Curated by the S/TAC Collective
Shell/Ter Artist Collective (S/TAC): Diana Copperwhite, Allyson Keehan, Niamh McGuinne, Sharon Murphy, Geraldine O’Neill in association with ten emerging artists; Maya Brezing, Matthew Coll, Karen Ebbs, Spencer Glover, Ami Jackson, Mary Martin, Fiach McGuinne, Sorcha McNamara, Eileen Leonard Sealy and Catherine Ward.The exhibition’s title, the ladder is always there, is from the poem ‘Diving into the Wreck’ by the feminist American poet Adrienne Rich who conjures the image of a woman preparing for a deep-sea scuba dive to explore a shipwreck. The ladder can be understood as both an object and as a metaphor for support and movement, always there.
The main focus of this exhibition is to highlight the role of an artist collective as a form of support for early career artists and to encourage collective action through art. It presents new works by recent graduates alongside more established artists in drawing, painting and its expanded forms – photography, print, film, installation – which take inspiration from or which reference painting, both materially and conceptually.
“The word Shelter means to me what you care for and how you do that both physically and psychologically. The importance to me of the Shell/ter Artist Collective is that it is a dynamic space, one in which to experiment and find connections that you might not find on your own. My hope is that it continues to change and adapt … while remaining a form of shelter in itself.”
Shell/ter Artist, Niamh McGuinne
The Shell/Ter Artist Collective explores the concept of shelter from emotional, psychological, and philosophical perspectives and seeks to provide a dynamic space for artists whose work resonates with or delves into the theme of shelter. This is closely aligned with Draíocht’s commitment to support young, early career artists from Dublin 15, Fingal County and beyond through commissions, exhibitions, studio residencies, bespoke mentoring, and international exchange.
Artist Collectives are not new. From ancient sculpture workshops, medieval painter guilds, Renaissance master studios and schools of the French and other European art academies to the modernist collectives of the Dadaists, the Situationists, the Bauhaus and the Fluxus Group, shared identity, common purpose and egalitarian values underpin much of the desire to work as a group.
The Shell/Ter Artist Collective (S/TAC) evolved organically during the pandemic 2020 and was driven by a desire of the artists to talk about the effects, both personal and professional, of a shifting and unpredictable world. In this dynamic space the artists found ways to explore, enrich and diversify their independent practice while supporting one another.
