Orla explores art-life boundary in her show
WEXFORD Arts Centre will host a live performance and installation called ‘Breaking Rainbows’ by the Duncormick artist and shepherd Orla Barry which has previously been enjoyed by national and international audiences.
It was first shown at Temple Bar Gallery and Studios and premiered as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival last year. The Wexford show will include two live performances on Friday October 20 and Saturday October 21 nightly at 8pm and an exhibition running from Sunday October 22 to November 18.
The idea for ‘Breaking Rainbows’ arose during a conversation between the artist Ms Barry and Wexford Arts Centre curator Catherine Bowe and came to fruition two years later.
Exploring the boundaries of art and life, it uses the tension between Orla the artist and Orla the shepherd to reflect on the primal and unpredictable bond we have in the natural world.
Presented as a live performance and video installation, the work is a fascinating journey into the land of shepherding through the lens of ‘ doing’ rather than ‘observing’ the job at hand.
Endearing, humorous and challenging, ‘Breaking Rainbows’ reflects on both our interdependence and disconnection from the natural environment in a series of vignettes that deal with sheep farming traditions, ancient Greek shepherd’s singing competitions, contemporary consumerism, gender roles and the intimate relationship of caring for a sheep about to give birth. It interweaves a live performance, video and a 300kg pile of wool produced on Barry’s farm in 2015.
Orla Barry lived in Brussels for 16 years and now resides in Duncormick where she runs a flock of pedigree Lleyn sheep. A lecturer at the Wexford Art and Design School of Carlow IT, she has had performances at Performatik 17; the Brussels Biennial of Performance Art; the Project Arts Centre in Dublin; the South London Gallery and the Tate Modern in London; De Appel Arts Centre, Amsterdam, and The Playground Festival in Leuven.
Her solo show venues include Mother’s Tankstation, Dublin; Museu Berardo in Lisbon (with Rui Chafes); the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; Smak in Ghent, Belgium; Camden Arts Centre London and Bozar, Brussels.
Orla was awarded the prize fo the Palais de Beaux Arts in the Prix de la Jeuen Peinture Belge in 2003 and was shortlisted for the Glen Dimplex Prize in 1999.
‘Breaking Rainbows’ is supported by an Arts Council Touring and Dissemination of Work Award. To book a place at one of the performances go to wexfordartscentre.ie.