August 24, 2022 by Niamh

Tree Planter Workshop – FOR 觅 Gallery

Saturday August 20^th was a joy ! We had the first “Tree Planter workshop” for a range of young learners at For 觅 Gallery at Grasse Town, Tongzhou.

We discovered some information about the resilience of the Gingko leaf having withstood polluted air erupting from volcanoes at the time of the dinosaurs, these trees are now often a choice for town planners all over the world for city roads. We learned how it was propagated first in China over a thousand years ago then spread throughout Asia and the rest of the world .

Other origami leaves we made included the pear leaf and a double leaf.

Some young people were very adventurous and tried versions of their own design. The dead crabapple tree ( donated by the Beijing Forestry association ) was brought back to life with a variety of leaves.

The second part of the workshop “My Forest” was a collaborative construction of various kinds of trees , we learned how monoculture of the same tree type cannot support biodiversity of other plants and insects . “My Forest” was packed with various trees of all types with strange insects and surprising animals. We also looked at the idea that oxygen gets recycled again and again and the possibility of the air that we breathe is 4 million years of Forest Breath .

The energy of being in a room full of young people concentrating on their work was invigorating, the diversity of paths they choose matched the diversity in the forest they made. Some children thought they had finished early and walked away but came back for another 20 minutes of work. There is a joy in being with people when they create new and unexpected things , when they discuss what they want to do and their decisions, whether they are young learners or seasoned professors , it always feels like a special moment.

Huge thanks to the organizers of this workshop

Little Maupassant Cup International Art Union

and gallerist Peng Chun Hui of FOR 觅 gallery

Because of this workshop, in early October I will go to Changping to plant a number of trees , which I will document in a future blog .

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A big thank you to my translators Wang Haoning (Summer) workshop 1 and my son Fionn Cunningham Clifford for workshop 2

Workshop 2 (August 27th ) was a delight with mostly very young learners yet still wonderfully talented

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Previous workshop in 2019

July 1, 2022 by Niamh

月亮之约——夏日展览，通州

《被困的明亮树枝》 蔗糖混合媒材，直径40cm，Niamh Cunningham 倪芙瑞莲 2018

Click Here for English
衷心感谢艺术家/策展人吕美邀请我参加这次五位艺术家共同参与的展览，也十分感谢FOR觅艺术空间主理人庞春慧。非常感谢一同参展的各位艺术家同行陈庆庆、秦秀娟、吕美和张戈。

这是一个令人愉快的下午，在很长一段时间减少出行居家办公之后，很高兴能与这么多新老朋友相谈甚欢。

展览概况链接《月亮之约》

参展艺术家: 陈庆庆，秦秀娟，吕美，张戈，倪芙瑞莲-Niamh

媒体链接 2

几幅蔗糖系列作品在本次展览中展出.

地球之柱-奥林匹克公园，蔗糖系列 40 x 30cm Niamh Cunningham 倪芙瑞莲 2018

元大都城墙遗址公,蔗糖系列 40 x 30cm Niamh Cunningham 倪芙瑞莲 2018

迷雾露珠——武侯祠蔗糖系列 100 x 50cm Niamh Cunningham 倪芙瑞莲 2018

蔗糖系列

蔗糖系列作品通过一系列过程和材料的运用，探索失去与改造。在创作过程中对作品画面多次干预，探索材料本身的物理性质如何推动了改变的进程。有些干预如同缝补画面，“烧掉”表面的数字图像，添加色彩，改变的过程当然也包括糖的结晶所产生的影响。艺术家完成了“蔗糖绘画”之后，结晶过程有可能持续使画面发生变化，擦除。画面的自然风景和环境取材于城市中的公园绿地，这些地方强烈地吸引着艺术家(这些地方包括她家附近的奥林匹克森林公园，她曾参加划龙舟训练的后海)。她的作品反映了我们生活中存在的张力，来自于转变和摧毁、建设与解构的过程对我们的塑造。

