Hybrid
August 11 - September 30, 2012, Redline, Denver Colorado USA
Hybrid is curated by Denver-based, Irish artist Rian Kerrane.
The exhibition takes place in Denver’s RedLine, a 6,000 sq ft exhibition hall. It will be the first of two exhibitions, the second of which will take place in Ireland, allowing each artist to engage both with “local” proximity and “foreign” distance in turn.
As part of Hybrid, Deirdre O’Mahony will be exhibiting Cross Land, (2007) commissioned by Clare County Arts office under the Ground Up Programme, Abridged: 0 - 20, Abandoned Clare (2011) curated by Gregory McCartney, and the T.U.R.F. (Transitional Understandings of Rural Futures) Archive (2012), all of which reflect upon and examine the changing face of rural social and cultural landscape. As part of her research for a new project FARM, O’Mahony has visited local beef producers in the USA to discuss changing ideas on rural environments as sites for food and energy production. Today many small farms exist as much as sites for cultural production (i.e. ‘design value,’ nostalgia, tourism, etc) as for producing the food we eat.
O’Mahony is building on existing research with farming groups in Ireland and the UK, opening a space for co-learning between farming communities across the globe. As part of Hybrid, Deirdre O’Mahony will hold a community gathering the day after the opening reception on August 12 at RedLine, 2 - 4pm.
FARM: Mind Meitheal will consist of the artist and local ranchers who will discuss how changes in farming practices are unfolding within rural communities across the globe and field questions from the audience. “Meitheal” means the exchange of mutual aid and support in Irish.
On this trip to Colorado, O’Mahony has visited local beef producers to discuss changing ideas on rural environments as sites for food and energy production. Today many small farms exist as much as sites for cultural production (i.e. ‘design value,’ nostalgia, tourism, etc) as for producing the food we eat. O’Mahony is building on existing research with farming groups in Ireland and the UK, opening a space for co-learning between farming communities across the globe.
Thanks to the ranchers and farmers in Colorado, Ireland and Cumbria who generously gave their time to discuss how these changes are affecting their farming.