Qualifications

2002 MA The History and Development of Multimedia in Ireland.

1995 – 2000 Introducing multimedia, video and installation work to Fine Art Students National College of Art and Design. Dublin.

 2000 – 2014 Lecturer in Department of Sculpture, National College of Art and Design.

Visiting Guest Lecturer

2006 – 2007 DIT Dublin Lecturer in Photography

2004 Alberta College of Art at Calgary

2008, 2004, 2002 Belfast College of Art

1996 Limerick College of Art

1996 Sligo College of Art

1995 Belfast College of Art and Design

1993 Liverpool John Moore University

1987 Pace College of Art, New York NY

1987 Hunter College, New York NY

Selected Exhibitions and Performances

2023

The Language of Men /El Lenguaje de los Hombres for the Walking in the Way National Tour with Frances Mezzetti, Wexford Arts Centre, Co.Wexford

A World of Appearances / Walking in the Way Cummins & Mezzetti, The Lab Gallery, Foley Street Dublin

The Narrow Gate of the Here-and-Now, Protest and Conflict, Sounding The Depths with Louise Walsh, IMMA, Dublin

2022

The Narrow Gate of the Here-and-Now, Protest and Conflict, Sounding The Depths with Louise Walsh, IMMA, Dublin

Soul Noir, What is Life? (with cellist Ailbhe McDonagh), Irish Georgian Societies City Assembly House, Dublin , Ireland

Kilkenny Arts Festival, Bare Bones..…., Kilkenny Castle, Kilkenny, Ireland

Walking in the Way – A Retrospective -Pauline Cummins & Frances Mezzetti, South Tipperary Arts Centre, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary

2021

39th  EVA  International Biennial, Women Artists Action Group (Archive of Pauline Cummins), The Old Sailors Home, Limerick, Ireland

2020

Pluck @ RHA Presents: Women, Artists and The Institution, Becoming Beloved and performance archive, RHA online, Dublin, Ireland

Elliptical Affinities: Irish Women Artists and the Politics of the Body 1980s to the present, Inis t´Oirr/ Aran Dance, Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick, Ireland

2019

Elliptical Affinities: Irish Women Artists and the Politics of the Body 1980s to the present, Inis t´Oirr/ Aran Dance, Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda, Ireland

Gaze: the third exhibition from the IMMA Collection,  Inis t´Oirr/ Aran Dance, IMMA, Dublin, Ireland

2018

Performance  and response to the work of Frank Bowling,  Bealtaine, IMMA, Dublin, Ireland

2017

Inaugural Soul Noir, When fragility can emerge victorious,  India ink drawings. Georgian house at 13 North Great Georges St, Dublin, Ireland.

2016

Future Histories, No Bones About It… 4 hour performance. Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin, Ireland

2015

EXCUSE ME I’M NOT FINISHED with  The Performance Collective,  The NCAD Gallery,  The National College of Art and Design, Dublin, Ireland

Belfast International Performance Festival, Remembrance with Sinéad Keogh,  Belfast School of Art, Belfast, Northern  Ireland

2014

These Immovable walls – Performing Power, The Spy at the Gate, Dublin Castle, Dublin, Ireland

2013

It has no name, Remembrance  with Sinéad Keogh (Curated by Liz Burns) Broadcast Gallery, DIT, Dublin, Ireland

2012

MST Festival, Between One and Another (exhibition of video works by Pauline Cummins and Sandra Vida) Calgary College of Art,  Alberta, Canada.

Between One and Another an exhibition of video works by Pauline Cummins and Sandra Vida. Performance :Sweeping Changes, Irish Cultural  Centre, Paris, France

MST Festival, Leopard Frog, performance. Calgary College of Art,  Alberta, Canada

The Galway Arts Festival, Subject to Ongoing Change 2 weeks of improvised works with The Performance Collective,  Galway Arts Centre, Galway, Ireland

Labour- an exhibition of performance work by Irish Women Artists, Walking in the Way, with Frances Mezzetti, (Curated by Amanda Coogan, Chrissie Cadman and Helena Walsh) Venues- performance s p a c e – London – February,  Void Gallery – Derry/Londonderry – February, The Lab – Dublin – March

2010

Right Here Right Now, Weeping Willow/Stinging Birch,  Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin, Ireland

UNBUILDING, The Still Centre, 3 screen installation. Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland

CHAOS, Sound the Alarm 4, Openspace Gallery,Victoria.BC, Canada

Sound the Alarm 3,  Mon Ton Gallery, Queen St. Toronto, Canada

Walking in the Way,with Frances Mezzetti, Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland

2009

Open Studios – Temple Bar Gallery, with The Performance Collective,  Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin, Ireland

Walking in the Way, performance with Frances Mezzetti, Dublin, Ireland

The Performance Collective, Catalyst Art Centre, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The Performance Collective, Walking in the Way,  performance with Frances Mezzetti, Belfast City Centre, Northern Ireland.

