Curated by Sara Greavu for Project Arts Centre in 2023, Kian Benson Bailes evolving exhibition of new work arrives at Mermaid Arts Centre in a new iteration.

Comprising sculpture, digital & material collage, musical instruments, ceramics, textiles, woodwork, and live sculptural sound elements. Culchie boy, I love you / Grá mo chroí thú, mo chábóigín féin references Irish folklore, mythology, and craft traditions in an exuberant expression of rural queer experience.

The exhibition is accompanied by a new poem by Annemarie Ní Churreáin, prented as a limited edition Riso print designed by The First 47.

Kian Benson Bailes is an Irish artist residing in the northwest of Ireland. His multifaceted practice explores rural Ireland, visual language and identity. Other recent exhibitions include Matters of Table, Gorey School of Art, Wexford (2023), and Hashtag WIP, Roscommon Arts Centre (2023).

Annemarie Ní Churreáin is a poet from the Donegal Gaeltacht, Ireland. Her books include Bloodroot (Doire Press, 2017), Town (The Salvage Press, 2018) and The Poison Glen (The Gallery Press, 2021). She is a recipient of the Irish Arts Council’s Next Generation Artist Award and a co-recipient of The Markievicz Award. Ní Churreáin has held literary fellowships in the U.S. and throughout Europe. She was the 2022-23 Decades of Centenaries Artist in Residence at Donegal County Archives. Ní Churreáin is the Poetry Editor at The Stinging Fly Magazine.

kianbensonbailes.com