Alan Phelan studied at Dublin City University and Rochester Institute of Technology, New York. Phelan uses materials including papier-mâché, steel, photography, film and text to engage with ideas from political history and cultural theory to masculinity and modified cars. He has exhibited widely including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Feinkost, Berlin and SKC, Belgrade. Phelan took part in IMMA’s Artists’ Residency Programme in 2008, followed by a solo exhibition in 2009.