Self-made, wide-ranging artistâs storytelling is firmly rooted in what and where
On a freezing day in early December 2020, Gemma Dunleavy walked around Grand Canal Dock in Dublin, past empty offices and a lone skateboarder, reminiscing about a time in the recent past, that same year in fact, but a night that felt very far away.
The memory was from February 29th. Dunleavy was on stage at 39/40, a venue on Dublinâs north quays perfect for the sweaty, loud party underway at the time, a long- awaited hometown headline show by Mango x Mathman, with Dunleavy and Rebel Phoenix as the support acts. The gig was viewed as a triumph from all angles, one big rave before the city shut down a couple of weeks later.