Visual Artists Ireland is the representative body for professional visual artists in Ireland. Since our foundation in 1980, VAI has provided equitable and independent advocacy, advice, supports, and events that support artists at all stages of their career.
The Visual Artists' News Sheet (VAN) is a Visual Artists Ireland publication printed six times each year. VAN covers all aspects of the visual arts in Ireland.
The VAN Podcast is a podcast series from Visual Artists Ireland.
Published every two months, The VAN Podcast features online conversations, recorded remotely, with various contributors to each issue of The Visual Artists’ News Sheet. This gives opportunities to discuss some of the ideas arising from published texts, while also offering insights into wider practice.
Episode 6 features an interview with Aideen Barry, focusing on her current large-scale commission for Kaunas 2022, European Capital of Culture, and her forthcoming solo exhibition at Limerick City Gallery of Art.
Aideen Barry is an Irish visual artist who has worked and exhibited extensively across Ireland and internationally. She was elected as a member of Aosdána in 2019, and the Royal Hibernian Academy in 2020. Aideen is represented by Galeria Isabel Hurley in Spain, and is affiliated with the Catherine Clark Gallery in San Francisco, and mother's tankstation in Ireland.
An edited version of this interview will be published in the November/December 2021 issue of VAN.
[Featured Image: Aideen Barry, Klostės, production still; image courtesy the artist and Kaunas 2022, European Capital of Culture]
30 Jul 2021
The VAN Podcast – Episode 5: Array Collective
The VAN Podcast is a podcast series from Visual Artists Ireland.
Published every two months, The VAN Podcast comprises online conversations, recorded remotely, with various contributors to each issue of The Visual Artists’ News Sheet. This gives opportunities to discuss some of the ideas arising from published texts, while also offering insights into wider practice.
Episode 5 features an interview with Emma Campbell and Clodagh Lavelle, who are members of the Belfast-based art collective, Array. An edited version of this interview was published in the July/Aug 2021 issue of VAN.
Array’s work encompasses performances, protest rallies, exhibitions and collaborative actions in response to issues affecting Northern Ireland. Recent projects include public artworks in support of the decriminalisation of abortion in Northern Ireland; challenging the legislative discrimination of the queer community; and participation in the group exhibition ‘Jerwood Collaborate!’ in London.
Array are shortlisted for this year’s Turner Prize along with four other UK-based collectives. The jury commended how Array fuse seriousness with humour, while addressing contemporary issues using ancient folk imagery.
[Image: Array Collective, International Women’s Day 2019; photograph by Alessia Cargnelli, courtesy Array and Tate Press Office]
4 Jun 2021
The VAN Podcast – Episode 4: Elaine Hoey
The VAN Podcast is a podcast series from Visual Artists Ireland.
Published every two months, The VAN Podcast comprises online conversations, recorded remotely, with various contributors to each issue of The Visual Artists’ News Sheet. This gives opportunities to discuss some of the ideas arising from published texts, while also offering insights into wider practice.
Episode 4 features an interview with new media artist Elaine Hoey, who contributed to the May/June 2021 issue of VAN.
Elaine works with a range of formats, such as Virtual Reality (VR), Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, video, gaming, installation and live performance, which has recently expanded to include remote cyber performance.
Elaine’s interactive installations explore the biopolitics of digital humanity and our evolving relationship with the screen. Among other forthcoming projects, Elaine’s solo exhibition, ‘Flesh and Tongue’, will be presented at GOMA Contemporary in Waterford in June. She is also currently developing new work for a major solo exhibition, ‘Mimesis’, at Solstice Art Centre in Navan, later this year.
[Featured image: Elaine Hoey, A Blind Eye, 2021; image courtesy the artist]
1 Apr 2021
The VAN Podcast – Episode 3: Nathan O’Donnell and Marysia Wieckiewicz-Carroll
The VAN Podcast is a podcast series from Visual Artists Ireland.
Published every two months, The VAN Podcast comprises online conversations, recorded remotely, with various contributors to each issue of The Visual Artists’ News Sheet (VAN). This gives opportunities to discuss some of the ideas arising from published texts, while also offering insights into wider practice.
Episode 3 features an interview with Nathan O’Donnell and Marysia Wieckiewicz-Carroll, who developed a profile on their new publishing imprint, Numbered Editions, for VAN’s March-April 2021 issue, which had a loose thematic focus on artist publishing.
Nathan O’Donnell is a writer, researcher and a co-editor of Paper Visual Art Journal. He was previously an IRC Enterprise Postdoctoral Research Fellow, based between IMMA and Trinity College Dublin, and is currently Writer-in-Residence at Maynooth University. Nathan’s fiction and non-fiction writing has been widely published and he also teaches part-time on the MA Art in the Contemporary World programme at NCAD.
Marysia Wieckiewicz-Carroll is a writer, editor and independent curator based in Dublin. Marysia has organised a range of exhibitions and projects across Ireland and abroad, has worked as Assistant Curator at Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, and is the founding director of the Berlin Opticians Gallery.
