Ailbhe Ní Bhriain

Ailbhe Ní Bhriain (b. 1978, Clare, Ireland) is an Irish artist working with film, computer-generated imagery, collage, tapestry, print and installation. Ní Bhriain’s work is rooted in an exploration of imperial legacy, human displacement and the Anthropocene. These intertwined subjects are approached through an associative use of narrative and a deeply crafted visual language that verges on the surreal. She sidesteps directive positions and familiar binaries, exposing instead the layers of ambiguity and contradiction embedded in these fraught issues. The resulting worlds she creates are at once idiosyncratic, irresistible and unsettling. Her work has been exhibited widely both nationally and internationally and regularly involves collaboration with musicians and composers.

Ailbhe Ní Bhriain’s work has been shown widely internationally, at venues including Broad Museum, Michigan; Whitechapel Gallery, London; Hammer Museum, LA; Istanbul Modern, Turkey; Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid; Innsbruck International Biennial, Austria; Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, France; the Lahore Biennale and the 16th Lyon Biennale. Current and forthcoming exhibitions include The Dream Pool Intervals, Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin, Ireland (Solo, 27 March – 28 September); Lismore Castle Arts, Co Waterford, Ireland (Solo, 14 June – 10 August); Programmed Universes, MAC Lyon, France (Group, 7 March – 13 July). Recent solo exhibitions include Kunsthal Gent, Belgium (2024); Kerlin Gallery (2023); and CCA Glasgow (2022). Public collections include Dallas Museum of Art; MAC Lyon; the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; Crawford Art Gallery, Cork; Trinity College Dublin; and The Arts Council of Ireland.