版纳漩涡 Niamh Cunningham 倪芙·瑞莲布面丙烯 120x100cm 2021

版纳林冠 Niamh Cunningham 倪芙·瑞莲布面丙烯 100x120cm 2021

参展作品除了蔗糖系列之外，还有两幅“森林的呼吸”布上绘画，这两件作品是在去年云南西双版纳在地艺术项目中创作的。

本次展览也是装置“种树”首次展出，这是一个社会生态艺术实践，旨在向公众宣传植树并用来支持当地植树项目。展览中使用的海棠树由昌平的北京林学会捐赠。这棵树整个夏季结出的“果实”将捐赠给北京林学会种树项目。

策展人吕美向媒体介绍“种树”

纸做成的树

这棵海棠树由北京林学会捐赠，它所结的“果实”将捐赠给植树项目。树上的叶子是折纸做成，花是用一元人民币纸币做的。

“种树”使用流通中越来越少出现的纸币，以此促进人们对物质世界的觉察。所有物质都有物理持久性，其中一些物质，比如水可以改变其物理状态，变成冰或者蒸汽。就像水一样，实物的现金也具有转化能力，在这个项目中，纸币的物理形态将转化为即将种下的小树苗……在这里，纸用来种树。

更多相关阅读请点击链接摇钱树的传说

非常感谢通州格拉斯小镇的FOR觅艺术空间。展览将在夏天持续整整两个月。如果您对“种树”工作坊感兴趣请与我联系。

June 26, 2022 by Niamh

Moon Covenant – Summer exhibition in Tongzhou

‘Bright stick trapped’ sucrose mixed media, 40 cm diam Niamh Cunningham 倪芙瑞莲 2018

Click here for 简单中文

A big thank you to artist/curator Mei Lu for inviting me to this five artist exhibition and also to gallerist Hui Peng Chun of For Mi Gallery and to fellow participating artists including Chen Qingqing, Xiujuan Qin, Mei Lu ,Ge Zhang.

It was a really pleasant afternoon connecting with people, old and new friends after a long spell of isolation.

Opening Reception *Moon Covenant* June 2022

Link to the overview with details of the five participating artists Moon Covenant Media Link 1

Chen QingQing, Xiujuan Qin, Mei Lu, Ge Zhang and Niamh

Media Link 2

Several of the sucrose works are exhibited at this venue.

Pillars of the Earth OP , sucrose series mixed media oval 40 x 30cm Niamh Cunningham 2018

Yuan Dadu Relics Park canal , sucrose series mixed media oval 40 x 30cm Niamh Cunningham 2018

Foggy Dew- Wu Hou Ci. (武侯祠) sucrose series 100 x 50cm Niamh Cunningham 2021

The sucrose series explores loss and reclamation through process and materiality. It involves a sequence of multiple interventions and explores how the physical matter itself can continue to push the creation event. Some of the interventions include sewing, ‘burning off’ the digital image from the surface, adding colour and of course the crystalisation process of sugar. Once the artist has stopped working on ‘sugar painting’ the process of crystalisation may continue to transform and obliterate. The imagery itself is of nature and the environment in urban park areas for which the artist has a strong affinity. (These places include areas around Beijing such as Olympic Park where she lives next door to and Hou Hai where she used to train in dragon boat racing) Her paintings reflect the tensions we experience in lives which are shaped by the processes of transformation and obliteration .

Banna Vortex Niamh Cunningham 倪芙。瑞莲 acrylic on canvas 100x120cm 2021

Banna Overstory Niamh Cunningham 倪芙。瑞莲 acrylic on canvas 100x120cm 2021

Apart from the Sucrose work there are also two “Forest Breath” paintings on canvas which were made last year during an artist residency in Xishuangbana, Yunnan.

This exhibition is also the first time to show “Tree Planter” which is a socio eco practice aiming to inform the public and support local tree planting initiatives . The crab apple tree used here was donated by the Beijing Forestry Society in Changping and the “fruits” it yIelds over the Summer will be donated to their tree planting program.

Curator Mei Lu talking about “Tree Planter” to media.

