READY? (2025). Video [13’ 34’’], neon lights, 3 stadium coach chairs. Dimensions variable
READY? (2025)
PUMP (2025)
MAN IN MOTION (2025)
Multimedia installation
Production Assistance by Juliane Foronda and Jennifer O’ Brien
Post production by Léann Herlihy
Unravelling the austere entanglements of surveillance and policing of trans* bodies, Herlihy actively subverts trans* exclusionary tactics steered by a moral panic for public “safety” by highlighting the urgency of queer and trans* self-defence clubs in preserving community existence. Recognising the body as a revolutionary site for the production, retention and transformation of knowledge, Herlihy pulls from the muscle memory built during their training in trans-led self-defence spaces, anti-fascist fight clubs and martial arts gyms over the last three years. With a deep desire for their practice to be perpetually held in a slippery sweat-saturated grip, this body of work bashfully attempts to recreate the atmospheres permeated in these community training spaces; from a dimly lit Dyke fight club to the brightly-lit community-halls-turn-fight-rings. Cheering on the legion of strained bodies–those who resist flexibility in favour of justice–, dupes of archival sports fan memorabilia, deconstructed mascot costumes and coach stadium chairs are scattered throughout the gallery, cultivating complex and nuanced narratives regarding the subjectivity of gender minorities and their ongoing liberation.
This work is indebted to the community-led LGBTQIA+ self-defence groups Leeds Queer Self-Defence (UK), Leeds Queer Wrestling (UK), Bender Defenders (UK), Dyke Fight Club (US), Pop Gym (US), Fearless Queers (US), Bash Bash Revolution (US) and Otwarte Serca Zaciśnięte Pięści / Open Heart Closed Fist (PL), as well as the archivists and librarians from the Sports and Leisure Archive in the Canadian National Museum of History (CA), Bishopsgate Institute (UK) and Lesbian Herstory Archive (US).
READY? (2025), PUMP (2025) and MAN IN MOTION (2025) are part of Herlihy’s larger transdisciplinary project With Everything We’ve Got! (2022 - ?) and was commissioned by Galway Arts Centre for the two person show pass the baton (2025). This work was supported by the Evolve Practice Award in Digital Media from Fire Station Artists’ Studios (2025) and the Arts Council of Ireland.
PUMP (2025)
MAN IN MOTION (2025)
Multimedia installation
Production Assistance by Juliane Foronda and Jennifer O’ Brien
Post production by Léann Herlihy
Unravelling the austere entanglements of surveillance and policing of trans* bodies, Herlihy actively subverts trans* exclusionary tactics steered by a moral panic for public “safety” by highlighting the urgency of queer and trans* self-defence clubs in preserving community existence. Recognising the body as a revolutionary site for the production, retention and transformation of knowledge, Herlihy pulls from the muscle memory built during their training in trans-led self-defence spaces, anti-fascist fight clubs and martial arts gyms over the last three years. With a deep desire for their practice to be perpetually held in a slippery sweat-saturated grip, this body of work bashfully attempts to recreate the atmospheres permeated in these community training spaces; from a dimly lit Dyke fight club to the brightly-lit community-halls-turn-fight-rings. Cheering on the legion of strained bodies–those who resist flexibility in favour of justice–, dupes of archival sports fan memorabilia, deconstructed mascot costumes and coach stadium chairs are scattered throughout the gallery, cultivating complex and nuanced narratives regarding the subjectivity of gender minorities and their ongoing liberation.
This work is indebted to the community-led LGBTQIA+ self-defence groups Leeds Queer Self-Defence (UK), Leeds Queer Wrestling (UK), Bender Defenders (UK), Dyke Fight Club (US), Pop Gym (US), Fearless Queers (US), Bash Bash Revolution (US) and Otwarte Serca Zaciśnięte Pięści / Open Heart Closed Fist (PL), as well as the archivists and librarians from the Sports and Leisure Archive in the Canadian National Museum of History (CA), Bishopsgate Institute (UK) and Lesbian Herstory Archive (US).
READY? (2025), PUMP (2025) and MAN IN MOTION (2025) are part of Herlihy’s larger transdisciplinary project With Everything We’ve Got! (2022 - ?) and was commissioned by Galway Arts Centre for the two person show pass the baton (2025). This work was supported by the Evolve Practice Award in Digital Media from Fire Station Artists’ Studios (2025) and the Arts Council of Ireland.
PUMP (2025). Galvanized steel, monitors, PLA carabiners [300 x 300 x 235 cm]. Photo by Tom Flanagan.
MAN IN MOTION (2025). Acrylic wool [65 x 165 x 5 cm]. Photo by Tom Flanagan.
GO TEⒶM! (2025). Video. 3D printed PLA foam finger [46 x 8 x 22 cm]. Photo by Tom Flanagan.
PUMP (2025) [detail]. Galvanized steel, monitors, PLA carabiners [300 x 300 x 235 cm]. Photo by Tom Flanagan.
PUMP (2025) [detail]. Galvanized steel, monitors, PLA carabiners [300 x 300 x 235 cm]. Photo by Tom Flanagan.
GUMBO (2025). Video. 3D printed PLA mascot feet and runners. Photo by Tom Flanagan.
HUGO (2025). Video. 3D printed hornet stinger butt plug. Photo by Tom Flanagan.