In December 2020, Nathan and Marysia published figure | ground – the first in an ongoing series of Numbered Editions, offering a rich set of visual and textual reflections on mapping and place.
Featured Image: figure | ground, Numbered Editions, 2021; photograph courtesy the designer and editors.
15 Feb 2021
The VAN Podcast – Episode 2: NINE Artist Collective & The Angelica Network
The VAN Podcast is a podcast series from Visual Artists Ireland.
Published every two months, The VAN Podcast comprises online conversations, recorded remotely, with various contributors to each issue of The Visual Artists’ News Sheet. This gives opportunities to discuss some of the ideas arising from published texts, while also offering insights into wider practice.
Episode 2 features interviews with Kiera O’Toole, as well as Jane Morrow and Moran Been-noon, who each contributed to the January-February 2021 issue of VAN.
Kiera O’Toole is a Sligo-based artist, a PhD candidate at Loughborough University, and cofounder of Drawing deCentred – an artist-led collective that explores contemporary drawing practice in Ireland. Her recent profile for VAN focuses on NINE – a new collective of 8 women artists, formed during lockdown.
Jane Morrow is an independent visual art curator and researcher based in Belfast, whose ongoing PhD research examines the precarity of artists’ studios and workspaces. Moran Been-noon is an Israeli, Dublin-based curator, artist and writer, who is currently Curator-in-Residence at glór in Ennis. In 2020, Jane and Moran established the Angelica Network, which was profiled in the January-February issue of VAN.
4 Dec 2020
The VAN Podcast – Episode 1: Cornelius Browne & Frank Wasser
The VAN Podcast is a new podcast series from Visual Artists Ireland.
Published every two months, The VAN Podcast comprises online conversations, recorded remotely, with various contributors to each issue of the VAN. This gives opportunities to discuss some of the ideas arising from their published texts, while also offering insights into their wider practice.
Episode 1 features interviews with Cornelius Browne and Frank Wasser both of whom contributed columns for the November – December 2020 issue of The Visual Artists’ News Sheet.
Cornelius Browne is a Donegal-based artist whose practice has cultivated a devotion to plein air painting. As a regular contributor to VAN, Cornelius has beautifully articulated the seasonal fluctuations of painting outdoors, as well as exploring the many practical, theoretical and materials concerns in his work. His most recent column for VAN is titled Nocturnes, and focuses on his impulse to paint outdoors at night.
Frank Wasser is an Irish artist and writer who lives and works in London. He is a lecturer and art educator at Tate Modern and a PhD candidate at The Ruskin School of Art, which is the Fine Art Department of the University of Oxford. Frank’s column for the November – December issue is called ‘Word Upon Word Upon Fallen Word’ and traces the art historical significance of text-based art in the practice of American conceptual artist, Lawrence Weiner.
31 Jul 2020
The Unseen Shows Podcast – Episode 7: Róisín White 'These Dark Shapes'
The Unseen Shows is a podcast series by Visual Artists Ireland, featuring interviews with artists whose exhibitions have been affected by the closure of galleries in mid-March, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Our final podcast in this series features an interview with Róisín White, whose solo exhibition, ‘These Dark Shapes’ was due to open at Pallas Projects/Studios in early summer. VAN Features Editor, Joanne Laws, talks to Róisín via Zoom about this exhibition and the wider themes in her practice.
17 Jul 2020
The Unseen Shows Podcast – Episode 6: Ursula Burke 'A False Dawn'
The Unseen Shows is a new podcast series by Visual Artists Ireland, featuring interviews with artists whose exhibitions have been affected by the closure of galleries in mid-March, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Our sixth podcast features an interview with Ursula Burke, whose solo exhibition, ‘A False Dawn’ was due to run at the Ulster Museum from 7 February to 31 May. VAN Features Editor, Joanne Laws, talks to Ursula via Zoom about this exhibition and the wider themes in her practice.
New episodes of The Unseen Shows are published every two weeks on Soundcloud, The Visual Artists’ News Sheet Online and in the Members' Area of the Visual Artists Ireland website.
Image: Ursula Burke, 'Truncheon', 2019, porcelain, truncheon, Cluny Museum Cushion Cover and embroidery thread, 38 x 6 cm; courtesy of the artist
3 Jul 2020
The Unseen Shows Podcast – Episode 5: Gary Coyle 'Dreaming Different Dreams'
The Unseen Shows is a new podcast series by Visual Artists Ireland, featuring interviews with artists whose exhibitions have been affected by the closure of galleries in mid-March, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Our fifth podcast features an interview with Gary Coyle, whose solo exhibition, ‘Dreaming Different Dreams’ ran at at Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Dublin. VAN Features Editor, Joanne Laws, talks to Gary via Zoom about this exhibition and the wider themes in his practice.
New episodes of The Unseen Shows are published every two weeks on Soundcloud, The Visual Artists’ News Sheet Online and in the Members' Area of the Visual Artists Ireland website.
