Work Showing in Dublin

I have 2 small paintings in a group exhibition opening this week in Dublin. I'm delighted to be part of Island Life which opens at the Kevin Kavanagh Gallery on Thursday the 5th of July at 6pm. The exhibition is comprised of 12 painters, here are the exhibiting artists:

Sonia Shiel, Kathy Tynan, Marcel Vidal, Mark Swords, Salvatore of Lucan, Joe Scullion, Robert Armstrong, Julia Dubsky, Lesley-Ann O'Connell, Pat Byrne, Stephen Loughman, Cecilia Danell, William O’Neill and Stephanie Deady

Exhibition Invite

I'm delighted to be included in the line-up, the 2 paintings that I have in the exhibition are the last ones from the show back in February, I would have liked to have had newer pieces but what I have finished  was already submitted to something else which I'll be posting about a little later in the Summer.

The Love of the Darkness Hidden. One of the 2 paintings I have in Island Life

Work in Westport Group Show

I have a drawing in a group exhibition opening this Sunday (December 11th) at Custom House Studios in Westport. The gallery contacted artists who have worked with them through out the year and invited us to show in their winter exhibition. There's a lot of artists showing in the exhibition, 37 in all. The exhibition is titled Winter Exhibition 2016 and it runs from December 11th to January 21st 2017. The gallery also hired a courier to pick up the work from artists over this side of the country which was great, otherwise to get from Laois to Westport I would've had to get a train to either Athlone or Dublin and go from there across.

The piece that I have showing is To Catch a Certain Fortune, it's one of the pieces that I first exhibited at Birr Arts Festival. The piece overall measures 100cm x 70 cm but below is a close up shot.

To Catch a Certain Fortune (Detail), Graphite on Paper, 2016

Work in Glasgow Group Show

The second exhibition of the New York - Glasgow exchange curated by Anna Bauer and Benjamin Lee Sperry is opening this weekend at Gallery Celine in Glasgow, Scotland. Opening reception is 3pm - 5pm and is titled Collective Memory (the past and future is ours). I'm not sure what's happening after Glasgow, I think there were talks of possibly bringing the show to Dublin and if it happens I'll post it here on the blog.

The pice I have in the show, To Catch a Certain Fortune, Ink on Paper, 2016

Installation Shots of Westport and Birr

I'm a bit late with these, the exhibition in Birr closed on August 5th and Westport closed on the 21st of August. Both shows went really well and the work received very positive feedback.

Treasures Remembered

The image above and the one below are from Custom House Studios in Westport, I didn't get a chance to take photos on the opening night so I ran down the following morning to get a few photos quickly before going home.

My work was installed on 3 walls. The fourth wall is almost completely glass and as the front of the gallery opens out onto the seafront there is great, unobstructed  natural light in the space. The ground floor is a gallery divided in two and the door in the image at the top leads into the adjoining space where Barabara Trawinski was exhibiting. 

To Catch a Certain Fortune

For this show I decided to work on a series of drawings, I'd been planning to work on them for last years festival but with the MFA finishing up I was just too busy painting, I finally got them done for this year. I need to document them at some stage and I'll have them uploaded to the website and here on the blog.

I was back down in The Vaults this year. There were a good group of us exhibiting solo shows throughout the space and there was brilliant amount of work with artists show, painting, illustration, animation and video game character design.

The lighting was a little bit of a challenge simply because I used a single bulb and while it was bright enough a day or two after installation there was a fault with the sockets down along the tunnel wall but Ian Keaveny who was exhibiting in the tunnel on the other side told me that I could plug the light into a socket in his space. 

I'm hoping to expand on the overall number of drawings in this body of work at some stage but for now I'm back painting. I have a new set of paintings on the go. I'm hoping to organize a solo show for the 4 quarter of 2017 but at present the next solo exhibition that I have planned is at Birr Arts Centre for 2018. The provisional date is April.

