Áine Mac Giolla Bhríde
objects as buoys in the life acted
15 April – 13 May 2023
Áine Mac Giolla Bríde is an Irish artist working in the field of sculpture. This marks their first solo exhibition in their hometown of Letterkenny. Their work makes manifest considerations of site and situated body via staged sculptural arrangements. Building a self in the form of a room, piece by piece, this is an exhibition about the systems of understanding and the modes of un/making with which we can engage.
The exhibition is made up of material elements that have been sourced, selected and arranged by the artist. The various shades of paint on the walls have been reclaimed from Bryson Recycling Centre, a refuse facility in Letterkenny where people can dispose of leftover house paint. The leather sofas were found on a local eBay site in Berlin, for selling and exchanging unwanted furniture. The mirrored wall cabinets were procured via the same website and similar one here in Donegal.
These objects have been removed from circulation and installed in this gallery as cultures. Their usual trajectory as domestic items that inhabit people’s homes has been interrupted. Estranged and disentangles from their ordinary purpose, these objects – reoriented as artworks – act differently, and in doing so, they pose questions.
What are they doing? How are they positioned? Where did they come from? Who did they belong to? What are their formal qualities? Why were they chosen? Where have they been? What will happen to them? What might they mean to the artist? What could they represent to you?
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RCC is delighted to present objects as buoys in the life acted by Áine Mac Giolla Bhríde. This marks the artist’s first solo exhibition in their hometown of Letterkenny. The exhibition, at once sculptural and personal, is composed of an assembly of objects, anchored temporarily in space. Building a self in the form of a room, piece by piece, this is an exhibition about the systems of understanding and modes of un/making with which we can engage.
Áine Mac Giolla Bhríde is an Irish artist working in the field of sculpture. Their work makes manifest considerations of site and the situated body via staged sculptural arrangements. Recent solo and group exhibitions include From Here to There, at The Douglas Hyde Gallery; point of fold, at mother’s tankstation Dublin; Feeling of Knowing at The Complex Gallery; and a commissioned body of work, and/or land, for EVA International 2021/2020. Upcoming presentations include a solo show at Void, Derry; and commissioned work for Kunstverein Aughrim.
Commissioned by Jeremy Howard
Curatorial support by Kate Strain of Kunstverein Aughrim
Mentorship by Anne Tallentire
This body of work was developed with support from the Arts Council of Ireland, Donegal County Council, Kunstverein Aughrim and the Regional Cultural Centre.
Video by and photography by Aisling McCoy
www.aislingmccoy.com