Window Text: People looking at people looking at paintings of people looking at paintings inspired by those people

The next in our series of window text commissions is People looking at people looking at paintings of people looking at paintings inspired by those people by Ella de Burca and Husk Bennett. Ten artists/writers were invited to create one page of text; a completely open brief. The texts range from dense, deeply personal accounts to bold slogans, personal, political, observations or a call to action, each capturing the different thoughts and feelings of the author. The texts have been designed by different artists and designers and printed in a risograph edition by Derry Print Workshop.

The texts are visible from CCA's windows, each for two weeks, as well as visible online here and distributed across our region. All ten will be available later in the year as a bundle edition available to buy from CCA's shop as a fundraiser.

People looking at people looking at paintings of people looking at paintings inspired by those people, 2022–24
Author: Ella de Burca
Designer: Husk Bennett
Printer: Derry Print Workshop
Risograph edition of 200

About the author & designer:

Ella de Búrca is a visual artist. She works through performance, sculpture and poetry, playing with how humans construct meaning, particularly from a female perspective. She is especially interested in how we perform as 'viewer,' and the discourse surrounding active versus passive experiences. Her work is usually site-specific and temporary. Her bold, large-scale sculptures could be mistaken for theatre sets, as she uses performance and the object to examine notions of hegemonic masculinity in Irish literature and culture.

Her work has been exhibited in Ireland and abroad, most notably a solo show ‘Flat as the Tongue Lies,’ at The University of California Irvine in 2018, a group exhibition Post Peace at Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, Germany 2017 and 'ReBuilding Utopia' at the Emergency Pavilion, 53rd Venice Biennale 2013. Her work has been supported by the Irish Arts Council, Fingal Coco, Laois Coco and Culture Ireland. In 2022 she received the Platform Award for Laois, and in 2016 she received the Next Generation Award from the Arts Council.

"This poem was inspired by Robert Ballagh's series of paintings People Looking at Paintings, which he worked on from 1972 to 1975. As part of my PhD research I wrote an essay speculating who these people might be, these well dressed people who are always looking away from us, towards the paintings. The trail of clues brought me to the violence that dominated Northern Ireland in the late '60s and 70s."

elladeburca.com | @elladeburca

Husk Bennett is a visual artist based in Belfast. His practice explores the complexities of a contemporary human experience. His work critically engages with the intersection of media saturation, ultra-modernity, and evolving definitions of labour within the contemporary late- stage capitalist landscape.

Husk's practice thrives on a dialectical tension between the accidental and the intentional; embracing elements of chance and serendipity as sources of inspiration. His approach reflects a critical awareness of the role of agency in artistic creation, acknowledging the interplay between the artist's intentions and the ludic nature of the creative process.

In 2020 Husk graduated from Manchester School of Art with a degree in Fine Art & Art History. Husk is a current Co-Director of Catalyst Arts (2022-24) and a founding member of The Glue Factory, a cross-border collective of 7 artists from Ireland. Husk has worked collaboratively with Array Collective, GUDSKUL and In October 2023 was commissioned to create a video provocation for a-n Assembly Belfast: Who Cares? In 2024 Husk undertook a residency with COVEN, a queer feminist art collective based in Berlin in collaboration with the University of Atypical and Flax Arts Studios.

@pilotinspektorlee

This project was made possible thanks to support from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Derry City & Strabane District Council and Art Fund.