Amanda Coogan facts for kids

Amanda Coogan (born 1971) is an Irish performance artist. She lives and works in Dublin. She studied with the famous performance artist Marina Abramović. Amanda Coogan creates videos and photos from her live performances. Her art often starts with her own body. She likes to challenge what people expect to see.

About Amanda Coogan's Art

Her Early Life and Studies

Amanda Coogan was born in Dublin, Ireland. She studied painting at the Limerick School of Art and Design. She also studied in Athens, Greece. Later, she learned about sculpture at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. A big part of her training was with Marina Abramović. This was at the HBK Hochschule für Bildende Kunste in Braunschweig, Germany. Amanda Coogan earned her PhD from the University of Ulster in 2013.

What is Performance Art?

Amanda Coogan is known for her performance art. This type of art involves an artist doing a live action or event. She often uses her own body in her performances. She then makes videos and photographs from these live shows. Her work often makes people think differently about things.

Key Art Projects

Amanda Coogan is not deaf, but she knows Irish Sign Language. In one amazing artwork, she danced to a song called "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" by Gil Scott-Heron. While dancing, she signed all the lyrics.

For another project, she filmed people headbanging. Headbanging is when you shake your head strongly to music. They were headbanging to Beethoven's "Ode to Joy." This project was part of the Liverpool Biennial art festival.

During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, she worked on a project. This project was about the Wrens of the Curragh. These were women who lived in makeshift homes near an army camp in the 1800s.

Where Her Art Has Been Shown

Amanda Coogan's art has been shown in many places. She has exhibited at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. She also won an award at EV+A 2002 in Limerick. The Royal Hibernian Academy chose her for an exhibition in 2003. She was also invited to the Liverpool Biennial in 2004. In 2005, the Limerick City Gallery of Art showed her installation work. She was also part of Dublin Contemporary in 2011.

Important Solo Shows

Amanda Coogan has had many solo exhibitions. These are shows where only her art is displayed. Some of her notable solo shows include:

• Amanda Coogan, Recycling the Future, Venice Biennale, Venice (2003)
• Amanda Coogan, A Brick In The Handbag, The Void, Derry, (2005)
• Amanda Coogan, The Fall, Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Dublin, (2009)
• Amanda Coogan, The Passing, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, (2011)
• Amanda Coogan, I’ll sing you a song from around the town, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, (2015)
• Amanda Coogan, I’ll sing you a song from around the town, Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick (2017)