Corpus - women artists and embodiment

Corpus is the first major review of contemporary women artists' work from public collections in Ireland. Corpus exhibits women artists who use the body as an inspiration or as an integral part of their work. Across the ground floor galleries of Limerick City Gallery of Art are displayed some of the best work made by artists today; a vibrant, fascinating and disturbing exploration of our limitations and aspirations.

Experience a performance by Amanda Coogan, Reading Beethoven, that will overwhelm the senses, challenging your experience of music. Croquet by Dorothy Cross is (dis)played across the South Gallery, a disturbing fantastic game, with teated, furry croquet balls. Discover how Jill Dennis, Marie Foley and Gerda Frommel have chosen to portray themselves. Encounter the I Modi photographs by Hermione Wiltshire that fragment the gallery space.

The body is ultimately the source of all our experiences, but these experiences are culturally constructed. Four themes are explored in the exhibition. Construction/Creation of a feminine identity, physical and psychological, through portraits and photographs. Interior/Exterior, a group of artworks subverting the domestic; brick eggs, a sofa that bristles with aggression and a wallpaper pattern with images of IUDs, that are also looking at social expectations, natural law and rituals. Public/Private, examining the social space, particularly in relation to performance art. Rupture, a spilling out into the space and around the boundaries, including sculpture, photography and mixed media.

The female body is a highly contested site from cultural, socio-economic and political perspectives. Issues of contraception, reproductive technology, pornography and the proliferation of the female image as an object of desire continuously make it necessary for women artists to respond, comment and engage. Corpus exhibits art that makes and interprets images of femininity by women. Through interpreting this art social expectations are revealed. Corpus is not a chronological examination of female artists' work; it is an attempt to bring together work into a space where new interpretations, interrogations and dialogues can take place.

There will be a panel discussion on curatorial strategies in Ireland at 4pm Thursday 3rd June with Barbara Dawson, Tara Byrne, Virginia Teehan, Niamh Ann Kelly, Mary C. Sheehan, Dr. Suzanne O'Shea, Amanda Coogan and chaired by Pippa Little. Corpus will be opened by Suzanne Woods, Director Model Arts and Niland Gallery, at 7pm Thursday 3rd June following a live performance of Reading Beethoven by Amanda Coogan. Poetry readings with Rita Ann Higgins and Mary O'Donnell will take place on Thursday 8th July. Please contact the gallery for more information.

Lenders to the exhibition include Limerick City Gallery of Art, IMMA, Dublin City Gallery the Hugh Lane, Butler Gallery, University of Limerick, Model Arts and Niland Gallery and Crawford Municipal Art Gallery. Corpus is the first public exhibition of curatorial research carried out under the Shinnors Scholarship

Corpus - women artists and embodiment

Künstler: Marina Abramovic, Maureen Connor, Amanda Coogan, Dorothy Cross, Mary Cullen, Jill Dennis, Rita Duffy, Neva Elliott, Tracey Emin, Marie Foley, Gerda Frommel, Joanna Fursman, Alice Maher, Sally Maidment, Linda Molenaar, Janet Mullarney, Noreen O´Dwyer, Doireann O´Malley, Amy O´Riordan, Kathy Prendergast, Sarah Ryan, Kiki Smith, Wendy Taylor, Hermione Wiltshire