The necessity of ruins brings together for the first time three related film works by Irish artist Gavin Murphy.

Opening Celebration: Thursday 28 March, 6-8pm

Something New Under the Sun (2012) considers the social and cultural relevance of a demolished modernist factory building and the work of its chief designer, Oliver P. Bernard. Double Movement (2017) traces the political, architectural, and civic contexts of Dublin’s central bus station, Busáras, and its basement theatre the Eblana, which staged plays ranging from highly popular revues to experimental works, portraying subjects which were taboo in the Ireland of the time, such as contraception, homosexuality, and criticism of the Catholic Church. Finally, Remaking the Crust of the Earth (2023) looks at glass in its myriad guises, through the lens of Australian-born architect of Irish descent Raymond McGrath.

Gavin Murphy is a Dublin-based artist and curator with an interest in research, cultural sites and histories. Solo exhibitions include Irish Architectural Archive, 2023; Temple Bar Gallery & Studios, 2017; Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin (2014); Royal Hibernian Academy (2012); ICAN, Sydney, and Conical, Melbourne (2009). Group exhibitions include Lewis Glucksman Gallery, Cork (2015), Aesthetica Art Prize, York (2015), Les Rencontres Internationales, Paris (2014) & Berlin (2015), BOZAR, Brussels, (2013). As joint artistic director of Pallas Projects/Studios, he has devised and realised numerous projects and programmes, and writes, advocates and conducts research on artist-run practice. He was co-curator of Dubliners, Biennial of Painting, Zagreb, Croatia (2022), and joint-editor of the publication Artist-Run Europe: Practice/Projects/Spaces (Onomatopee, 2016).

The necessity of ruins (Films 2012—2023) is supported through funding by Culture Ireland, and the Arts Council of Ireland.