Recipient of 2011/2012 Temple Bar Gallery + Studios Curator/Critic’s Studio Award announced.

Temple Bar Gallery + Studios is pleased to announce the recipient of its Curator/Critic’s studio award for 2011/12. Following an open call and a panel selection process, curator and artist Paul McAree was selected to take up occupancy of studio 27 at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios from 1st June.

Each year, Temple Bar Gallery and Studios allocates one of its project studios for specific and dedicated use by a visual art curator(s) and/or art writer(s) to support the research, planning and development of new creative projects in the subsequent year. Applications are invited from curators and art critic/writer(s) who are actively engaged with contemporary visual art culture Ireland and internationally. The Curator/Art Writer’s Studio is set-up to support independent curators and art writers in extending their enquiry and research into the contemporary visual art culture.

In 2010/11 the award was given to Mary Cremin and Aoife Tunney, two independent curators who have contributed greatly to the exhibition programme at TBG+S over the past year as members of the new curatorial panel. TBG+S wishes to thank Aoife Tunney and Mary Cremin for their contribution over the past year and welcomes Paul McAree to the organisation.

Paul McAree is an artist and curator. He is founder of Flood Dublin (www.flooddublin.com), a contemporary art project in Dublin city, which has commissioned new works from artists including Theresa Nanigian, Flávia Müller Medeiros and Terry Atkinson. Flood aims to develop its presence in Dublin city, building on its commitment to present artworks in alternative ways, from printed projects to organising exhibitions in temporary locations. McAree is also currently Exhibitions & Events Coordinator for Lismore Castle Arts, Co Waterford. He was co-founder and curator of Colony Gallery in Birmingham, which ran from 2005 – 2008, curating several key international and Irish artists including Terry Atkinson, Simon & Tom Bloor, Amanda Coogan, Nevan Lahart, and Flavia Muller Medeiros. Colony Gallery also commissioned a parallel programme of texts from artists and curators including Amanda Beech, Mark Hutchinson and Paul O’Neill. Additionally, McAree was Project Manager for 'Breaking Ground' the Ballymun per cent for art programme from 2005 to 2010, coordinating projects such as Seamus Nolan’s Hotel Ballymun, Kevin Atherton, Cecily Brennan, and John Byrne. He also worked at Tate Modern London and Ikon Gallery Birmingham.

Curatorially McAree is interested in ideas around the autonomy of an artwork and the viewers relationship with a work. He employs curatorial strategies such as architectural interventions to disrupt the ground between the viewer, the artwork and the gallery. McAree exhibits regularly, producing work from paintings to dense installations, increasingly incorporating audio work. Current research investigates the juxtaposition of painting and other media in an attempt to contest the idea of 'meaning it', and the relationship between making and interpretation.