Launched as part of the Open Call 2024, the NCAD Gallery presents the paired student art practice of Arlo Graham and Nicole Holbrook.

Exhibition Walkthrough: Wednesday 20 March 2024, 1:15-1:45pm

Join the NCAD Sculpture & Expanded Practice final year students Arlo Graham & Nicole Holbrook on a walk-through of the exhibition and public discussion on their work. No booking required, all are welcome.

Workshop ~ Collective Weaving: Friday 29 March 2024, 1:15-1:45pm
Join Graham Holbrook in the NCAD Gallery for their collective weaving workshop. Bring and weave your own materials into a shared artwork in a social setting. No booking required, all are welcome.

The NCAD Gallery is delighted to present Horizontalius ~ an installation by Graham Holbrook-the paired student art practice of Arlo Graham and Nicole Holbrook, running 14—29 March, 2024, 11AM—6PM, NCAD Gallery.

Horizontalism describes a perceiving of the self as a part of a wider collective social group – with an equitable distribution of management power, cognisant of the fact that all collective members are on a level pegging. Graham Holbrook considers this concept in contrast to their own lived experiences – in describing a dominant societal structure to be hierarchical and vertical. Where the balance of power seemingly lies with the few in positions of authority, charged with overseeing the decision-making processes affecting the many.

The artists describe their work in terms of shedding light on the consequences of concentrated wealth and power, questioning exclusionary practices and the hoarding of resources. Through installation-making, the artists orient this thinking by employing a trope of materiality and physicality of exhausted bodies, in placemaking for dialogue, to depict the effects of globalisation and Neoliberalism, with a particular concern for the ongoing national housing crisis.

The gallery space, inscribed with the presence and absence of exhausted bodies serves as a visceral manifestation of the toll exacted by socioeconomic inequalities, pushing persons seeking protection to their limits in pursuit of basic necessities like shelter. This exhaustion speaks to the physical and emotional strain of uncertainty and to the psychological burdens placed onto inhabitants. Graham Holbrook posits the ideology of horizontal collectivism in creating a more inclusive and democratic society – with values based on collaboration and a shared leadership unified through cooperation and care.