126 Artist-run Gallery is an

artist-run space An artist-run space or artist-run centre (Canada) is a gallery or other facility operated or directed by artists, frequently circumventing the structures of public art centers, museums, or commercial galleries and allowing for a more experimental ...

located in

Galway City Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. It was founded in 2005 and, according to the ''

Galway Advertiser The ''Galway Advertiser'' is a free newspaper distributed throughout Galway city and county each Thursday. History The ''Galway Advertiser'' was founded in 1970 by Ronnie O'Gorman, with the first edition published on 16 April 1970. O'Gorman edi ...

'', has "built an international reputation for ambitious programming".

History

Origins

126 was founded in 2005 by artists Austin Ivers and Ben Geoghegan in the living room of their home in Galway. The gallery was named after the number of the house. The two aimed to create more exhibition opportunities in the city, and to highlight artists who had a connection to Galway. After 2 years, they curated a large "quality" survey show of contemporary Irish art in the Galway Art Centre in the autumn of 2006. After, in late 2006, the gallery moved to a

white cube White Cube is a contemporary art gallery founded by Jay Jopling in London in 1993. The gallery has two branches in London: White Cube Mason's Yard in central London and White Cube Bermondsey in South East London; White Cube Hong Kong, in Centra ...

space in an

industrial estate An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...

outside of Galway City showing the work of Benjamin de Burca for the Tulca Festival of Visual Arts.

Reconstitution

In January 2007, 126 was re-constituted directly on the ethos of Catalyst Arts and the Transmission Gallery democratic artist-run model – which have their roots in the Scottish New 57 Gallery. This included a membership and annual members show, a non-commercial orientation, a voluntary board with 2-year term limits on board members, and a requirement that board members not show their own work. "The new gallery aims to provide a venue for younger, emerging artists, thus fulfilling an obvious need" and was considered "tremendously innovative" by

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

art critic Aidan Dunne. "126 is the radical departure from galleries, museums, kunsthalles, and art centres. This is a much more rarified offshoot of the world of Artist-run projects. It is derived from the model that came out of Edinburgh’s 57 Gallery." In 2009, with its future in doubt, the gallery moved to Galway City centre near the docks. Since, the gallery has experienced several struggles for survival in its bids for consistent funding from both

local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

and the

Arts Council of Ireland The Arts Council (sometimes called the Arts Council of Ireland; legally ) is the independent "Irish government agency for developing the arts". About It was established in 1951 by the government of Ireland, to encourage interest in Irish art ( ...

. It has moved 2 additional times, for a total of 5 locations in 15 years. Its most recent location also rents artist studio spaces.

Operations and partners

126 has worked regularly with the Galway International Arts Festival, Tulca, and the Burren College of Art. As well as with the

Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the Royal Irish Academy, the academy retained the word "Royal" after mo ...

, Catalyst Arts, ARTFarm, and National Women's Council of Ireland. It has been described as having come to be seen as a progressive example of an artist led project, while simultaneously providing important training for its voluntary board.

Artists shown

126 has shown many significant artists, organisations and presentations. Some of those include: Aideen Barry, Vivienne Dick, Hank Willis Thomas, Rainer Ganahl, Niall De Buitlear, Jim Ricks, Kelly Richardson, Samara Halperin, Stephanie Syjuco, Ceara Conway, Diana Copperwhite,

Sylvère Lotringer Sylvère Lotringer (15 October 1938 – 8 November 2021) was a French-born literary critic and cultural theorist. Initially based in New York City, he later lived in Los Angeles and Baja California, Mexico.Hultkrans, Andrew"Bookforum talks with ...

, Ormston House, Transmission Gallery, and Catalyst Arts.

Bibliography

* Ricks, Jim (Editor), ''Artist-run democracy: sustaining a model, 15 years of 126 gallery'', Eindhoven: Onomatopee, 2022. ISBN 9789493148734 * Laws, Joanne, ''Footfall: Articulating the Value of Artist Led Organisations in Ireland'', Galway: 126 Artist-Run Gallery, 2015.

References

External links

Official site
{{Museums and Galleries in Ireland Art museums and galleries in the Republic of Ireland Contemporary art galleries in Ireland Arts organizations established in 2005