KNOWNUNKNOWN_UNKNOWNNOWN
— Tadgh O’Cuirrin
28 November 2024 – 26 January 2025
knownunknown_unknownknown is an exhibition of new works by Tadhg Ó Cuirrín, which considers how we make sense of the world around us. What do we know?
This statement, made in 2002 by noted US war criminal Donald Rumsfeld, was made in defense of the lack of evidence linking the government of Iraq with ‘weapons of mass destruction’. His words could also be thought of in terms of epistemology: ‘known unknowns’ being things we are aware of but don’t understand, ‘unknown unknowns’ being things we are neither aware of nor understand, ‘known knowns’ being things we are aware of and understand, and intriguingly, ‘unknown knowns’ things we are not aware of but do understand or know implicitly. The concepts can be understood as a kind of Johari Window for the Department of Defence.
Many of the pieces in this exhibition begin in a domestic setting. Bedsheets, curtains, envelopes, raincoats, bin bags, moonlight in the garden. Over time these everyday elements, by some sleight of hand, are conceptually turned inside out. Ó Cuirrín is looking for something, and it is hoped that by parsing their everyday existence as art, that some deeper understanding of the world will arise; art as the accomplishment of knowledge in action. That the unformed intuition in your head has gained concrete form. If I make better art will I have a better understanding of the world, and vice versa? If I have a better understanding of myself, will I make better art, and vice versa? Irish artist Mark Swords recently wrote “...I can put anything I want into my paintings, apart from all the things I won’t let myself.” So, what do we not allow ourselves paint?
Tadhg Ó Cuirrín is an artist based in Co Galway. He holds a BA in Fine Art, Painting from the Limerick School of Art and Design. He works in a variety of media, and his work was recently shortlisted for the Hennessey Craig Award at the RHA 192nd Annual Exhibition, and was included in TULCA Festival of Visual Art in Galway in 2022. Recent solo and two person exhibitions include “It is happening again” in March 2023 at the Custom House Studios in Westport, and “Magic, Metallic Saliva” with Karen Conway at 126 Artist Run Gallery in March 2022. Upcoming exhibitions include the Galway International Arts Festival in 2026. His work is supported by Ealaín na Gaeltachta, the Arts Council of Ireland, and Galway County Council. The Cash Shop is a curatorial project by artist Jim Ricks and is a communityengaged contemporary visual arts hub.
tadhgocuirrin.com