Ronan Dillon

"Radical Ruralism" interweaves rural habitus with contemporary art practice and manifests the dualism of city and countryside in an uncompromising gesture. The exhibition also deals with another central theme: the mark. - On the one hand, the concrete marking and fencing of sheep, and on the other, marking can be understood on a meta-level between the individual and the collective: how are belonging and 'territory' marked in natural and social contexts? Does marking serve both exclusion and connection? And is there still something like "natural nature" or has rural space long since become social?
Ronan Dillon grew up in Dublin and now lives on the west coast of Ireland. In these green natural landscapes, he was inspired by one of the few parallels to city life: the use of spray paint. What is an artistic practice in the city is used in the countryside to mark sheep. The wooly markings are reminiscent of graffiti tags and are sprayed uninhibitedly onto the sheep by hand in bold primary colors by the sheep's owners. Dillon takes up these individual color and marking combinations of the shepherds in his art by using the same agricultural spray paint and also adopting the free-impulsive painting style.
For the solo exhibition "Radical Ruralism", Dillon uses further experimental color media, including a special dye for sheep's wool, with which sheep are dyed for breeding exhibitions, solid graphite lumps and agricultural sheep marking pens. Also on display is video work by Peter Martin as well as wall hangings and seating sculptures hand-tufted by Dillon using Irish new wool. The probably most polarizing topic in Germany is also dealt: the wolf – whose proliferation repeatedly leads to sometimes absurd conflicts between sheep farmers and environmentalists.

"Radical Ruralism" is part of 'Zeitgeist Irland 24', an initiative of Culture Ireland and the Irish Embassy in Germany.