A stunning visual art exhibition in one of Dublin's most iconic cultural spaces
The Dream Pool Intervals, a stunning new series of works by Ailbhe Ní Bhriain, is currently on display at Parnell Square's iconic
Hugh Lane Gallery
with admission free of charge.
Visitors who come to experience The Dream Pool Intervals can expect to step into a visual world designed to explore questions of technological and ecological progress.
Artist Ailbhe Ní Bhriain at the opening of Ailbhe Ní Bhriain: The Dream Pool Intervals at Hugh Lane Gallery © Naoise Culhane Photography 2025
The centrepiece of this stirring exhibit is five large-scale jacquard tapestries woven from several different materials, including cotton, wool, silk and lurex. These intricately woven works offer a commentary on an array of issues which loom large over the modern social consciousness, such as climate change, colonialism, industrialism, nature and the built environment.
The effects created by Ní Bhriain's approach are unique and striking, as fragments of archival portraits merge with images of underground caves and architectural ruin, conjuring ideas of the interplay 'between contemporary threats of extinction and ancient narratives of the underworld'.
Installation view Hugh Lane Gallery, Ailbhe Ní Bhriain: The Dream Pool Intervals. Image © Hugh Lane Gallery, 2025
The installations are thought-provoking, and walking through the exhibition offers visitors a chance to reflect while experiencing the work of one of Ireland's most exciting visual artists.
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Ní Bhriain is an internationally celebrated artist whose work has been exhibited at venues including Broad Museum, Michigan; Whitechapel Gallery, London; Hammer Museum, LA; Istanbul Modern, Turkey; Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid; Innsbruck International Biennial, Austria; Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, France and the 16th Lyon Biennale.
Installation view Hugh Lane Gallery, Ailbhe Ní Bhriain: The Dream Pool Intervals. Image © Hugh Lane Gallery, 2025
Speaking about the intention behind her work, Ní Bhriain said: 'In the tapestries are images of destroyed architecture – gathered from multiple sources, icons of war and climate disaster that seem to define this period'.
The title of the exhibition is a reference to 'The Dream Pool Essays', a text by the Chinese polymath Shen Kuo in 1088, which includes geological recordings that are considered to be the earliest observations of climate change.
Barbara Dawson, Director at the Hugh Lane Gallery, said of the exhibition: 'In Ailbhe Ní Bhriain's monumental tapestries we are presented with mysterious mises en scéne in the ruins of previous world orders forcing us to rethink perceived concepts of progress and advancement in the face of human and ecological fragmentation.'
Installation view Hugh Lane Gallery, Ailbhe Ní Bhriain: The Dream Pool Intervals. Image © Hugh Lane Gallery, 2025
Located in the heart of Dublin's city centre, the Hugh Lane Gallery is a cultural cornerstone of the city. In addition to The Dream Pool Intervals exhibition currently running, visitors can also take in the works of impressionists such as Monet and Degas, as well as Francis Bacon's Studio and many other works from the collection, all free of charge.
Michael Dempsey, Head of Exhibitions, Hugh Lane Gallery, and Curator of the The Dream Pool Intervals said: 'Ní Bhriain seeks to locate our growing anxieties of crises within a world where colonial and industrial legacies are fused with the consciousness of our current moment.
'Capturing the mood of society today, the relevance of Ní Bhriain's themes cannot be understated. The Hugh Lane Gallery is delighted to present her work'.
The Dream Pool Intervals exhibition, brought to you by the Hugh Lane Gallery and Dublin City Council, is open to the public until 28 September. Admission is free of charge. Find out more about what's going on at
The Hugh Lane Gallery here
.
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