DEIRDRE ROBB 

20 May – 24 June 2023

Flowerfield Art Centre, Portstewart, NI

EXHIBITION LAUNCH: Please join me on Saturday 20 May at 1pm. All welcome.

ARTIST TALK: Saturday 20 May, 11.30am. Free but booking essential. (Scroll to bottom of the page)

https://www.flowerfield.org/exhibition/still-i-rise-by-deirdre-robb-20-may-to-24-june-2023

Historic and contemporary cultural barriers have silently but powerfully influenced people’s judgement, representation, and treatment of those often considered less worthy in society. My work aims to challenge society’s acceptance of inequalities. 

As an artist, I am drawn to the physicality of materials and objects, which I often use in photographs, striving to go beyond the obvious and provide an experience in relation to the social issues that I am representing.

For this exhibition my art examines identity politics and strategies used to support female’s journey to equality. The barriers women face by their representation in patriarchal societies remains high and are unjust. By-products of these influences can have negative impacts of societal and domestic relationships. Women are often harbouring internal struggles in dealing with these relationships that can manifest into over bearing expectations of themselves. These conflicting realities can have repercussions on women’s mental and physical health.  

‘The contradictions that are constantly challenging the individuality, create strength yet interdependence as women push their own boundaries and comfort zones transcending into modern-day wonder women. However, in doing so, they may not realise the longer-term impacts of trying to be all things to all people

Women do not have to be all things to all people. 

We don’t have to accept inequality.  

Society can do better.

Still I Rise a photographic exhibition at Arts for All In Cityside Belfast 2nd – 25th September 2021. The photographs and sculptural works examined identity politics and coping strategies used to support females leading to equality. Historic and contemporary cultural barriers have silently, but powerfully influenced people’s judgement, representation, and treatment of women. A by-product of these influences, is negative societal relationships, that can manifest into over bearing expectations females of themselves, These conflicting realities can have repercussions on women’s mental and physical health.  

As an artist, I am drawn to the sensuality of materials and objects, which I often use in the photographs, which are conceptual and performative works. Having a background in sculptural installations, I want to go beyond the obvious and provide an experience in relation to the feminist issues that I am presenting. 

My Latest Work ‘Still I Rise’ is presented in a solo exhibition in Arts For All Gallery for the month of September.

Exhibition Dates: 2nd – 25th September

Location: Cityside Retail Park, Ground Floor Unit

For the Still I Rise Exhibition I am showing photographic and sculptural works that relates to female representation in social political contexts. The Still I Rise series examines identity as well as the coping strategies to support women’s growth leading to equality.

Historic cultural barriers have silently but powerfully influenced people’s judgement, representation, and treatment of women, resulting in issues surrounding inequalities, abuse and oppression. As a By-product of these influences, often women turn on themselves harbouring internal struggles that manifest into overbearing expections of themseleves thwarted with convictions to seek liberty and equality.

This is nothing new and understanably not fresh thinking however, when we have the neccisity of the recent #metoo movement, Covid-19 related discrimination in the workplace, and where the burden of home life changes fell largely to the mother, the anticipiated oppression of women and girls for the long-term future, evident already with the newly formed Tilaban government in Afganistian, women in contemporary socity are treated far from equal.

Still I Rise (Vieled) 2021; 145 x 100 cm Pigment Edition of 3

Deirdre Robb has been invited by ‘Over the Hill’ to take part in the Women’s Work Festival 2018. Robb will be on a panel that will be discussing the theme of stigma and ageism around older female artists in the creative industries.

The panel will be chaired by Paul Kane founder of ‘Over the Hill”. Deirdre will be joined by Dr. Sian Barber from QUB Social Sciences talking about older women in film. More panel members and date will be confirmed closer to the time.

For some of 2017 festival highlights check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WorOGGgfzHM

Deirdre Robb is on the Move

Deirdre Robb has moved from Creative Exchange  Artist Studios a collective she founded 21 years ago in the east of the city and has founded a new collective Embrace Studios based in the heart of West Belfast in Blackstaff Mill.

Robb states ‘The idea behind Embrace studios is to work and collaborate with artists who have common goals and the mission is to work with artists whose works explore political, social, gender or cultural inequality issues’.

The studios are a catalyst for the creation of experimental and innovative contemporary visual-arts and are dedicated to exploring and giving voice to the uniqueness of the individual, locations, and communities in which they investigate.

Embrace artists are at different stages of their career and work in various mediums including painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, performance and installation art. They collaborate through public art interventions, are involved in socially engaged arts-led regeneration, as well as exhibiting locally, nationally and internationally.

Embrace  Studios are located on the 2^nd floor of the Blackstaff Mill on Springfield Road. Go to the main entrance and through the corridor on the left-hand side is a lift/stairs go to 2^nd floor and go through 2 sets of double doors and we are the 2^nd door on the left-hand side.

 

 

 

Deirdre Robb will be making a special wishing tree For NYF Dublin, a 3 day city wide festival @NYFDublin.

So if you are about Dublin in the afternoons on 30^th, 31^st or 1^st onwards why not look out for her and make your own wish.

