Pittsburgh
Mattress Factory
The group exhibition “so it is,” curated by Belfast native John Carson, presented an impressive collection of installation work by seven artists from Northern Ireland. A practicing artist himself, Carson lived in Northern Ireland in the 1970s and ’80s during the Troubles. He drew on this experience while making his selections, choosing Ursula Burke, Willie Doherty, Rita Duffy, John Kindness, Locky Morris, Philip Napier, and Paul Seawright for their sensitivity to this volatile time of political and nationalistic conflict. Although the work here was not directly about the Troubles, it was nevertheless informed by suffering and pain. Entering the 1414 building, one stepped directly into Duffy’s The Souvenir Shop, an installation commemorating the 1916 Easter Rising. …see the entire review in the print version of October’s Sculpture magazine.
