Peter Murray visits the Irish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, where artist Niamh O’Malley is on show
Representing Ireland at the 59th Venice Biennale, the artist Niamh O’Malley brings to this long-established international art extravaganza a quiet but purposeful voice. The exhibition of her sculptures and videos in the Arsenale, Venice’s historic shipyards, is entitled ‘Gather’. The works are impressive, holding their own in the context of these former industrial spaces. Speaking at the opening in April, the artist recalled how, during lockdown, she and her husband dug a pond in their back garden, which adjoins a railway line
Unravelling the sequence of carving on the stones has been challenging but has been helped by the fact that there are so many examples to study, writes Elizabeth Shee Twohig