Now that Outhouse has reopened its doors to the public, the centre plans to make the walls of its centre an LGBTQ+ Exhibition Space so that people can enjoy the wealth of artistic talent in the LGBTQ+ community in Ireland. 

In August, artist Martin McCann returned to Outhouse to showcase paintings from his new collection that he worked on over lockdown, after his successful ‘Summer Songs’ exhibition in Outhouse for Culture Night 2019. This Culture Night, Outhouse was delighted to welcome Eva O’Donovan’s Chrysalis collection, presenting powerful portraits featuring members of the Transfeminine and broader TENI community. In advance of Outhouse’s annual fundraising art auction Arthouse, taking place in November 2021, the centre will hang various pieces that have been donated so that people can view some before they bid in the auction. Finally, in December, Francis Fay’s Queering the Landscape exhibition will be exhibited until the end of the year. 

Martin McCann’s debut exhibition ‘Summer Songs’, was a huge success as part of Culture Night 2019 at Outhouse. ‘Summer Songs’ featured a collection of 15 framed works depicting various scenes that hold a particular meaning relating to his daily life in the city. Surrounded and befriended for decades by influential graphic designers, photographers and painters, his own visual explorations have been triggered by his love of abstraction, history, and his own background. His love for the written word, music and performance leads to a translation of these emotive elements through the medium of affecting visual images. Utilising acrylics and oils, collage, soft pastel and cold wax medium, expression is the key element in his art. Outhouse was delighted to welcome him back to the LGBTQ+ Exhibition Space in August this year – his colourful and abstract paintings brought warmth and vitality to the newly reopened centre. 

Eva O’Donovan’ Chrysalis collection was hung in the centre just in time for Culture Night 2021. In an attempt to redress the lack of visibility of those identifying as Transfeminine in the visual arts and portraiture, in particular, the artist collaborated with Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) to find subjects for the Chrysalis series. The artist and sitters aim to promote Positive Visibility and the rights of trans people (and their families) by presenting a collection of powerful portraits featuring members of the Transfeminine and broader TENI community. O’Donovan originally took photographs of the subjects while sitting in Outhouse and she worked closely with the participants featured in the paintings with their input being key to the success of the project. O’Donovan feels it very fitting that the collection is now hanging on the walls of Outhouse as this is where she first met all the subjects and where they felt safe.  The Chrysalis collection will remain in Outhouse until 17th October. 

Last year, in response to being closed due to the pandemic, Outhouse held its inaugural fundraising art auction Arthouse. After its resounding success and the need to raise vital funds once again this year, Arthouse aims to be a signature yearly fundraising event for Outhouse. Between mid-October and when final bids for the auction happen on the 20th and 21st of November, the centre will showcase art that has been donated to this year’s auction. There has been an amazing response from artists throughout Ireland who support Outhouse and the LGBTQ+ community. Arthouse will auction artwork from artists from the LGBT+ community, and also from the artistic community at large. Participating artists include Eamon Colman, Tom Climent, Bridget Flannery, Mary Fitzgerald, Niall Sweeney, James Rooney, Brian Teeling, Emmalene Blake (ESTR), Conor Horgan, Eva O’Donovan, Martin McCann, Francis Fay, Colin Martin, Aches, Asbestos, Alice Fitzgerald, Leah Beggs, Gabhann Dunne and so much more. 

From late November through to the New Year, the LGBTQ+ Exhibition Space at Outhouse will welcome Francis Fay Queering the Landscape exhibition. ‘Queering The Landscape’ showcases two decades of Francis Fay’s performance and visual artwork. Presenting the body as a site of unexamined possibilities, ritual and transformation, Fay enhances a broader understanding of reality by investigating intimately both the physical and spiritual seduction of location. Reclamation is one of his key motifs. He queers traditional ritual to reframe bodies, subjects and places, responding to the world through immediate response experience, connecting with the elemental and, ultimately, conversing directly with the Source. An MFA: Art In The Digital World graduate from NCAD, Francis Fay is a founding member and co-curator of the Livestock Performance Art Platform. 

The Outhouse building is now open from 10 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday with the café serving food from 12 pm to 8 pm and Signposting & Information open from 10 am to 5 pm. Outhouse is excited to welcome back all the regular groups and visitors after such a long closure. 

Any artist interested in the exhibition in Outhouse should contact Myriam at [email protected]