Gareth Kennedy: Of Speculative Histories, Origin Myths and Invented Traditions

The Origins and Uses Of Round Towers; Portrane, 2015 (c) Gareth Kennedy.

As the beginning of a one-year cooperation project between the Kuenstlerhaus Buechsenhausen and the Museum of Tyrolean Popular Art in Innsbruck the Irish artist Gareth Kennedy is talking about his recent work.

Gareth Kennedy’s work explores the social agency of the handcrafted in the 21st century and generates ‘communities of interest’ around the production and performance of new material cultures. Deploying an anthropological approach as an operational aesthetic these works draw on the particular social, cultural and economic histories of a location. His practice to date includes public art work, educational projects, exhibitions, residencies and collaborations.

In 2014 as part of a one year research project he produced the solo exhibition Die Unbequeme Wissenschaft (The Uncomfortable Science) with ar/ge Kunst in Bolzano/Bozen in the South Tyrol. This work is currently a part of a large group exhibition exploring contemporary art and folk cultures, Les Mondes Inversés (Inverted Worlds), at BPS22 Space, Charleroi, Belgium as part of the Mons European City of Culture celebrations. In November 2015 he will initiate research in the archives of the Tiroler Volkskunstmuseum in Innsbruck from which new work will be produced alongside the presentation of Die Unbequeme Wissenschaft (The Uncomfortable Science) there in late 2016.

Gareth Kennedy’s work explores the social agency of the handcrafted in the 21st century and generates ‚communities of interest‘ around the production and performance of new material cultures. Deploying an anthropological approach as an operational aesthetic these works draw on the particular social, cultural and economic histories of a location. His practice to date includes public art work, educational projects, exhibitions, residencies and collaborations. Kennedy also works collaboratively with the artist Sarah Browne as Kennedy Browne. They represented Ireland with their solo and collaborative practices at the 2009 Venice Biennale.

www.gkennedy.info
www.kennedybrowne.com

Location

Künstler:innenhaus Büchsenhausen
Weiherburggasse 13
A-6020 Innsbruck

+43 512 27 86 27
office@buchsenhausen.at