Exhibition Roundup

Exhibition Roundup

Dublin

Copper House Gallery

Sean Fingleton’s exhibition ‘Musicians and Landscapes from Donegal to Clare’ ran from 17 to 24 November 2022. Fingleton says: “My drawings of the musicians originate from visits to the Willie Clancy Festival. They are developed through the medium of oil pastel with gestural expression and colour to the fore. The drawings are from recorded impressions of live musicians done in sketch books, executed in pencil, and later transposed into larger works in oil pastel and mixed media in the studio.”

thecopperhousegallery.com

LexIcon

‘Heirloom’ is an installation created by artist Rachel Doolin at the LexIcon in Dún Laoghaire. Doolin has been artist in residence for the last two years with the Irish Seed Savers Association, Ireland’s only public seed bank. As risks from the climate crisis and global conflicts escalate, seed banks are becoming an increasingly precious resource that could one day prevent a worldwide food crisis. The exhibition continues until 5 March.

dlrcoco.ie

NCAD Gallery

‘‘Why be an artist?’ (after Leigh Hobba and Noel Sheridan)’ is an exhibition and film project by Oisín Byrne and Vaari Claffey with Kevin Atherton, Isadora Epstein, Gary Farrelly, Leigh Hobba, Séamus Nolan, Grace Weir, and Noel Sheridan. The invited artists respond across a variety of registers, both paying homage to and challenging Sheridan’s narrative content and performative approach. The exhibition continues until 15 February.

ncad.gallery

Photo Museum Ireland

Photo Museum Ireland presents ‘The Light of Day’, the first major retrospective of Tony O’Shea, who is regarded as a legendary figure in documentary photography and one of Ireland’s most important contemporary photographic artists. Curated and produced by Photo Museum Ireland, this retrospective exhibition brings together for the first time his seminal bodies of work. The exhibition continues until 18 February.

photomuseumireland.ie

SO Fine Art Editions

The group show, ‘Winter Exhibition’, presents new work by Yoko Akino, Emma Berkery, Cathy Burke, Niall Cullen, Niamh Flanagan, Mary A Fitzgerald, John Fitzsimons, Taffina Flood, Debbie Godsell, Sophie Gough, Alison Kay, Allan Kinsella, Richard Lawlor, Stephen Lawlor, Sarah Long, Bernadette Madden, Marie-Louise Martin, Eoin Francis McCormack, Matthew Mitchell, Mary O’Connor, Shane O’Driscoll, Sorca O’Farrell, Emma O Hara, Padraig Parle, Tom Phelan, Linda Plunkett, Luke Reidy & Colm Toolan (SEK2). The exhibition continues until 7 January. sofinearteditions.com

The LAB

‘The Swinging Pendulum’, by visual artist Joanna Kidney, brings the immediate language of mark-making and line into the complex language of painting. To this end, the malleable nature of encaustic paint (molten pigmented beeswax) enables both a distillation and a materiality in the work. The paintings enfold a lexicon, gathered continually from the everyday, and the sensory experiences of touch and proprioception – the sense of self-movement, force, and body position. On display from 18 November to 17 December 2022.

dublincityartsoffice.ie

Belfast

ArtisAnn Gallery

Julie Corcoran’s recent solo exhibition, ‘Looking for Light – The Heroine’s Journey’, took viewers on an epic journey. The protagonist, in a beautiful dress, journeys deep within and is resurrected achieving divine unity of the feminine and masculine. Each of Julie’s images are born out of an emotion or concept. The artist combines digital photographs in layers to produce pieces that look like they were painted, rather than manipulated on screen. The exhibition ran at ArtisAnn Gallery from 30 November to 17 December 2022. artisann.org

Catalyst Arts

Catalyst Arts recently presented their first member’s show in their new space at 6 Joy’s Entry, near Cornmarket in Belfast city centre. The exhibition was titled ‘it feels hairy to start from nothing again’ – perceived as emphasising the precarious position of artist-led spaces in the city – and presented audio-visual work by four Catalyst members: Peter Glasgow and Sun Park, Niamh Seana Meehan, and Reuben Brown. ‘It feels hairy to start from nothing again’ was the final show of the year at Catalyst Arts and ran from 1 to 15 December 2022.