See what else is on here www.nyfdublin.com #NYFDublin #LoveDublin

 

#NYFDublin #LoveDublin #wishingtree

 

https://www.facebook.com/NYFDublin

https://twitter.com/NYFDublin

https://www.instagram.com/nyfdublin/

 

 

 

 

Andre Serrano Torture Void Gallery

In Belfast, GT Gallery’s ‘Video Quartet’ (2002), on loan from The Tate, was an excellent presentation of Christian Marclay’s work. The outstanding exhibition of the year in their Project Space was the John Rainey sculpture exhibition.  David Hockney at the MAC was a real crowd-pleaser attracting audiences from across NI and beyond. Currently running is the MAC International exhibition showcasing work by artists from around the globe.  The highlight of Belfast Exposed’s year was undoubtedly the exhibition by world-renowned photographer, Martin Parr, ‘Welcome to Belfast’, which had audiences queuing to get in on the opening night! With such high calibre exhibitions running alongside their emerging artist programme in the Futures Gallery, Belfast Exposed is always well worth a visit.

PS2 gallery’s ‘Go Girl’ feminist exhibition had the gallery bulging at the seams on the opening night and allowed this Belfast/Derry collaboration to present a unique and diverse exhibition.  Kevin Killen collaborated with Sinead McKeever in QSS Gallery in a sculptural exhibition that used dramatic sculptural forms. ADF Gallery had an excellent range of exhibitions during the year, including an exhibition by the Belfast-based Japanese artist, Shiro Masuyama, entitled, ‘How disability made me an artist’.

Bbeyond performance art group presented ‘Equinox’ that  grabbed international attention. Creative Exchange Artist Studios pulled out all the stops celebrating 20 years in East Belfast with a large-scale billboard public art  programme, curated exhibition and visual arts symposium that explored art and regeneration.

In Derry, VOID continued to curate exhibitions of an international standard. This year’s highlights were the Art Angel supported Dinh Q. Lê exhibition, which was exceptional, but the piece de resistance was undoubtedly the Andre Serrano ‘Torture’ exhibition; a truly breath taking and thought provoking body of work.  The current show in CCA Derry/Londonderry is by Miguel Martin, recipient of an Arts Council Artists Career Enhancement Scheme award in 2015 that allowed him a year to refocus his practice. The result, this exhibition, is an excellent showcase of his work.

The painting show of the year must go to Ian Cumberland whose solo exhibition was curated by Jackie Barker at Millennium Court in Portadown.  The ‘What Do I Need to do to Make It OK?’ exhibition in R-Space Gallery, Lisburn, showcased excellence across a range of contemporary craft pieces. Seacourt Print Workshop hosted an stunning array of woodcut prints in an exhibition by Thai artists Teppong Hongsrimuang and Jakkee Kongkaew in their gallery space in Bangor.

Visual Artists Ireland surpassed themselves with this year’s Belfast Open Studios Programme, while PLACE broadened our viewing space with the ‘City as a Gallery’ programme.

Other exhibitions worth mentioning are the current exhibition at the University of Ulster gallery ‘Ploughing the Clouds’ by Brendan O’Neill and the survey exhibitions of work by both Susan McWilliams and David Crone in the F.E. McWilliam Gallery in Banbridge.

It would be remiss not to mention the establishment of two new visual arts gallery spaces; Goose Lane Gallery in Cathedral Quarter, which has been set up to support emerging artists and ArtisAnn on Bloomfield Avenue in East Belfast.  Owned by Ann and Ken Bartley, ArtIsAnn sells works and hosts themed monthly exhibitions of work by both established and emerging artists. Both venues are a welcome addition to the visual arts scene in Northern Ireland.

 

 

Deirdre Robb stated that It was a brilliant experience to deliver her live art PROCLAMATION performance   Livestock – Performance  MAYHEM. The performance event on27/5/16  was curated by Deirdre Morrissey with the Livestock project run by Eleanor Lawler and Francais Faye. Robb performed besides artist from North, South East and West Ireland, including  Katrina Sheena Smyth, Christof Gillen, Áine O’Hara , Hacker Power, Sinéad Curran, Codagh Dermody & Diviney, Suzi Combs, Bryan Gerard Duffy Amy Guilfoyle & Day Magee.

 

Deirdre Robb has been selected to participate at MAYHEM Livestock Performance art Festival in Dublin on 27th May 2016 @7pm. Robb will deliver PROCLAMATION through a spoken word performance on the subject of menopause. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For 2016 Tether Festival, Deirdre Robb will present a solo exhibition ‘Pausal’ In Framewerk Gallery (10 Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast) that will include sculptures, drawings and photographs.
The work is based on the impact that the process of entering menopause can have on a woman’s life. Initially, it stemmed on Robb’s personal experience of the many symptoms she encountered over the past 8 years, however, the work is universal in context and has been expanded to reflect many women’s experience.

The works reveal both emotional and physical changes that reflect the withdrawal symptoms of estrogen leaving a female’s body. Her art visually represents transitions relating to the body, as well as documenting pain, transformation, tension and beauty.

Robb will host an open studio in Creative Exchange (Unit B4, Portview Trade Centre 310 Newtownards Road, Belfast) on Monday 30th May. At 1pm she will discuss the history of her work and at 1.30pm she will walk attendees to Framewerk (10min walk) where she will give a talk about the work in the exhibition.