Paper Makes Trees

This Crab Apple Tree was donated by Beijing Forestry Society, the “fruits” that it yields will be donated to tree planting programs. The leaves are made from origami leaves and flowers made of one yuan bills.

Tree Planter uses a bank note that is decreasingly being used in circulation to raise awareness of our material world. All material matter has a physical permanance although some matter such as water can change its state for example to ice or steam . Like water, physical cash also has transformative power and in this case the physicality of paper notes will be transformed into planting new saplings. .. paper is used to grow trees.

Read this link for ancient folklore on money trees.

Many thanks to the gallery “For觅 “ in Grasse Town Tongzhou . The exhibition runs throughout the Summer for another two months. Please contact me if you would like to participate in the Tree Planter workshop.

March 20, 2022 by Niamh

Sisterhood and Remembering Eva Gore-Booth (1870-1926) at the Embassy of Ireland in Beijing

Eva Gore-Booth exhibition at the Embassy of Ireland Beijing

Eva Gore- Booth was poet and playwright, suffragist, workers’ rights campaigner, social revolutionary, pacifist and lesser-known sister of Countess Constance Markievicz, born in Lissadell County Sligo 150 years ago.

Ambassador Dr Ann Derwin with guests on March 8th 2022

After Ambassador Dr Ann Derwin addressed the network event I was asked to speak about artworks on exhibition at the embassy and their relation to the story of Eva Gore-Booth. The artworks were originally part of a larger exhibition which took place at the Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI).

The exhibition was curated by the Hamilton Gallery , Sligo, Ireland .

A complete reference for the exhibition can be found on this link

https://hamiltongallery.ie/eva-gore-booth

Many thanks to Jiali Luo for translating the speech and poetry.

Eva Gore Booth identified herself as Irish and Breffny was the medieval kingdom that stretched from her home Lissadell beach .

Some lines from the poem “The little waves of Breffny”

The great waves of the Atlantic sweep storming on their way

Shining green and silver with the hidden herring shoal

But the little waves of Breffny have drenched my heart in spray

And the little waves of Breffny go stumbling through my soul.

She lived life in service to working women, she defended textile mill workers, barmaids, attendants in hotels, florists , women working as tub pullers outside the mines, gymnasts and circus performers , all whose jobs were threatened either because of alleged moral grounds or other reasons.

She famously said “The laws of gravity apply to men and women alike”. Which brings us to the circus.

Little Evie’s Circus Dreams by Gillard Medbh

You can see Mebh Gillard’s playful work called “Little Evies Circus Dreams” reminds me of Eva Gore-Booth’s work for circus performers. There are leopards , zebra and an acrobat. Eva Gore-Booth was an animal lover and also a strict vegetarian .

Pit Brow Lasses by Catherine Mac Conville

The work titled Pit Brow Lasses refers to when Eva Gore-Booth went to work as a tub puller at the mines to show that a woman could do this work.

Emma Stroude Bring Us On by Emma Stroude

Emma Stroude’s work shows factory workers in Manchester

Other works signal elements of the textile industry.

Martha Quinn’s striking but simple marble and gold work titled ‘Loom ‘

From Eva Gore-Booth’s poem The Weaver I can imagine the rhythms of work at the loom and also notions of time passing.

“I followed the slow plough for hours and hours

Minding through sun and shower the loom of life.”

Those gold lines upon the marble also suggests imprisonment which her sister Constance experienced numerous times because of her nationalist activities.

Staying with the textile industry Sue Morris embroidery called ”Sex is an Accident “ hints at the mills and textile industry and calls for gender equality.

Other artworks focus on Eva Gore-Booth’s poetry

The beautiful monochrome work by Sorca O Farrell matched with the exquisite line from the poem “the Dreamer “

“… all night I stumble through fields of light “.

Two Ladies by Betty Brown shows the two sisters on horseback.

Seeing the two sisters with horses and also Roper in the background reminds me of a special incident in Manchester where all three women were defending the Barmaid issue 1908 before a local election. They were campaigning against Churchill who was against many working rights for women.

