Out of the Shadows | Orla de Brí at Solomon Gallery

Event Details

The woman who put a tree on top of a castle is back with a brand-new 18-piece exhibit.

Collection reflects on global and personal challenges, from war and climate change to growing up with dyslexia and losing a parent.
‘From the depths of shadow, light takes shape’

In her new exhibition Out of the Shadows in the Solomon Gallery, Dublin, 25thSeptember – 18th October, Irish sculptor Orla de Brí invites us into a world where the unseen resides. A sculptural 18-piece exploration of the individual and collective shadows we all encounter in life – fear, change, loss, silence – this ninth solo collection of work from de Brí is about resilience and transformation, nurturing strength and finding unexpected light. As de Brí describes it, each piece offers an opportunity to witness vulnerability, wildness and endurance, as from the depths of shadow, light takes shape.

Dublin-born de Brí took her first sculpture course at the young age of 12, an adult night class in North Strand Technical School, her mother persuading the school to let her daughter join the class despite her young age. This was the first step in a career that has led to the creation of 27 large-scale public sculptures across the globe, prestigious showcases in the likes of Sotheby’s, and custom-made pieces for public figures like Nobel Peace Prize winner and anti-apartheid activist Bishop Desmond Tutu.

Predominantly working with bronze, steel and fibreglass, Orla has exhibited in cities such as London, Paris, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing, as well as featuring in numerous prominent public and private collections here in Ireland and abroad – with one of her most striking pieces being ‘Thinking Man’, the incredible 5-metre 24ct gold leafed tree and 3-metre human figure standing tall atop Belvelly Castle in Co. Cork.

Out of the Shadows will run in the Solomon Gallery, Dublin from 25th September -18th October. For the artist, her hope is that people connect with her work on an emotional level and ultimately see something of themselves in it.