catalystarts.org.uk

Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich

After Brexit, under EU food safety rules, sausages are no longer allowed to enter Northern Ireland from Great Britain. Belfast-based, Japanese artist Shiro Masuyama has realised a new social intervention using sausages to highlight the Irish Sea Border (which was created after Brexit) in his exhibition ‘Brexit Sausages’. Following international residencies in the Irish Museum of Modern Art and Flax Art Studios, Masuyama (who was born in Tokyo) moved to Belfast, where he’s been based ever since. The exhibition continues until 26 January. culturlann.ie

Golden Thread Gallery

‘Hold on Tight’ is a provocative exhibition of corporeal artworks by four female artists working in performance and moving image: Sinéad O’Donnell, Katherine Nolan, Jayne Parker, and Hollie Miller. Each of these artists work in response to their bodies, questioning the vulnerability of human flesh through lived and sometimes violent experience. ‘Hold on Tight’ presents the different ways in which these artists use materials and how they can be manipulated by, or alongside the body. The exhibition continues until 14 January.

goldenthreadgallery.co.uk

The MAC

To mark the end of their 10th anniversary celebrations, The MAC presents a group exhibition of new work, titled ‘New Exits: 10 Years of Painting Shows’. Whilst set within the context of the many significant painting exhibitions The MAC has presented since its inception, the exhibition is primarily an opportunity to draw attention to and celebrate the painting practices that have emerged and continue to flourish through the work of graduates of the BA and MFA Fine Art courses at Belfast School of Art since 2012. The exhibition continues until 26 March.

themaclive.com

Ulster Museum

The 141st Annual Royal Ulster Academy exhibition was on display at the Ulster Museum from 14 October 2022 to 3 January 2023. The RUA is the most enduring body of practicing visual artists in Northern Ireland. The exhibition showcases work from established artists and new artists from all over the world, alongside work by RUA Academicians. Now in its 141st year, this exhibition continues to provide a relevant platform for contemporary painting, sculpture, film, printmaking, installations and photography.

ulstermuseum.org

Joanna Kidney, Knowledge that comes from the dancing feet 2022, encaustic on panel, 60x60cm; photograph by Ros Kavanagh, courtesy the artist.

Shiro Masuyama, Brexit Sausages video still; filmed by Helmut Lemke, courtesy of the artist.

Regional & International

CCA Derry~Londonderry

CCA Derry~Londonderry’s group exhibition, ‘Fugitive Seeds’, was curated by Borbála Soós and was on display from 19 October to 21 December 2022. ‘Fugitive Seeds’ considered how endemic, alien, and fugitive seeds connect to colonial histories, including those in Northern Ireland and more specifically Derry/Londonderry and its port. The presented works helped to unearth layered histories around plant and human migration and border ecologies.

ccadld.org

Chapel Hill School of Art

‘Technically Art’ was an exhibition of work by the technical support staff of the Crawford College of Art & Design in Cork. Spanning a variety of materials and concepts, traditional and contemporary, the exhibition reflected their own artistic ideals and expertise, practiced on a daily basis in college and in their own personal studios. It is clear from the presented work that the staff are invested in both art education and the vibrant, cultural community they contribute so much to. On display from 2 to 16 December 2022.

chapelhillschoolofart.ie

Galway Arts Centre

Reverberate is an oral history project devel- oped by Éireann and I, a black migrant community archive, in collaboration with members of Galway’s African diaspora. The project invited Black migrants settled in Galway to recount their journeys to Ireland, their relationship with the city, and to reflect on whether they have developed a sense of belonging. Reverberate documents the legacies of migration as they happen, giving narrative agency and equal centring to each perspective. On display from 3 to 22 December 2022.

galwayartscentre.ie

glór

‘Abigail O’Brien Selects…’ was a group exhibition at glór in collaboration with the RHA. Abigail O’Brien, the first female president of the RHA in its 200-year history, selected an extraordinary line-up of artists from the RHA council, including: Una Sealy, James English, Vivienne Roche, James Hanley, Eithne Jordan, Colin Martin, Pat Harris, Alice Maher, Dorothy Smith, Mick O’Dea, and Abigail O’Brien. The exhibition continues at glór until 14 January.

