Exhibition Roundup

Dublin

Black Church Print Studio

Black Church Print Studio presented ‘Love you my sweaty’, curated by Sara Muthi, winner of Black Church Emerging Curator Award, at The Library Project. The often discarded aspects of daily life can reveal poignant realities and important commentaries about the human condition, class structures, and lived experience. With this exhibition, Ella Bertilsson, Susan Buttner, An Gee Chan, Michelle Malone and Alison Pilkington look to restage inner dialogues ranging from the silly to the existential. On display from 13 to 28 January. blackchurchprint.ie

Draíocht

Pushing into space is the first solo show by Ellen Duffy, Draíocht’s resident artist 2022/2023, commissioned by Draíocht and curated by Sharon Murphy. Duffy works across sculptural assemblage, expanded painting, mixed media collage and drawing. Her process is playful and seeks the building of dialogue between the objects and materials used in her work. For this new body of work, Duffy has adopted and retranslated found and sourced materials during her year-long residency at Draíocht. On display from 1 March to 29 April.

draiocht.ie

Hang Tough Contemporary

Hang Tough Contemporary in collaboration with Ceadogán Rugs presented the ‘Island’ exhibition in aid of the Peter McVerry Trust. ‘Island’ was an ambitious undertaking in which Ceadogán invited 12 of Ireland’s leading artists to collaborate on creating a unique one-off rug or wall hanging based on each artist’s designs. The work was exhibited at Hang Tough Contemporary from 26 January to 5 February and was then auctioned by Whyte’s Auctioneers on Sunday 5 February.

hangtoughcontemporary.com

IMMA

‘Xenogenesis’ brought together a selection of works by The Otolith Group, the London-based artist collective founded in 2002 by Anjalika Sagar and Kodwo Eshun. The Otolith Group’s pioneering artworks address contemporary social and planetary issues, the disruptions of neo/colonialism, the way in which humans have impacted the earth, and the influence of new technology on consciousness as well as “a science fiction of the present” through images, voices, sonic images, sounds, and performance.

imma.ie

Irish Architectural Archive

The Irish Architectural Archive and Askeaton Contemporary Arts presented ‘Little Republics: Preparations and Elements’, a solo exhibition by Adrian Duncan. This extensive presentation of artworks and interventions is the culmination of a yearlong artist residency scheme situating the artist between Dublin and Askeaton. During this time, Duncan has researched and developed a new series of sculptures, displays and printed matter, each related to the cultural impact of the housing phenomenon ‘Bungalow Bliss’. On display from 13 January to 3 March.

iarc.ie

MART

‘Time Sensitive: Leeward’ presented a series of reflections and observations rooted in the artists’ lived experiences. Artists Anne Vetter, Frank Abruzzese, Karl Logge & Marta Romani, Laurence O’Toole, Rosie O’Gorman, Sarah Ellen Lundy and curator Karla Sánchez, have all resided for long periods in both city and countryside, the latter being the place where, in the last several years, they have spent most of their time. The Rural is not a unified and defined space; it is hybrid, it is complex. There are, also, multiple discourses of rurality. On display from 28 January to 10 February. mart.ie

Adrian Duncan and Olga Tiernan, Little Republics: Preparations and Elements 2023, fabric, timber and concrete, installation view, Irish Architectural Archive; photograph by Louis Haugh, courtesy of the artist and Sean Lynch.

Belfast

Bbeyond

Bbeyond celebrated the 80th birthday of one of their founding members, trustee and current committee member Alastair MacLennan on 3 February. MacLennan has been an inspirational, seminal figure in the Northern Irish, Irish and UK performance art world. He continues in his 80th year as a vibrant practicing artist whose openness draws many not only to his work but to him as a person, his practice and life intertwined. ‘Art in life, life in art’, the Bbeyond motto, is certainly true of MacLennan.

bbeyond.live

Golden Thread Gallery

Golden Thread Gallery presented Phillip McCrilly’s first solo show in the project space of the gallery titled ‘I Can Never Nail the Days Down’. Curated by Mary Stevens, the exhibition explores “gender socialisation, considered ideas around home, as well as the potential for a fulfilled queer life in a rural Irish context.” The work questions McCrilly’s own relationship with the post-conflict period, intimacy and research into the connection of people and place. On display from 7 January to 18 February.

