Breaking out from the gallery

THE gallery space in Lismore Castle is certainly one of the country’s most striking, based as it is in the 19th-century west wing of the castle. But to mark the gallery’s 10th anniversary this year, the summer exhibition will go beyond the thick castle walls and into the grounds, the town, and its other landmark, St Carthage’s Cathedral.

As Lismore Castle Arts director Eamonn Maxwell explains: “We wanted to do something different this year and it really was a long-held idea, this idea of breaking out from the gallery. In there we’ll have a fairly standard contemporary art show, but then it begins to infiltrate the grounds.”

Maxwell approached the Scottish-based Common Guild as curators for the show and they have brought together works from a diverse range of artists including Gerard Byrne and Duncan Campbell from Ireland; photographer Wolfgang Tillmans; Egyptian painter and filmmaker Basim Magdy; and Scottish mixed-media artist Hayley Tompkins.