Fascinated by philosophies on museum curating, I jumped at the chance to attend a Saturday presentation at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) by the artist/curator Dorothy Cross. It was a general conversation with Lisa Le Fauvre.

Dorothy Cross is the person who assembled IMMA’s exhibition, TROVE, from the storerooms of Ireland’s National Gallery (in Dublin and Cork).

Walking through the exhibit hall felt to me like being in a curiosity cabinet of yesteryear. Somewhere between Rembrandt’s studio in Amaterdam, the Galelio Museum of Florence, and Alice’s wonderland.

Here, Dorothy Cross juxtaposed objects in novel and informative ways. A (sculpted) saint bursts forth from his shipping crate. A (real life) naked man stands amid column-like worship stones… he is not pictured here on my G-rated website! 😉

Back in college, I read a number of postmodern philosophy books about  museum curating. They noted that house museums, like the Rembrandt one I mentioned above, provide very authentic contexts for displaying artifacts. Dorothy Cross navigated this postmodern mileau with panache.

I was equally thrilled that the lecture was held in the lovely baroque chapel at IMMA. I’ve been trying to access it for weeks but it’s generally closed to the public.

IMMA is housed in the former Royal Kilmainham Hospital

The Baroque chapel at IMMA.

Dorothy Cross (left) and Lisa Le Favre discussed curating the show “TROVE.”

IMMA’s Chapel, Ireland’s best baroque interior.

The ceiling feels so “Alice in Wonderland.”

Bountiful veggies dangle from above.

“Reading Position for Second Degree Burn” circa 1970, beside a skin cut into a mask. How odd.

Nest of the Oven Bird