2008

Out of Site – Promenade. Curated by Michelle Browne.  Head Above Water, Hadden Road, Dublin, Ireland

2007

Terms & Conditions. Curated with  Aideen Barry. The Mermaid Art Centre Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland

Terms & Conditions, Sound the Alarm, The Mermaid Art Centre Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland

The Selskab Exhibition, Unearthed,  Atmosphere Controlled, Jutland, Denmark

The Haag Sculpture Show The Bureau of Everyday Adventures, The Energetic Humorists  ( Jokes Around the World ) The Haag, Netherlands

Portraits of Pain Exhibition, Portraits of Pain, video and digital prints. Film Base, Dublin, Ireland

2005

At The End of the Pipeline – Celebrating Our Roots,  Autonomous Eye collaborative video with Sandra Vida, EMMEDIA, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Comharsana Beal Dorais – Exhibition of Irish Art,   Inis t´Oirr/ Aran Dance, The Rooms –  The Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada and  IMMA, Ireland

2004

Locus Suspectus :where the hidden comes to light an exhibition of Canadian and Irish video art curated with Sandra Vida, Ormeau Baths Gallery – Belfast

Locus Suspectus :where the hidden comes to light  curated with Sandra Vida, Autonomous Eye, Truck Contemporary Art Gallery,Calgary and Paved+ Saskatoon, Canada

Tulca, Entrenched,  City Hall, Galway, Ireland

2003

The Cyber Theater of Mneme and Melete, Floating  with James Gerard Byrne ( curated by Moira Roth) The Winding Stairs Bookshop, Ormond Quay, Dublin, Ireland

2002

The Unblinking Eye,  Inis tíOirr/Aran Dance, IMMA,Dublin, Ireland

2001

The Appearances Project (Temperate, Fathom, Broad Daylight, and Holy Ground) with Sandra Johnston and Frances Mezzetti, Arthouse, Dublin, Ireland

2000

Power Points  (Solo exhibition)  Video installations, Tinahely Courthouse Centre, Co. Wicklow, Ireland

Shifting Ground – Selected works of Irish Art 1950-2000, Inis tíOirr/Aran Dance, IMMA, Dublin, Ireland

The Appearences Project – Temperate with Frances Mezzetti & Sandra Johnston, Botanical Gardens, Dublin, Ireland

The Appearences Project -Fathom by Frances Mezzetti  with Cummins & Johnston. The Harbour Masters Office, Cork, Ireland

The Appearences Project -Broad Daylight by Sandra  Johnston with Cummins &  Mezzetti, Newtownards Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland

The Appearences Project -Holy Ground by Cummins  with Mezzetti, Johnston, Breeda Mooney & Fergus Byrne. The 11th Century ruins of St. Saviours, Glendalough, Wicklow, Ireland

1999

The Challenge of Power – celebrating  25 years of Adapt,  Entrenched, Limerick City Gallery,  Limerick,  Ireland

4 Fold – 4 Contemporary Irish Artists, Entrenched,  Tallaght Arts Centre, Dublin, Ireland

Going Dutch.  Entrenched, video and photographic exhibition with Krijnie Beyen and Breeda Mooney, Dun Laoghaire Town Hall Concourse, Co. Dublin, Ireland and Einhausen, the Netherlands

Intermedia 99, None of it Matters, new commissioned performance and video work, Triskal Cinema, Cork.

Violent Incident – Critical Forum Conference,  None of it Matters performance, The TATE Liverpool,  UK

1997

Re/Dressing Cathleen: Contemporary Works from Irish Women Artists McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College., ‘Sounding the Depths’ –A collaborative installation with Louise Walsh

Academy Without Walls: Good Confession, 2 monitor installation, RHA Gallagher Gallery, Dublin.

Inner Art: Public Art Installations, Good Confession, Installation in confessionals in Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Sean McDermot St Dublin. Organised by The Firestation Artists Studios.

Irish Geographies: 6 Contemporary Artists Djanogly Art Gallery, The University of Nottingham, England (curator: Catherine Nash) Installation, Inis Oirr/ Aran Dance.

