Péisteanna – Exhibition by Paul McKinley
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Friday 25 October 10:00am
Saturday 26 October 10:00am
Sunday 27 October 10:00am
Monday 28 October 10:00am - Casino of Marino
- Free
free
stoker-in-depth
visual-art
Péisteanna is visual artist Paul McKinley’s response to Gibbet Hill, the long-lost ghost story by Bram Stoker unearthed by Brian Cleary, which will be the focus of discussion at An Extraordinary Bram Stoker Discovery.
This exhibition at the Casino at Marino presents new artworks which explore the themes, characters and setting of Stoker’s story.
Paul McKinley is an artist living and working in Dublin. Recent exhibitions include, ‘Sacred Trust, Donations and their legacy’, Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin, 2024, ‘Pomegranate’, (solo) Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Dublin, 2023, ‘Blume’, (solo) Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Dublin, 2021. ‘From the Mountain’, works from the Arts Council collection, Wexford Arts Centre, 2019 and ‘Many Worlds’, Centre Cultural Irlandais, Paris, 2017.
Awarded the prestigious Nissan Art Project in 2007, McKinley has exhibited nationally and internationally and his work is included in the collections of Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin, An Chomhairle Ealaíon/The Arts Council, Butler Gallery, Kilkenny, Trinity College Dublin, Office of Public Works and Allied Irish Bank and Kildare County Council.
A blood-whorled eye looks fit to swell beyond its lids, at some point seared of their lashes. Its gaze is fixed, but on what strange form? The sight it beholds seems to have engulfed the wet jelly of the cornea—the organ itself will soon be subsumed by the still-mounting vision.
Responding to Bram Stoker’s long lost ghost story, “Gibbet Hill”, Péisteanna is marked by the chimeric vibrancy that befalls the terrified eye. Dappled light across the bracken, a looming cloud’s darkest crease, a heap of earthworms’ succulent sheen—such ordinary details garner a strange agency in dread’s throes.
Stoker’s narrator, a man terrorised by three children who summon a serpent to the eponymous hillside, suffers this hallucinogenic aesthetic so particular to the horror genre. What lurks as uncanny and anomalous in Stoker’s prose, however, rushes to McKinley’s surfaces with a visceral smack. Vibrations accumulating in ‘the glade, which had seemed so weird’, recast a thrumming landscape in psychedelic tones. The ‘mysterious sense of elapsed time’ prompts a blank spot in the woodland— a dropped stitch in space from which, perhaps, a writhing blindworm snake will soon emerge.
We carry on looking from inside this perforated, bloodstruck gaze, waiting for elements to cohere—to become less strange. But, they are too indelibly marked by the rapture attending a glimpse of the energies that test reality’s well, by the knowledge that one’s body is only a sleeve of wounded flesh.
Three children turn away from the viewer. They are of a different substance to the sky and its blue-orange hues. Is this what our roving eye sees, in the moments before a serpent emerges from our chilled bosom? Three children, their backs turned because they have no further use for us: they are occupied by that lambent horizon, and their next awful deed.
| Duration | October 3 - November 5 |
|---|---|
| Opening Times | Open 10am-4pm daily |
| Age Suitability | Over 16s only. (Under 18s must be accompanied by an adult). |
| Accessibility | This venue is not wheelchair accessible. More info |
Casino of Marino, Cherrymount Crescent, Marino, Dublin 3, Ireland
Bus
A number of Dublin Bus routes serve this area. The closest Dublin Bus route stops are:
Stop 671, Malahide Road, Northbound – Bus numbers 14, 15, 27, 27A, 27B, 42, 43
Stop 665, Malahide Road, Southbound – Bus numbers 14, 15, 27, 27A, 27B, 42, 43
Stop 1491, Griffith Avenue, Southbound – Bus numbers 123
Stop 1489, Griffith Avenue, Northbound – Bus numbers 123
Train
The closest DART and train station is located in Clontarf, which is 1.7km from the venue
Accessibility Information
Ticketing
This is a free event. No booking required.
Arrival
The Casino of Marino is located in a secluded green park within the suburb of Marino. The road into the site is primarily for cars, and there is no pedestrian pathway. The road is lined with a soft curb and is then surrounded by maintained lawns. The entrance to the Casino of Marino is located within a quiet residential area with paved pathways.
A number of Dublin Bus routes serve this area. The closest Dublin Bus route stops are:
Stop 671, Malahide Road, Northbound – Bus numbers 14, 15, 27, 27A, 27B, 42, 43
Stop 665, Malahide Road, Southbound – Bus numbers 14, 15, 27, 27A, 27B, 42, 43
Stop 1491, Griffith Avenue, Southbound – Bus numbers 123
Stop 1489, Griffith Avenue, Northbound – Bus numbers 123
Please note that the 123 bus stop is approximately 900m away from the venue. From the bus stop, the venue is uphill.
The closest DART and train station is located in Clontarf, which is 1.7km from the venue. From the station, the venue is uphill.
There is limited onsite parking available at the venue, with a short walk on a paved pathway to the venue. Drop off and pick up to the car park is possible.
Entry
There are approximately 10 steps with no railing leading up to the entrance of the Casino of Marino. There is no flat entry point. The doors are heavy set, but members of staff will be tending to them during the event.
Space
The Casino of Marino is a protected 18th Century building, so very little of this space can be modernised. The Casino of Marino has three levels, all accessed by staircases. Some of these staircases are narrow and winding. There is a steep drop at the top of the steps of the monument. There is no wheelchair access into the venue itself.
Ground floor: Front porch, vestibule, exhibition rooms; Blue Saloon, Zodiac Room, China Closet
Basement: kitchen, skullery, pantry, ale cellar, Butler’s room
First floor: waiting room, State Room, pink room, servant’s room
While the Casino of Marino aims to be as accessible as possible, the protected nature and design of the building means that people with mobility requirements may have some difficulty in visiting the space. A virtual online tour is available to view here.
Accessible Bathroom / WC
There is no accessible toilet on site. The toilets within the venue are accessed by a flight of stone steps. As this is in a secluded area, there are no neighbouring buildings with accessible bathrooms.
Bar
There will be no food or drinks served at this venue.
Sound
There will be no sound system in use at this venue.
Lighting
Soft lighting will be used within the exhibition spaces. The stairwells will be brightly lit.
Quieter Room
There is no designated quiet space in this venue.