New View

New work by lesbian, bisexual and transgender artists ALAF 2005

The 2005 ALAF Art Exhibition launches the ALAF Festival with its opening at the Civic Office Buildings on the 30th March 2005 at 7pm. This exhibition displays an interesting and powerful selection of work from both Irish and international artists who come from varied artistic backgrounds. Individual and group work selected for this exhibition includes painting, print, photography and interactive installation pieces.

A major theme connecting this year's show is a re-working of the familiar, a focus on viewing and exploring something seen many times before from a new perspective. Many of the works reference popular media; books, film stills and advertising, the tone alternating from cheeky and playful to reflective and thought provoking. The work overall has a sense of grabbing a moment of thought and making this more tangible, inviting the viewer to reflect on the unseen and fleeting. However, possibly what connects these pieces most strongly is the unique personal vision of these emerging artists.

Leanne Hurley

Born in Berlin in 1975, Leanne has spent most of her life in Northern Ireland. Starting off as a journalist, Leanne has moved into art making, specialising in digital photography manipulation and self representation. Her work has sold internationally and can be viewed at www.leanehurley.co.nr

Carine Roth and Wendy Kaplan

Carine works primarily through photography and has exhibited throughout Europe. She currently resides in Switzerland. Wendy, who lives in New York has worked co-operatively on this piece which has been created especially for the 2005 ALAF exhibition.

Lisa Metherell

Lisa lives in Birmingham and was nominated for the Channel 5 Big Art Challenge in 2004. Speculate aims at calling attention to the act of looking and the agency and mediation of the viewers gaze. As an interactive piece, the viewer will gain a different perspective according to which tool s/he chooses to look through.

Susan Thomson

Susan is a Dublin-based artist, whose photomontage series is inspired by a 1950’s Home Doctor book which describes how to disinfect books for unwell patients who may want to borrow from the library. Themes of cleanliness and censorship run through this piece.

Dervella Mc Nee

Dervella is a Dublin-based artist and member of the Sculpture Society of Ireland. She has had exhibitions both at home and abroad, showing her work in the United States and throughout Ireland. A major theme to her work is an exploration of skeletal structures and how they interact with space.

Nikki Cranley

Nikki Cranley is a self-taught artist living and working in Dublin. She largely works with paint and collage. She has exhibited her work previously at ALAF.

'Would you look at us now!?’ | Belong to

‘Would you look at us now!?’ – is a self-portrait photographic collection from BeLonG To Youth Project. The work is from LGBTQ young people aged 14-23 who are involved in BeLonG To’s various groups. It is the result of two projects which explored self-image, sense of self and the creative needs of these young artists. The works are both individual and collective in nature. The process allowed those involved to focus on themselves and what they see when they look in the mirror, while the nature of self-portrait photography also meant that they involved others in imagining themselves (someone had to press the button!) and many of the images are the result of collaboration.

Digital media was not used in this work. As a result all the pieces you will see use more traditional techniques and involved a lot of climbing, makeup and crawling around the place! Young people decided to do this as they felt that by putting such effort into each photograph they would ensure that each one would be a very personal expression.

Belong To Youth Project was set-up in December 2002 to work with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) young people in Ireland. It supports and resources young people, aged 14 - 23, to actively participate in this project and in doing so to positively affect their lives. As such, it is the first and only project of its kind in the country.

BeLonG To provides one-to-one and group support for young people to allow them to safely engage with confidence building, personal development, peer support and making friends. It also affords young people a space where they can experience inclusion, acceptance, social justice, fun and safety.

We believe that youth work offers an ideal opportunity for LGBT youth to address their issues and concerns, while enabling them to participate as equal citizens in a society which would often deny their rights.