Niamh O'Malley

Ireland at Venice 2022, the national representation of Ireland at the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia presents Gather by artist Niamh O’Malley, curated by the Temple Bar Gallery + Studios Curatorial Team.

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.

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; John Hansard Gallery, Southampton; Bluecoat, Liverpool; RHA, Dublin; Lismore Castle Arts; Grazer Kunstverein.

Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, Dublin, supports the development of artists and creation of art. The TBG+S Curatorial Team comprises Clíodhna Shaffrey, Director, and Michael Hill, Programme Curator.

Temple Bar Gallery + Studios Curatorial Team

Clíodhna Shaffrey is Director of Temple Bar Gallery + Studios. She has worked as an independent curator producing exhibitions, festivals, public commissions, collaborative research projects, and writing. Across a diverse range of creative work, policy, arts planning, and curation.

Michael Hill is Programme Curator at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios. He has worked in public, private and artist-run contemporary art galleries and museums, and is invested in emerging Irish practices and independent publishing.

Temple Bar Gallery + Studios is a leading artists' studio complex and contemporary art gallery in Dublin city centre. Its mission is to support the development of artists and the creation of art. This is achieved through high quality studio provision and an ambitious exhibition programme. TBG+S supports an inclusive environment of learning and creativity and nurtures close and sustained engagement of audiences with the work of Irish and international artists. TBG+S was founded in 1983 - by artists, for artists.

Commissioner: Culture Ireland

Curator: Temple Bar Gallery + Studios