Exhibition: Rhizomatic at the LAB Gallery

A time-based sculptural performance by Cecilia Bullo

On International Women’s Day, the LAB Gallery is delighted to present Rhizomatic, a performance by artist Cecilia Bullo in the CUBE space. This durational performance is taking place as part of Endlessnessnessness – a group exhibition curated by Julia Moustacchi featuring artists Cecilia Bullo, Ella Bertilsson and Hannah Ní Mhaonaigh.

On Friday 8 March, join the LAB outside the gallery at 6.30pm, on Foley Street and James Joyce Street, to attend Cecilia’s performance. This performance is a continuation of weekly performances by Cecilia Bullo that are happening in the CUBE space.

About the Performance

In these durational performances in the Cube Space, Cecilia Bullo explores material processes and the bodily act of making through self-defence and fighting techniques. Through embodying the character of a Luchadora and adopting a seemingly humorous persona, all while constrained by a power speed resistor – Bullo aims to symbolically bring attention to the daily struggles that women, gender minorities and differently-abled people face in their daily lives and their resilience. Luchadoras, who engage in Mexican wrestling, a sport that’s generally associated with machismo, often not only fight to support their families but also empower themselves in a patriarchal and violent environment, enhancing self-esteem and self-defence skills. Bullo aims to highlight contemporary “urban-feminine-fighters, challenging gendered violence and a patriarchal culture.

The artist also wants to celebrate the act of making, sculptural processes and challenges. The clay wall piece created during this process is inspired by aloe vera plants known for their healing properties and Bullo’s signifiers – unfolds during the exhibition, symbolizing coping mechanisms in urban society and referencing urban shamanism practices.

The sculptural plant constructions aim to address ecological emptiness in urban settings, offering an alternative relationship with nature, combating fragmentation and alienation, and promoting new rituals, the return of the feminine, the sacred, the maker, and alternative medical systems, fostering a public experience of empathic connection.

About the artist

Cecilia Bullo is a bicultural visual artist based between Dublin and Rome who makes sculptures and multimedia installations. Her practice is research-based and informed by historical, mythological, psychoanalytic and ecofeminist theories, creating a vital conceptual framework for her physical work. In particular, she is interested in material cultures relating to rituals of healing and transformation, including iconography and artefacts linked to cultural traditions, urban shamanism, and ecofeminism. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Art in sculpture from the Institute of Art, Design & Technology, (IADT) Dublin, Ireland, a Bachelor of Fine Art from the Brera Fine Art Academy, Milan, Italy and a Masters in Fine Art from the National College of Art & Design (NCAD), Dublin, Ireland. Cecilia was an awarded resident at Fire Station Artists’ Studios 2020–2023 and is a recipient of numerous awards from the Arts Council, Dublin City Council, Arts & Disability Ireland, Culture Ireland, Creative Ireland & Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. She is in collections belonging to the Arts Council, the Office of Public Works (OPW) and numerous private collections nationally and internationally.

You can view more of Cecila’s previous work, Being Haunted by the Breeze, Now How Will You Grow? and of her catalogue launch.

About the exhibition

Endlessnessnessness presents fictional worlds and landscapes drawn from mythological and urban stories. The multidisciplinary artworks presented explore enduring tales and legends, thus interrogating the concepts of eternality and ephemerality. The title hints at this line of inquiry, borrowing its neologism from Joyce in his own revisited mythical narrative, Ulysses.

This exhibition continues until 23 March 2024.

For more information visit the Dublin City Arts Office website here.

Photo credit: Clara McSweeney