Jaki Irvine (b. 1966, Dublin) works across video, installation, photography, music composition, and writing to explore the complex ways we imagine ourselves and the world around us. For Irvine, this process has both philosophical and political dimensions. Everyday incidents and overheard conversations often form the starting point for her work. She weaves these real events into films and videos that reflect on the fragmented, mysterious and often absurd nature of the human condition.
Ssh Ow marks the artist’s first major solo exhibition in a UK public gallery in a decade. At its centre is Ack Ro’, an immersive thirteen-channel video installation that envelops viewers with sound, imagery, and light, creating an atmosphere that is both disorienting and melodic.
The work’s soundscape features Louise Phelan’s haunting vocals, alongside Joe O’Farrell’s flute, Izumi Kimura’s piano, and Sarah Grimes’s percussion. Visually, close-ups of Phelan singing, a trembling cymbal, and blurred piano keys intertwine with curving pink neon forms. Fragments of film shot in Dublin and Mexico City, each with its own unpredictable soundtrack, adds to the work’s sense of instability. Interspersed throughout the gallery are 28 looping pink neon signs displaying anagrams derived from Neil Diamond’s song Cracklin’ Rosie (1970). Words and reflections such as ‘ro’ ro’ rose,’ ‘near so near,’ ‘clean clear cackles,’ and ‘rack ack ack’ float through the gallery space, presenting language as endlessly reconfigurable.
Ack Ro’s nonlinear arrangement of images and sounds is informed by the disorienting effects of dementia, conditions that affect a person’s sense of time. The installation uses rhythmic repetition to offer a momentary sense of orientation, a fleeting return that allows for reflection, mourning, and eventual release, inviting viewers to imagine and even feel the coexistence of different temporalities.
Irvine’s project at DLWP includes a newly commissioned live work, SHWO EM TEH WAY OT GO HMOE, to be presented in the auditorium on 24 May 2025 (BOOK YOUR TICKET). This performance combines a live graphic score with musical improvisation inspired by the song Show Me the Way to Go Home (1925), famously remembered as a sea shanty from the film, Jaws (1975).
Jaki Irvine lives and works between Dublin and Mexico and is a regular artist advisor at the Rijksakademie, Amsterdam. She has exhibited at Tate Britain, London; Louisiana Museum, Denmark; Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland; the ICA, London; ACCA Melbourne; Galerie für Gegenwartskunst, Freiburg; Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro; Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts, San Francisco; Estorick Collection, London; the Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin; the Glucksman, Cork; and Dublin Contemporary 2011. In 1997, she represented Ireland at the Venice Biennale. Solo exhibitions include Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; Chisenhale Gallery, London; Staatliche Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden; Delfina Project Space, London; Henry Moore Institute, Leeds; The Model, Sligo; The Douglas Hyde Gallery,
Temple Bar Gallery and Studios, Project Arts Centre, The LAB and Draiocht, all Dublin.
EASY READ GUIDE
There are plenty of welcoming and good value B&Bs & boutique hotels in Bexhill. The De La Warr Pavilion regularly uses the following:
The Relais Cooden Beach Hotel and Spa
Situated on a private beach with uninterrupted views of the English Channel, this immaculately restored four-star hotel is just a 10-minute drive from De La Warr Pavilion. Receive 10% discount on rooms* from Sunday to Thursday (excluding Fridays and Saturdays) using the promo code DLWP. BOOK NOW.
*Offer available until 31 March 2026 (blackout dates apply). Free cancellation up to 24 hours before arrival. Paid partnership with The Relais Cooden Beach Hotel & Spa.
- By Rail
Direct trains go from London Victoria, Brighton and Ashford to Bexhill.
There are also trains from London Charing Cross, changing at St. Leonards Warrior Square and from London Bridge or Charing Cross going to Battle. Battle is only a short taxi journey away (15 mins approx).
Visit www.nationalrail.co.uk for up-to-date train travel information. - Taxis
Town Taxis: 01424 211 511
Parkhurst Taxis: 01424 733 456 - By Car
If driving from the London area:
Take the M25, then A21 to Hastings. Turn off at John‘s Cross and follow the signs to Bexhill.
OR
Take the A22 to Eastbourne, go across the Bishop roundabout to the A271 and follow the signs to Bexhill and the seafront. The De La Warr Pavilion is on the Marina.
From the Brighton area:
Follow the A27 out of Brighton until you arrive in Bexhill On Sea. - Parking
Please be aware the Rother District car park outside the De La Warr Pavilion operates paid parking until 10pm. After this time parking is free. There is also limited free car parking along the seafront.
Within the limits of this Grade One listed building, the De La Warr Pavilion strives to be fully accessible with a range of facilities to support your visit.
Assistance Dogs are permitted into the building.
Please contact the Box Office on 01424 229 111 to arrange a visit.
Facilities for disabled visitors
- Ramped access at the front of the building
- A low counter at the Box Office and Information Desk
- Disabled toilets on two floors
- A lift to all floors
- Accessible galleries on both floors
- An accessible Café
- Spaces for wheelchairs in the auditorium for seated events
- Ramped access in the auditorium for events during the day
- Ramped access into the Studio
- Two travel wheelchairs are available for use at the De La Warr Pavilion. To reserve, please call our box office and information desk on (01424) 229111 or ask a member of staff on arrival. The chairs are provided on a first come, first served basis and are intended for use inside the Pavilion. Please contact us for more information.
Facilities for blind or visually-impaired
- Large print season brochures
Facilities for the hard-of-hearing
- An T-Switch induction loop in some areas of the auditorium (please indicate when booking as this facility is not available on the balcony)
- British Sign Language interpretation tours of the building and exhibitions are available on request.
Sensory Bags
- Sensory bags will be available from the Ground floor or First floor gallery and contain supportive items for people with neurodivergence, anxiety or sensory sensitives.Sensory bags include:
One set of ear defenders
A selection of fidget toys
One soft foam stress ball
A set of 6 coloured paddles
One light up magnifying glass.You can sign one out and bring it back before you leave.