Amanda Coogan is one of the most exciting contemporary visual artists practicing in the arena of Performance Art. She is at the forefront of some of the most exciting and prolific durational performances to date. Her extraordinary work is challenging, provocative and always visually stimulating. Her expertise lies in her ability to condense an idea to its very essence and communicate it through her body.

Her work often begins with her own body and challenges the expectations of the contexts, such as head banging to Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’, and signing the lyrics to Gill Scott-

Heron’s ‘The Revolution will not be Televised’. Coogan’s recent practice has been concentrating on the longitudinal durational performance presented as living installation in the

 gallery. This durational aspect invites elements of chaos, with the unknown and unpredicted erupting dynamically through her live artworks.

West Cork Arts Centre builds on a number of collaborations with Amanda Coogan including Performance Event, 2004 and The Yellow Mountain, 2009. Linking to the BA in Visual Art Programme on Sherkin Island and with Cork-based contemporary dancer and choreographer, Inma Pavon, Amanda has developed a series of durational performance events as part of the exhibition. These will build and develop over 6 days of live performance on Thursday 24, Friday 25, Saturday 26 and Tuesday 29, Wednesday 30 and Thursday 31 March from 12 noon to 4.45pm each day. This is a unique opportunity to experience exceptional live performance that is ambitious, complex and demanding.

Published jointly by Limerick City Gallery of Art, Royal Hibernian Academy and West Cork Arts Centre, the publication, "I'll sing you a song from around the town" visually documents Coogan's and her collaborators' performances of six pieces at the RHA Gallery in the Autumn of 2015. Six writers were commissioned to respond to their experience of one of each piece performed. Authors included are Brenda O'Connell, EL Putnam, Liz Burns, Jennifer Fitzgibbon, Helen Carey and Luz Mar González-Arias.

Programme of Events
Amanda Coogan: I'll sing you a song from around the town

Performance Events

...more than any other artist, [Amanda Coogan] has managed to convince the Irish art audience that performance art can be accessible, involving and meaningful. Aidan Dunne

Integral to, and a core part of the exhibition, the performances will develop and build over six days:

Thursday 24 March          12 noon to 4.45pm

Amanda Coogan

Friday 25 March                12 noon to 4.45pm

Amanda Coogan, Inma Pavon, Ben Townsend

Saturday 26 March (Easter Saturday)      12 noon to 4.45pm

Amanda Coogan, Inma Pavon, Ben Townsend

Tuesday 29 March           12 noon to 4.45pm

Amanda Coogan, Inma Pavon, students from the BA Visual Art Degree Programme, Sherkin Island

Wednesday 30 March    12 noon to 4.45pm

Amanda Coogan, Inma Pavon, students from the BA Visual Art Degree Programme, Sherkin Island

Thursday 31 March          12 noon to 4.45pm

Amanda Coogan, Inma Pavon, students from the BA Visual Art Degree Programme, Sherkin Island

The lived encounter between performer and audience generates an energy that is unlike any other experience... in a culture of relentless instantaneity and compression, extreme duration, a slowing-down and extension of time

 is key. If you’ve been wary of performance art, this could be the opportunity to take the plunge. Aidan Dunne

I'll sing you a song from around the town Discovery Box

A self directed gallery resource for parents and their children to explore the exhibition created by artist Toma McCullim, the Discovery Box is located on the 1st floor mezzanine, is free of charge and available throughout the run of the exhibition.

Listening to Art on Friday 18 March at 2.00pm
An experimental kinaesthetic experience which invites members of the public to join Dancer in Residence Tara Brandel in her Lime Green performance to improvise and interact with the artwork in the gallery.

Slow Art Day on Saturday 9 April at 12 noon

Artist and gallery educator Alison Cronin facilitates a slow tour of the exhibition for Slow Art Day, an international event that encourages gallery visitors to slow down and spend time with artwork.