Alex Synge

Delighted to have journeyed through rocky terrain over the last two years with dear friend and longtime collaborator Kate Strain as she has laid the foundation for Kunstverein Aughrim which launches on Sunday at noon. So many brilliant people have come together to make this happen and to bring Kate’s mad and brilliant ideas to life. More to follow! @kunstverein_aughrim @forerunner_studio @richgilligan @artscouncilireland #kunstverein #kunstvereinaughrim

Cover design for the just-published Queer Spaces: An Atlas of LGBTQIA+ Places and Stories edited by Adam Nathaniel Furman and Joshua Mardell. Including 90+ historic, contemporary and speculative examples from around the world, it recognises LGBTQIA+ life past and present as strong, vibrant, vigorous, and worthy of its own place in history. Looking forward, it suggests visions of what form these spaces may take in the future to continue uplifting queer lives. Delighted to have been a part of this brilliant and important book. Many thanks to Adam and Joshua, and to Jane, Clare and Caroline at RIBA. Typeface: Obviously by @ohnotypeco #queerspaces #ribabooks @riba @adamnathanielfurman @poshuamard3ll #queerhistory

GATHER by Niamh O’Malley, published by Temple Bar Gallery + Studios to coincide with the opening of Niamh O’Malley’s exhibition, Gather, at La Biennale di Venezia in April 2022. This visual document and object augments O’Malley’s exhibition with new images and writings, including commissioned responsive texts by Brian Dillon, Lizzie Lloyd and Eimear McBride. The book also includes contributions from Niamh O'Malley and the Temple Bar Gallery + Studios Curatorial Team, Clíodhna Shaffrey and Michael Hill. Essays in English and Italian with translations by Aurelia di Meo. Photography by Ros Kavanagh, screen printed with gloss UV varnish. Printed with immense care by Die Keure in Belgium. Paperback 192pp | 240 x 170 mm ISBN: 978-1-3999-1875-6 @omalleyniamh @m___hill #cliodhnashaffrey @irelandatvenice @templebargalleryandstudios @labiennale @cultureireland @artscouncilireland @roskavanagh @diekeureprinting #irelandatvenice #irelandatvenice2022

🍉🍉🍉 Myself and @phillipmccrilly have refreshed a collaborative print we made in 2020 for @irelandprintsforpeace All proceeds will be donated to UNRWA In light of the current atrocities in Palestine a number of artists in Ireland are running a print sale in an effort to raise funds for UNRWA – United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. The sale runs till 31st March. We have 4 designs to choose from – 1 message, in 2 languages and 2 colourways – a watermelon sunset and the original colourway from the 2020 edition. Prints come in 2 sizes – A4 and A3 – and are printed on archival paper by the lovely people at Inspirational Arts. They are priced at: A4 – €€60 A3 – €100 + Postage All proceeds go to UNWRA after production costs. Please note that the edition will be printed in April once the sale has ended. Please DM me with your full name, address and the print/size you want. Payments will made via PayPal or Revolut. THANK YOU! #irelandprintsforpeace #ceasefirenow

Centrefold from Dorothy Cross's KINSHIP booklet that we worked on last year – together with Maeve-Ann Austen – to announce the work. KINSHIP is a large-scale project by the artist that centres around the act of returning a mummified body of a man to Egypt. Kinship is this journey but also its documentation, which has already begun. It will be multifaceted, the story told through film, writing, photography, music and exhibition, so that its curiosities and coincidences can continue to inspire. KINSHIP is an attempt to look at the modern day tragedy of displacement and migration where millions of people are dying in an attempt to escape war and famine. Lots more to come next year 𓀿 𓁁 @dorothy_cross

Buildings End An Ultimology Drafting Room An exhibition at the Irish Architectural Archive, 14 Sept. – 18 Oct. 2023 by Fiona Hallinan, Ellen Rowley and Kate Strain Buildings End. But they do not expire. Their life cycle is not contingent on a ‘best-before’. Buildings are elastic and material. They can decompose. They are often forced to end. What do we do with ‘out of use’ and ‘out of time’ buildings that remain standing, in semi-occupation or fallow? How can we incorporate an awareness of the ‘architectural end of life’, right from the beginning? In this temporary Ultimology drafting room at the Irish Architectural Archive, we take the subject of architecture that is at risk of demolition or degradation to create a space of attention for this phenomenon. A central artwork by Fiona Hallinan, composed of the rubble of a recently demolished Finglas Church, houses fragments of research by architectural historian Ellen Rowley, that can be accessed and explored as tools for learning and conversation. Three categories of 'at risk' buildings are presented, which according to architectural historian Ellen Rowley, are too young or recent to be of historical significance, yet too old to be functional or relevant in the early 21st century. The buildings most susceptible to obsolescence in 2020s Ireland are office buildings from c.1950 to c.1980, (older-than-50 years) housing blocks, and large scale 1950s and 1960s Catholic churches. 📸: Faoán Carey @faolancares @fink_ @kunstverein_aughrim #ellenrowley @irisharchitecturalarchive

Poster for Reflex Blue – a group show currently open at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios in Dublin. The exhibition brings together the individual practices of Lyndon Barrois Jr., Elisa Giardina Papa, and Léann Herlihy. All three artists use language and image-making to disrupt ways of understanding and communication that are supposedly universal. Each artist’s work explores the cultural impact of images and their relationship to storytelling and technology. Using formatting, modification, compositing and erasure, their work seizes instances of multiplicity and mystery. Responding to themes of the exhibition, we designed and printed a small riso print poster, scanned it and blew it up, reprinted it, recoloured the scan and printed the window vinyl in CMYK. The process was a direct result of the impossibility of reproducing Pantone Reflex Blue in CMYK printing, and overall just making a feature out of the discrepancies in gamuts and the inherent qualities of the different printing and display techniques. Thanks to @m___hill for a fun collaboration and to @damnfineprint for the printing 💙 @templebargalleryandstudios #templebargalleryandstuidos

