Catriona Leahy | Metabolic Rift | 2020 | 24 individual silver gelatin prints on resin coated paper, walnut frame with non-reflective glass 

For Culture night 2023 the Arts Council will once again proudly showcase a selection of works recently added to its extensive Visual Art Collection.

To celebrate the evening we are sharing some insight on each of the artist and artworks which will be on display:

‘Metabolic Rift explores the decimated raised bogs of the Midlands of Ireland as a result of industrial peat extraction. It draws on Karl Marx’s idea that an irreparable rift or rupture has formed in the metabolic relation between human beings and nature. Stemming from the Greek word metalabe, meaning to transform, metabolism suggests a process of continuous, mutual exchange between living beings and their environment - a cycle that can be sustained. However, in the current state of ecological crisis emanating largely from capitalist production, human exploitation of natural finite resources, and globalisation, the cycle is broken and unstable; metabolic continuity has suffered a rupture. Metabolic Rift  aims to call attention to the rifts described, both temporal and physical, in and on the surface of the landscape.’

My work explores sites wherein a particular dissonance manifests itself temporally, spatially or aesthetically. My interest lies in the remains of cultural phenomena that have been displaced, or have lost their significance in our “progress-driven”, globalised society. Residues on the landscape of our industrial past and by extension, the impact this intervention has had on our environment also provide material for investigating the repercussions of a society driven by progress. Through a process of intervention in the image using print, photography, moving image, installation and sculpture, attention is drawn to transformations, latent aspects and layered histories. Recent work is preoccupied with how to reimagine landscape in a time of ecological crisis. Focusing on anthropogenic landscapes – landscapes transformed by man’s intervention – my site of interest is the decimated peatlands of Ireland. Using experimental analogue photography to create large format photographs, I explore the bog as “Nature’s Own Darkroom” – a space of latent potential that once exposed to the elements undergoes an irreversible process of transformation.

Catriona Leahy is a visual artist based in Dublin and Kildare. She holds an MA Print from the Royal College of Art in London (2013). She has exhibited both nationally and internationally. Recent exhibitions include Agitation Co-op at Temple Bar Gallery & Studios, Dublin (2021), How the land lies at Sirius Arts Centre, Cork (2020); Past|Ures at Library Project, Dublin (2020); Fast Slow Fast CCA Derry~Londonderry (2019); Unfolding Landscapes at De Cacaofabriek in Helmond, The Netherlands (2018). Recent awards include Arts ACT Grant, Kildare (2022,2021), Arts Council of Ireland Professional Development Award (2020), Arts Council of Ireland Visual Arts Bursary (2018), Culture Ireland Award (2018, 2016, 2011), Arts Council England Grants for the Arts (2016), AN Artist Bursary UK (2016). She has been the recipient of numerous international residencies such as The Frans Masereel Centre (2015, 2014, 2009), FLACC Workplace for Visual Artists (2014) - both in Belgium, and a year residency at The Florence Trust in London (2015 – 2016).

The Arts Council Collection was established in 1962 and now comprises almost 1,350 works of modern and contemporary Irish art.

This year we are delighted to once again welcome audiences to the Arts Council buildings on Merrion Square to engage with some our most recent acquisitions.

Works by many of Ireland’s leading artists will be shown on the night including pieces by: Elizabeth Cope, Miriam De Búrca, Mollie Douthit, Justin Fitzpatrick, Marie Holohan, Helen Hughes, Catriona Leahy, Jialin Long, Kevin Mooney, Doireann Ní Ghrioghair, Emma Roche, Mark Swords, Amna Walayat and Orla Whelan.

As well as this glimpse into the Arts Council Collection for Culture Night, artworks can be seen all year round throughout the country as part of exhibitions and long term loans in public buildings such as hospitals, universities and schools.

Explore the Collection and more on our website here.