Talk & Exhibition
Irish Arts Center presents “The Map,” a monumental textile sculpture by Irish artists Alice Maher and Rachel Fallon, commissioned by Maolíosa Boyle for “The Magdalene Series” at Rua Red Gallery, Dublin, Ireland. “The Map” will be installed in IAC’s state-of-the-art flexible performance space with an accompanying sound installation. On Friday, September 6, IAC hosts an artist talk with both artists, a viewing of the work, and reception.
As an exhibition program, “The Magdalene Series” sought to consider the historical and cultural figure of Mary Magdalene as a powerful motif for varying explorations of language, agency, colonialism, and institutionalization.
The artists particular exploration of this theme led to the creation of a monumental textile sculpture, “The Map” (6.50m x 4m), sewn, hand embroidered and painted by both Alice and Rachel over a three-year period.
They approached the subject through the lens of the “mappa mundi,” in which the elements of the cartographer’s practice are used as a device to imagine and re-imagine the life, legacy and mythology of the Magdalene and its impact on women’s lives, through an Irish but also universal lens. “The Map” traces an historical, mythological and future cosmology that is open and fluid and full of possibility.
Irish Arts Center is a home for artists and audiences of all backgrounds who share a passion or appreciation for the evolving arts and culture of contemporary Ireland and Irish America. We present, develop, and celebrate work from established and emerging artists across visual arts, theatre, dance, music and more, providing audiences with emotionally and intellectually engaging experiences in an environment of Irish hospitality. In a historic partnership of the people of Ireland and New York, Irish Arts Center recently completed construction on a fully-funded $60MM state-of-the-art new facility to support this mission for the 21st century.