‘Freebird’s M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan

Special event: Motorcycle rally, with music by Lazarus Brother, 4-7pm Saturday 29th July.
Gallery viewings: Thursday 27th July–Saturday 12th August during gallery hours.
____________________________

Pallas Projects/Studios are pleased to present ‘Freebird’s M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan, the fifth exhibition of our 2023 Artist-Initiated Projects programme.

‘Freebird’s M.C.C. Project’ will bring a motorcycle rally exhibition into the Pallas project space combining film, artwork, music, and bikers to create a happening of mayhem. The ‘Freebird’s M.C.C. Project’ is a socially engaged project that involves twelve male members of the Freebird’s Motorcycle Club from county Longford along with artist Brigid Mulligan who is a club member and little sister of the group. The project is based on the club members' shared histories and communal effects of loss. Over the last twenty years the club has lost three club members due to road traffic accidents.

The ‘Freebird’s M.C.C. Project’ will transform the Pallas gallery space into a motorcycle rally venue. This event will share an insight into motorcycle rally culture while inviting non-art communities to connect with artists in creative spaces for conversations about how we experience loss. On opening night, we invite local bikers to attend and arrive in convoy, creating noise and atmosphere at the gallery entrance. All attendants will be asked to sign in and get a club stamp on their hand on the way into the gallery noting the distance travelled and club affiliation. As people arrive the ‘Freebird’s M.C.C. Project’ very own rock band ‘Lazarus Brother’ will be blasting out classic heavy metal covers.

The audience will be invited to sit and watch a screening of the short film ‘Freebird’s’, co-created with the Freebird’s M.C.C., Brigid Mulligan & Bruno Pierucci, the film will run in the gallery for the exhibition duration. ‘Freebird’s’ gives a glimpse into the unseen side of Irish bikers in a rural community. The motorcycle club members share what being a biker means to them and intimate perspectives on life and shared experiences of loss. The exhibition will display the artwork created by the ‘Freebird’s M.C.C. Project’ in 2022. Wreaths fabricated from old motorcycle indicators and disc brakes gently flicker and symbolise alternative roadside shrines. The ceramic disc brakes created by Martha Williamson and co-designed with the club members contain personalized badges to pay tribute to each club member who has died.
The club's archival wall will be placed in the gallery giving an insight into the community’s 25-year friendship, and share images of the wildness of youth. For the first time ever, this will be combined with a selection from the cyanotype series ‘A Portrait of a Life Through Belonging’ that responds and connects with the ‘Freebird’s M.C.C. Project’ work. The cyanotype prints act as an archive to a life lived, made up of a collection of things Mulligan’s brother once owned; Helmet, Gloves and Leather jacket—life sized cyanotype prints will be placed at considered locations within the gallery. The hope is that sharing this collaborative project could benefit grieving communities in Ireland today by diminishing the isolation of grief.