The Crystal Palace | Breezeblock, Sydney

Image 1: Installation view. Image 2: The Crystal Palace, detail. Image 3: Crystal trinket. Image 4: Crystal Teapot Lid. Image 5: Crystal woodworm damaged wood. Image 6: Science boot polish. Image 7: Crystal Science boot polish.

 

Erected in Hyde Park, London, the Crystal Palace housed some 100,000 objects relating to culture and industry from 15,000 International contributors for the Great Exhibition of 1851. It was destroyed by fire in 1936.

In The Crystal Palace a series of objects collected from a ruined mansion in Ireland are housed behind glass in the gallery at Breezeblock, addressing both the site’s relationship to the 19th century arcade-like structure, and the overlapping semiotics of exhibition and shop displays. Exposed to a physically transformative process these crystallised objects are akin to the processes by which monuments or relics are historicised, memorialised and mythologised.

 

Breezeblock is a project space for curators and artists located in Kings Cross, Sydney, currently operating from an unoccupied ‘For Lease’ retail space courtesy of Ian Hayson and The Hayson Group.

http://breezeblock.com.au/

Info

Biography

Linda Shevlin has curated, facilitated and managed both large and small-scale visual arts projects including the 53rd Venice Biennale where she was project manager for the representative artists Gareth Kennedy & Sarah Browne and is Tulca Festival curator for 2018.

In 2017 she was the invited curator for the Hennessy Art Fund, purchasing new works for the IMMA collection and also curated the visual art programme for Bealtaine Festival 2017/2018 where she developed projects, commissions, residencies & exhibitions. with numerous Irish artists including Vivienne Dick, Kathy Prendergast, Kevin Gaffney, Pauline Cummins and Frances Mezzetti.

In 2016 she curated Radical Actions at RMIT Galleries, Melbourne as part of Culture Ireland’s 2016 International Programme ‘I Am Ireland’. The exhibition featured works by Duncan Campbell, Jesse Jones, Kennedy Browne and Seamus Nolan.

Other recent independent curatorial projects include Americana: Future Rural featuring John Gerrard (IE), Brian Duggan (IE), Kim Shively (USA) and M12 Studio (USA) at The Dock, Leitrim and Amharc Fhine Gall X commissioning Ella de Búrca, Ruth Clinton and Niamh Morriarty.

She has been awarded the Arts Council of Ireland’s Visual Arts Curatorial Residency award for three consecutive years (2013 – 2016) and in that time has produced a series of events and exhibitions in County Roscommon including newly commissioned works by Maria McKinney (IE) and Sean Lynch (IE); public art projects by Sean Rafferty (AUS), Ruth E. Lyons (IE) and Deirdre O’Mahony (IE), exhibitions by Martin Parr (UK), Duncan Campbell (IE) & Eamon O’Kane (IE) and a symposium titled The Workers with contributions from Adam Sutherland of Grizedale Arts (UK) & M12 Collective (USA) among others.

Shevlin is currently curator in residence with Roscommon Arts Centre & Solstice Arts Centre.

Contact

Linda Shevlin
Tivanagh School
Cloonloo
Boyle
Co. Roscommon
Ireland
 
linda@lindashevlin.com
+353 86 605 2571
+353  71 966 4606