Eva Gore-Booth organized a striking coach with four white horses driven around Manchester two days before local election. Markievicz came from Ireland to Manchester and was at the whip driving. After arriving at a fixed point Gore Booth and Roper stood on top of the coach roof to give a rousing speech on Clause 20 of the Licensing bill which threatened the work of Barmaids. One anecdote was recorded at a meeting later, a man in the crowd shouted “Can you cook a dinner Countess?” To which she answered “Certainly , can you ride a coach and four?”

Churchill was surprised to be defeated in that local election

Eva Gore-Booth also studied Greek and Latin and in the last three years of her life she translated the entire gospel of John. She reinterpreted the language used to pin point inaccuracies which guide toward patriarchal dominance and female exclusion in society.

Both Gore-Booth and Ester Roper worked hard in presenting Sappho’s work in a socially romantic context.

Life that is Love is God by Eileen Mac Donagh

In another work, a white marble work , the Greek words from the poet Sappho “Life that is Love is God” The artist Eileen Mac Donagh says that the flesh coloured streak refers to EGB as as a woman passionate in all things.

Speaking at the International Women’s Day event

Recommended reading “Eva Gore Booth- An image of such politics” by Sonja Tiernan.

Link

Blazing a Trail: Lives and Legacies of Irish Diaspora Women

January 19, 2022 by Niamh

Peoples’ Portraits for Patient Focussed Research

简单中文

Very pleased to recently install 39 portraits in a working environment at the EBM (Evidence Based Medicine) Centre , School of Medicine at Tsinghua University, Beijing.，

Main Conference Room

Entrance to EBM Centre

Nurse Liu Yan’s Office

The portraits have been good companions in my studio over the years and reminders of different projects in China over the past decade. Some of the portraits are of artists , curators , students, friends and family.

A big thank you to the people working at EBM, Nurse Yan Liu and Dr Liang for being so helpful and accommodating during installation.

A special thank you to Professor Daniel Porter Director of the EBM centre.

There will be a special reception for this installation after the Winter Olympics. If you are interested in joining us please let me know.

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Link to previous document on Portrait Series

Exhibition History

Since 2013 I have exhibited parts of the Portrait Series in more than twenty two exhibitions around China with a couple of exhibitions outside China.

2022 People’s Portraits The EBM Centre ，Tsinghua Intelligent Health Care Research Building Beijing

2021 Her Name – Existence Peninsula Art Museum, Weihai, Shandong, July

2021 The Second Step (mini solo) Joy Beans Space, Jiu Longtou hutong, BJ June

2020 The Pattern that Connects, duo show , Dong Yue Art Museum Beijing Oct

2019 China Ireland at MUSEu&m, Expo park , Shanghai, Nov

2019 Gobi Heaven Art Festival Inner Mongolia, Aug

2019 Bloomsday Irish Embassy in Beijing, June

2019 Carpe Diem Granary Art Centre，SiShui County, Shandong, May -June

2019 Beyond the Form of Art Wick Art Centre , Budapest , Hungary, April-May

2019 Odyssey the Return Dong Yue Art Museum, BJ April

2018 Mortgaged Time Red Gate Gallery 798，Beijing, April

2017 International Visual Art Hunan Exhibition Mezzi Master, Changsha, Hunan, Dec

2017 Art:Gwangju:17 Gwangju art fair，South Korea, September

2016 The Painted Thread， Joy Pavillion, CBD , Beijing September

2016 Visual – Female Exhibition Dahua 1935 Xi’an

2016 International Representational and Abstract Art Jiujiang Jiangxi, January

2015 Recombination and Gene Mutation– 1^st International Biennial of Contemporary Art University of Inner Mongolia，Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, December

2015 Red and Green- International Female Art Exhibition Ningbo City Cultural Centre March -April

2014 An Eastward Calling (solo) Dong Yue Art Museum, Beijing

2014 Convergence Irish Wave 2014 C3 Art Space 798

2013 Women L’ eau Art Shanghai M 50 Moganshan Rd, Shanghai， March

2013 Baby Baby Irish Centre Shanghai, Central Plaza,

The milk coloured portraits of young students were first exhibited for an Irish Wave Exhibition in Shanghai in 2013. This group of portraits are called “Transparent Milk Series” which began in November 2012.