1996

Becoming Beloved, Video installation, Hermitage of Maria Magdaleina, Lanzarote.

1995

Becoming Beloved video commissioned by The National Maternity Hospital, Dublin

Sounding the Depths (Two) a collaborative installation by Pauline Cummins and Louise Walsh, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin:

1994

Irish Days Two The Baltic Art Gallery, Ustka, Poland. Street Installation, Potato plants in Flower.

1993

Life Cycles, Collaborative  exhibition and performance. Design Council Gallery, Dublin. 4 monitor Sculpture/ Video Installation.

In Control ; Woman-Interface-Machine. Sounding the Depths, a collaborative installation by Pauline Cummins and Louise Walsh, Kunstler-haus, Graz, Austria.

Elective Affinities: 2 Room Installation, Sounding the Depths, The Liverpool Tate, England.

Sounding the Depths with Louise Walsh, Street Level Photographic Gallery, Glasgow

1992

2-person show. Sounding the Depths (One) a collaborative installation by Pauline Cummins and Louise Walsh, Irish Museum of Modern Art, (IMMA), Dublin.

1991

In A State,  Cocoon, site specific sculpture, Kilmainham  Gaol, Organised by The Project Art Centre, Dublin.

Inheritance and Transformation Inaugural exhibition for the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Installation, Unearthed Performance and video installation work, 1988/91  IMMA, Dublin.

Available Resources, Orchard Gallery, Derry, Northern Ireland. Inch x Inch,  Performance to camera. Subject: reconciliation in Northern Ireland.

The Fifth Province touring exhibition, performance Unearthed and  photographic installation, Alberta, Quebec, Montreal, Canada.

1990

Sexuality and Gender, one of a series of five  shows entitled  A New Tradition-Irish Art in the Eighties Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin.

One person show 2 Installations: Inis Oirr/Aran Dance and Unearthed, Ladengalerie, Munich, Germany.

Residences,Commissions and Awards

 

2017 Research Residency at Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris- towards  a performance for the roman forum, on Rue Monge in Paris.

2010 Culture Ireland award for performance in Victoria, B.C. Canada

2007 Special Project Award for ‘Terms & Conditions’ exhibition.

Commissioned by The Bureau of Everyday  Adventures, The Haag, Netherlands

2006 The School Show revisited: Multimedia project with art teachers and pupils Co. Mayo. Arts Council Award.

2005 Research Grant  The Arts Council of Ireland.

2002 Research grant  The Arts Council of Ireland.

2000 Major Projects award  The Arts Council of Ireland

1999 Artist’s Residency, Djerassi Art Centre, California.USA

1998 An Artists in Schools Commission, Wicklow County Council.

1997 Their Spirit Lives On, Photographic Image,  Public Art  Commission for Newgrange, Interperative Centre, Co. Meath (Office of Public Works, Ireland)

1996 Public Art Commission, Collaborative installation with the communit, New St. Park, Dublin.

1995 Becoming Beloved Video installation and commission, The National Maternity Hospital, Dublin.

1994 Major Bursary Award, Arts Council Of Ireland

1992 Residency, Banff Centre, Alberta, Canada

1992 The Sir Mark Turner Memorial Scholarship. Award, Durassi, USA

1991 Major Bursary Award Arts Council Of Ireland

1990 Arts Council Film and Video Award

1986 The George Campbell Painting Award.

Film/Broadcast

2020  Mad Bad & Dangerous : A celebration of  “ difficult” women, 2020, directed by Emma O´Grady.

1987 I Live Here – Pauline Cummins, RTE production 1987 directed by Anne Mc Cabe.

Bibliography

 

2022 Walking in the Way: Performing Masculinity, Pauline Cummins and Frances Mezzetti. WAAG Publication

2016 MODERN IRELAND IN 100 ARTWORKS 1916 – 2016, (1984) Celebration the beginning of Labour, Irish Times Publication 2016

2015 PERFORMANCE ART IN IRELAND-A History. Edited by Aine Phillips. Published by Live Art Development Agency and Intellect Books (2015).

2014 ART AND ARCHITECTURE IN IRELAND, Yale University Press and Royal Irish Academy. 5 Vols. Vol. 5: Twentieth Century Art and Artists, edited by Peter Murray, Crawford Gallery Cork and Catherine Marshall, Irish Museum of Modern Art.

2013 ART IN IRELAND SINCE 1910, Fionna Barber, Published by Reaktion Books, 180 illustrations, 100 in colour. February 2013.

