individual fields

Matthew Barney, Richard Billingham, Gerard Byrne, Michael Craig-Martin, Dorothy Cross, Barry Flanagan and Richard Long

Lismore Castle’s new contemporary art space opens its doors with the inaugural exhibition individual fields

Lismore Castle Arts is delighted to present the inaugural exhibition of its new gallery for contemporary art. INDIVIDUAL FIELDS, curated by Aileen Corkery is a group exhibition which brings together the work of seven internationally renowned artists - Matthew Barney, Richard Billingham, Gerard Byrne, Michael Craig-Martin, Dorothy Cross, Barry Flanagan and Richard Long – and features work in a variety of media including film, photography, sculpture, painting and text-based work.

Most of the works on display have never been exhibited in Ireland before, and yet it is Ireland and its landscape that unites the exhibition, with each of the artists sharing a physical and/or emotional connection to this country. This is most evident in Matthew Barney’s triptych of photographs from CREMASTER 3 shot on location on the Giants Causeway; Richard Billingham’s photographs of Wicklow and the Irish coast; Richard Long’s interventions in the Burren and County Mayo; Michael Craig-Martin’s singular filmic work in the west of Ireland ; and Gerard Byrne’s Framed Photographs in Phoenix Park, Dublin. Elsewhere more subtle associations and connections can be made between the artists and Ireland even if the work was not necessarily made there. These include Barry Flanagan’s abstract collages on paper from 1968 ; Billingham’s new film Sweep shot in South of England and Long’s recent mud works utilizing local material from his hometown of Bristol.

In 2003 the owners of Lismore Castle, the Devonshire family, conceived an ambitious plan to transform the long-derelict West Wing of the Castle into a state-of-the-art contemporary gallery. Working with Gareth O’Callaghan of award-winning, Cork-based architects Jack Coughlan Associates, their plan was realised in July this year, when the new space was finally completed. Lismore Castle Arts is a series of light-filled rooms of varying sizes, designed to accommodate art works in all media. Visual distraction is minimal, yet the design cleverly incorporates some of the castle’s original features, allowing the visitor glimpses into its 1,000 year history. The curator has carefully considered the unique personality of the new space in the overall concept of the show. William Burlington, son of the present Duke of Devonshire, is the driving force behind the project. He says “Aileen has worked incredibly hard to bring this extraordinary group of artists together under one roof – particularly as there was barely even a roof in place seven months ago. It means a great deal to me and my family to see such energy and life returning to this part of the castle, which has been dormant for at least fifty years.”