GARY FARRELLY
I am an artist and researcher working across administrative systems, infrastructural imaginaries, enchantment, conspiracy and architectural erotics. My practice spans performance, publication, radio, collage, drawing, photography, postal correspondence, embroidery and sound. I frequently appropriate the forms and voices of official culture, including audits, lists, dossiers, maps, communiqués, broadcasts and procedural artefacts. The work operates in a register somewhere between official communiqué and manic dispatch, treating language, classification, institutional procedure and the built environment as both material and method. Bureaucracy becomes a dramaturgy and an apparatus for world-building. I graduated from NCAD Dublin (BFA) and LUCA School of Arts Brussels (MFA), and later pursued post-MA research at a.pass (Advanced Performance and Scenography Studies), where I explored the figure of the conspiracy theorist as a methodology for paranoid inquiry and performative affect. I am Professor at La Cambre ENSAV in Brussels and a recurring research collaborator at HDK-Valand Academy of Art and Design in Gothenburg through the Centre for Art and the Political Imaginary (CAPIm). My solo and collaborative work has been presented at the Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin; Marres, Maastricht; Damien & The Love Guru, Brussels; Kunsthal Gent; Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Paris; Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati; Salzburger Kunstverein; and Goldsmiths CCA, London.
With German artist Chris Dreier, I co-founded the Office for Joint Administrative Intelligence (O.J.A.I.), a para-intelligence agency through which self-institution is tested as a diagnostic instrument and a method for constructing alternative institutional realities. Our publication Self-Institution: A Terminology Audit was published by Set Margins’ in Eindhoven. I also co-founded and co-curate FLYKTIG/Fugitive, an annual off-grid platform for situated performance and artistic research in Valdres, Norway. My current long-term project, Alt-West / Alt-Thiar, works through the infrastructures, administrative histories and state imaginaries of Ireland’s south-west region. My practice is currently supported by a bursary from the Arts Council of Ireland.
Gary Farrelly
Born Dublin, Republic of Ireland, 1983
Lives and works in Brussels, Belgium
EDUCATION
2022 | Post MA Performance and Scenography, a.pass, Brussels (BE)
2017 | MFA (Magna cum laude), LUCA School of Arts, Brussels (BE)
2006 | BFA, National College of Art and Design, Dublin (IE)
UPCOMING
2026 | Alt-West/ Alt-Thiar (O.J.A.I.), Ormston House, Limerick (IE) (opens 18 September)
2026 | Elegant Obsolescence (with Kelly Kroener), Spazio Morandi, Dallas (US) (opens 23 October)
2026 | Cultural Centre Zwaneberg (group exhibition) (opens 11 September)
2026 | Super Deals (solo exhibition), Brussels (November date TBO)
SOLO AND DUO EXHIBITIONS
2026 | These Hard Feelings (with Gilles Hellemans), Brasserie Atlas, Brussels (BE)
2025 | Quasi-Autonomous Stitch, Pallas Projects, Dublin (IE)
2022 | Proximity Papers, Nadine, Brussels (BE)
2021 | Fruit Anxiety: Desire and Method (O.J.A.I.), SB34 – Clovis, Brussels (BE)
2019 | Know Your Place (O.J.A.I.), Grölle Pass Projects, Wuppertal (DE)
2019 | GLUE (with Oisín Byrne), Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art, London (UK)
2017 | Fruit Solutions (O.J.A.I.), Laura Mars Gallery, Berlin (DE)
2017 | Fruit Efficiency (O.J.A.I.), RO2 Art, Dallas (US)
2016 | Low Hanging Fruit (O.J.A.I.), Grölle Pass Projects, Wuppertal (DE)
2015 | Policy Documents, Museum Quality NYC, New York (US)
GROUP EXHIBITIONS AND PERFORMANCE PROGRAMS
2026 | OpenField- Manifest Everyday Urban Utopias, Beursschouwburg, Brussels (BE)
2025 | STADPLURAAL | Breathing Infrastructures (O.J.A.I.), Recyclart, Brussels (BE)
2025 | Publiek Park (O.J.A.I.), Botanique Brussels and Plantentuin Meise (BE)
2025 | Driving, Dreaming, Drifting (O.J.A.I.), Current Kunst und Urbaner Raum, Stuttgart (DE)
2025 | In Between Ourselves (O.J.A.I.), Tranzit, Iași (RO)
