visual Artist Ireland’s professional development programme (PDP) in Northern Ireland. The majority of artists who responded (84 responded) to the survey indicated that: The key barriers to their participation in any form of professional
development were distance, time and cost.
Ongoing professional development is seen as important to nearly
all the artists.
Artists want information to build their technical as well as their
professional practice skills.
Many artists said they wanted to be able to better promote, price
and sell their work in Ireland and internationally.
Artists access information, knowledge and skills in a range of ways
– from each other formally and informally; from arts and
community organisations and through accredited courses; on and
offline; and through their own practice in their studios.
Artists attend VAI PDP events for three core reasons: to increase
their knowledge/skills base; to network professionally; and to meet
other artists.
There was a very high level of satisfaction with all key elements of the VAI PDP. Artists said that they: felt very satisfied with the programme had acquired new knowledge and skills felt that they had increased their income earning potential as a
organisation works
Artists indicated that they would appreciate: more peer to peer discussion and critiquing events some learning sessions to run over a series of days opportunities to chat informally with other artists after a session more written information on learning topics more informal peer to peer contact They also said they would be open to learning opportunities such as webinars that provided short sharp information over an hour online. They saw webinars as one way to deal with key barriers to participation such as geography, money & time constraints. The VAI PDP’s success is based on a range of good practice principles, as well as very effective partnerships with organisations across Northern Ireland. Partners indicated that they were very happy with the nature and results of their partnerships with VAI. I created a simple model to contextualise both the evaluation and the framework for the future development of the VAI PDP. It places Artists at the Centre of all developments and has three supporting axis
The five elements indicated in the diagram above are:
– Principles, Partnership and Programme.
Pick & Mix Workshops – continue and deepen the existing
workshops under learning themes [technical; professional practice;
Principles
collaboration; personal].
There are a series of eight principles – Context; Clarity; Commitment; Communication; Creativity; Collaboration; Coordination; Celebration – that I believe need to be made explicit and underpin future partnerships and programme developments to provide the best PDP
Surviving & Thriving as an Artist – explore the potential to
develop a blended learning programme for a group of artists over a
year covering a range of professional development needs.
CAPE – develop and expand the existing critique and discussion
developed and delivered to artists.
Partnership
VAI works with a range of partners in Northern Ireland to resource and deliver the PDP and their efforts are critical to the success of the programme. I make a series of recommendations to maintain existing and develop new partnerships in the report.
explore what could be developed.
Self Directed Learning – further develop VAI site as a knowledge
and peer to peer learning space as well as create a template and
process so an artist can create their own artistic practice plan.
Within the report there are also a range of recommendations regarding PDP partnerships, pricing, marketing, membership and coordination.
Programme There are a number of ways the VAI PDP can be developed in order to reduce the barriers to participation [distance, time and money] identified by artists.
events and support peer to peer events and networking.
Mentoring & Skill Sharing – research international models and
There is the will within VAI and Northern Ireland partners to make the PDP even better and keep artists at the centre of all future developments. Liz Lennon
result of attending VAI events.
Ireland’s Comprehensive Contemporary Visual Arts Resource
www.lifedreaming.me
Visual Artists Ireland is the all-ireland body for professional visual artists. We provide services, facilities, and resources for visual artists; initiate artistic projects and publications; and act as an advocate on behalf of professional visual artists and the wider visual arts sector. www.visualartists.ie www. visualartists.org.uk Visual Artists Ireland Ground Floor, Central Hotel Chambers, 7/9 Dame Court, Dublin 2 T: +353 (0)1 672 9488 F: +353 (0)1 672 9482 E: info@visualartists.ie
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.
artists & creators RETURN 2011 Claim Your Share ! IVARO, the Irish Visual Artists Rights Organisation, is preparing to distribute royalties from the copying of visual works contained in published books and periodicals. This service is called RETURN. If your artwork or photograph has been published in Ireland in a book or periodical you may be entitled to claim a share of RETURN royalties. Application forms may be requested by emailing info@ivaro.ie or by calling us on 01 6729488. Distribution of this reprographic royalty will be in Autumn 2011. See www.ivaro.ie for further details.
Culturefox.ie is the definitive online guide to Irish cultural events, giving you complete information about cultural activities both here and abroad. To find out what’s on near you right now, visit Culturefox.ie on your computer or mobile phone.
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The Fort Camden Commissions
Photo: © Bob Bateman
Cork County Council has commissioned five Artists to produce work in response to the Fort Camden Military Installation overlooking the entrance to Cork Harbour. The Dock, St George’s Terrace, Carrick on Shannon, Co Leitrim. Email: info@thedock.ie Website: www.thedock.ie Tel: +353(0)71 9650828 www.facebook.com/thedockartscentre or follow us on www.twitter.com/thedockarts
(visual artists)
Julia Pallone Monica Boyle James L Hayes Julie Merriman (poet)
Nell Regan Tracy Hanna 2011
Dialogues in Sculpture 9 September – 3 December 2011 Gallery 1 Tracy Hanna A Day is a Room
Gallery 2&3 Audrey Reynolds Bayard Eade
Open Saturday & Sunday 12pm – 5pm Exhibition runs 12 August – 25 September 2011 Fort Camden, Crosshaven Cork Harbour
The Dock Galleries are open from 10am-6pm Tuesday to Saturday.
further information: arts@corkcoco.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
MODIFIED EXPRESSION 5 Aug – 12 Oct
An exhibition of international paper artists responding to contemporary Irish literature. Curated by Angela o’Kelly National Craft Gallery Castle Yard, Kilkenny Tel: + 353 (0)56 7796147 Email: ncg@ccoi.ie Website: www.nationalcraftgallery.ie opening times: Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 5:30pm Sundays & Bank Holidays 11am – 5.30pm