goldenthreadgallery.co.uk

Naughton Gallery

Featuring a range of local and international artists, ‘NGXX’ spanned a broad variety of processes and practices. Painting, photography, drawing, sculpture, illustration, tattoos, and textiles are all represented. The 20th anniversary of the Naughton Gallery is commemorated through a visionary, panoramic survey of a truly exciting roster of artists at various points in their careers, from established names to emerging talents. On display from 13 October 2022 to 29 January 2023.

naughtongallery.org

Pollen Studio and Gallery

Aoibhin Maguire is an artist from Belfast, who now lives and works in London. ‘This Earth is Alien to me’ was Aoibhin’s first solo exhibition. Interested in emotion, place, home, storytelling, diaries, chaos and daydreaming, Aoibhin contrasts her complex subject matter with her use of bright colour – something which she has always been drawn to. The title alludes to her experiences of imposter syndrome throughout her time on earth. On display from 2 to 4 February.

pollenstudiobelfast.com

QSS

QSS presented the 2022 graduates from Belfast School of Art as part of ‘Emergence VI’. Now in its sixth year, the annual ‘Emergence’ exhibition provides a professional platform for recent graduates at a transitional stage in their career. The exhibition featured work by: Adam Skinner, Brea Freeburn, Darcy Patterson, Deborah Adair, Emma Stewart, Eva Perrott, Katie Ballentine, Louise Kennedy, Luke Foster, Melissa McKee, Miles Smith, Natalie Gibson, Reuben Brown, Rhys Murphy and Tomas Antunes. On display from 12 to 9 February.

queenstreetstudios.net

Ulster Museum

‘The Druithaib’s Ball’ is the 2021 Turner Prize-winning installation by the Belfast-based artists known as Array Collective. They are the first artists from Northern Ireland to win the prestigious Turner Prize. The group of eleven artists from the north and south of Ireland, England and Italy all live and work in Belfast creating collaborative actions in response to socio-political issues affecting them and their communities. The exhibition continues until 3 September.

ulstermuseum.org

‘NGXX’ installation view, Naughton Gallery; photograph by Simon Mills, courtesy of the artists and Naughton Gallery.

Regional & International

Niamh McCann, Ambition, 2022, bronze, gold-leaf, Jesmonite; photograph courtesy the artist and Centre Culturel Irlandais.

Backwater Artists

Backwater Artists Group presented ‘Tonnadh // Fuaim an Toinne’, an exhibition of work by Bríanna Ní Léanacháin, which ran from 26 January to 17 February. Bríanna is the recipient of the Backwater Artists Group Ciarán Langford Memorial Bursary 2021. The exhibition consisted of a video-based installation, exploring the changing relationship to the landscape and inspired by research into folklore and ancient Irish history. It addressed the overwhelming anxiety born from the current climate crisis through Irish folklore. backwaterartists.ie

Burren College of Art

The PhD exhibition ‘Re-Cover’ ran from 19 January to 24 February. There was also a symposium on 25 January at the BCA Lecture Hall and online via Zoom. ‘Re-Cover’ included the work of nine current PhD students – Fadwa Bouziane, Qi Chen, Kat Cope, Kate Collyer, Katerina Gribkoff, Joseph Hendel, Kelly Klaasmeyer, Robbie Lawrence, and Ling Liu – who collectively covered ground through artistic research. The artists are searching and re-searching for new understandings: both un-covering and re-covering systems.

burrencollege.ie

CCI Paris

Niamh McCann’s ‘Hairline Crack [a dialogue]’ is a new multimedia body of work that responds to the 100th anniversary of a North-South border. Metaphorically mining the deep seams of colonialist atrocities and plundering, it combines sculpture, collage and video to question the vestiges of dominant power structures. McCann cuts through well-devised spectacles to subvert landscapes, material histories as well as the dominion humans have held over earth. On display from 3 February to 26 March.

centreculturelirlandais.com

Custom House Studios

‘Inverts on the castle wall, Perverts in the tall grass below’ by Kian Benson Bails, presented a body of work produced through investigations into rural Ireland, aesthetic language associated with rural and regional art spaces and queer communities. Using historical canon to construct alternative narratives around Irish queerness, the title of the exhibition frames language, and anglicisation of queer academia and asks how this written and documented theory is engaged in Irish culture. On display from 1 December 2022 to 15 January 2023. customhousestudios.ie