Out of Divilment, Graphite on Fabriano, 2016

2 New Exhibitions in July

Custom House Studios, Westport, Mayo. Opening July 28th

I have 2 new shows next month. the first is in Westport, Mayo and it's a joint exhibition between Barbara Trawinski and myself at Custom House Studios. I applied back in 2013 to be part of the exhibition programme and I received confirmation during my first year of the MFA. Originally the show was scheduled for September this year but was brought forward to July 28th and it will run until August 21st. I'll be exhibiting some of the current paintings from Beneath the Dock Leaf.

The New Baal Fires, 2015

There isn't a title as yet but I'll post an update nearer to the opening on the time.

Birr Arts Festival, Birr, Offaly. Opens July 29th

The second exhibition, as far as I know is a solo exhibition in Birr Arts Festival. Francis Kawala who is the organiser of the festival contacted me last weekend about possibly taking part. I had work in it a few years ago and it's a great festival and because a lot of the spaces are vacant buildings it can throw up a few challenges especially the first year I had work in it because there were several of us showing in the vaults underground.

Here's a link to the post from the first year I was in it - Installation Shots of Birr Arts Festival

The work that I'll be showing in Birr will be drawings because the Westport exhibition overlaps and my paintings will be up there. I can't post any images of the drawings because I only started last week and haven't any documentation but I'll probably have an installation post on the blog shortly after the opening. With Westport opening July 28th and Birr, July 29th I'm going to have to juggle installation days in both places.

Solo Show in 2018

I received confirmation last week that my submission to Birr Theatre and Arts Centre, County Offaly was successful. I applied for a solo exhibition and as a rough estimate I've been offered a space for mid April 2018. At the minute I'm working on a new body of paintings still based on folklore and similar to Beneath the Dock Leaf, depending on how the work is going it could be these new works that will be in that show.

The Result of Solitude, Oil on Canvas, 36cm x 25cm, 2015

2 Paintings in New York

I have 2 paintings going on display this week in a group exhibition at Field Projects Gallery in New York. The exhibition opens on Thursday the 5th of May at 6pm and runs until June 11th. Jesse David Penridge is curating the exhibition and there are 13 of us exhibiting in the show titled Signaling to ^ the Cipher ^ Towards a Segway. The 2 paintings that I have in Field Projects are below:

Half in the World of Form, Oil on Canvas, 55cm x 35cm, 2015

Red, Oil on Canvas, 17cm x 16cm, 2015

This link goes to the gallery website page for the show, it has all exhibiting artists listed and a brief about the theme of the show - Field Projects Gallery.

Work in Rathdowney

I have work in a group show in St. Fergal's College, Rathdowney. The exhibition is organized by Clodagh Kennedy who is the art teacher in Fergal's and the Transition Year Creative Engagement Team and exhibiting work of past pupils and local artists. It open's on the 6th of April, runs until the 9th and is titled Eclectic Fusion.

Slouching, one of 3 paintings I have on display in the exhibition.

Work in Wexford

Behind the Margin is a new group show opening in The Presentation Centre in Enniscorthy, Wexford tomorrow. There's 4 of us exhibiting in the show, John Busher, Riin Kaljurand, Helen Robbins and myself. It opens on the 4th of March the 8th of April.

'Beneath the Dock Leaf' Video Documentation

I ran through the exhibition during the week and did a little video documentation of the show in The Dunamaise Arts Centre. I meant to do it for the previous showing of Beneath the Dock Leaf  but I forgot to charge my camera battery and I think it's probably more fitting that I captured this one because for the moment it's the last planned solo exhibition of Beneath the Dock Leaf. I'm planning a new project and will start working on that in the next couple of weeks and while it will be the same style and focus on the same themes it will be running under a new working title.

As for Beneath the Dock Leaf, the works in that body will be going out into group shows the first of which is in March at The Presentation Arts Centre in Enniscorthy, County Wexford. The exhibition is curated by artist John Busher.

'Beneath the Dock Leaf' by Pat Byrne from Pat Byrne on Vimeo.