Skerries Art Trail: Bennie Reilly - Beachcomber Bank
Artist Bennie Reilly
Title Beachcomber Bank
Materials Bronze with hand finished patinas
Dimensions Variable
Location Installed on a pre-existing low concrete wall at the Footbridge at the Brook on Skerries South Strand
[Artist’s Production Partner: Bronze Art Foundry, Dublin]
Bennie Reilly’s project is made of over 40 small objects collected on Skerries Strand and cast in bronze.
While beachcombing in Skerries, the artist gathered a collection of small treasures, ranging from natural items like seashells and pinecones, to washed-up objects such as small beach toys.
Bennie has made a series of colourful bronze reproductions of the treasures, which are hand finished with colourful patinas and lacquered for outdoor protection.
The objects are carefully arranged on a pre-existing low concrete wall at the Footbridge at the Brook on Skerries South Strand, where they can be discovered by passers-by and aim to salute and encourage fellow beachcombers.
Artist’s comment: “While exploring Skerries beaches, I encountered many small but meaningful human interventions, such as pebbles used to spell out a name in the sand and seashells carefully stacked and arranged on ledges and walls. These playful displays, based on the ritual of collecting beach-finds, became the starting point for Beachcomber Bank”
Biography: Bennie Reilly
Bennie Reilly’s practice is informed by her interest in museology, natural and post-natural history and is built upon eclectic accumulations of curio and visual research. Her work has led her to museums throughout Europe and the US and to remote residencies in Iceland, Norway, Hungary and Ireland.
Reilly has exhibited across Ireland, Europe and in the US and has had solo exhibitions in the RHA, Dublin, Roscommon Arts Centre, Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise and most recently in the Triskel Arts Centre, Cork. Her work is represented in a number of public and private collections including The Irish State Art Collection, the Arts Council of Ireland Collection, and the Butler Gallery Collection, Kilkenny.