2009 The Performance Collective, Circa Art Magazine, Spring 2009.

2006 And the One Doesn’t Stir without the Other, edited by Ursula Burke and Ruth Jones, with Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

2005 Dialogues: Women Artists from Ireland edited by Katy Deepwell, I.B. Taurus, New York and London.

2005 Kay Burns, Locus Suspectus: where the hidden comes to light., Artichoke, vol.17 no.1 (Spring)  p.32-35. Canada.

2003 Moira Roth, ‘Of Writing, Performance, and Photography: The Cyber Theater of Mneme and Muse‘ Camerawork vol.30, no.1( Spring/Summer) p.28-31.USA.

2003 Catherine Marshall “I’ll spin you a yarn, I’ll weave you a tale” Subverting Patriarchy through art and women’s work, Irish Journal of Feminist Studies. Spring 2003.

2000 Unearthed, performance script, n.paradoxa, vol. 5, p.71-73

1998 Tallaght Arts Centre, Art Bulletin (Ireland) no. 83 Vol 15 (Oct-Nov) p.18-19.

1998 Aoife Desmond The Live Medium Art Bulletin (Ireland) No. 81 Vol.15 (June-July) p.3-7.

1997 Gemma Tipton, ‘Opium of the Masses’ (Inner Art) Circa No. 82 (Winter) p.30-34.

1997 Medb Ruane Broad & Narrow, (Inner Art) Sunday Times (14 Sept).

1997 Temple Bar, Success or Circus, Art Bulletin (Ireland) no. 76 Vol.14 (Aug-Sept) p.14-18.

1995 Medb Ruane Installations at National Maternity Hospital Sunday Times (8 January)

1995 Judith Higgins, Report From Ireland-Art from the Edge (Part 1) Art in America (NewYork) Dec.1995. p.37-40

1995 Hilary Robinson, Irish / Women / Artwork, Feminist Review, no. 5

1994 Women and Technology feature Ruimte Art Magazine, (Amsterdam)

1994 May Irish Days, A. Maclennan, A. Tallentire, Sandra Johnston, B. Connolly, Circa No. 70 (Winter) p.53-57.

1994 Jackie Ryan Containment or Integration? Art in Context, Circa No. 70 (Winter) p.50-52. 1993-94

1994 Caroline Juler,’Elective Affinities’,Untitled (London) (Winter)

1993 A. Greenan In the Grip of Adult Limbs (Elective Affinities) Womens Art Magazine (London) (Nov/Dec) p.19-20.

1992 S. Thompson, Shells and Mouths at IMMA The Sunday Press (Dublin) 26 April

1992 Moroney, Sounding the Depths, Irish Times 10 April. Aidan Dunne, Nudes with Feminist Kick, The Sunday Tribune 5 April,1992

1992 Meany, Reclaiming the Female Body, Irish Times 3 March., 1992

1992 Jaki Irvine, Sounding the Depths, Circa, no. 62, 1992

1992 Neil McCafferty, Womb with a View, Hot Press, 7 April

1990 Joan Fowler, Sexuality and Gender in ‘A New Tradition, Irish Art of the Eighties Dublin:’ Douglas Hyde Gallery.

1990 Malve Gradinger, Art review. Munchner Merkur (Germany) 12 March

1990 Inis Oirr. New Observations, no. 80,edited by Dorothy Cross, 10-11 New York

1989-90 Dorothy Walker ‘Bronze by Gold, the work of Irish Women Sculptors’, Irish Arts Review Yearbook (Dublin) vol 6 pp.207-13.

Conferences

2019 Sculpture In Process, Conference, Sculpture as a Factor in the Transformation of Place and Space. Poznan, Poland.

2013 Guest speaker, Re-Imagining Birth, School of Art History and Cultural Policy, UCD, Dublin.

2012 Keynote speaker, Sweeping Changes, forum on feminist arists action in Canada, Ireland and France. Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris, France.

2010 Landscape as the locus for artistic transfers between Ireland, Northern Ireland and Great Britain from 1968 to the present day. Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris, France.

2001 The Appearances Project: Installations and Seminar, Re- Appearances, Arthouse, Dublin, Ireland. Collaboration with Sandra Johnston and Frances Mezzetti on site-specific performances Temperate, Fathom, Broad Daylight, and Holy Ground.

2001 Get the Balance, forum,, with Marina Abramovic, National Sculpture Factory, Cork

1999 Violent Incident – Critical Forum Conference, with Marina Abramovic,  None of it Matters performance, The TATE Liverpool,  UK.