Danny Treacy

Biography

My practice explores land use, shared experience, and social invisibility. My work considers the social and political ecologies of both spaces and the objects and reflects on the manner that they are representative of disparate communities. My practice is located in places where communities exist in a fragile state due to social exclusion. Often these places are overlooked, while the activities taking place are widely perceived as having a negative function. To counter this, my practice highlights these interactions as valuable social rituals, revealing their positive social aspect and acknowledging these spaces as a place of belonging for those who are dislocated or marginalised.

My interest in communal space is connected to lived experience, memory and the belief that a space can be transformed through accumulated and enduring experiences which elevate it beyond its simple physical characteristics. Looking at these acts as social rituals, the result is an enquiry into the object as artefact of shared experience, belonging, and joy. As such, my practice decolonises space by recentring those that exist on the peripheries of our collective vision, culminating in an acknowledgment of the value of objects and places that act as signs and facilitators of marginalised communities.

My work has been exhibited extensively in the UK, with a solo show at The Photographer’s Gallery, London. I have also exhibited in the U.S., Mexico, Finland, Spain, Portugal, Ireland & Canada. My work is held in The British Council Collection & Portland Art Museum. I have been artist in residence at The Irish Museum of Modern Art and AirSpace Gallery. My work has been published in key surveys of contemporary photography such as ‘Vitamin PH’ (Phaidon) & Autoexposure: The Self Portrait in Contemporary Photography (Thames & Hudson).

I have worked on public education projects with The South London Gallery (UK), Tate (UK), Marco Museum of Contemporary Art (MX), The University of Coahuila (MX) and The Courtauld Institute (UK). My practice has been the subject of several academic texts.