Dianne Whyte is a photographer living in Dublin. In her practice she is interested in space and how if functions, particularly in how the hidden power structures are concealed from direct view. Usually the images she makes are still, silent and encourage contemplation. Some of her previous work is about an archaeology of control dedicated to preserving the trace of individual experience within the space and remembering what may have been lost along the journey (The Echo of a Silent Cry and Grange Gorman). In ‘The Trap Rooms’ she is looking at the theatre space as a metaphor for the staging of reality that underlies the current state of contemporary life. The normally hidden machinery of the theatre, what really drives the spectacle, acts as the social and economic forces that shape our lives. In a philosophical sense they ask questions about the nature of observable reality, what we see is never just what is seen but merely all that is available to us. With her work, ‘Utopia’ she is examining the space of place. Notably the area of the Sassi in Matera and its surrounds. The rebirth of a place once referred to as ‘The Shame of Italy’. It’s rejuvenation and wondrous reuse of space. In her recent commissioned body of work ‘Altered Ground’ Whyte is observing the landscape as it is in the process of transformation, an ongoing alteration of the land, in this case her local area as it undergoes extensive development. This work is an observance of space and expresses an emotional reaction to a familiar environment that is undergoing profound change, concentrating on details that would otherwise be overlooked.
Dianne holds a first class honours BA in Visual Arts through Photography from IADT, and an MFA ,with distinction, in Fine Art Photography from The University of Ulster in Belfast. Her work has been exhibited both here and abroad, and included in the Pingyao Photo festival in China. She was the recipient of The Curtin O'Donoghue Award at the 191st RHA annual show.
exhibitions
From 2006 to 2020
The RHA Annual Exhibition.
One in Four. The Office of Public Works. St. Stephens Green. Dublin
Amharc Fhine Gall. Draiocht. Blanchardstown. Solo show.
Nineteen. The Chancery, Dublin 2. Interim college group show.
‘Speaking the Image’. The Pavillion Centre, Dun Laoghaire.
Graduate Show. IADT. Dun Laoighaire.
‘Cloudbusters’.Group show at the Stone Gallery, Pearse Street.
‘Lens’. Group show at the Stone Gallery. April – May.
Solo show at Iontas Arts and Culture Centre. Castleblayney.
‘Art 08’ RDS.
RHA Annual Open Exhibition 2008
The Stone Gallery. Group Show. Pearse Street. Dublin.
Commissioned by Fingal CC to illustratecultural activity in the area.
One in Four Art Auction.
Dunlaoghaire / Rathdown Open. County Hall, Dun Laoghaire.
‘Small works/ Big Picture’ Mockingbird Arts.
RHA Annual Open Exhibition 2009
Dunamaise Open exhib. Curated by Martin Gale.
Echo of a Silent Cry. Solo show at Mill Gallery, Dundrum
Rua Red, Group Show. Tallaght Arts Centre.
Art Loves Fashion, Belfast. Canvas Gallery.
WideAwake Dreaming. PhotoPlace Gallery. Vermont.USA. Curated by Russel Joslin.
DirectObjects. PhotoPlace Gallery. Vermont.USA. Curated by Wendy Grossman.
Photographic work included in “In Plain Sight”(responding to The Ferns, Ryan and Murphy Reports.
Echo of a Silent Cry. Solo Show. The Market Place, Armagh.
Interim Show. TheCrescent Arts Centre. Belfast.
The Rua Red Winter Open. Curated by Paul McAree and Helen Casey.
Octo. Graduate show, UU Belfast.
Artbox. PhotoIreland. Group show from UU. Dublin.
Pingyao Photo Festival in China from the 19th to 25th Sept.
Royal Ulster Academy. Ulster Museum. Oct - Jan 2017
Signal Arts Open Annual Show 2017. Winner.
Dublin Art book fair. Temple Bar Galleries. 10-13th November.
Halftone. Dublin print fair. The Library Project.
Estuary. Draoicht. Exhibition celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Fingal CoCo Municipal art collection. 12th September - 16th November 2019
Utopia / Dystopia, Municipal Gallery. Curated by Aoife Ruane. 2019. Runner up.
Highlands Gallery Open, Drogheda 2020.
The 2021 Artist Intervention Exhibition, Lenscratch. First Place Winner.
The 191st RHA annual exhibition. Received The Curtin O'Donoghue award for Photography.
Royal Ulster Academy 2021. Ulster Museum.139th annual show.
Halftone. TLP 2021
The 192nd RHA Annual exhibition. 2022.
'Opening the Gates', The Printworks, Dublin Castle. Photoireland.
Altered Ground. Solo Show at the Municipal Gallery at Lexicon. November 2022
The RHA, celebration of 200 years, 139th Annual Exhibition.
Chaos / Order, Municipal Gallery at Lexicon. Curated by Ann Mulrooney. My image from Fragmented Space won first prize.
Twenty One. Mermaid Arts Centre. Exhibition is celebrating 21 years of Mermaid's Visual Arts Programme.
Commissions
Amharc Fhine Gall - iv
Comissioned to document the diversity of cultural activities in Fingal as part of the County councils five year art plan. This art work was published throughout their Art Plan which went on to win the prestigious Eye award at the BiennialIDI All Ireland Design Awards. Resulting in a solo show and a publication.
Reviewed by Aidan Dunne.
"Fingal has emerged with a first-rate, significant body of work. Whyte's photographs, made with a medium-format camera, have a poised, studied presence. In her views of internal and external places there are, as she says, no people, but in each case we are made aware that what we see is the focus for intense activity. What Whyte has ingeniously done is to provide us with a sense of cultural activities as spaces of possibility. To over-simplify it somewhat, you could say that we are invited to inhabit each scene, to take to the stage in Draíocht's theatre, for example. The dense accumulation of materials, tools and sheer stuff in sculptor Vincent Browne's studio is an irresistible invitation to make something. Each image is like a breathing space, a moment between spells of intense activity, and each is also quite beautiful."
Reviewed by Rory O'Byrne.
"The resulting body of work is testament not only to the wide variety of cultural activity taking place in Fingal, but is also evidence of the emergence of an artist with huge talent. Dianne has used photography, not only as a tool to record a time and place, she has through the use of long exposures, skilful composition and use of colour, managed to make images which excite the eye and capture the attention of the viewer. I feel that the photographs in this exhibition will live long in the imagination of those who see them."
Commission by DLR arts.
Visual Arts commission funded by the Arts Council of Ireland. 2022. Commissioned to create a new body of work which will be exhibited at the Municipal Gallery at Lexicon.
Online and offline publications
Mass Isolation publication https://photomuseumireland.ie/mass-isolation-publication
'Altered Ground' featured in Spring Edition of Artist Review 2023
Utopia, published by Photoireland as one of their TLP collections.2022.
The Trap Rooms, Publication by Photoireland for their TLP editions 2019
Abridged. Trivia. edition 68.
Abridged. Control edition 54
Abridged. Mercury Red edition 48
Abridged. Violet Hour edition 90 (2022)
Shutterspark. interview
The Stinging Fly. Issue 9.
The Stinging Fly. Issue 11.
The Stinging Fly. Issue 15.
SMBH. Issue 2
Amharc Fhine Gall iv. Publication of Fingal's Art Plan.
In Plain Sight. Responding to the Ferns, Ryan, Murphy and Cloyne Reports. Book.
Death is a Photography / Interview.
Radio Interview. Culture Shock with Fionn Davenport. (Newstalk) . 2008
Direct Objects: Still Life as Subject. Book 2010
Wide Awake Dreaming. Book, Photoplace Workshop Vermont.2011