Joan’s House, daughter born 1965, 2015, from the series First Mothers, 2015
Emer Gillespie
Emer Gillespie, Joan’s House, daughter born 1965 2015, from the series First Mothers, 2015
About the Artist:
Emer Gillespie is an Irish artist currently living in the UK. Graduating with an MA in Photography from the London College in Communication in 2009, her work is personal in nature, examining issues around motherhood, alternative family structures and the role that the subject and photographer play in creative collaborations. Gillespie’s First Mothers, is a personal and emotional look at forced adoption in Ireland. It is inspired by her own experience as a single parent and her mother’s and aunt’s experience of coerced adoptions in Catholic controlled Ireland. Exhibitions include: Love will tear us apart, Centre Photographic (Clermont-Ferrand, France), How One Thing Leads to Another, Critical Mass, Houston Centre for Photography, She loves me, she loves me not, Encontros da Imagem (Portugal), Family Narratives, RUA RED (Dublin), FFWE, Photographers Gallery (London), Altered States, Foley Gallery (New York), Shifting Perspectives, OXO tower, Southbank (London) and The Space Between at the V&A Museum of Childhood (London). First Mothers was awarded a Solas Ireland award and was exhibited at the Gallery of Photography Ireland which subsequently toured internationally.
Details: Archival pigment inkjet print on Hahnemühle Photo Baryta, 50x70cm (paper size), uneditioned print, produced 2021, acquired for the National Photography Collection 2022.
About the National Photography Collection:
The National Photography Collection builds on the Gallery’s sustained commitment to supporting artists in the development and promotion of their work. Through collaboration, we hope to grow the collection as an archive repository offering an overview of photographic practice in Ireland.
As an essential critical and historical resource, the National Photography Collection is an exciting initiative for the Gallery and for the future of Irish photography. We are deeply honoured that the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins has agreed to be Patron of the Collection.
The artists featured in the Collection are:
Ciarán Óg Arnold; Enda Bowe; Noel Bowler; Ala Buisir; Simon Burch; Dorje de Burgh; Krass Clement; Shia Conlon; Martin Cregg; Mark Curran; Ciaran Dunbar; John Duncan; Tessy Ehiguese; David Farrell; Kevin Fox; Paul Gaffney; Clare Gallagher; Emer Gillespie; Karl Grimes; Anthony Haughey; Seán Hillen; Patrick Hogan; Tobi Isaac-Irein; Dragana Jurišić; Jamin Keogh; Jialin Long; Markéta Luskačová; Shane Lynam; Alen MacWeeney; Dara McGrath; Moira McIver; Yvette Monahan; Tony Murray; Brian Newman; Kate Nolan; Miriam O'Connor; Kenneth O'Halloran; Mandy O'Neill; Tony O'Shea; Pete Smyth; Nigel Swann; Harry Thuillier Jr; George Voronov and Róisín White.