Camille Souter & Alberta Whittle: Fisherwoman, Fisherwoman

Fisherwoman, Fisherwoman brings together two distinct art practices – of painter Camille Souter (1929–2023) and contemporary artist Alberta Whittle (b. 1980) – that insist upon working against the grain. Spanning a period of 70 years, the works in this thematic exhibition range from painting, collage and watercolour to immersive film, sculptural installation and live performance.

One of the largest exhibitions of British-born, Irish artist Souter’s work to date, it features works-on-paper from the 1950s as well as one of her final paintings, alongside previously unseen archival materials and sketches by the artist. Installation works by Whittle have been specially reimagined and refabricated by the artist for IMMA’s galleries, and include a new sculptural installation, in what is the first showing of the Barbadian Scottish artist’s practice in Ireland.

Where Souter and Whittle meet in Fisherwoman, Fisherwoman, we see layered intersections of ecological and humanitarian concerns. Both artists call attention to urgent issues of extraction and land use, geology and climate, industrialisation and labour, and movement and migration. They each create work from their own personal and local experiences, yet it is shaped by an unerring global awareness. At the same time, these artists’ practices are singular–they contrast in form and style to one another and hold different emphasis. Whittle leans towards the political, charging Souter’s prescient socially engaged works, while Souter’s intense care and curiosity for the natural world extends Whittle’s in turn. These different levels of emphasis bring nuance and texture to the exhibition, adding a productive complexity for visitors to unfold from their own position.

Among the key works on display, Souter’s unflinching painting The slaughtered cow, ten minutes dead (1973), as well as her war series paintings, Desert Shield–Gulf War (1991) and We don’t want to see blood (2004), are significant. Whittle’s search for refuge in an increasingly unstable world in between a whisper and a cry (2019) and her calls for care as resistance in Invest in Love (2020) similarly ask us to bear witness to the raw hostility of humanity, but never without tenderness and empathy. There is a sense of searching for a means for restoration and transformation, be it in the face of exploitation of land for economic gain or destroyed ancestral legacies. Paintings by Souter such as The Last of the Radicio (1964) and Forgotten Island near Venice (1964) criticise humanity’s failure to respect our natural resources. Whittle’s work asks us to confront unsettling realities: in the words of writer Ama Josephine Budge, to “dive in and re/collect ourselves, if necessary, bone by bone.”

Works reimagined by Whittle for the exhibition include RESET (2021), shown in an expanded form with installation elements on show in IMMA’s galleries, the film screened outdoors, and a live performance taking place on IMMA’s grounds. Her coil work Totems of Brass (Part one) (2023) has been dramatically extended in length in response to the architecture of IMMA’s House Galleries, while installation Belly of the beast ((continuing echoes from across the water)) (2026), has been entirely refabricated for the space of the exhibition, and the multimedia installation between a whisper and a cry (2019) is now accompanied by a new, related sculptural installation titled Memorial for “The Great Carew” aka Neville Denis Blackman (sargassum hues) (2019–2026).

Carnival, poetry and magic are bearers of wayward joys and hope in the exhibition. Souter’s Make Believe of all this Winter (1964) and Whittle’s Only the magic and the dream are true (2023) hang side-by-side in synergy, and likewise Finding Pleasure in my Diamonds (2023) by Whittle speaks back to Souter’s Buon Divertimento Chioggia (1958). While these artists are unafraid of the darkness of humanity, they also seek fissures where joy and light seeps through to dream and make-believe new ways of being. In this way, these women become fishers. Diving into cracks to unearth silenced or wilfully forgotten truths, both past and present, they conjure up better worlds for us, on a search for truth, respect, justice and love.

Curator Rachael Gilbourne said, “Fisherwoman, Fisherwoman tells a story of courage and compassion. Through the work of Souter and Whittle, we confront the traumas of our time – from the plundering of the earth and the oceans to the terror of war and colonialisation – yet their voices swell with empathy and a careful hope for the future. It is a real privilege to listen and learn from these artists. They call for curiosity and complexity in the face of monoculture and hype. We hope the exhibition offers the freedom to think deeply, and to imagine strategies of nuance and co-existence.”

Alberta Whittle said, “Working with the memory of Camille Souter and her creative legacy has been fascinating and inspiring. Her approach to radical thinking through her brush has shadowed me in my own studio practice across the water in Glasgow. I am grateful for the opportunity to think expansively with her children, curator Rachael Gilbourne and the wonderful IMMA team.”

Coinciding with the opening reception of Fisherwoman, Fisherwoman on 5 March, IMMA Talks presents a conversation with the artist Alberta Whittle, curator Rachael Gilbourne, and a panel of thinkers.

Whittle’s film RESET (2020) will be screened on Living Canvas at IMMA at key moments over the duration of the show, and on 21 June, Whittle’s performance work RESET (2021–2026), with choreographer and performer Mele Broomes, will take place live across the museum’s grounds to celebrate the Solstice, as part of Summer at IMMA.

A wider public programme of related workshops and screenings will also run in parallel with the exhibition.

The exhibition is accompanied by a limited edition sculpture by Alberta Whittle in cast glass, Summoning spirit – building a new vessel (2026), issued as a varied edition of 11 plus 4 artist’s proofs.