Kerlin Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of new photographs by Brian Maguire.

Brian Maguire first visited, Sâo Paolo, Brazil in 1998 when he became involved in a number of collaborative projects with different groups from across the deeply divided social spectrum. The outcome of these collaborations was a body of work known as 'Casa da Cultura' first exhibited at the Sâo Paolo Biennale in 1998 and then at the Hugh Lane Gallery Dublin in 2000. One particular strand of 'Casa da Cultura' included the inhabitants of one of the 'Favelas' or shanty towns known as "Vila Prudente', since then Maguire has returned several times to this community, developing relationships with families and individuals. The photoworks in this new exhibition represent an ongoing humane and provocative interaction.

This new work continues Maguire's lifelong and highly personal exploration of the human condition, engaging in collaborative projects with individuals or groups of people who have either been marginalized by or alienated from mainstream society. Most recently, in 2001 and 2002 he was artist in residence at two prisons in New York for a period of several months. The result of this was an exhibition of both the prisoners and his own work at the White Box Gallery in Chelsea in the heart of the New York art world and a large scale billboard in Lower Manhattan depicting portraits of a number of the female prisoner. The subsequent coverage by the New York Times and other daily news papers ensured an audience well beyond the restricted parameters of the art world. A catalogue with critical texts concerning Maguire's socially engaged practice will be published later this year.

Maguire has exhibited widely throughout Europe, Japan and the Americas. A major exhibition of his work took place at the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, Dublin and travelled to the Contemporary Art Museum, Houston, TX in 2000 and the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork in 2001. Among the many collections, both public and private, in which he is represented are those of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery Dublin the Alvar Aalto Museum, Finland, the Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, Netherlands and the Collection of Ed & Nancy Kienholz. In 2000 Maguire was appointed Professor of Fine Art and Head of the Faculty of Fine Art at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin.