Irene O'Callaghan
‘‘‘Cradle’s pictures’’’
Waiting rooms, De Pijp, Amsterdam
8 May 2012 from noon on

 

 

The seemingly simple storyline of Cradle’s pictures is based on the everyday life of 5 characters; 5 objects inhabiting a room and the ways they interact. Through the use of simplistic language and a comical use of metaphor the book addresses broad societal issues and how individuals co-exist. The conscious life of the protagonists starts as soon as the person that lives in the room leaves the space. The only human involved in the book introduces 'coincidence' into the lives of the objects, depending on how this person places them, at the end of each day they are faced with a new context and have to perpetually deal with unexpected situations and neighbours. In the work, Image and text suport each other and make the whole. The story forgrounds the key issues of understanding; exploring how difficult it is to put oneself in someone else's shoes. 

 

Images: Cradle's pictures, short storybook, 2012

More about IRENE O'CALLAGHAN

Irene’s work is mainly photography, drawings and short stories, though she doesn’t want to limit her practice to certain media. The coincidence or the accident is something the artist is fascinated with in life in general and this element is always present in her work. One way or another, asking; how do we deal with the unexpected? Her stories and works are at their core an exploration of the complexity of human relations and psychology. We are all the same and so drastically diverse at the same time. Irene aims to enforce her vision on the beholder, more than explaining her understanding of the world. She is interested in art and art history but it never inspires her work. Moreover, she wishes she'd never have to deal with what she has done before and refuses to reflect on whether her work is art or not. Good stories and storytellers are what is important.

Irene O'Callaghan (1988, Spain) lives and works in Amsterdam. She currently studies M.A. Fine Arts at The Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam. She studied minor Esthetics at the University of Amsterdam and holds a B.A. in Photography from Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam. She has recently participated in a number of group exhibitions including Eindexamens Fotografie 2011, een selectie, Amsterdams Centrum voor Fotografie, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2011); This Is Not An Office Party, Mediamatic, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2011); Teenage Magazines, Foam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2011); Selected Material From A Photographic Laboratory, Subbacultcha, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2011); and Foto Folgen, Galerie Der HFBK, Hamburg, Germany (2010).