‘NIAMH BARRY – LIGHT ON EARTH’ ON SHOW AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF IRELAND

The ‘Niamh Barry – Light on Earth’ exhibition celebrates the work of contemporary Irish artist Niamh Barry, one of the world’s leading innovators in the use of LED technology.

A Dublin native and resident, Niamh was one of the first artists in the world to create ‘edge lit’ pieces using LED technology and, since then, she has achieved significant commercial and critical success internationally.

Her signature works are highly soughtafter and included in many prestigious public and private collections around the world. Her client list includes some of the leading interior designers and architects internationally, amongst them, Peter Marino, Nate Berkus, Miles Redd and David Easton and Kelly Hoppen.

One of her most recent commissions in Ireland was a monumental light sculpture in the new Central Bank of Ireland.

While she has exhibited in locations such as New York, San Francisco, Milan and London, this exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland - Decorative Arts & History is Niamh’s first solo exhibition in Ireland.

After graduating from NCAD in 2001 specialising in ceramics, Niamh spent a number of years making conceptual furniture and lighting and later a brief detour into the film industry. Following that, she spent more than a decade making custom lighting designs for commercial installations.

In 2004, Niamh made her first edge lit piece Chain but it was in 2009/2010 she made Fouette, her first bronze, curvilinear, edge-lit piece. This prototype, composed of a mild steel frame, clad in bronze with handmade glass mosaic, was a ‘breakaway piece’ in this art form. Five elliptical connections take the appearance of the ballet position from which the piece derives its name. This, her original bronze ‘edge lit’ creation, is one of the six pieces on display at the National Museum of Ireland and she has also donated it to be part of the Museum’s permanent collection.

Niamh Barry said: “I’m honoured to be exhibiting in our National Museum. I create my sculptures viscerally, to be seen with your eyes but to be experienced emotionally, and I hope that visitors to the museum will enjoy visiting them and also learning about the creative process that is involved in their development. Each piece takes hundreds of hours to create and I am grateful to my eight colleagues in my studio that support me in this work on a daily basis.”

Chair of the Board of the National Museum of Ireland, Catherine Heaney, said:

“The role of the Museum is to collect, preserve and share our nation’s greatest treasures and cultural heritage. This is a careful and considered ongoing process, and through the expertise of our staff, we are collecting items of importance today - like Niamh Barry’s Fouette - so that they may be enjoyed and studied by our visitors for many years to come.”

Dr Jennifer Goff, Curator of Furniture, Musical Instruments and the Eileen Gray Collection, is the curator of the exhibition. She said; “Niamh is quite literally a world leader in her art form. Her innovative approach to light sculptures using LED technology is visually very striking and beautiful and also environmentally sustainable.” www.museum.ie