Notes from the Belly of the Beast

About the publication

This new chapbook has been published as part of the exhibition If Wishes Were Thrushes, Beggars Would Eat Birds by Stuart Whipps at Dundee Contemporary Arts in autumn 2020.

At the heart of this project is an exploration of a selection of gardens, and characters and stories connected to them. Through installation, photography, film and sound, Whipps explores ideas of cultivated landscapes through different timeframes and personal narratives connected to specific sites and materials.

Speaking to, thinking through, and stepping off from some of the ideas in Whipps’ new body of work, Notes from the Belly of the Beast is a new collaborative text by Sean Lynch and Michele Horrigan. Drawing together ruminations on global pandemics, sculptural reparations, mineral extraction and storytelling through exhibition-making, the writers craft a beguiling invitation for us to re-examine the makeup of the landscapes around us.

About the writers

Sean Lynch and Michele Horrigan are Irish artists, whose various projects have been recently been presented at venues such as Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, Santa Cruz; Temple Bar Gallery & Studios, Dublin; Peacock Visual Arts, Aberdeen; EVA International, Limerick; Carnegie Mellon University of Art, Pittsburgh, and Henry Moore Institute, Leeds.

Together Lynch and Horrigan work at Askeaton Contemporary Arts. Established in 2006, the project continues to commission, produce and exhibit contemporary art in the locale of a small town in the southwest of Ireland. A residency programme situates Irish and international artists in the midst of Askeaton, while thematic exhibitions, publications and events often occur.

Since 2017 they have worked closely with Stuart Whipps, initially as part of The Expanded Field, a nationwide programme in Ireland developed through Askeaton Contemporary Arts, culminating in an exhibition at Lismore Castle Arts, Waterford.