2015 Recombination and Gene Mutation– 1^st International Biennial of Contemporary Art University of Inner Mongolia, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, December

2016 The Painted Thread，Joy Pavillion, CBD , Beijing September

2019 Carpe Diem Granary Art Centre，SiShui County, Shandong, May -June

2019 China Ireland at MUSEu&m, Expo park , Shanghai, November

2019 Odyssey the Return Dong Yue Art Museum, BJ April

2021 Her Name – Existence Peninsula Art Museum, Weihai, Shandong, July

October 21, 2021 by Niamh

水域的汇合——大运河

For English Click here

很多年来，水路一直吸引着我。十九年前，我在迪拜开始画港湾（Al Khor）系列。当十一年前来到北京时，我继续描绘这些流动管线，北京的运河现在已经成为公园和休闲区域的一部分，为城市居民提供休息和恢复活力的场地。

运河边漫步——北京元大都遗址公园 180x200cm 油画颜料擦涂 Niamh Cunningham 倪芙瑞莲2021

2021年8月，我在附近的通州度过了12天的时间，参与大运河艺术交流绘画驻地项目。

杭州——北京大运河是世界上最长的人工水道。它始建于2000多年前，将粮食经水路从南方运到北方的首都，大运河在13世纪达到它的巅峰时期，连接了包括黄河和长江在内的五个水域。

通州，Art Park 15层，驻地工作室空间

在驻地项目期间，我与云南大学的高翔教授共用一个大的高层工作室。我们工作强度很大，彼此保持空间与安静，除了吃饭的时候，高教授分享了很多想法、见解和故事。

我为这个项目所做的两件作品是完全不同的，运河边漫步——元大都遗址公园是布面油画颜料涂擦。我每年画两幅油画，直到消耗掉之前的材料。这样缓慢的退出对我的绘画实践而言是一个漫长而悲伤的告别，但它最终将被丙烯、混合媒材和新介质所取代。

水域的汇合 180x200cm 丙烯 Niamh Cunningham 倪芙瑞莲2021

《水域的汇合》描绘的是驻地工作室窗外的风景，在那里著名的燃灯塔修建于公元6世纪。它是往来驳船的地标，这样人们就知道他们的目的地就在附近。

周六在新光大中心美术馆开幕式上，与中央美术学院院长范迪安和北京大学艺术学院院长彭锋愉快交谈

非常感谢让此次驻地项目成为如此宝贵经历的人们，感谢钟苏菲和彭飞先生、北京通州区文化旅游局、德瑞奥文化传媒、范迪安院长、彭锋院长、新光大中心Art Park 9 15层的女孩们张佳妮和李莉，她们在驻地项目期间早早开门很晚关门、AK、華雨，还有高翔教授在整个驻地艺术项目期间的相伴、也十分感谢周六开幕式和驻地项目开始时结识的各位艺术家。

参展艺术家：

范迪安、高翔、井士剑、康蕾，李爱国、李睦、丘挺、王克举、王巍、薛雷、徐卫国、向阳、余旭鸿、郑路、张路江、张新权、安娜·卡基米娜 (俄罗斯)、比奥·巴雷拉（哥伦比亚）、雅各伯（意大利）、伊瑞（捷克）、米卡(德国)、倪芙·瑞莲（爱尔兰）、莎莉 (巴拿马)、山地（西班牙）、白伟 (波兰)

以上排名不分先后、按姓名首字母拼音排序。

媒体报道上线后我将在此添加链接。

October 19, 2021 by Niamh

The Meeting of the Waters -The Hangzhou-Beijing Grand Canal

简体中文

For decades, waterways have fascinated me. Nineteen years ago I began painting the Al Khor series in Dubai. When I arrived in Beijing eleven years ago I continued to paint these fluid conduits , the canals in Beijing are now part of parks and recreation areas offering places of rest and rejuvenation to residents of the city.