glor.ie

Highlanes Gallery

‘The Tyranny of Ambition’ is a group exhibition at Highlanes Gallery, curated by Graham Crowley, on display until 18 February. The idea and subsequently the title for the exhibition was inspired by the film Florence Foster Jenkins (Stephen Frears, 2016). One of the central characters declares that once he had faced up to what he called ‘the tyranny of ambition’, only then could he start to live and be happy. Crowley’s intention as a practicing painter and curator of this exhibition is to share with a wider audience some less well-known work.

highlanes.ie

KAVA

The annual postcard show by Kinvara Area Visual Arts (KAVA) ran from 2 to 11 December 2022. The artwork by KAVA members was anonymously displayed, and all works were for sale. When the artwork was collected, only then was the name of the artist revealed to the buyer. Having proven in previous years to be great fun, and an ideal way to shop locally to find a unique Christmas present for someone special, KAVA were delighted to be able to put on the show again this year.

kava.ie

Mermaid Arts Centre

‘Púca in The Machine’ is an exploratory collaboration between three artists, coordinated and organised by Shane Finan. The artists have worked on new interpretations, creating artworks that respond to the unique and unusual history, mythology and ecology of the Poulaphouca Reservoir. The artists are Alannah Robins, Niamh Fahy and Finan. First exhibited at Blessington Library in February 2022, the exhibition continues at Mermaid until 7 January.

mermaidartscentre.ie

Regional Cultural Centre

‘Swallowing Geography’ was an exhibition at the Regional Cultural Centre and Glebe House & Gallery in Donegal. The intent of the exhibition was to observe the dynamics between belonging and exclusion in response to the Donegal context. It presented the lived and imagined experiences of inhabiting space, and geographical, domestic, and digital worlds. It featured new work by Donegal artists Cara Donaghey, Laura McCafferty, Eoghan McIntyre and Jill Quigley. On display from 15 October to 17 December 2022.

regionalculturalcentre.com

Triskel Arts Centre

Róisín O’Sullivan’s exhibition ‘I See Skies’ features a new series of paintings that began at the Tony O’Malley residency in Callan, County Kilkenny. There, the artist spent over a year immersed in nature, embracing each intimate surface in the studio as an emotional response to the complexities of life. O’Sullivan makes paintings and objects that reflect the natural world around her, taking a deep interest in collecting and responding to materials such as wood and leaves. The exhibition continues until 26 March.

triskelartscentre.ie

The Courthouse Gallery and Studios

‘Curdle’ by Kevin Gaffney, Bassam Al-Sabah and Jennifer Mehigan, was on display from 4 November to 3 December 2022. Each artist has a surreal approach to storytelling with images, texts and voice-overs bending reality to a breaking point, mirroring how trauma distorts, remakes and retells lived experience in its own image.

To curdle is to render something ‘wrong’ or ‘bad’, or ‘to spoil’. Curdling represents this condensing of a reality gone sour through the different image-making methods in the exhibition.

thecourthousegallery.com

The Model

The Model presents ‘Portrait Lab’, a thematic exhibition exploring representation through the expanded field of portraiture. The show questions how portraits function, who is reflected and who is overlooked.

‘Portrait Lab’ includes artworks by Irish and international artists and is presented on the occasion of ‘The Sunset Belongs to You’ – a major creative initiative that commissioned Geraldine O’Neill and Mick O’Dea to create oil portraits of 18 Sligo children for The Niland Collection. Exhibition continues until 21 January.

themodel.ie

The National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art

Daphne Wright’s sculpture, Primate (2009), is currently showing as part of the group exhibition ‘Hot Spot – Caring For a Burning World’, curated by Gerardo Mosquera at The National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome. Primate is a cast of a male rhesus monkey, dressed in a silk coat of blunt ended thread-hairs with its face painted. This artwork was originally supported by the Art Council Ireland and Carlow County Council. The exhibition continues until 26 February 2023.

Alannah Robins, The Water Was The Sheriff, 2022, paper cutout, found object, light, print, book; image courtesy of the artist and Mermaid Arts Centre.

Geraldine O’Neill, Is feidir le cat Schrödinger an dá thrá a fhreastal, 2014, detail, oil on canvas; image courtesy the artist and The Model.