Fire Station Artists Studios Is Pleased to Announce That We Will Be Launching an Artists

Fire Station Live/Work Exchange 2013

Left: Acme Studios Fire Station, London, E 14. Right: Fire Station Artists’ Studios, Dublin 1.

Fire Station Artists’ Studios is pleased to announce that we will be launching our first artists’ exchange programme in July 2013 with Acme Studios in London. Fire Station artist Maria McKinney was selected to take part in this exchange and will take up residence in Acme’s Studios in East London in July. In tandem Acme artist Sue Corke was selected by Fire Station Artists Studios and shealong with her collaborator Hagen Betzweiser will take up residence in Dublin for the month of July.

This exchange provides a rent-free work/live space for one month, travel costs and a stipend to cover living expenses. In addition both Fire Station and Acme Studios will provide curatorial support and networking opportunities to the artists.

Sue Corke (UK) and Hagen Betzweiser (Germany) have collaborated since 2008 under the name ‘WE COLONISED THE MOON’. Their graphic art and installation projects explore and gaps and connections between art and science, employing a range of DIY production techniques rooted in absurdism and theatrical performance. While in Dublin they will be working on an ongoing project titled FLOAT which draws on experiments into sensory isolation and neutral buoyancy as well as making connections with the Dublin art scene.

While in London Maria McKinney intends to research a body of work that considers the ritual aspect of recreation where she intends to research the tapestries that depict epic clashes from history, as well as the intricate patterns found in Islamic and Indian textiles, held in collections in London’s V&A and BritishMuseum. In addition Maria will have the opportunity to connect to the London art scene though Acme’s support.

We are pleased to be partnering with Acme Studios in London on this live/work exchange as part of Fire Station’s ongoing programme of support to professional visual artists in Ireland. Fire Station recognises the importance of providing greater international networking and residency opportunities for Irish artists and this is an area we are committed to developing in the coming years.

We look forward to developing greater links with Acme Studios over the coming years through this exchange programme. Founded in 1972, Acme supports over 600 visual artists and manages 477 studios and 12 buildings across London. Acme’s live and work programme at the Fire Station in East London is one of the most directly supportive schemes for artists in the United Kingdom, providing combined live and work space at subsidised rents for a period of five years.

For further information on this exchange contact Liz Burns: Arts Programme Manager, Fire Station Artists’ Studios, Dublin 1, Ireland. Email: . Tel: 00353 (0)1 8069012

Fire Station Artists’ Studios gratefully acknowledges the support of the Arts Council, Ireland.