Canal Bank Walk – Yuan Dadu Relics park Beijing 180x200cm oil pigment rubbing Niamh Cunningham 倪芙瑞莲2021

Residency Studio space , 15^th floor of Art Park , Tongzhou

In August 2021 I spent twelve days in neighbouring Tongzhou on a painting residency for the Grand Canal Project .

The Hangzhou Beijing Grand canal is the longest man made waterway in the world. Originally built over 2,000 years ago, bringing grain from the south to the capital in the north , it reached its peak in the 13^th century connecting five river basins including the Yellow river and the Yangtze.

Residency Studio space , 15^th floor of Art Park , Tongzhou

During the residency I shared a large highrise studio space with Prof Gao Xiang from Yunnan University. We worked quite intensively , allowing each other space and quiet until meal times where he shared many thoughts, insights and stories .

The two works I made for this project are quite different, Canal Bank Walk- Yuan Dadu Relics park is oil pigment rubbing with cloth. I allow myself two oil paintings every year until I have finished my supplies. This slow phasing out is a long sad goodbye in terms of my painting practice but it will be eventually replaced with acrylic , mixed media and new media.

The Meeting of the Waters 180x200cm acrylic Niamh Cunningham 倪芙瑞莲2021

The Meeting of the Waters is the view outside the residency studio window where the famous Randeng Pagoda tower built in the 500’s stands . It served as a landmark for barges so people knew after a very long journey their destination was near.

Enjoying a chat with Fan Di’an President of CAFA (Central Academy of Arts) and Peng Feng (Dean of Arts Peking University) during the opening at XinGuangDa Musuem on Saturday

A huge thank you to people who made this residency such a valuable experience , to Sophie Zhong and Mr Peng Fei of Deiruiao Culture Media , Beijing Tongzhou bureau of Culture and Tourism and Beijing Deruiao Culture Media, to academicians FanD’ian and Peng Feng , to the girls张佳妮 Zhang Jiani and LiLi李莉 on the 15^th floor of Art Park 9 who kindly opened early and closed late during the residency, to AK and to Rainie (華雨) to Prof Gao Xiang for his great company throughout the residency , also for the great company of fellow artists whom I got to know on Saturday’s opening and at the beginning of the residency

Participating artists include:

Fan di’an, Gao Xiang, Jing Shijian, Kang Lei， Li Aiguo , Li Mu, Qiu Ting, Wang Keju, Wang Wei, Xue Lei, Xu WeiGuo, Xiang Yang, Yuxu Hong, Zheng Lu, Zhang Lujiang , Zhang Xinquan, Anna Kazmina, Fabio Barrera, Jacopo della ragione, Jiri Straka, Mica, Niamh Cunningham , Sally , Santiago Barrio, Wieslaw Borkowski Jr.

I will attach media links here once they become available

July 12, 2021 by Niamh

Working with DNA as an art material -Hair Lock and Hair Skull showing in ‘ Linear’ at LangKong, 798 -July2021

Hair Skull，artists hair, Niamh Cunningham 瑞莲 2013

简体中文

The exhibition Linear is currently showing at LangKong art Museum(朗空美术馆) in 798 (situated 3 doors away from Red Gate gallery )

The Hair Skull has not been exhibited in 798 since 2013 so if you are in 798 please come along, you can also see the Hair Lock. These are works made over 7 years ago. The Hair lock was exhibited in New York (2015) and Taipei (2016) with the Intimate Transgressions project.

Hair Lock, artist’s hair, Niamh Cunningham 2015

Working with DNA as an art material :

Physically knitting your own genomic material is a very contemplative process. Each strand is tested for strength, elasticity and tensility before being selected for specific sections of the sculpture. The white hairs are strong and tensile and suspend the skull with ease. The coloured hair is soft but elastic and resilient.

