Ailbhe Ní Bhriain is an Irish artist working with film, computer generated imagery, collage, tapestry, print and installation. Ní Bhriain's work is rooted in an exploration of imperial legacy, human displacement and the Anthropocene. These intertwined subjects are approached through an associative use of narrative and a painstakingly crafted visual language that verges on the surreal. She sidesteps directive positions and familiar binaries, exposing instead the layers of ambiguity and contradiction embedded in these fraught issues. The resulting worlds she creates are at once idiosyncratic, irresistible and deeply unsettling. Her work has been exhibited widely both nationally and internationally and regularly involves collaboration with musicians and composers.
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain lives and works in Cork.
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
Intrusions I, 2022
Jacquard tapestry, wool, cotton
edition of 5
250 x 290 cm / 98.4 x 114.2 in
installation view, Lyon Biennale (Photo: François Deladerrière)
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
Interval I, 2023
Jacquard tapestry, cotton, wool, silk, Lurex, edition of 3 + 2AP
295 x 396 cm / 116.1 x 155.9 in
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
Interval V, 2023
Jacquard tapestry, cotton, wool, silk, Lurex, edition of 3 + 2AP
294.5 x 454 cm / 115.9 x 178.7 in
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
Interval VI, 2023
Jacquard tapestry, cotton, wool, silk, Lurex, edition of 3 + 2AP
294.5 x 408 cm / 115.9 x 160.6 in
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
Intrusions I, 2022
Jacquard tapestry, wool, cotton
edition of 5 +2 AP
250 x 290 cm / 98.4 x 114.2 in
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
Intrusions II, 2022
Jacquard tapestry, wool, cotton
edition of 5 + 2 AP
250 x 425cm / 98.4 x 167.3 in
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
Intrusions III, 2022
Jacquard tapestry, wool, cotton
edition of 5 + 2 AP
250 x 235 cm / 98.4 x 92.5 in
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
Picture III, 2022
Pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag, in stained walnut frame with museum glass
edition of 3 + 2AP
142 x 90 cm / 55.9 x 35.4 in framed
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
The Muses I, 2018
Jacquard tapestry, wool, cotton
edition 5 + 2AP
212 x 165 cm / 83.5 x 65 in
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
Picture VII, 2022
Pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag, in stained walnut frame with museum glass
edition of 3 + 2AP
142 x 90 cm / 55.9 x 35.4 in framed
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
An Experiment with Time, 2022
Three channel film with surround sound, duration 19:02 mins
edition of 5 + 2AP
installation view, Lyon Biennale (Photo: François Deladerrière)
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
Untitled (still life), 2020
Pigment print on Japanese paper, in stained walnut frame with clarity glass, edition of 3 + 3AP
21 x 26 cm / 8.3 x 10.2 in framed
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
Inscriptions of an Immense Theatre, 2018
Single channel film with stereo sound, duration 33:09 mins
edition of 5 + 2AP
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
The Muses III, 2018/21
Pigment print on bamboo in a stained walnut frame with window mount and clarity glass, edition of 30 + 5AP
63 x 56.5 cm / 24.8 x 22.2 in framed
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain's work has been shown widely internationally, with exhibitions including Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin; Broad Museum, Michigan; Whitechapel Gallery, London; CCA, Glasgow; Hammer Museum, LA; Istanbul Modern, Turkey; Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid and the 16th Lyon Biennale. Recent exhibitions include Hollow Earth, curated by Hayward Gallery Touring, visiting Nottingham Contemporary and Glucksman Gallery, Cork; THIS RURAL, Lismore Castle Arts, Ireland and solo exhibitions at Domobaal Gallery, London and Kerlin Gallery, Dublin (all 2023). In 2024, Ní Bhriain will exhibit at Innsbruck International Biennial, Kunsthal Gent, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon and Lismore Castle Arts.
Public collections of her work include MAC Lyon; Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; Crawford Art Gallery, Cork; Trinity College Dublin; The Arts Council of Ireland; and Office of Public Works, Ireland.
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
manifesto of fragility, 2022
16th Lyon Biennale
Curated by Sam Bardaouil & Till Fellrath
Photo: François Deladerrière
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
Mountain Language, 2022
Galway Arts Centre, Galway, Ireland
Curated by Megs Morley
Photo: Tom Flanagan
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
An Experiment With Time, 2022
CCA, Glasgow, UK
Curated by Francis McKee & Alaya Ang
Photo: Ruth Clark
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
Living Canvas, 2022
Wilton Park, Dublin, Ireland
Curated by RHA, Dublin City Council and The Lab Gallery
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
Social Fabric, 2022
Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
Curated by Georgie Thompson
Photo: Ros Kavanagh
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
Towner International, 2020
Towner Eastbourne, Eastbourne, U.K
Selected by Mike Nelson, Polly Staple & Noelle Collins
Photo: Rob Hill
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
Great Good Places, 2019
Crawford Art Gallery, Cork, Ireland
Curated by Dawn Williams
Photo: Jed Niezgoda
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
Inscriptions of an Immense Theatre, 2019
Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
Curated by Clíodhna Shaffrey and Michael Hill
Photo: Kasia Kaminska
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
2116 - Forecast of the next century, 2017
Eli & Edyth Broad Art Museum, Michigan, USA
Curated by Caitlin Doherty, Fiona Kearney & Chris Clarke
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain discusses An Experiment with Time at CCA Glasgow, 2022
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain's two large-scale Jacquard tapestries Intrusions I and Intrusions II are included in Formes de la ruine, a major group exhibition at Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon.
Works by Dorothy Cross, Ailbhe Ní Bhriain, and Isabel Nolan are included in Following Threads, an exhibition of textile-based work at Crawford Art Gallery, Cork.
Samuel Laurence Cunnane and Ailbhe Ní Bhriain are both included in THIS RURAL, curated by Miriam O’Connor & Paul McAree.
Ailbhe Ní Bhriain was interviewed by John Kelly on RTÉ One’s culture series The Works Presents.
Work by Ailbhe Ní Bhriain is included in Hollow Earth: Art, Caves and The Subterranean Imaginary, a major thematic exhibition which brings together a wide range of responses to the image and idea of the cave.
