Rodeo Oracle
Aoibheann Greenan
December 09 - January 07 2012
Rodeo Oracle refers to the ideological debate surrounding the issue of indigenous whaling in the Pacific Northwest. The ongoing struggle of North American Indian tribes to practice their treaty-protected right to hunt whales is one that resonates with attempts by indigenous people worldwide to maintain their customary subsistence patterns and cultural self- determination. Close reading of this dispute reveals an almost colonial Western perspective, in the worst instances prejudiced and patronising at best. Rodeo Oracle humorously manifests the romantic ideas projected onto the 'other' by the Western gaze. Indigenous culture is self-reflexively filtered through a Western lens to the degree that a parody of the latter is constructed. Deliberate misappropriations abound, in particular the use of the monument whose presence in North American Indian tradition is virtually non-existent. The monument thus offers a greater commentary on our own culture, rife with its symbols of power and authority. These indiscretions reflect the myriad ways in which indigenous cultures are misrepresented in the media. To a higher extent they illustrate how second-hand information can significantly misinform or limit our understanding of the world.
Aoibheann Greenan graduated from NCAD in 2010 with a first class honours degree in Fine Art Painting. Recent exhibitions include: ‘Around a Volta' at Chateau de Servieres, Marseilles, October 2011- present; 'Jockeyism'at Block T, Dublin, June 2011; 'Motels and Mineral Surfaces', a solo show at The Cross Gallery, Dublin, March 2011 and 'The Cloud’at Draiocht Arts Centre, Dublin, November 2010- January 2011. Recent residencies include Chateau de Servieres, Marseilles, September- October 2011 and SOMA, Mexico City, July-August 2011. Greenan lives and works in Dublin.
