IMMA and IPUT Real Estate Dublin launch Living Canvas at IMMA

–       Living Canvas is an initiative by IPUT Real Estate to display visual arts to the public in Dublin City on Europe’s largest outdoor digital art screen.

–       Partnership will see IMMA host Living Canvas for two years in a project which aligns with its stated ambition to become a ‘radically public space’.

IMMA, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, and IPUT Real Estate are excited to launch a new partnership that brings Living Canvas, Europe’s largest outdoor digital art screen, to the grounds of IMMA. IPUT Real Estate, Dublin’s leading property investment company and supporter of the arts, has successfully presented Living Canvas, at two of its buildings in Dublin’s city centre since 2021. The Living Canvas large-scale outdoor public art screen will now be located on IMMA’s front lawn for two years, allowing visitors and the wider community to enjoy a vibrant programme of artworks by Irish and international artists in IMMA’s beautiful surroundings.

The Living Canvas at IMMA programme opens with the screening of renowned American artist Bruce Conner’s iconic work CROSSROADS. This mesmerising and haunting 1976 short film will be shown as part of the opening of a major new exhibition, Take a Breath, from 13 June.

This will be followed by the premiere of Irish artist Clare Langan’s epic new work Alchemy, 2023, launching on 27 June and screening from 2 July. In the aftermath of a pandemic and a time of numerous climate crises, Alchemy symbolises an alchemical change that is necessary for the human species and the planet to survive. This sensory-rich film of provoking visuals and original music takes the viewer through a journey of narrative transformation and revolution. The visuals are shot by Oscar-nominated cinematographer Robbie Ryan and artist Clare Langan, with an original score by Gyða Valtýsdóttir and soundscape by Daniel Goddard.

Throughout the summer Living Canvas at IMMA will feature film and moving image works as part of IMMA’s popular Summer at IMMA programme. The programme will include the IMMA Collection film The Long Note, 2018, by Helen Cammock, which explores the involvement of women in the civil rights movement in Derry in 1968 and links to the themes of the current exhibition We realised the power of it – Derry Film and Video Workshop, and Derek Jarman’s The Angelic Conversation, 1985, in celebration of Pride 2024. The summer programme will also include one-off film screenings on selected Thursday evenings from 6pm to 8pm from June to August.

Niall Gaffney, Chief Executive, of IPUT Real Estate, commenting on the partnership said “IPUT Real Estate is a long-term investor in Dublin, and we are committed to creating a space for culture in and around our buildings. We aim to ensure Dublin remains an attractive and vibrant place to live and work. We also want to provide artists with the spaces to create work and the platform to display that work to the city. We are proud to have displayed the work of 120 artists and 100 individual art and literary works at two city centre locations. Living Canvas at IMMA is the next stage in this initiative and we are excited to become part of creating a radically public space on the grounds of IMMA.”

Annie Fletcher, Director of IMMA said “We are delighted to launch a new two-year partnership with IPUT Real Estate. IPUT’s commitment to placemaking is something which resonates with us as we strive to make IMMA a radically public space. This spectacular screen will provide us with the opportunity to create an open forum to share a contemporary film programme and highlight artworks from the IMMA Collection, expanding our digital programme beyond the gallery walls.”

4 June 2024

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For further information and images please contact: 
Monica Cullinane E: [email protected] T: 086 2010023
Patrice Molloy E: [email protected] T: 086 2009957

Additional notes for Editors

Living Canvas at IMMA webpage – Living Canvas at IMMA

About IPUT Real Estate Dublin
IPUT Real Estate is Dublin’s leading property investment company and supporter of the arts. Owner of 75 buildings in many of Dublin’s city centre neighbourhoods, IPUT is committed to positively shaping the public realm and to supporting arts and culture within the city. Across its portfolio, IPUT supports and showcase Irish artists and creators – commissioning sculptures, paintings and installations that stimulate and sustain the occupiers of its buildings and those who live, work, and socialise in the neighbourhoods in which those buildings are located.

About Living Canvas
IPUT Real Estate launched Living Canvas in 2021 as a spectacular presentation of public art using giant outdoor screens at two of its sites in Dublin’s city centre: Wilton Park off Baggot Street, and at the Tropical Fruit Warehouse on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin 2. The custom designed screens debuted the works of leading Irish and international artists produced in partnership with leading cultural institutions the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) and the Museum of Literature Ireland (MOLI). Over the course of two years, Living Canvas featured the work of more than 120 artists and presented close to 100 individual art and literary works.

About IMMA
Founded in 1991, IMMA is Ireland’s National Cultural Institution for Modern and Contemporary Art located in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham. Its vibrant, bold, and diverse programme comprises exhibitions, commissions, and event-based projects by leading Irish and international artists, as well as a rich engagement and learning programme which together provides audiences of all ages the opportunity to connect with contemporary art and unlock their creativity. IMMA is also the home of the National Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art of nearly 4,000 artworks by Irish and international artists. IMMA makes this national resource available through exhibitions at IMMA and other venues nationally and internationally, engagement and learning programmes and digital resources.