Venice Biennale exhibition opens in Ireland
Artists from Ireland and Northern Ireland present works from the 2009 Venice Biennale at the National College of Art and Design / Gallery and Farmleigh Gallery, in partnership with Culture Ireland, the Arts Council of Ireland, British Council and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
The Ireland and Northern Pavilions at the 2009 Venice Biennale showcased the work of four distinct practices - Sarah Browne, Gareth Kennedy, Kennedy Browne [Ireland] and Susan MacWilliam [Northern Ireland]. NCAD Gallery and Farmleigh Gallery are pleased to be able to bring the work to Irish audiences following their success at Venice. The Irish Pavilion achieved a record-breaking attendance for the exhibition, with over 40,000 visitors over the period of the Biennale.
Sarah Browne and Gareth Kennedy are two artists who, between them, manifest three distinct artistic practices. Browne and Kennedy each have distinct individual practices and have developed a third practice, Kennedy Browne. At the centre of all three practices is an engagement of/with people, as well as the exploration of identity, labour, globalisation, economics, language, materiality and the construction of social space. The exhibition at Farmleigh features the solo projects of Sarah Browne and Gareth Kennedy, with the collaborative work of Kennedy Browne showing at the NCAD Gallery. Aspects of contemporary Ireland feature strongly in the works and this will be the first time that any of these projects have been exhibited in Ireland.
Sarah Browne's recent exhibitions include Noughties But Nice: Twenty First Century Irish Art [Limerick City Gallery and touring, 2009], Everyday [The Dock, Carrick-on-Shannon, 2008] and commissions for Visualise [Carlow] and the National Sculpture Factory [Cork]. She has participated in residencies at Fiskars Village, Finland [2010], Platform, Vaasa, Fingland [2009], apexart, New York [2006] and Bolwick Arts, Norfolk [2004]. She was awarded an Arts Council Artist Bursary in 2008 and 2009. Forthcoming exhibitions include Warp and Weft, Raven Row, London and Minimalism and Applied II, Daimler Contemporary, Berlin.
Recent presentations of Gareth Kennedy's work include A Silent Year, The Lab, Dublin [2009], Promenade, Dublin, New Sites, New Fields, Leitrim, AFTER, Leitrim/Roscommon [all 2008], FRED 07, Cumbria, England, Landscapes, The Dock, Carrick-on-Shannon, Leitrim [all 2007]. Throughout 2010, Kennedy is developing new projects in Ireland, Sweden, France and Poland.
Both Sarah Browne and Gareth Kennedy are graduates of NCAD.
Susan MacWilliam is a video and installation artist who has spent over ten years exploring the world of the paranormal. Through archive research, participation in experiments and interviews with leading parapsychologists, MacWilliam has developed an expansive body of work which mediates between the worlds of art and psychical research. Supported by Arts Council of Northern Ireland and British Council, Susan MacWilliam represented Northern Ireland at the Venice Biennale with a solo exhibition, REMOTE VIEWING which featured three video works. Eileen [2008] and Dermo Optics [2006] will be exhibited at Farmleigh and F-L-A-M-M-A-R-I-O-N [2009] will show at the NCAD Gallery.
Susan MacWilliam is a lecturer in Fine Art at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin. She has exhibited in Ireland and internationally for over 15 years, including solo shows at Jack The Pelican Presents, New York and Gimpel Fils, London [2008]. Her video works [1998-2007] are housed in the Drama and Literature Section of the British Library's Sound Archive.
Sarah Browne - Gareth Kennedy - Susan MacWilliam
Farmleigh Gallery
12 March - 15 May 2010
Susan MacWilliam
NCAD Gallery
12 March - 10 April 2010
Kennedy Browne
NCAD Gallery
16 April - 15 May 2010
Contacts:
Rayne Booth for further information on NCAD Gallery
Christine Monk for further information on Farmleigh Gallery
Madeline Boughton for further information on Culture Ireland