2025 | Radiophrenia Commission (O.J.A.I.), CCA Glasgow (UK)
2024 | Indiscipline, Grande Casino Knokke and Wiels, Brussels (BE)
2024 | BetaCamp: SuperTele, iMAL, Brussels (BE)
2024 | Double Minutes 13 (O.J.A.I & Pia Louwerens), Botanic Tower, Brussels (BE)
2023 | Alternating Current (O.J.A.I.), Complex Arts Centre, Dublin (IE)
2023 | I’ll Be Your Mirror (O.J.A.I.), Dublin City Gallery / The Hugh Lane, Dublin (IE)
2023 | No Hard Shoulder – Nuit Blanche (O.J.A.I.), Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Paris (FR)
2023 | The Seduction of the Bureaucrat (O.J.A.I.), De Garage, Mechelen (BE)
2023 | Radharc: Perspectives in Print, Crawford Art Gallery, Cork (IE)
2022 | What is Work?, Kunsthal Ghent, Ghent (BE)
2022 | Why Be An Artist?, NCAD Gallery, Dublin (IE)
2022 | Artist-Run Spaces (O.J.A.I.), Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati (US)
2022 | Les Heures Sauvages (O.J.A.I.), Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Paris (FR)
2022 | Demolition, Damage, Deviation, Desire (End Presentations, a.pass), Brussels (BE)
2020 | Les choses d’ici bas, Galerie Duflon Racz, Brussels (BE)
2019 | Two of Hearts, SB34 – The Pool, Brussels (BE)
2019 | Fallen Empires and Refound Desires (O.J.A.I.), Horst Festival, Vilvoorde (BE)
2019 | Festival of Control (O.J.A.I.), CCHA Cultuurcentrum, Hasselt (BE)
2019 | Debates on Division, Bozar, Brussels (BE)
2018 | 20 Propositions, Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg (AT)
2018 | Letters of Last Resort (O.J.A.I.), Damien & The Love Guru, Brussels (BE)
2018 | State of Statelessness (O.J.A.I.), ISELP, Brussels (BE)
2017 | Marres Currents (O.J.A.I.), Centre for Contemporary Culture, Maastricht (NL)
2017 | Reviewing Authorship (MFA Graduation Show), LUCA School of Arts, Brussels (BE)
2016 | Sturm der Liebe, Etablissement d’en face, Brussels (BE)
2016 | Ultramodern, Galerie Lisi Hammerle, Bregenz (AT)
2015 | One On One, Clovis XV, Brussels (BE)
2014 | EXCEPTIONALITIES, Museum of Contemporary Art, Banja Luka (BA)
2013 | Going Postal, RE Gallery, Dallas (US)
2012 | Control Tower, Fravahr Art Gallery / Parking Projects, Tehran (IR)
2010 | The Non-Profit Margin, CentralTrak Gallery, Dallas (US)
2007 | [C]artography: Map-making as Artform, Crawford Art Gallery, Cork (IE)
2007 | Don’t Cry – Work!, Backloft, Dublin (IE)
ACADEMIC WORK
2021–present | Professor, MA Print Program Coordinator, La Cambre ENSAV, Brussels (BE)
2022–present | Guest Researcher, HDK-Valand – Academy of Art and Design (SE)
2021–present | Guest Lecturer (recurring), MA Photography, LUCA School of Arts, Brussels (BE)
2023–2025 | Workshops (various occasions), Goldsmiths University, London (UK)
2025 | F.I.E.L.D (Find, Investigate, Engage, Layer, Distribute), MFA workshop, KASK, Ghent (BE)
2023 | Visiting Professor, Tarrant County College, Fort Worth (TX)
2023 | Workshop, Mixed Media, LUCA School of Arts, Ghent (BE)
2022 | Workshop, HEAD, Geneva (CH)
2021 | Workshop, Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts (O.J.A.I.), Chisinau (MD)
ARTIST TALKS AND LECTURES
2025 | In Between Ourselves, Tranzit.ro (RO)
2024 | Fine Art Lecture Series (O.J.A.I.), NCAD, Dublin — invited artist talk (IE)
2024 | Common Reflection, Brussels Artist Run Network, Hectolitre, Brussels (BE)
2024 | Double Minutes #13 (O.J.A.I.), Botanic Tower / Umbigo Magazine, Brussels (BE)
2024 | It Is Official Policy To Appear Unmoved, MFA lecture, KASK, Ghent (BE)
PROJECTS AND PLATFORMS
2022 | Tunnel Affection (O.J.A.I.), International Conference Centre, Berlin (DE)
2021–present | Flyktig/Fugitive (with Anne-Marte Før), performance platform, Valdres (NO)
2019 | European Conference of Institutional Ideators (ECII) (O.J.A.I.), Wuppertal (DE)
2017 | A Hard Place (with Gundula Schmitz), 500X, Dallas (US)
PUBLISHED WORK
2025 | Self-Institution Directory / A Terminology Audit (O.J.A.I.), Set Margins, Eindhoven (NL)
2021 | Auditing Intimacy (O.J.A.I.), Fantôme Verlag, Berlin (DE)
2021 | Sonic Expeditions to the European Rustbelt (vinyl LP) (O.J.A.I.), Berlin (DE)
2019 | Self-Institutionalisation Handbook (O.J.A.I.), Fantôme Verlag, Berlin (DE)
