Dorothy Cross (born 1956) is an Irish artist. Working with differing media, including

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

and installation, she represented

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 ...

at the 1993

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

. Central to her work as a whole are themes of sexual and cultural identity, personal history, memory, and the gaps between the conscious and subconscious. In a 2009 speech by the president of

UCC The initialism UCC may stand for: Law * Uniform civil code of India, referring to proposed Civil code in the legal system of India, which would apply equally to all irrespective of their religion * Uniform Commercial Code, a 1952 uniform act to ...

, Cross was described as "one of Ireland's leading artists".

Early life and education

Cross was born in 1956 in

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

, one of three children of Fergus and Dorothy Cross. Her older brother Tom went on to become a zoologist and professor at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

, while her older sister Jane was a swimmer who was on a team that set a world relay record at the 1985

World Masters Championships The World Masters Athletics Championships are the biennial championships for masters athletics events held under the auspices of World Masters Athletics, formerly called the World Association of Veteran Athletes, for athletes 35 years of age or ...

. Cross herself was a competitive swimmer in her teens, becoming All-Ireland champion in the 100-meter breaststroke at the age of 15 and going on to win other medals over the next few years. Cross attended the Crawford Municipal School of Art in Cork before undertaking degree studies at

Leicester Polytechnic De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body. The name De Montfort University was ...

, England, from 1974 to 1977. She also studied at the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a Private college, private art school, college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mis ...

, California, from 1978 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1982, where she completed an MFA Degree in printmaking.

Career

Exhibiting regularly since the mid-1980s, Cross came to mainstream public attention with her first major solo installation, 'Ebb', at the Douglas Hyde Gallery in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland. This was followed, in 1991, by 'Powerhouse', at the ICA in Philadelphia, the Hyde Gallery and

Camden Arts Centre Camden Art Centre (known as Hampstead Arts Centre until 1967 and Camden Arts Centre until 2020) is a contemporary art gallery in the London Borough of Camden, England. It hosts temporary exhibitions and educational outreach projects, with a prog ...

in London and

Kerlin Gallery Kerlin Gallery is a commercial contemporary art gallery in Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, provin ...

in Dublin. Like 'Ebb', several of the component parts that made up 'Powerhouse' were 'found' objects - many of which had been in her family's possession for years or were located in different environments. These were then incorporated into mixed media pieces for exhibit. Cross's general approach of creating works using found objects has been referred to as "poetic amalgamation". During the early 1990s, Cross witnessed a traditional sieve created from a stretched cow's udder at a local museum in Norway and stated, "Seeing that a cow could be used for something other than producing milk was a total revelation." In response, she began producing sculptural works, utilising cured cowhide, cow udders and stuffed snakes, which explored the cultural and symbolic significance of sexuality and subjectivity across cultures. For Cross, the use of udders generated a strange mixture of disgust, hilarity, and excitement. '' Virgin Shroud'' (1993), for example, is a veil made from cow skin, with the udders forming a crown for the concealed figure; it references both the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

and

Meret Oppenheim In Egyptian mythology, Meret (also spelled Mert) was a goddess who was strongly associated with rejoicing, such as singing and dancing. In myth Meret was a token wife occasionally given to Hapi, the god of the Nile flood. Her name being a ref ...

's fur-lined teacup that was a partial inspiration for the piece. ''

Saddle A saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not know ...

'' (also 1993) incorporates an upturned udder into the seat of a horse's saddle. Cross is perhaps best known for her public installation ''Ghost Ship'' (1998) in which a disused light ship was illuminated through the use of luminous paint, in Scotman's Bay, off

Dún Laoghaire Harbour Dún Laoghaire Harbour and Carlisle Pier were constructed in the nineteenth century for the purposes of sheltering ships and accommodating the mailboat which sailed between Dún Laoghaire and Holyhead. The nearby settlement of Dún Laoghaire h ...

. A recent series, ''Medusae'', includes images of

Chironex fleckeri ''Chironex fleckeri'', commonly known as the Australian box jelly, and nicknamed the sea wasp, is a species of extremely venomous box jellyfish found in coastal waters from northern Australia and New Guinea to Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia and S ...

