News

I've some new and some old work in the photography based exhibition 'Another Time Undone' on show at the Regional Cultural Centre in Letterkenny. 

Description from the RCC website: 

Curated by Eamonn Maxwell, Another Time Undone considers the impact of family, land, and legacy on artistic practice. Vivienne Dick, Adrian O’Carroll and Jill Quigley were all born in Donegal, but this show is not about Donegal – well not directly.

The exhibition features new and existing work that explores the residue of life in the places the artists were born and since, through practices that eschew the touristy imagery of this part of Ireland. These artists may be considered lens-based, but this is not a photography exhibition. It is a journey through image making from different perspectives and using individual outputs that are playful and poignant. Each record time in a unique way.

Lovely to see my images and those of Adrian Tyler form our exhibition 'Abandoned' up on the Pictures & Video section of The Guardian website 🔗 here. The exhibition continues at the Martin Parr Foundation until December 22nd.

Some pictures from the opening party on October 6th for the exhibition 'Abandoned', which shows my work alongside that of Adrian Tyler. The exhibition is on at the Martin Parr Foundation in Bristol until December 22nd. Info here. Thanks to Nathan Vidler for the photos.

I am pleased to be part of the upcoming exhibition in the Martin Parr Foundation, Bristol, which runs from 28th September to 22nd December.

MPF brings together the work of two photographers – Jill Quigley and Adrian Tyler – for a new exhibition exploring abandoned homes from Scotland and Ireland, as well as the household objects that lie scattered within them.

Adrian Tyler’s Dust to Dust, presents photographs depicting the interiors of deserted buildings alongside images of worn and weathered bibles. Jill Quigley presents Cottages of Quigley’s Point, photographs of her own artist interventions in abandoned houses, questioning romantic readings of the rural Irish cottage.

‘Comprised of photographs made of the interiors of deserted dwellings in The Hebrides and still lifes of disintegrating bibles he [Adrian Tyler] discovered in similar environs, the images speak to both specific lives and a general way of life that is no longer, as well as to the wider socio-economic changes that have occurred within these remote communities in recent decades. This is a region – one of the emptiest places in Europe, as Tyler notes, with less than nine people per square kilometre – where the standard of living is well below average, habitable housing is scarce, and the population continues to dwindle. The details and detritus within these pictures – the stranded furnishings, clothing, cooking implements, peeling wallpapers, decorative artworks and piles of literature – hint at the richness of experience that these walls once sheltered, and at the same time reveal the fragility of such an existence when left exposed to the elements, the economy and the passage of time.’ Aaron Schuman

‘Jill Quigley’s Cottages of Quigley’s Point similarly explores numerous rural dwellings in a state of ruin – in this case, those situated near her childhood home in Donegal, Ireland – but does so not only through precise observation, but also by incorporating strategies of intervention, reinvention and reimagination as well. Rather than viewing these interiors as artefacts that contain purely nostalgic or romantic associations with the past, she gleefully embraces their redundant nature, seeing within it the potential to freely and actively engage in her own creativity, whilst still remaining in dialogue with the local history and heritage they represent.’ – Aaron Schuman

Exhibition details on the Martin Parr Foundation website.

I will be featured in the current series of Imeall, the bilingual arts programme on Irish language channel, TG4. The episode will be shown on TG4 at 11:20pm on Monday 16th January and repeated on Tuesday 17th at 7:30pm. It is also available on the TG4 player.

I ndiaidh sos gearr, tá an tsraith iomráiteach ealaíne IMEALL ar ais ar TG4. Ó 2008 i leith tá léargas dátheangach á thabhairt ag Imeall ar na healaíona agus ar chultúr na hÉireann ón imeall isteach, ag insint scéalta pearsanta ealaíontóirí agus mór-ealaíontóirí ó cheann ceann na tíre.

TG4’s award-winning flagship bilingual arts series, Imeall, is back. Shot on location, Imeall provides a wonderful insight into the work of our leading arts practitioners as we catch a glimpse of their creative magic.

A group exhibition of work from Uphold — an online platform for selling and promoting the work made by artists in Northern Ireland — opens on Thursday 3rd November at 6pm in 35DP, Donegall Place, Belfast. Thanks to Uphold for their work in organising this exhibition and providing their not-for-profit online platform for artists.

Works in New Collections address themes and issues such as displacement, belonging and nostalgia; transgression and resistance; individual and collective expressions of self; queer identity and desire; nature, the body and society through a variety of media including photography, sculpture, painting, textiles, print, ceramics, drawing, design, and installation.

Exhibiting artists, designers and collectives include: Aisling O’Beirn, Alex Synge, Array Collective, Bassam Al-Sabah, Dorothy Hunter, Emma Wolf-Haugh, Grace McMurray, Hannah Casey-Brogan, Helena Hamilton, Jan McCullough, Jennifer Mehigan, Jill Quigley, John Macormac, John Rainey, Katie Watchorn, Mark Mcgreevy, Martin Boyle, Michael Hanna, Miguel Martin, Phillip McCrilly, Rachael Campbell-Palmer, Sean Greer, Soft Fiction Projects, Susan Connolly, Susan Hughes, Tara McGinn, Thomas Wells.

I am pleased to have been asked to participate in an exhibition at the Centre Culturel Irlandais (CCI) in Paris opening in November. The exhibition will include work from my Rural Fluorescent project, alongside work from Megan Doherty, Rachel Glass and Jan McCullough. It runs alongside L’Irlande de Martin Parr, and will include a response from each artist to Parr’s work. The exhibition is presented as part of the Paris Photo and Photo_Saint_Germain festivals, and will run from Friday 11th of November until Sunday 8th of January. The opening will take place on Thursday, 10th of November, and will be preceded by a guided tour of the exhibition by the artists. From the CCI website:

Iconic British artist Martin Parr has been taking photographs in Ireland since 1979, where he also lived for a few years at the beginning of the 1980s. This fascinating visual chronicle captures the significant social and cultural changes that have taken place in the country over four decades. From images taken during the Pope’s visit to Ireland or at traditional Irish livestock fairs and dance halls to exploring the influences of Americanisation, the Celtic-tiger era and, latterly, the shadow of Brexit, Parr’s singular talent as a documentary photographer combines with his affection for the country, its people and their evolving lifestyles. These photographs are shown at the Centre Culturel Irlandais together with works by four photography alumni of Belfast School of Art at the University of Ulster - Megan Doherty, Rachel Glass, Jan McCullough and Jill Quigley - where Martin Parr is a visiting Professor.

Further details and opening times from the CCI

I am pleased to have work included in a group exhibition in Draíocht, Blanchardstown, Dublin, opening in November. Part of their Making Art: Photography exhibitions, Creative Gesture will include work from my Velvet & No. 9 series alongside work from Gary Coyle, Joe Lee and Jan McCullough. Many thanks to curator Sharon Murphy for including my work. The exhibition will run from Wednesday 2nd of November 2022 until Saturday 28th of January 2023 in the ground floor gallery at Draíocht, alongside Selected works from the National Photography Collection in the first floor gallery. More information on the Draíocht website