Dublin-based artist Isabel Nolan will represent Ireland at the 61st Venice Art Biennale in 2026. Georgina Jackson, the director of The Douglas Hyde Gallery of Contemporary Art at Trinity College, Dublin, is the pavilion curator.
A biennale statement says: “Nolan’s exhibitions are rooted in big subjects: cosmology and deep history; religion and mythology; mortality and love.” In 2027, Nolan’s Venice work will be shown at various venues across Ireland; she will also participate in the 13th edition of the Liverpool Biennial next year (Bedrock, 7 June-14 September) which is curated by Marie-Anne McQuay.
In an interview in ArtReview last year, Nolan discussed her exhibition at Château La Coste, Aix-en-Provence and explained her approach. Asked about the “stylistic diversity” of her work and the “downwardness” aspect in her paintings, including lowering suns and photographs of feet, she said: “I guess it’s to do with noticing a preoccupation with verticality and the veneration of height and light in Western culture.
“In the history of art, in politics and in religion, power is represented and articulated through motifs that represent ascension or elevation as the ideal state for humanity.” She also addressed climate change, saying: “Like a lot of other people, I find what’s happening quite fucking terrifying, and it’s hard not to think about that.”
The curator for the next Venice Biennale is yet to be announced; this year’s curator is Adriano Pedrosa, the artistic director of Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, who organised the exhibition Stranieri Ovunque-Foreigners Everywhere (until 24 November).
Canada and Estonia were the first countries to announce their Venice Biennale 2026 artists. Abbas Akhavan will represent Canada, while Merike Estna will fly the flag for Estonia.