, a type of

jellyfish Jellyfish, also known as sea jellies or simply jellies, are the #Life cycle, medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, which is a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animal ...

and was made in collaboration with her brother Tom. The

Irish Museum of Modern Art The Irish Museum of Modern Art (), also known as IMMA, is Ireland's leading national institution for the collection and presentation of modern and contemporary art. It is located in Kilmainham, Dublin. History Irish art collector Gordon Lam ...

held a major retrospective of her work in 2005. An exhibition, 'View', that took place between September and November 2014 at the

in Dublin, Ireland, included a series of new sculptures and photographs. The works, which are exemplary of the artist's complex exploration of the connection between humans and the natural world, and that play with material, relationship and time, capture the artist's ongoing compulsion to agitate possibilities for new perspectives and points of view. Cross was selected to be part of the curated '

Indra's Net Indra's net (also called Indra's jewels or Indra's pearls, Sanskrit ''Indrajāla'', Chinese: 因陀羅網) is a metaphor used to illustrate the concepts of Śūnyatā (emptiness), pratītyasamutpāda (dependent origination),. and interpenetrati ...

' programme at the 2022

Frieze Art Fair Frieze Art Fair is an annual contemporary art, contemporary art festival, art fair first held in 2003 in London's Regent's Park. Developed by the founders of the contemporary art magazine ''Frieze (magazine), Frieze'', the fair has since expan ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Exhibitions

Selected solo shows

*1988 Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin - 'Ebb' *1991 ICA, Philadelphia, Hyde Gallery & Camden Art's Centre, London, Kerlin Gallery, Dublin - 'Powerhouse' *1991 Camden Arts Centre, London - 'Parthenon' *1996 Arnolfini Gallery,

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

- 'Even: Recent Work by Dorothy Cross' *1997 Angles Gallery,

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

*1998 Project Arts Centre, Dublin, Off Site Project, St Enda's, Galway - 'Chiasm' *2000 Mimara Museum,

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

*2001 Frith Street Gallery, London *2002 Kerlin Gallery *2005 McMullen Museum of Art, Chestnut Hill - 'GONE: Site-Specific Works by Dorothy Cross' *2005 Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin *2008 Antarctica, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Wolverhampton *2009 Coma, Bloomberg Space, London *2011 Stalactite, Heineken Ireland, former Beamish and Crawford Gallery, Cork *2013 Connemara, Turner Contemporary, UK *2014 Kerlin Gallery

Honours and awards

In 2009, Cross was awarded an honorary doctorate by University College Cork. In 2022, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

. During her years in the United States, she won a prestigious Pollock-Krasner Award (1990). Her work has been supported by grants from the Wellcome Trust, 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 ( ...

and Arts Council of England.

Works in collections

, Dublin *The Norton Collection,

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

*Art Pace Foundation,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

*The

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

Collection, London *

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...

, London, including ''Virgin Shroud'' (1993) *

Hugh Lane Gallery The Hugh Lane Gallery, and originally the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, is an art museum operated by Dublin City Council and its wholly-owned company, the Hugh Lane Gallery Trust. It is in Charlemont House (built 1763) on Parnell Square, Dub ...

, Dublin *

Museum of Fine Arts Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. The permanent collection of the museum spans more than 5,000 years of history with nearly 80,000 works from six continents. Follo ...

Bibliography

* Allen Randolph, Jody. "Dorothy Cross." ''Close to the Next Moment: Interviews from a Changing Ireland.'' Manchester: Carcanet, 2010. * Lydenberg, Robin. ''Gone: Site Specific Works by Dorothy Cross.'' Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005. *Cross, Dorothy, Enrique Juncosa, and Sean Kissane. ''Dorothy Cross''. Milano Dublin: Charta Irish Museum of Modern Art, 2005. *"Heat and Cold: Projects by Dorothy Cross and Lewis deSoto at ArtPace in San Antonio." ''tate: the art magazine''. Winter 1996. *Wilson, Claire. "Irish Eyes." ''Art and Antiques''. Summer 1996. *Isaak, Jo Anna. "Laughter Ten Years After." ''Art in America''. December, 1995. *Higgins, Judith. "Art from the Edge." ''Art in America''. December, 1995. *Murdoch, Sadie. "Too Much of a Good Thing." ''Women's Art Magazine.'' July–August, 1995. *Cross, Dorothy, and Melissa E. Feldman. ''Dorothy Cross: power house''. Philadelphia, Pa: Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, 1991.

References

External links

''Come into the garden Maude''
part of the ''Medusae'' series.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cross, Dorothy 1956 births Living people Irish installation artists Irish sculptors Aosdána members Artists from County Cork Alumni of De Montfort University Irish women artists Irish contemporary artists 20th-century Irish artists 21st-century Irish artists