Buttercup – solo exhibition at Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh

13 April – 29 June 2024

Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh, Co. Cork, Ireland

The exhibition Buttercup features a new film of the same title, consisting of a voice-over attempting to describe and comprehend a childhood photograph. This family photograph, which recurs throughout, depicts a girl wearing a Communion dress with her father and her pet cow, Buttercup, in a field. The film is both a memoir and a formal experiment. The narrator approaches the photograph repeatedly, and through her ongoing rumination, unfolds entangled relationships of human and animal, agriculture and art making, mothering and domestication, care and violence.

The film is realised in collaboration with David Donohoe, Helena Gouveia Monteiro, Elaine Lillian Joseph, Daniel Hughes and disabled consultants. The film is presented on two screens through a looped sequence alternating between captioned and audio-described versions, made with Hughes and Joseph. These differing sensory translations are accessible for all visitors. The exhibition also features a sculptural piece, Safelight, which functions in the gallery as a darkroom light, and suggests both a heating lamp for newborn animals and a Sacred Heart, attending to experiences of danger, perception and exposure.

Browne has invited writer Sarah Hayden to respond to Buttercup. Hayden’s contribution, as if […] wearing anklesocks, forms a distinct text that is interdependent with the film, intended to be heard in the air or read on the page, and is presented as a performance accompanying the exhibition. The publication is produced by Kunstverein Aughrim.

Buttercup is commissioned by Sirius Arts Centre and realised with funding from the Arts Council's Arts and Disability Connect Scheme managed by Arts & Disability Ireland. The exhibition is curated by Miguel Amado.

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