Friday, 26 August 2011
SHAPE - First Solo Exhibition
SHAPE was my first solo exhibition. It opened on the 13th of August at the Leixlip Library Gallery, Leixlip, Co.Kildare. It consisted of 12 paintings that I completed during my final year at GMIT and some pieces that were works in progress at that stage. It was opened by Laois Arts Officer Muireann Ni Chonaill. The exhibition was the last showing of these works, I decided to give them a send off before I start display the new work and this was the first time the paintings were all shown together. Before this they were either shown separately or in separate bodies. The Exhibition runs until the 27th of August.
Monday, 15 August 2011
First Experience Curating
This was my first experience curating a group exhibition. Occupied was the title of the exhibition and it took place in a vacant building in Mountrath, Co. Laois during the Whitehorse Festival. The show contained the work of 10 Laois based artists, Conor Brennan, James Byrne, Jackie Carter, Marie Dollard, Pat Fitzpatrick, Pascal Kenna, Jock Nichol, Edel O'Keeffe, Liam Phelan and myself.
The opening was at 6:30pm, on the 21st of July, by Assistant Laois Arts Officer Bridie Keenan. The exhibition was a huge success, there were about 60-70 guests at the opening and we took in a further 58 over the 4 day duration. Locals were very happy with the show as it was a new addition to the festival and a few of us even got commissions out of it.
I got in contact with some members of the festival committee in April 2011 and from there worked with them in organizing the festival. Through working with them I was given permission to use a vacant building to hold an exhibition for the festival. So after receiving this good news I selected 9 other artists in the county, made some alterations to the building with mgf sheets and installed the show. I would like to say a massive thank you to all the artist who submitted their work to be on display in the exhibition and another massive thanks to my father who helped me to put up all 20 sheets of mdf to act as the walls.
I would Like to say a big, big thanks to Bridie Keenan for helping me to get in contact with the Festival Committee and for opening the exhibition, the Festival Committee themselves for all of the help and support and a massive thanks to Eddie Kirwan who owns the building and offered it to us as a space rent free.
The Poster
Vacant bookshop to art gallery
Jock Nichol
Jackie Carter
Pat Fitzpatrick
Edel O'Keeffe
Liam Phelan
Pascal Kenna
Marie Dollard
James Byrne
Conor Brennan
Primary School's Whitehorse Festival Logo Competition
My Work
The opening was at 6:30pm, on the 21st of July, by Assistant Laois Arts Officer Bridie Keenan. The exhibition was a huge success, there were about 60-70 guests at the opening and we took in a further 58 over the 4 day duration. Locals were very happy with the show as it was a new addition to the festival and a few of us even got commissions out of it.
I got in contact with some members of the festival committee in April 2011 and from there worked with them in organizing the festival. Through working with them I was given permission to use a vacant building to hold an exhibition for the festival. So after receiving this good news I selected 9 other artists in the county, made some alterations to the building with mgf sheets and installed the show. I would like to say a massive thank you to all the artist who submitted their work to be on display in the exhibition and another massive thanks to my father who helped me to put up all 20 sheets of mdf to act as the walls.
I would Like to say a big, big thanks to Bridie Keenan for helping me to get in contact with the Festival Committee and for opening the exhibition, the Festival Committee themselves for all of the help and support and a massive thanks to Eddie Kirwan who owns the building and offered it to us as a space rent free.
The Poster
My camera battery ran out as the people were arriving so I didn't get pictures of the place when it was packed. I hoping to get some of them off of a friend.
Pat Fitzpatrick
Edel O'Keeffe
Liam Phelan
My Work
Thursday, 4 August 2011
Work on the Residency
This is some of the work that I have completed since starting the residency in April.
My work revolves heavily around the exploration of oil paint as a medium, its versatility and its surface quality through the use of oil mediums, applications and work methods with a core theme being the idea of playing with scale and ambiguity, working this way to veil the connection between the painting and source material from the viewer.
The Mountrath Residency, Co. Laois
I started this residency on the first week of April 2011. Since moving into the studio and flat I've been quite busy. About two weeks after moving in I started assisting Vera McEvoy with the Culture Bug adult art workshops in the Arthouse, Stradbally Co. Laois. These ran up until the end of June where they concluded with an exhibition in the Arthouse Gallery. The Summer Arts Programme ran for the month of July. This involved art workshops for children. From the 11th of July to 15th I was back out in Stradbally assisting Vera and from the 25th to 29th I was in St. Francis School, Portlaoise, with Conor Brennan and Debbie O'Reilly.
In terms of Exhibitions I have been fairly busy too. Since the 1st of July I have exhibited in Galway Arts Centre and a vacant building in Mountrath. This was a pretty big show personally because it was my first experience curating a group show and it went very well. It consisted of 10 Laois based artists and was opened by Assistant Laois Arts Officer Bridie Keenan. I'll be putting up more information and documentation at a later point. Upcoming shows include a group show in the Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise, my first solo-exhibition in Leixlip Library Gallery, Leixlip, Co. Kildare, another group exhibition in Galway, a piece in the Darklight Festival in Dublin (13th of November, just a quick update to this section. This exhibition at Galway Arts Centre didn't go ahead after, when I originally published this post the exhibition itself was only in the proposal stages and I was asked to show some work in it alongside some Galway artists but for reasons I don't know it never went through, and the Dublin show didn't go ahead either as there was a mix up with funding and the gallery who was running the exhibition.) and then myself and the 4 artists in Stradbally are collaborating on a light installation for the Electric Picnic.
After that I want to concentrate on my studio work for a while because I have been so busy with other bits and pieces that the studio came to a stand still around the 1st of July.
In terms of Exhibitions I have been fairly busy too. Since the 1st of July I have exhibited in Galway Arts Centre and a vacant building in Mountrath. This was a pretty big show personally because it was my first experience curating a group show and it went very well. It consisted of 10 Laois based artists and was opened by Assistant Laois Arts Officer Bridie Keenan. I'll be putting up more information and documentation at a later point. Upcoming shows include a group show in the Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise, my first solo-exhibition in Leixlip Library Gallery, Leixlip, Co. Kildare, another group exhibition in Galway, a piece in the Darklight Festival in Dublin (13th of November, just a quick update to this section. This exhibition at Galway Arts Centre didn't go ahead after, when I originally published this post the exhibition itself was only in the proposal stages and I was asked to show some work in it alongside some Galway artists but for reasons I don't know it never went through, and the Dublin show didn't go ahead either as there was a mix up with funding and the gallery who was running the exhibition.) and then myself and the 4 artists in Stradbally are collaborating on a light installation for the Electric Picnic.
After that I want to concentrate on my studio work for a while because I have been so busy with other bits and pieces that the studio came to a stand still around the 1st of July.
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