Delighted to have the Dublin Art Book Fair 2022 identity among 3 of my design projects selected for @100archive 2022 💯 Dublin Art Book Fair is a centre for artist books, and champions creative, independent publishers, both Irish and international. It presents a curated selection of books on art, design, visual culture, philosophy, architecture, select fiction and poetry. The twelfth edition of Dublin Art Book Fair was guest curated by Rosie Lynch – Creative Director of Workhouse Union in Kilkenny. Her theme, A Caring Matter, was explored through the books themselves and an eleven-day programme of talks, events and workshops. At the crux was the idea of care, considered in poetic and imminent ways through the role of formal and informal publishing, and how we build communities of solidarity and belonging to how we care for our buildings and towns. Lynch’s programme put care at the centre of how we think about society, our environment, how we work, live and make art. Graphically, the identity took inspiration from a more everyday presence of care – the stencilled 'Handle with care' lettering that often adorns boxes and other packing materials. The base colour palette of ecru and brown played off the tapestry work of artist Marielle MacLeman that hung in the space during the fair – but a bold deep pink was also introduced to add some vibrance and punch in advertising and other promotional materials. A set of three tote bags were produced for the fair, as well as bookmarks and a large-scale wall poster showing the programme of events. Big thanks as ever to Órla and all at @templebargalleryandstudios for the opportunity to collaborate on one of my favourite events of the year. Books are magic! 📸: Event photos by @mariamaarbjerg & printed matter by @m___hill Type by @sm.foundry and @abcdinamo in the details

A fun one working on the graphic design for Culchie boy, I love you / Grá mo chroí thú, mo chábóigín féin – a new exhibition from @kianbensonbailes comprising sculpture, digital & material collage, musical instruments, ceramics, textiles, woodwork, and live sculptural sound elements. I've seen snippets and it's wild and beautiful. Curated by @saragreavu the exhibition at @projectartscentre opens next Thursday 22 June, 18:00-20:00 – all welcome. The exhibition is accompanied by a commissioned essay by @iarlaith_nifheorais Typeface: PicNic by @mariel.nils #velvetyne_type_foundry #kianbensonbailes #projectartscentre

Exhibition identity for Diana Copperwhite’s ‘Onomatopoeia’ which is currently on show at Highlanes Gallery in Drogheda. Curated by Aoife Ruane, the exhibition is presented as a national tour, enabled by an Arts Council Touring Award, and continues to Limerick City Gallery of Art in April, and Galway International Arts Festival in July. 📷 @roskavanagh @dianacopperwhite @highlanesgallery @artscouncilireland @limerickcitygallery @galwayintarts #dianacopperwhite

'Try Lizzie Borden: Derry Film and Video Workshop & distribution beyond the Broadcast Ban’ by Isobel Harbison considers feminist networks of knowledge and solidarity that connect us across space and time One of two publications commissioned by @projectartscentre in conjunction with their exhibition 'Open the book at a different page: Derry Film and Video Workshop' and launched alongside the seminar 'Tapes Under the Bed', a one-day international seminar comprising of talks, screenings and panel discussions exploring how to best preserve endangered film and video archives from the 1980s onward that took place at @tudublin_artanddesign in November 2022. 'Tapes Under the Bed' was curated by Dr. Isobel Harbison @isobel.harbison , Lecturer, Department of Art, Goldsmiths, University of London and Sara Greavu @saragreavu , Curator, Project Art Centre, Dublin, and was convened in partnership with IMMA @immaireland and The School of Art and Design, Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) @tudublin_artanddesign Exhibition co-commissioned with @evainternational Thank you @saragreavu ! #lizzieborden #derryfilmandvideoworkshop

‘Joy Gerrard: Precarious Freedom: Crowds, Flags, Barriers’ – a new publication about @joygerrard ’s art and recent touring exhibition of the same name. ⁠ ⁠ Featuring texts by curator and director of Highlanes Gallery @aoiferuanehg , and the curators and writers #IngridSwenson and @ekoweshun , the book is published by @highlanesgallery ⁠ Precarious Freedom was an exhibition by Gerrard that featured a series of drawings and paintings made during 2020 and 2021 and large-scale installation works, including Barrier, a free standing eight-metre-long painting and Dark Europe, for which Gerrard stripped the colour from all 27 national flags in the European Union. The show toured from Highlanes Gallery to @galwayintarts and @butlergallery , Kilkenny. Photography by @roskavanagh , with contributions from @photosbysi and @emjcamera Printed by the wonderful @grafiche_veneziane who also provided these photos of the book Supported by @artscouncilireland ⁠ Cover and headings are set in Carrie, a typeface designed by Tré Seals at @vocaltype.co . On 23 October 1915, over 25,000 women marched up Fifth Avenue in New York City to advocate for women’s suffrage. The parade – the largest to be held in the city until that time – was led by skilled political strategist, suffragist, and peace activist, Carrie Chapman Catt. She was an American women's suffrage leader who campaigned for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave U.S. women the right to vote in 1920. Catt served as president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and was the founder of the League of Women Voters and the International Alliance of Women. She led an army of voteless women in 1919 to pressure Congress to pass the constitutional amendment giving them the right to vote and convinced state legislatures to ratify it in 1920 and was one of the best-known women in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century. The design of this typeface is based on the letterforms featured on banners and placards from this march in 1915. Thank you Joy! #joygerrard