Sarah Pierce

I am an artist based in Dublin. Since 2003, I have used the term The Metropolitan Complex to describe my project, characterised by forms of gathering, both historical examples and those I initiate. The processes of research and presentation that I undertake demonstrate a continual renegotiation of the terms for making art,  and the potential for dissent and self-determination. My work is expansive and research-driven, and my methodologies are discursive and value personal and incidental challenges to received histories and accepted forms. My research interests include radical pedagogies and student work, institutional and historical legacies and theories of community and love. In 2014, I received my PhD in Curatorial Knowledge at Goldsmiths, where I continue to be an affiliate of (now unhomed) Advanced Practices; I hold an MFA from the School of Architecture Art and Planning at Cornell University, and am a past fellow of the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program in New York. In 2023, I presented the largest gathering of my work to date in a three-part show called Scene of the Myth, curated by Rike Frank at the Irish Museum of Modern Art Dublin, GfZK Leipzig and John Hansard Gallery Southhampton. My art has appeared in institutions and biennials in Ireland, the UK, EU, North America and Australia. I currently teach at the National College of Art and Design in the School of Visual Culture, and I continue to self-publish the Metropolitan Complex Papers (since 2003) based on informal discussions held in the studio.

Sarah Pierce,  The Question Would be the Answer to the Question, Are you happy?, 2009 – 2012.