All perceptions are acts of interpretation:

Being able to see through own genome and acknowledging it as your “coded” self as well as your personal story or experience, this screen of transparent knitted hair frames your world view. Holding on to the idea that it is my perception, acknowledging my referenced life (family traits and other things that are contained in my genome) and personal experience, this is what is framing my view of the world.

Consciousness is controlled hallucinations:

This is an interesting soundbite worth looking into. We know now that green red and yellow colours are not objective properties of objects in the world, they are just attributes of reflected light. And as the brain works out calculations of wavelengths of light it determines what colour something is. So we don’t even passively receive colour from the world but we actively attribute it to things in the world.

Neuro scientist Anil Seth talks about controlled hallucinations as being our consciousness and says it is not just our perceptions of the outside world but also ourselves, our memory, everything we perceive is a construction. According to Seth instead of perception depending largely on signals coming into the brain from the outside world, it depends as much, if not more, on perceptual predictions flowing in the opposite direction. We don’t just passively perceive the world. We actively generate it. The world we experience comes as much, if not more, from the inside out as from the outside in.

Hair Skull, artists hair, Niamh Cunningham 2013

Cultural perception and our ecological crisis:

This brings us back to our ecological crisis. How can we change our perspective and ways of relating to ‘life’ as a planetary process. Developing a cultural ability to see our actions and the changes we can make, to view this from a systemic perspective would be a good goal. I believe culture and the arts have a vital role in shifting these norms of perception to positive changes in consumer choice which will leading to new industries and economies which are actually sustainable.

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Many thanks to curator Chang Feng, whom I have known many years and for whom I have the highest respect. Also to director Li Zheng 李征 of Langkong Art Museum and all the hardworking team involved in ‘Linear’ .

Opening of ‘Linear’ at Langkong art Musuem 798 on Sat 10^th July 2021

Linear will be exhibited till Jul 30th. There are amazing works showing by these artists ,

阿德里亚·彼得斯Adrian Peters（德国）\阿莲娜Alëna Olasyuk（乌克兰）\比尔·彭伯恩Bill Pangburn (美国) \陈澈Chen Che \高风Gao Feng \张丹Zhang Dan \李家瑞Li Jiarui \李沅Li Yuan \邵维春Shao Weichun \卢琳Lu Lin \王世龙Wang Shilong \王琪Wang Qi \夏国Xia Guo \杨志凌Yang Zhiling \张庭群Zhang Tingqun \张泓Zhang Hong \冉启泉Ran Qiquan \ 李永庚Li Yonggeng \ 吉苏•金Gisoo Kim（德国） \ 丁文尧Ding Wenyao \何红云He Hongyun（德国）\瑞莲Niamh Cunningham（爱尔兰）\刘水洋Liu Shuiyang\奥罗拉·诺雷纳·佛朗哥Aurora Noreña（墨西哥）\青木健二Kenji Aoki（JAPAN/USA）\陈学刚Chen Xuegang.

At the opening on Saturday it was great to see old friends from projects years ago such as

张庭群Zhang Tingqun

I first met Zhang Tingqun at an exhibition in Ordos, Zhang’s focus on the line is tantamount to his control of the brush.

李家瑞Li Jiarui

Over the years I often bumped into Li JiaRui on different projects in Qingdao , Ordos and even the Gobi Dessert ! His supersaturated infusions of line and motion create space and time yet to be imagined.

陈学刚Chen Xue Gang

I first met video artist Chen Xue Gang on the train to Hohot in 2015 for an exhibition . I remember his GIFS and our conversation back then. His current video work is a delightful morphing of human form .

杨志凌Yang Zhiling

I met Yang Zhiling a few years ago on a special visit to his impressive studio.

陈澈Chen Che

This week I have found a new friend in Chen Che whose interests also strongly interweave fragmentation with nature. He has great English and kindly helped me with translation during speech time.

阿莲娜Alëna Olasyuk

Olasyuk takes penmanship to a different level, my personal favourites are her black works which defeat the limits of the paper surface.

