MART Gallery & Studios – Providing Creative Platforms
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MART AWARDS SHOW Exhibition 2025
Christina Loughlin (MTU Crawford )
Andrew Grace (Fingal Residency)
Mary Madeleine (FSAS)
Curated by Ciara Scanlan
Exhibition Runs March 15th-29th | Open Wed-Sat 1-6pm
Opening Reception Saturday 15th March 2025 at 1pm.
The MART Gallery, 190A Rathmines Road Lower. – map link
This annual exhibition aims to provide a showcase and support opportunity to artists whose work is both engaging and experimental. The exhibition presents artists selected through partnerships; Andrew Grace was selected from the MART & Fingal Arts Office Graduate Award and successfully received a one year studio at MART Studios alongside curatorial and financial support for the exhibition and Mary Madeleine was selected from Fire Station Artists’ Studios Sculpture Practice Award and Christina Loughlin a recent graduate of MTU Crawford College of Art & Design.
Artist Bios and statements:
Christina Loughlin
Christina Loughlin’s practice interrogates the persistent effects of intergenerational trauma in Ireland, shaped by the twin forces of colonization and institutional religion. Through a multidisciplinary approach, her work explores the resonances between ancestral physical toil and mental struggle, addressing themes of forced domestic and agricultural labor, sectarianism, and excommunication.
A central focus is the Ulster linen industry of the 19th and 20th centuries, examining its lasting impact on both the environment and the people who labored within it. The desolate boglands and discordant coastline of the Belmullet Peninsula in Mayo serve as an allegory for layers of ancestral trauma, their shifting and eroded landscapes mirroring the instability of inherited wounds.
Utilizing found and crafted objects, performance art, and film, her installations seek to unveil and release patterns of trauma carried through multiple generations. Her performances function as acts of psychomagic—a surrealist trauma therapy developed by Chilean filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky—enacted with intention to disrupt and heal inherited cycles of suffering.
Andrew Grace
Drawing on Queer Theory, José Estaban Muñoz discusses the queering of space through alternative forms of declarations, such as the queering of space rendered through gay public sex acts (cruising). He investigates ideas about the then and now, the past and present of where Queerness lives.
These ideas are further developed in a video essay that explores cruising spaces, public parks and toilets, through the lens of the then and now. The ‘then’ being the organic erotic nature within past perspectives, the ‘now’ being the digital expansion of sexual desires through the present. The placement and use of blueprints becomes consistent, posing questions of where Queerness lies and what the future holds for Queers.
Andrew, an artist and researcher, thrives through expansive research focusing closely on Queer Theory. Their practice expands understandings and continuously longs to question ideas. They work predominantly with video and sculpture, using post lens cultures to further expand definitions and ways of thinking.
Mary Madeleine
Mary Madeleine is an emerging artist and curator based in Dublin, Ireland. Mary’s artistic practices traverse a diverse range of mediums, including installation, photography, sculpture, and paint. Reflecting her Irish and Bahamian heritage, at the core of Mary’s artistic expression are themes of mysticism, spirituality, race, and identity.
In her latest series, “The Unseen,” Mary presents photographic prints of her sculptural compositions suspended within a void black space, offering a visually striking representation of her contemplation of traditional African sculpture and Caribbean mythology. Through this body of work, Mary explores the profound impact of colonialism on traditional spiritual practices and the ensuing loss of cultural heritage.
Mary’s exploration of the profound connections between art and spirituality manifests in her methodical research of psychological and spiritual phenomena, culminating in thought-provoking experiences for viewers.
