About My Work – Kevin Ryan

About

I am an artist based in Wexford Town and have studied at Wexford School of Art and at IADT. I have worked on community-based projects in Dublin, Wexford and Waterford and have exhibited in Wexford, Waterford, and Dublin and have video work shown in Mexico, Cambodia and Morocco.

In my art practice I use drawing and film to explore how art can be a process of personal social and professional development. I have worked with community groups and collaborated on murals with a Traveller Inclusion programme in Enniscorthy and on community projects in Wexford Town. I was also a member of Creative Communities Panel with Wexford County Council until 2021 where my most recent project was working in collaborating with Access 2000 Woman’s Group Wexford in creating a book of reminisces and photographs about growing up in Wexford. I have also worked with the Elephant Collective on Picking Up the Thread. A multi-media touring exhibition to commemorate and highlight the women who have died in our maternity services and the need for legislation to ensure an automatic inquest following all maternal deaths.

More recently, I was invited to take part in Games for Artists and Non-Artists online in 2021. A collaborative project in association with IMMA. And in 2022 to participate in peripheriesMEET a correspondence programme and exhibition in association with Periphery Space Gorey.

Previously I have contributed articles and reviews to Circa and VAI of which I am a member. I have been involved with Wexford Documentary Film Festival, beginning in 2014 where I curated a screening of local Wexford based film makers and artists. I became a permanent member in 2017. I was a co-founder and director of Studio Nine/Wexart an artist led organisation based in Wexford Town where I developed an interest in artist led projects.

Since 2019 my art making has changed to a more personal and process led practice where I am using drawing, sometimes combined with film as a way of looking at my own personal experience and feelings. While I enjoyed working on community projects I felt my own ideas and needs for making art were not been fully realised and since 2019 this has become the main direction for my art practice. This shift was precipitated by my own personal experience of becoming older and dealing with illness combined with a more critical awareness of my emotional and physical environment. During the recovery process from a serious health issue, I began to use drawing as part of my convalescence and realised that this was an opportunity to take stock of where I was as an artist and as someone who is also getting older. In addition, I believe this focus on a personal and more process led way of making art has brought a new impetus to my art practice. I have always been interested in how visual language and images inform our view of the world we inhabit. I believe we all have within ourselves a sort of memory bank of images consisting of our own personal history and from the wider culture and am interested in how such images can affect the way we see the world and how we construct meaning and memory of events both private and public from them.

2023 January Elephant Collective. Curator & participant in Picking Up The Pieces. A multi media event held at the European Parliament Brussels/Dublin
2022 December Made in WX Screen Wexford filmmaker showcase Enniscorthy.
2022 PeripheriesMEET a correspondence programme in association with Periphery Space Gorey.
2021 Games for Artists and Non-Artists online in 2021. A collaborative project in association with IMMA.
2020 Curator of short film programme and 3 minute film challenge for the Festival @ Home special edition of the 7th Wexford Documentary Film Festival. September/October 2020.

2019 Wolfe Tone Villas Mural Community Project Wexford
2019: Art Tutor on Experience Success Programme ETB Wexford
2018: Traveller Mural in collaboration with Traveller Inclusion programme FDYS Enniscorthy.
2018 Ongoing: Member of Creative Communities Panel Wexford County Council
2018: Creative Communities Programme with Access Woman’s Group Wexford
2018 Arquetopia Arts Residency Puebla City Mexico
2014 Ongoing Drawing tutor & facilitator St Joseph’s Community Centre Wexford .
2013 July/August : Kultivera Arts Residency
2010 A co- founder and director of Studio Nine/Wexart a nonprofit exhibition and studio space for artists in Wexford.
2010 Ongoing: Wexford Independent Documentary Film Festival, Tech & Web Design and curator 3 Minute Film Challenge and off site artist films
2010 Community art project with Larchville, Lisduggan Men’s Group, Waterford
2009 MA in Visual Arts Practices Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin
2008 B.A. (Hons) Fine Art Wexford School of Art and Design
2003 Community Art Practice – In collaboration with Bride Street/Aungier Street Youth Project Dublin

Selected Exhibitions

2023 February:Annual Open Exhibition. Royal Cambrian Wales Academy Group Show
2022 September: Catch 22/Art-Tra. Wexford Group Show
2022 July: Cairde Visual. Hamilton Gallery Sligo Group Show
2022 June: PeripheriesMEET. Periphery Space Gorey Group Show
2021 October: Seeking Sanctuary. WexArts Festival Wexford.
2019 October: Inclusion/exclusion. Wexford’s Arts Hub Group Show
2019 October: Time’s Gone, Wexford
2019 June: Wexford’s Arts Hub Group Show
2019 Catch 2019. Kilmore Quay Group Show
2018 South Dock Festival Dublin Group Show
2018 Public art project with Access 2000 in conjunction with Creative Communities scheme Wexford County Council.
2018 May: Stolen Moments – Paintings & Drawings Art Bank, Wexford
2018 May: Hope is Maybe Munich Airport, Germany, Group Show
2018 February: Tax Dodgers Tour IFSC Group Intervention/Performance
2017 August: Urban Street Art Festival, Artist/Collaborator
2017 June: EVO Festival. Wexford Curator/Organiser
2017 January: What makes us happy! Drawings Wexford
2016 January: Imperfect Paintings Art Bank, Wexford
2015 July : Galway Fringe Festival Group Show
2015 May : Painting In the 3rd Degree, Bray, Wicklow
2015 March : I Wake up…Humans Too – Challenging the misconceptions of homelessness, DCU Dublin Group Show
2014 October : Sound & Vision Exhibition, Wexford Group Show
2013 November : Wexford Artists Book Exhibition, Wexford Group Show
2013 July/August : Kultivera Arts Residency and Exhibition Sweden Group Show
2013 May : Square EyesVideo Art Exchange Dublin & Penzance, Cornwall Group Show
2013 : Group Show, Mermaid Arts Centre Bray Group Show
2012 : SIN Group Show, SOMA Waterford Group Show
2012 : The Wrong Man, Studio Nine Wexford
2012 : Forever ‐ The Ball ‐ football in contemporary art @ Digital Marrakech 3 Au Centre Culturel Atlas Golf, Marrakech, Morocco Group Show
2012: The Freedom of Memory META House Phnom Penh – Cambodian-German Cultural Center Group Show
2011: Forever-The Ball -videoart & football Metropolitan University Mexico City Group Show
2011: Group Show, Hive Waterford
2011: Engine Room, Studio Nine Wexford Group Show
2010: ‘No Fun’ film at 2nd Wexford Independent Documentary Film Festival, Kilmore Quay, Wexford.
2009: Public Gesture: An Exploration of Practice-Led Research. MAVIS & Dutch Art Institute (DAI) The LAB, Dublin Group Show
2004 Solo Show, Wexford Arts Centre
2003 Mural / No to Racism Football Tournament, Bride Street Dublin In collaboration with Bride St. Community and Youth Project

Publications/Talks/Seminars

2012 Artist Seminar – Alternative Access to Art Spaces, Oriel Myrddin Gallery, Caerfyrddin, Wales, UK
2011 Artist Talk, sustaining artist run spaces. Wexford Arts Centre.
2011 Introduction to Eric & Barbara: Attached to Scrap by Sharanne Long
2010 Circa Online
2009 Circa and Visual Arts Newsletter