Niamh O’Malley: Gather

The Ireland at Venice 2022 Curatorial Team, Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, will present Niamh O’Malley’s Gather at the Irish Pavilion, La Biennale di Venezia 2022.

Gather begins in Niamh O’Malley’s workspace in Temple Bar Gallery + Studios (TBG+S), Dublin, where stone, steel, wood and glass are shaped, composed and assembled. To do so, to make solid and visible is a particular compulsion of O'Malley's, a silent but physical response to a precarious time. She is interested in negotiating between the surfaces of the world, how objects and spaces can speak, and how an exhibition can somehow anchor, contain and describe distance. There is comfort in touch, in knowing the edges of things and, during a period of time when we are so much in our heads, O'Malley reminds us that we are also, acutely and collectively, in the world.

A series of conversations between O'Malley and other artists will be recorded in her TBG+S studio, produced by Ian Maleney, founder of Fallow Media and TBG+S Commissioned Writer 2020. A documentary film presenting a portrait of O'Malley, by award-winning filmmaker and TBG+S studio artist Jenny Brady, will be released in early 2022. These collaborations will serve to further articulate the process from research and reflection to the tangibility of the studio and workshop production as the work materialises and travels towards Venice.

An artist's book published by TBG+S will coincide with the opening of the Venice Biennale in April 2022. Designed by Alex Synge / The First 47, this visual document and object will augment O'Malley's exhibition with new images and writings including commissioned responsive texts by Brian Dillon, Lizzie Lloyd and Eimear McBride.

Ireland at Venice 2022 will continue as a National Tour curated as a multi-venue exhibition and public engagement programme during 2023. Niamh O’Malley's Gather will be presented at The Model, Sligo; Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, Dublin; and Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast. The National Tour will be accompanied by an online and in-person public engagement programme presented by Mayo Arts Service and Mayo County Council.

Niamh O’Malley was born in Co. Mayo, and lives in Dublin, Ireland. She has made numerous major exhibitions in recent years including The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin; Bluecoat, Liverpool; RHA, Dublin; Lismore Castle Arts; Grazer Kunstverein. O’Malley will hold a solo exhibition at John Hansard Gallery, Southampton in November 2021.

Temple Bar Gallery + Studios is Ireland's leading artist studio and gallery complex. The TBG+S Curatorial Team comprises Clíodhna Shaffrey, Director, and Michael Hill, Programme Curator.

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If you would like be part of Ireland at Venice 2022 as a Partner or Supporter, please contact: team@irelandatvenice2022.ie

Press 
For press information, images or interview requests please contact:
Mary Doherty, mary@sam-talbot.com

Ireland at Venice is an initiative of Culture Ireland in partnership with the Arts Council. Additional funding is generously provided by Premier Partner Office of Public Works; Headline Partners Dublin City Council, Temple Bar Cultural Trust, Dublin City Arts Office, Mayo County Council, Mayo Arts Service, Mayo Creative Ireland, TU Dublin; as well as Partners Lismore Castle Arts, Dublin Port, Business to Arts, Mason Hayes & Curran; and individual Supporters.