Amanda is an internationally recognised and critically acclaimed artist working across the medias of live art, performance, sculpture and installation. The Irish Times have said, ‘Coogan, whose work usually entails ritual, endurance and cultural iconography, is the leading practitioner of performance in the country’. Her extraordinary work is challenging, provocative and always visually stimulating. Using gesture and context she makes allegorical and poetic works that are multi-faceted, and challenge expected contexts. She is one of the most dynamic contemporary artists practising in live art.
The body, as a site of resistance, is the centrality of Coogan’s work. She encompass a multitude of media; Objects, Text, moving and still image, all circulating around her live performances. Her expertise lies in her ability to condense an idea to its very essence and communicate it through her body. Time is a key material in Coogan’s practice, building controlled instability into the fabric of her work. The long durational aspect of her live presentations invites elements of chaos with the unknown and unpredicted erupting dynamically through her live artworks.
Coogan was awarded the Allied Irish Bank’s Art Prize and has extensively presented and performed her work, including at The Venice Biennale, Liverpool Biennial, PS1; New York, The Whitworth Gallery; Manchester, The Museum of Fine Arts; Boston, Van Gogh Museum; Amsterdam and the Manchester International Festival; The MAC, Belfast; The Golden Thread, Belfast; The Niemeyer, Aviles. She delivered two large-scale live art exhibitions in the National Gallery of Ireland and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville in late 2018. Her 2015 live exhibition; I’ll sing you a song from around the town, was described by Artforum as ‘performance art at its best’.
Exhibitions and projects: The Ladder is Always There, 189th RHA Annual Exhibition, Fast Forward, Introduction, ICONIC
Website: amandacoogan.com
Instagram: @amandacooganartist

Amanda Coogan Amanda Coogan Amanda Coogan - We Shall Year: 2011 Photograph Amanda Coogan - You told me to wash and clean my ears Year: 2013 The Project Arts Centre, Dublin Amanda Coogan - I'll sing you a song from around the town Year: 2013 The Project Arts Centre Amanda Coogan - 13 Women Year: 2013 Hugh Lane Municiple Gallery of Art, Dublin Amanda Coogan - Coda Year: 2011 Photograph Amanda Coogan - Manhole Year: 2013 Insel Hombrich, Germany Amanda Coogan - Spit Spit, Scrub Scrub Year: 2011 Dublin Contemporary Amanda Coogan - You told me to wash and clean my ears Year: 2013 The Project Arts Centre, Dublin Amanda Coogan - Smoking in Bolero Year: 2013 Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris Amanda Coogan Cowards - Amanda Coogan Amanda Coogan- Floats in the Aether Amanda Coogan - Iconic Amanda Coogan - The ladder is always there