Welcome to the March – April 2021 Issue of The Visual Artists’ News Sheet.
As galleries and museums across Ireland and Northern Ireland remain closed to the public, we have once again had to temporarily shift our focus away from physical exhibitions. VAN’s March – April 2021 issue is loosely themed around artist publishing activities, while also covering a timely range of online film screenings and moving image programmes.
We seem to be witnessing an unprecedented return to publishing in the Irish visual arts community, evident in the vast array of artist books, catalogues, monographs and photobooks currently being produced. These exciting developments are reflected across this issue of VAN. In place of our usual Exhibition Roundup, we are presenting an inaugural Publishing Roundup, which profiles an assortment of recent Irish publications and zines, as well as current and forthcoming international art books.
We have invited contributions from several independent publishing projects and imprints based in Ireland – Numbered Editions, Bloomers Magazine, Soft Fiction Projects and Stereo Editions – who each discuss their scope, evolution and future plans. In addition, Christopher Steenson outlines some key considerations for self-publishing; Sean Lynch interviews John Carson about his new book, produced by ACA Public; while VAN Editor, Joanne Laws, discusses several new photography publications, developed to accompany high profile exhibitions in Ireland this year.
In columns for this issue, Matt Packer considers the impact of art falling ‘out-of-sync’ with its intended proposal, and Miguel Amado calls for a curatorial resistance to the interdependence of finance and the institutions of art. Cornelius Browne reflects on the relations between art and walking in is column, ‘The Gentle Art of Tramping’, while Éilís Murphy and Grace Wilentz discuss their two-year collaboration.
In VAN’s Career Development section, Mary Flanagan interviews artist Jo Killalea about her painting practice; Gwen Burlington discusses the work of Irish artist, Renèe Helèna Browne; and Meadhbh McNutt interviews Jan McCullough about her current exhibition at CCA Derry~Londonderry.
Among other profiles, Susan Campbell outlines the evolution of the Golden Fleece Award, marking its twentieth anniversary this year; while Jennifer Redmond considers various artworks in ‘Cahoots: The Space Between’ – an artist-led digital exhibition, organised in collaboration between A4 Sounds (Dublin), Sample Studios (Cork), and Engage Art Studios (Galway).
VAN’s Critique section features recent online screening programmes: Patrick Hough, ‘Revenant Images’ for aemi; ‘We Interrupt This Apocalypse’ curated by Jesse Jones, aemi and Isolation TV’s Vaari Claffey; ‘Irish Short Reel Series’ for CIACLA & MART; Sasha Litvintseva, Every Rupture (2020) for the Douglas Hyde Gallery; and Phil Collins, Bring Down the Walls (2020) hosted by Void Gallery.