PUBLICATIONS & PRESS
2025 | Publiek Park: Walking Guide, exhibition catalog (O.J.A.I.), (BE)
2024 | Pieter Vermeulen, The Sleep of Reason, feature with images (O.J.A.I.), (BE)
2024 | Umbigo Magazine, issue 89, “Double Minutes” (O.J.A.I.), (PT)
2023 | 50° Nord 3° Est, issue 9, review (O.J.A.I.), (FR)
2023 | ROT, issue one: IMMUNITY, exhibition catalog, Varamo Press (BE)
2023 | RTÉ Culture, “Why Be an Artist?,” feature with mention (IE)
2022 | Sixty Inches From Center, mention in group show review by Megan Bickel (US)
2022 | Bureaucracktic Bedtime Stories (O.J.A.I.), exhibition catalog, Constant (BE)
2021 | Texte zur Kunst, issue 122, “Figuration” (O.J.A.I.), (DE)
2021 | Future Forecasts BAE, exhibition catalog, The Project Arts Centre, Dublin (IE)
2021 | HART, issue 216, review (O.J.A.I.), (BE)
2020 | DRAFF Magazine, “Gary Farrelly + Laura Fitzgerald in Conversation,” feature (IE)
2019 | Paper Visual Art, “Oisín Byrne feat. Gary Farrelly: GLUE,” essay by Gwen Burlington (IE)
2019 | hi Magazin, “Alles in Ordnung,” article by Marc Freudenhammer (O.J.A.I.), (DE)
2019 | WZ Wuppertaler Zeitung, review by Martin Hagemeyer (O.J.A.I.), (DE)
2017 | Metropolis M, review by Tamara Beheydt (BE/NL)
2017 | Der Tagesspiegel, “Global Legal,” review by Matthias Reichelt (DE)
2017 | taz. die tageszeitung, review by Ann-Christin Woehrl (O.J.A.I.), (DE)
2016 | Totally Dublin, “Bureau #304: Gary Farrelly and Brussels,” feature by Rachel Donnelly (IE)
2015 | Infra Éireann: Modernity in Ireland 1916–2016, feature with image, Routledge (UK)
2015 | Recherches 15, exhibition catalog, TAMAT, Tournai (BE)
2013 | CultureMap Dallas, “Going Postal,” feature by Kendall Morgan (US)
2012 | D Magazine, “Gary Farrelly: Terminal Compositions,” review by Peter Simek (US)
2010 | KERA (NPR), “The NON-PROFIT Margin,” radio feature by Jerome Weeks (US)
2007 | Map-making as Artform, exhibition catalog, Crawford Art Gallery, Cork (IE)
AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
2026 | Visual Artist Bursary, Arts Council of Ireland (IE)
2023 | Two week residency, Tranzit.ro, Iasi (RO)
2023 | Two week residency, Ormston House, Limerick (IE)
2025 | Project Funding, Fingal County Council (IE)
2025 | One-month residency, The Green Corridor, Brussels (BE)
2023 | Visual Artist Bursary, Arts Council of Ireland (IE)
2023 | One-month residency, Tarrant County College, Fort Worth (TX)
2022 | Project Support Award (O.J.A.I.), Berlin Musikfonds, Berlin (DE)
2021–present | Multi-Annual Project Subsidy, Kulturrådet, Norway (NO)
2021 | Visual Artist Bursary, Arts Council of Ireland (IE)
2020| Residency, Kiosk/ Chiosc AIR, Chisinau (MD)
2018| Three-month residency, AAIR (subsequently renamed Morpho), Antwerp (BE)
2015| One-year residency and research grant, TAMAT – Musée de la Tapisserie, Tournai (BE)
2010| Six-month residency, University of Texas CentralTrak, Dallas (US)
Gary Farrelly – “Alumni Stories” (NCAD) — “Architectures that hold worlds together”
https://www.ncad.ie/study-at-ncad/why-ncad/alumni-stories/alumni-stories-gary-farrelly
Gary Farrelly – “Quasi-Autonomous Stitch” (Pallas Projects)
https://pallasprojects.org/projects/gary-farrelly-quasi-autonomous-stitch-prestatement
Ultraviolet Art Talks – Season 15, Episode 08: Gary Farrelly from O.J.A.I.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0VfH6hEhNGdu8pElkwEtwk?si=32a30358fbc14c74
Gary Farrelly – “Proximity Papers” (Nadine Contemporary Art Lab)
https://index.nadine.be/proximity-papers-new-works-from-an-organisational-self/
Gary Farrelly – “Tunnel Vision in Chișinău, Moldova” (Cassandra Voices)
https://cassandravoices.com/culture/tunnel-vision-in-chisinau-moldova/
Gary Farrelly – “Cité administrative à Bruxelles” (Centre Culturel Irlandais – Déambulations)
https://soundcloud.com/centreculturelirlandais/episode-n4-gary-farrelly-cite-administrative-a-bruxelles?in=centreculturelirlandais/sets/deambulations-keeping-the-1
Gary Farrelly & Oisin Byrne – “GLUE” (Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art)
https://goldsmithscca.art/exhibition/oisin-byrne-feat-gary-farrelly/
Collaborative Initiatives