2 March – 1 July 2018

‘There is no thing here but much else’ examines the important role that film has played in the sixty-year career of internationally renowned, New York-based Irish artist Brian O’Doherty (Patrick Ireland). The three-month screening series runs from 2 March-27 May 2018 in the Crawford Art Gallery. Taking its title from O’Doherty’s review of Patrick Ireland’s exhibition at the Charles Cowles Gallery (1990), O’Doherty playfully and succinctly critiques his alter ego’s installation. 

Brian O’Doherty is a multi-faceted visual artist, critic and novelist. A pioneer in conceptual art, his ground breaking essays, Inside the White Cube are key art theory texts. Yet, O’Doherty is also prolific filmmaker both in front of and behind the camera. He has written and presented a number of key television series created in his early years in the United States of America - having left Ireland in 1957- which include Invitation to Art (1958-1960) and The Today Show (1962).

O’Doherty also reported from the Irish Exhibition of Living Artist at the National College of Art, Dublin for the RTÉ programme Broadsheet in 1962 ‘Supporting Young and Emerging Artists’ featuring an interview with Norah McGuinness. He enthuses on the ‘fabric of magnificent tones’ and ‘extreme and brilliant sensitivity’ of Patrick Scott’s Kerry Landscape painting, counter-posed with the ‘extreme violent and visceral’ painting of Barrie Cooke.  Through his knowledge of contemporary art and his company of distinguished artists and thinkers, O’Doherty has been a ‘go to person’ for a variety of documentary makers, including Rothko’s Rooms (2000). His close friendship with American artist Edward Hopper, earned O’Doherty the Grand Prix, at the Montreal International Festival of Films on Art, for his subtle and engaging film Hopper’s Silence (1982).

The rolling screening programme will also feature Brian O’Doherty Reviews Patrick Ireland at the Charles Cowles Gallery (1990), O’Doherty’s intimate portrait of his wife, art historian Barbara Novak in Barbara (I) (1972) and films documenting his performative Structural Play / Vowel Grid series. The screening series will also feature films from the artist’s personal archive.    

This is a rolling screening programme – the film selection will be changed at the beginning of each month so please check back or check website for details. Screenings: 

Invitation to Art: Rembrandt
Presented and written by Brian O’Doherty
29:18 minutes
1959

Courtesy of the WGBH Media Library & Archives and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Hopper’s Silence 
Directed, produced and written by Brian O’Doherty
46:59 minutes
1981

Courtesy of Brian O’Doherty, with thanks to Brenda Moore McCann

Patrick Ireland at The Charles Cowles Gallery 
Exhibition reviewedby Brian O’Doherty, New York 
3:51 minutes 
1990

Courtesy of Brian O’Doherty

Structural Play #1 ‘Why don’t you open the door?’performance by Brian O’Doherty, at The Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 23 May, 1978 
2:51 minutes

Courtesy of Brian O’Doherty, with thanks to Brenda Moore McCann