王琪Wang Qi

There are many more participating artists I am looking forward to getting to know .

‘Linear’ will run till July 30^th at Langkong Art Museum in 798 , Beijing , it will then tour other cities such as Shenyang, Chengdu and Shanghai. Please click on the links for a more detailed overview of this exhibition.

To see an overall view of the artworks by these artists please click on the links

Link 1 https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/LDdm7QCVhqhEmKZFikABvA

Link 2 http://www.ym-china.com/zhanhuizixun/5787.html

June 12, 2021 by Niamh

All Things Bright – June 10th

On Thursday the exhibition “All things Bright- The Beauty of Biodiversity ” a global sustainable Art Initiative was held in the Shangrila Hotel hosted by Golden Bee. It ran parallel to the International CSR symposium.

Foggy Dew – Wukou Si Sucrose Series mixed media 100x50cm Niamh Cunningham 瑞莲2020

The Sucrose Series is a mixed media series which focusses on carefully selected nature photographic images which are then subjected to various ‘interventions” . These interventions represent the manmade interventions we have imposed on our planet since the industrial revolution. Following a process of multiple steps of intervention including sewing and printing on cotton, the ink is partially lifted from the surface into the sugar mixture, often Chinese water-colour is added, these pigments move in a state of flux as the sugar mixture crystalizes and so the painting continues its process in the following months and even years. The Sucrose Series involves not just the original artwork but many process images which document the changes that has occur over many months or even years . Some of these images from the different stages during the transformative crystalisation process reveal interesting happenings that also reflect the positive and negative feedbacks which happen to our biosphere . It is this complex network of events which are difficult to isolate and attribute as direct consequence of a single action. This artwork has been shown on my blog a collection of tree stories called “Memory Palace of Trees ” in 2020 . This is a socio eco practice where the public is invited to share tree stories. This year tree stories are submitted in the format of one minute videos.

Willow Ice, process print Sucrose Series UV print on Aluminium composite, 120×160 cm Niamh Cunningham 2020

with some of the participating artists including WangHainan 王海南，Jing Yumin 景于民， Gu Liming 顾黎明，myself,瑞莲 Michael St Amand , Zhang Meng 张锰，Mr Zhuang (CEO) 庄先生，Liu Yue 刘悦

A sincere thank you to Mr Zhuang of Golden Bee , a global sustainable art initiative , also to Liu Yue and ShiYan and those further afield

List of Participating Artists

景育民 Jingyumin

王小杰 WangXiaojie

刘悦 Liuyue

郑靖 Zheng Jing

张锰 Zhang Meng

艾娜。莱姆 Anna Laimu

张帆 Zhangfan

米卡。库恩

Niko de la Faye

周是麟 Zhoushilin

郑岱 Zheng Dai

顾黎明 Gu Liming

何杉 HeShan

Niamh Cunningham 瑞莲

CROW

吕智张 Lv ZhiZhang

王海南 Wang hai nan

于扬 Yu Yang

韦冬 Wei Dong

Munkh Erdene

Michael St Amand

李超 Li Chao

Urlike Arnold

Victor van Keuren

June 10, 2021 by Niamh

The Second Step- portraits have a Summer in Hou Hai

The Second Step is a collection of eighteen of my portraits showing at JoyBeans Space in Jiu Longtou Hutong . I am delighted to have the portraits reach new audiences in this hutong space near the lakes of Hou Hai.

There are portraits downstairs and upstairs.

Thank you to those who came to our little gathering on Sunday June 6th . A big thank you to curator Jacopo Della Ragione for putting it all together with panache and also to Will 陈宇威 one of the architects who runs the space.

It was a great chance to meet old friends and meet new ones too.

Special thanks to Ambassador Anne Derwin and her husband Joe for dropping by during their busy schedule, the Ambassador asked questions about every portrait!

The coffee space is nearby the Prince Gong Mansions and other interesting residences. It is nearby the area I used to train on the lakes and so I am also hoping my old buddies from Dragon Boat training will pop by .

The work is showing until August 8th .