An exhibition of film and fabric works to open in Kilkenny

Rehearsals, a solo exhibition of new fabric and film works by Yvonne McGuinness will open at the Butler Gallery this Saturday.

Rehearsals was developed and inspired by the environs, architecture and people of Kilkenny; past and present. Bound into this collective history is the biography of McGuinness whose paternal family have been involved in the political life of the city for three generations. This legacy of political engagement fuels the work.

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McGuinness has established a practice that supports individuals and communities in using their voices to question systems of power and to ‘act out’ within them through public, performative interventions.  With collaboration and diversity at its heart McGuinness has worked over a six-month period with school children at St. John’s Senior school and with members and developed two new film works with them.

In ‘Priory’ the artist uses the ruin of Callan Augustinian Priory to stage rehearsals, creating a multi-layered, filmic, almost hologrammatic atmosphere. A transmutation of energies occurs, boundaries collapse and unexpected connections occur.

In ‘Schoolyard’ we observe a group of children haphazardly make a ‘scene’ in 10 minutes. Nobody is in charge, yet there is a symbiosis; something occurs from nothing, that holds the weight of the world. Calamity, catastrophe and comedy intermingle—a biblical scene unfolds holding the resonance of a religious past still permeating the imaginations of children.

Yvonne McGuinness received a BFA from Crawford College of Art, Cork in 1997 and an MFA from Royal College of Art, London in 2003.

The exhibition opens at 3pm on October 21 and runs until January 14.

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