Paul O'Neill

PAUL O’NEILL: Curator, artist and writer. His practice is interested in addressing the systems of interpretation that are involved in making sense of the world around us, as much as he is concerned with the compulsions that lead to interpretation and meaning itself. He was Gallery Curator at londonprintstudio Gallery between 2001-2003 He is Artistic Director of MultiplesX an organisation that commissions and supports curated exhibitions of artist’s editions, which he set up in 1997 and exhibited at spaces such as the ICA, London; Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin and The Lowry, Manchester. He has curated over 40 exhibitions and projects, that include recently: Tonight at Studio Voltaire, in London, Coalesce: With All Due Intent at Model and Niland Art Gallery, Sligo and Are We There Yet?, at Glassbox in Paris.

-Working towards a PHD in Curatorial History from Middlesex Uni- this course was first created in 1987, so still relatively new
- Curatorial anthologies have been a major publication since '96- O'Neill's favourite being 'Thinking About Exhibitions'
- 4 Considerations when approaching Curatorial Practice:
1) How useful can I be?
2) Is there a system or a form of enablement that I can use as a creative strategy to produce an opening out rather than a closing down of my own 'usefulness' in the given context?
3) How can I incorporate failure as part of the project?
4) How can I use 'lots of people'?

- Artist/curator- skill needed when thinking about juxtaposing one's work- helps the practitioner to think about spacing, lighting, walls and spaciality
- Artworks already exist in the world- idea behind his exhibition, 'All That Is Solid'- as artists were invited to add artistic epherma to the gallery space
- O'Neill believes the typical white cube gallery is out-dated and restrictive- believes curating should be 'an invisible gesture'- give up autonomy
- Curating helps the work interact with the viewer and subtly imposes a route for the visual spectator
- His conclusion, that the exhibition space was always divided into the background, middle area and foreground, was quite interesting. The background not allowing interaction with the spectator- just offering a visual aesthetic. The middle area offered partial interaction, whilst the foreground interacts fully with the viewer- something I had not considered...