In association with the ESB Centre for Research for Irish Art (CSIA) and the National Gallery of Ireland some of our 6th Year Art students will be working with artist Rhona Byrne on the creation of ‘Moving Thresholds’ at The National Gallery of Ireland.
Please feel free to come along and enjoy the night. The performances will begin at 5pm.
Culture Night comprises hundreds of events across Ireland and overseas. From nation’s capital to county town, everyone’s getting involved! Arts and cultural organisations open their doors until late with hundreds of free events, tours, talks & performances for you, your family and friends to enjoy.
Moving Thresholds by Rhona Byrne
19th September 5- 9pm
Produced by the ESB Centre for the Study of Irish Art, Artist Rhona Byrne and curator Vaari Claffey will create the performative sculpture Moving Thresholds for Culture Night at the National Gallery of Ireland. This work, which comprises large lengths of coloured fabric supported by a team of performers, will be configured and choreographed in response to the unique architecture of the National Gallery’s Millennium Wing and Beit Wing. Performed in a selection of Gallery spaces, the sculpture will involve the participation of visitors who will be invited to engage with the work as they negotiate the Gallery’s social spaces. In formulating the various configurations of the performance the artist will draw on the work of Mainie Jellet as a source of inspiration. A pioneer of Irish abstract painting, Jellet studied in Paris under Albert Gleizes, one of the founders of Cubism. When her work was first displayed in Ireland it was dismissed by critics though she is now recognized as one of the country’s most significant modernists with works held in the National Gallery’s permanent collection. Moving Thresholds will engage with the legacy of Jellet’s achievement by referencing her revolutionary approach to painting and in particular the application of her theory of ‘translation and rotation’ in the development of her abstract compositions. As part of this unique project, a selection of original drawings by Jellet and Byrne will be on display in the CSIA for Culture Night.
Artist: Rhona Byrne
Curators: Vaari Claffey (Freelance Curator) and Donal Maguire (ESB CSIA)
ESB Centre for the Study of Irish Art (CSIA)
The National Gallery of Ireland’s ESB CSIA holds one of the most important collections of research material relating to Irish art and artists. In caring for, and providing access to, these collections the CSIA has firmly established its role in promoting and supporting the study of Irish art. It is now an essential resource for anyone interested in the history of visual art in this country.
Rhona Byrne
Byrne makes sculptural objects and spatial environments combining sculpture, performance and the processes of participation, which explore a negotiation of object, place and social practice. Recent exhibitions and projects, include; Verksmi∂jan, Hjalteyri, Iceland; The Irish Museum of Modern Art IMMA; Norfolk and Norwich Arts Festival, Uk; Open Studio, Bolthole, Tate Modern and Tate Britain; Gracelands at EVA, Limerick; Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh and Whitebox, New York. www.rhonabyrne.com