FE McWilliam Gallery

‘Catherine McWilliams: Selected Work 1961 – 2021’ runs until 3 June. For over six decades, McWilliams has produced original and compelling images of life in Northern Ireland. From a self-portrait painted when she was 21 to recent compositions exploring the threat of climate change, her work ranges from the domestic to the surreal and prioritises the experiences of women and children. McWilliams lives in North Belfast, in the shadow of Cavehill, and taught in a local secondary school during the worst years of the conflict.

femcwilliam.com

glór

Due to the ongoing war, contemporary artist Yevhen Svitlychnyi was forced to flee Ukraine for Ballyvaughan and the Burren. In Ukrainian, painting is called obrazotvorche mystetstvo, literally the art of creating images. In the works presented in this exhibition, the images of the unspeakable tragedy of the war are created through the prism of thousands of years of biblical history, and culture: war – death – life – image – myth. ‘The Burren – Ukrainian Chronicles: Part III’ was on display from 27 January to 25 February.

glor.ie

GOMA

‘I brought the dream of flying…’ was a new exhibition by artists Corina Duyn and Caroline Schofield, that took place at GOMA Gallery of Modern Art, Waterford, from 14 January to 11 February. Inspired by a broken-winged bird puppet which accompanied Corina when she moved to a full-time nursing home care last year, the exhibition features work made in response to this move and illustrates the new collaborative creative process Corina has developed with Caroline as a result of her increasing disability.

gomawaterford.ie

Lavit Gallery

Lavit Gallery presented Helen Cantwell and Bernie Hennessy, with the 2022 Roberts Nathan Student of the Year Award. This is an annual award given to one or more graduates of MTU Crawford College of Art & Design. In addition to an exhibition at Lavit Gallery, both artists receive a cash prize of €500 sponsored by Roberts Nathan Accountants, Cork. This exhibition marks the beginning of Lavit Gallery’s 60th anniversary programme. On display from 26 January to 18 February.

lavitgallery.com

Luan Gallery

‘At The Gates of Silent Memory’, is a solo exhibition of photography by Clare Langan, curated by Eamonn Maxwell. Known for her expansive and award-winning film projects, which have been seen in galleries and festivals across the world, Langan has a parallel photography practice using digital SLR and the unique Hasselblad XPan cameras. These images are taken in locations around the world including Dubai, Iceland, Kerry, and Monserrat reflecting Langan’s practice and environmental concerns. Exhibition continues until 20 April.

athlone.ie

Mermaid Arts Centre

‘Lined Out’ is an exhibition by Emma Roche, recipient of the 2021 Wexford Arts Centre EMERGENCE Award. With an idiosyncratic approach to painting encompassing weaving, knotting and knitting, Roche’s unorthodox textural paintings are accompanied by a new large-scale commission of hand-screen printed works on paper by ‘Small Night’ by James Merrigan. Roche’s preparatory drawings, made quickly and obsessively, are informed by the humdrum of repetitive daily tasks. Exhibition continues until 11 March.

mermaidartscentre.ie

Solstice Arts Centre

There is nothing like a period of enforced isolation to remind us of the deeply human (and non-human) need to come together. ‘If We Could See Ourselves As Others See Us’ by Brian Irvine and John McIlduff (Dumbworld), is a sound, video and living installation inspired by a journey through moments of assembly across Meath. Choirs now able to join and sing together, swimmers taking the cold plunge together, gravestones repurposed as picnic tables for gatherings, trees connecting under the earth in a network of support. On display from 14 to 27 January.

solsticeartscentre.ie

The Model

The Model presents Niamh O’Malley’s ‘Gather’ – the critically acclaimed exhibition that represented Ireland at the 2022 Venice Biennale. Works from Ireland at Venice are brought into an expanded dialogue with a larger selection of O’Malley’s artwork. This exhibition also reveals and considers the influence of the west of Ireland on her work. Born in County Mayo, O’Malley uses many materials including steel, limestone, wood, and glass. She shapes and assembles objects to create a purposeful landscape of forms. On display from 3 February to 9 April. themodel.ie

Clare Langan, Alchemy 1 (Embrace), 2022; photograph © and courtesy of the artist.