Bedford Row

Bedford Row, LimerickGoogle Maps

Bedford Row was named after John Russell, the Duke of Bedford, who was appointed the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1756.
This site was one of 19 venues for the 26th edition of EVA in 2002, curated by Apinan Poshyananda (b. 1956, Thailand) and titled heroes + holies.
On 16 March 2002, in the window of a shop on this street called No Name, Áine Phillips (b. 1965, Ireland) presented a three-hour performance titled Immaculate Make-Over (2002), which was recorded and subsequently screened at Limerick City Gallery of Art.
The work involved the artist applying layers of cosmetics to her face to the point of excess. Typically an act of beautification, the act of applying make-up became a disorderly act of grotesque transformation. Like much of Phillips’ work, Immaculate Make-Over was a critical response to the conventions of female beauty and the objectification of women in modern consumerist society.