Cabinet No.5: Brian Duggan: A cause for concern, but not alarm

Brian Duggan concerns himself with more or less dramatic events in crisis, in a prosaic, subtle, but no less disconcerting way. He examines situations both pre and post events where things do not work out as planned.

In “A cause for concern, but not alarm” Brian Duggan will present a new body of work made of marble, quartz and limestone. The specific elements of the show are inspired by the engineering plans and fully functioning aspirational graphics of the reactors in Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima. The spirit of Sellafield, the reactor closest to Ireland across the Irish Sea in the UK, holds an unexpected domestic presence within the installation. Sellafield was responsible for turning the Irish Sea into one of the most radioactive bodies of water in the world with planned, yet undisclosed radioactive emissions over many years. Sellafield is now being decommissioned and most of the site is classified as nuclear waste.

Duggan’s work is deeply historical and political. On many occasions, only one seemingly unspectacular piece of evidence or a lead, such as a story, a photograph or a letter, initiate careful research into the subject matter only to find ways into a new installation, video, or performance.  His installations and film work are inhabited by dichotomies of here and there, past and present, social and political. A certain theatricality is always intended. Most often, it results in humorous work that simultaneously makes statements about art, the overlooked individual, and society.

Irish artist Brian Duggan (b. 1971) lives and works in Dublin. Currently, he holds a residency in the programme ‘Art and Science’ at University College Dublin (UCD). Selected solo exhibitions include the Crawford Gallery, Cork; ISCP International Studio Curatorial Programme, New York; Dublin City Gallery the Hugh Lane; Limerick City Gallery of Art; and Visual, Carlow and Project, Dublin (June/August 2016).