Cirrus

Description:

Cirrus was a solo exhibition by Irish Canadian artist-filmmaker Holly Márie Parnell. Rooted in a documentary approach and shaped by personal encounters, Parnell’s work explores ideas around connection and estrangement. The exhibition featured the debut of Cirrus (2025), a new two-channel video work, accompanied by a live video performance on opening night.

Named after the slender sensory appendage found on various animals—used to grasp, feed, anchor, or navigate without sight—Cirrus traverses an interior landscape shaped by the perspectives of artists Min Kim and Mia Wennerstrand. Set between two European capitals hollowed out by late capitalism, Cirrus immerses viewers in the affective atmosphere of this moment in time. It asks: What does it mean to be an artist in a time of economic disparity, cultural malaise, and political impotence?

As cityscapes shift like changing theatre backdrops, a quiet dialogue emerges between screen and spectator—where the simple acts of watching, listening, and waiting create a subtle architecture of connection. In this space, Kim’s intimate correspondences reveal stories of mysterious creatures—moles, lemurs, pink fairy armadillos—tracing her own animal attunement around a felt absence. In contrast, Wennerstrand’s voice arrives as a spectral transmission: a fragmented lecture broadcast across an empty theatre, deserted dance floor, abandoned theme park, and classroom, asking: “Who talks anymore? Who listens anymore?” The thirty-three-minute video installation played on a continuous loop. 

On opening night, Parnell presented a live video performance which continued her Desktop Compositions (2014–) series. A recorded version of the performance was later staged as an installation in the Grand Luxe Hall.  

A commissioned text by poet Lotte L.S. titled “Useful Creature” (2025) accompanied the exhibition.

Cirrus was commissioned by Western Front with support from The Arts Council Ireland, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Audain Foundation.

Curated by Susan Gibb. 

Documents:

• Holly Márie Parnell: Cirrus exhibition brochure (2025). Text by Lotte L.S.