Miriam de Búrca
Noblesse Oblige features over 25 new works exploring the legacies of systems of coercion, exploitation and extraction in Europe and the US. It includes a series of new drawings about burial sites in Ireland designated for those considered ‘unsuitable’ for consecrated ground, and glass works made using an historic artform of etching into gilded gold leaf, depicting contemporary landscapes devastated by ecological disasters and recently toppled imperial statues. These themes raise questions about our need, as individuals and nations, to confront the consequences of unhindered institutional power that is now more destructive than ever.
Noblesse Oblige, a nineteenth-century French expression, refers to the obligation of the upper classes to perform duties that the disadvantaged could not. In a contemporary context, de Búrca uses this title to highlight the responsibility of those born into privilege to examine the lineage of their social and economic advantage over others, calling them to action to restore balance.
"I take inspiration from reportage that bears witness to events signifying the current state of systemic and ecological turmoil. Representing these moments from within the aesthetic and material confines of verre églomisé – an artform that harks back to the very power structures that have brought us to this point of existential reckoning – I am joining in the call to confront this legacy, and ultimately to prompt discussion about where we want to take things from here.” Miriam de Búrca.
For a complete preview of works in the exhibition please contact [email protected].
Film: Noblesse Oblige
Film: Noblesse Oblige
To register your interest in the new works please contact [email protected].
Film: Cillín Samples
Film: Cillín Samples
About the artist
About the artist
Miriam de Búrca is an Irish artist who grew up between the west of Ireland, Austria and Germany. She studied Fine Art at Glasgow School of Art and the University of Ulster, Belfast, where she was commended with an Award of Excellence for her practice-based PhD in 2010.
Her works are in private and public collections including the Arts Council of Northern Ireland; Arts Council of Ireland; the British Museum; the Mead Gallery at University of Warwick, Coventry; National University of Ireland Galway; and Glucksman Gallery at University College Cork.