26 Jun 2020
Get Together 2019 – Illustrating A Point (Panel Discussion)
For Get Together 2019 (14 June), Curator Ben Crothers chaired a panel discussion focusing on the role of illustration within the visual arts.
The discussion features contributions from illustrators Fiona McDonnell, Jacky Sheridan, Holly Pereira and Stephen Maurice Graham.
Photograph by Jonathan Sammon. Pictured: Ben Crothers.
19 Jun 2020
The Unseen Shows Podcast – Episode 4: Austin Ivers 'Threads'
The Unseen Shows is a new podcast series by Visual Artists Ireland, featuring interviews with artists whose exhibitions have been affected by the closure of galleries in mid-March, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Our fourth podcast features an interview with Austin Ivers, whose solo exhibition, ‘Threads’, was due to open at the end of March at The Dock in Carrick-on-Shannon. VAN Features Editor, Joanne Laws, spoke to Austin via Zoom about this new body of work, which will now be exhibited at a later date.
The Unseen Shows is published every two weeks on Soundcloud, The Visual Artists’ News Sheet online and in the Members Area of the VAI website.
12 Jun 2020
Get Together 2018 – Curating Ireland: New Ways of Working (Panel Discussion)
In this panel discussion from Get Together 2018 (21 May), Mary Cremin (Director of Void Gallery, Derry) chairs a panel discussion exploring approaches to visual arts curation.
The panel features Matt Packer (Director, EVA International), Daniel Bermingham (Director, Basic Space) and Jenny Haughton (Public Art Coordinator, DIT Grangegorman).
Photograph by Jonathan Sammon.
‘The Unseen Shows’, a new podcast series by Visual Artists Ireland. This podcast series features interviews with artists whose exhibitions are currently sealed behind closed doors, due to the closure of all cultural venues in mid-March, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The third podcast in this series features an interview with Áine Phillips, whose exhibition ‘Buttered Up’ opened at MART Gallery, Dublin, just a week before lockdown. This interview was conducted in in early-May via Zoom, just before the scheduled closure of her show.
Katherine Nolan’s exhibition profile on ‘Buttered Up’ was published in the May/June issue of The Visual Artists’ News Sheet.
These podcast interviews will be published every two weeks on Soundcloud.
Image: Helena Walsh, live enactment of Áine Phillips’ Buttered up in the Couch, Friday 6 March 2020, MART Gallery; photograph by Ewa Pypno, courtesy of the artists and MART Gallery.
28 May 2020
Get Together 2017 – Sustaining Your Practice (Panel Discussion)
In this panel discussion, chaired by Mary A. Kelly, established Irish artists Geraldine O'Reilly, Nick Miller and Susan MacWilliam discuss the practical, creative and career challenges of sustaining your practice in mid and late career, and testing assumptions about how artists’ needs change as their careers develop.
Photograph by Louis Haugh.
22 May 2020
The Unseen Shows Podcast – Episode 2: Neil Carroll 'In Pursuit of the Brocken Spectre'
‘The Unseen Shows’, a new podcast series by Visual Artists Ireland. This podcast series features interviews with artists whose exhibitions are currently sealed behind closed doors, due to the closure of all cultural venues in mid-March, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The second podcast in this series features an interview with Neil Carroll, whose solo exhibition ‘In Pursuit of the Brocken Spectre’ opened at the RHA in Dublin in February. This interview was conducted in in early-May via Zoom, just before the scheduled closure of his show.
A printed version of this interview, with installation images from the exhibition, will be published in the July/August issue of The Visual Artists’ News Sheet.
These podcast interviews will be published every two weeks on Soundcloud.
15 May 2020
Get Together 2017 – Artistic Freedom (Keynote)
Marie Korpe and Ole Reitov are the co-founders of Freemuse, the world’s leading organisation defending artistic freedom.
For Get Together 2017 (Friday 15 September), they presented a keynote talk discussing how personal, political, religious and social attitudes impact on ideas; test the limitations of freedom of artistic expression, and address how violations can be monitored.
Photograph: Ole Reitov during the Freemuse's Keynote Address on Artistic Freedom; Get Together 2017, Friday 15 September; photograph by Louis Haugh.
8 May 2020
The Unseen Shows Podcast – Episode 1: Mark Garry 'Songs and the Soil'
‘The Unseen Shows’, a new podcast series by Visual Artists Ireland. This podcast series features interviews with artists whose exhibitions are currently sealed behind closed doors, due to the closure of all cultural venues in mid-March, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The first podcast in this series features an interview with Mark Garry, whose solo exhibition ‘Songs and the Soil’ opened at The MAC in Belfast in late January. This interview was conducted in in early-April via Zoom, just before the scheduled closure of his show.
A printed version of this interview, with installation images from the exhibition, will be published in the July/August issue of The Visual Artists’ News Sheet.
These podcast interviews will be published every two weeks on Soundcloud.
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