Richard Malone is used to feeling like an outsider. His back-footed approach to the worlds in which he inhabits has served him well him, especially when it comes to generating conversations.

The Wexford-born, internationally-celebrated fashion designer and artist’s unique perspective is one of the reasons the National Gallery of Ireland gave him an artist residency as part of the public programme for summer exhibition Giacometti: From Life.

Malone was on site at the Gallery throughout June and July and the studio is open to all for the month of August, when his artistic response to the work of sculptor Alberto Giacometti will be on display. As well as public drop-ins, a series of activities will take place with invited communities, individuals and groups, all with the goal of being as diverse, equitable, accessible and inclusive as possible.

“I think this is a very natural progression for my work,” says Malone who has created pieces for Tilda Swinton, Róisín Murphy and Björk. “I’ve always had a very artistic practice, even in terms of the clothes that we make, they’re always borderline between fashion, art and performance.

“Garments are really important to the musicians I dress, and my background is sculpture and it’s also nice to be doing this in Ireland. Ireland has gone through such a huge change so it’s really nice for me to be able to base myself here for a prolonged period of time and dedicate myself to making work that comes out of the project naturally.” 

“Queer people or working class people in a different country get to make work that’s abstract or question things like anyone else, they don’t need to fetishise themselves to make it work.”

In an era dominated by celebrity creative director and instantly famous fashion faces, Malone has been carving his own path. Known instead for his sculptural, skilfully crafted and sustainable clothing, the designer has already made an indelible mark on the fashion landscape. He won both the Louis Vuitton Grand Prix Scholarship and the Deutsche Bank Award in Fashion Design during his time at Central Saint Martins. Within two years of graduating, his label had been picked up by Selfridges, Nordstrom and H.Lorenzo, as well as contemporary boutique Machine-A in Soho, London. He was nominated for the Woolmark Prize in 2020.

“The Giacometti exhibition presents a renowned multi-disciplinary artist working in painting, drawing and of course, sculpture,” says Sinéad Rice, Head of Education at the National Gallery of Ireland. “We wanted an artist who embraces a multi-media approach in their own work and while Richard Malone is known primarily as a fashion designer, it was his multi-disciplinary artistic practice which got us thinking about a collaboration.”

Malone was reintroduced to Giacometti’s work during the height of the pandemic when installing Making and Momentum: Conversations with Eileen Grey, an exhibition he created initially at E1027, Grey’s self-designed home in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France. A major retrospective on Giacometti was happening in nearby Monaco, which he visited.

“Malone also studied sculpture in Wales before moving to fashion design which is very evident in his work,” says Rice. “I was interested in how his work, which is full of movement and light, would juxtapose with Giacometti’s very still, solid sculptures. Moreover as both the human form and human condition are of interest to both artists the possibilities are endless.”

A homecoming of sorts

This residency represents a homecoming of sorts for the designer. “In terms of the gallery’s representation, it’s quite exciting for a queer artist to be in a space like this in a gallery because historically that never happens. Looking at the team behind the scenes and how they do community outreach for people who are disabled and the LGBTQ+ community, Sinead has really built a team who are from those communities so it feels like a really modern and contemporary way of approaching artist residencies,” he said.

Clearing his schedule to embrace such a residency naturally comes with some sacrifice, but Malone was ready. “I had to make time. I haven’t shown that much work in textiles or sculpture publicly. I’ve shown some work in the Museum of Modern Art in New York and I think a lot of the questions that arise from showing in those spaces happen quite organically, and this feels very organic, and I think it’s really important to lean into those things,” he said.

“That show was really interesting because it speaks to Irish immigration and emigration in terms of queer experience.”

“I’ve worked with a number of galleries both in London and New York, and what I find incredible is what the education team [at the Gallery] are doing in terms of outreach. They’re not waiting for people to present to them, and that’s really inspiring. We’ve already had studio visits from children in fifth and sixth class who are severely dyslexic.

“I think it’s really important that there’s an awareness from the gallery staff that these are vital connections and it’s their responsibility to make education free and to include people who have different ways of thinking. Ninety per cent of the students who went to Central St Martins when I was there were dyslexic and it’s important to support different ways of thinking, especially in Ireland where so many things are changing.

“There’s a real shift. We’re on the cusp of a recession, young people feel really isolated and I think it’s really important we keep continuing conversations that are really tricky. It takes a lot of effort and time. That’s sometimes in a battle with how social media works where everything is instant, whereas I think these conversations will take a really long time.”

Fortunately, Malone is used to biding his time in order to impact change. “Going through university and the fashion industry in London where there’s an enormous class system and I’m from outside the cosmopolitan city,” he said.

“Even in Ireland, I’m from a working class family, I don’t have a background where people are educated to third level or even Leaving Cert and it’s interesting that even that is being embraced because it’s a conversation that’s invisible and never happens. People aren’t willing to have that conversation. It’s very important and weighted. At the beginning of my career, I was the artist from down the country and it wasn’t taken very seriously, but when you make a career outside of here, in London or internationally, that’s when people go ‘oh shit, we should have given space to that person’, that’s the kind of change I’m hoping will happen.”

Sharing his experience comes with a level of responsibility, but he’s also determined not to be defined by it. “At the British Fashion Council no one is from my background, so it’s really hard to have that conversation. The majority of prizes and things that are awarded in London go to British designers or artists, it’s apparent. That’s because there isn’t place for people to thrive and those conversations haven’t happened,” he said.

“So I think it can be really overwhelming to not make that your sole purpose, but also I think there’s a certain responsibility as that’s part of the change I’d like to see. It doesn’t mean as much to me as the people who are coming up behind me, like even my cousins or my family.

“They can’t really have the same opportunities as me because of the restrictions that are put in place, and they’re actually getting worse. I don’t want my visibility to be a sign that things are getting better, they’re actually more difficult for people. It’s more expensive to go to university, it’s really hard to justify going down a creative path, even in Ireland where it’s known and embraced by everyone.”

“I’m not really public or forward facing, so my work is not really about me as a person.”

Navigating his identity through his work and his art is an ongoing challenge. “For me, it was really important to establish a line between the two and my position can be fetishised working abroad or in the UK, as Irish, working class. I’ve never wanted to manipulate or appropriate where I’m from. I’m not trying to sell it or capitalise on it. I think it’s really special where I’m from even if people see it as a disadvantage, it’s a different perspective on the world, and I think that is really important and needs to celebrated in a different way.

“The work that I make is a result of that, but it also gets to stand on its own and be respected for being excellent, or whatever people call it, for the effort and research that went into it. Queer people or working class people in a different country get to make work that’s abstract or question things like anyone else, they don’t need to fetishise themselves to make it work.”

Malone has dedicated much of his work to championing marginalised identities. Last year, he revealed an intensely personal project, àit don ghrà – a series of nude self-portraits exploring queer sexuality, love and desire at EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum.

“That show was really interesting because it speaks to Irish immigration and emigration in terms of queer experience. I’m not really public or forward facing, so my work is not really about me as a person. That exhibition  was about celebrating the idea of queerness or the LGBTQ+ aspect and being visible was an important thing for me to do. There’s an amazing historian called Maurice Casey who’s been looking at the change that’s happened because of queer or gay people in Ireland in the last few years and their contribution to society. It was really rewarding to be in the shadow of all of the people who had built a new and modern Ireland where people are included, and celebrates the person behind the work and what that might mean to the next generation in terms of visibility. It feels like a project that will continue and keep growing.”

For more information on Giacometti: From Life, the artist residency and a full list of programmed events, see www.nationalgallery.ie.