‘Life Fragments and Still Lifes’ – a John Keating solo exhibition at Gormleys Fine Arts in Dublin – promises to be a real New Year treat. Born in Tipperary in 1953. Keating has exhibited nationally and internationally including exhibitions in the USA, Italy, Spain, Greece, Monaco and China. ‘It is not solely the subject matter that interests me,’ the artist relates. ‘It is also the challenges of the medium in which I am working.’ 12 January – 2 February
Top two talents
Sinead Fagan and Raphael Llewellyn take centre stage at the Lavit Galley in Cork shortly. Each year the Cork Art Society and Lavit nominate a graduating student from the Crawford College of Art & Design, as Student of the Year. This prize takes the form of an exhibition at the gallery, from which no commission is taken on sales and a small cash prize is sponsored by Parfrey Murphy & Co. Chartered Accountants. Last June, it was decided to jointly award this prize to Fagan and Llewellyn. The former’s ceramic work combines simple, elegant forms with unique colours. Llewellyn’s paintings make interesting use of her medium, with under layers of her earthy/natural colour palette showing through light washes on the surface. Fagan/Llewellyn: 3I January – 11 February
Bridging the art divide
Bridge Street Studios is celebrating its 15th anniversary as a leading artist studio in the North Eastern area. To celebrate this occasion, the artists are taking the studio to The Blackbird Gallery, Kilkenny next January. Currently the Studio is home to eight artists: Orla Barry (painting), Mary Cowan (ceramics), Michele Haechler (painting and mixed media), Sarah McKenna (ceramics), John O’Connor (painting), Fiona Quigley (painting and textiles), Fiona Thornton (jewellery) and Rachel Tinniswood (textile art). The artists have chosen ‘Bridges’ as
the theme for the forthcoming exhibition. Drawing inspiration from the poem Bridge for the Living by Philip Larkin, each artist will produce three new works in their individual discipline. Bridges: 6-29 January
A material girl
Bridget O’Gorman was recipient of the 2010 Emerging Visual Artist Award, a partnership initiative between the Arts Council, Wexford County Council and Wexford Arts Centre. This laudable initiative aimed at supporting young talent comes with both a monetary award and a solo exhibition at Wexford Arts Centre. O’Gorman has titled her upcoming debut ‘Material Culture’. Featuring a series of sculptural and video-based narratives, her work is informed by themes of historical mass production and consumption. Underpinning this practice are a diverse range of historical objects from medieval religious relics to domestic and surgical instruments. Bridget O’Gorman:
10 January – 4 February
Fresh perspectives
The 2012 exhibition programme at the Cork Vision Centre @ St Peter’s launches in colourful style with ‘Creative Juices’ the first solo exhibition from Cork artist Kevin Sanquest. In recent times, Sanquest has applied his painting talents to the theme of farmers’ markets in Ireland. In the upcoming show, he explores the place of these gatherings in Ireland, using scenic backdrops for each of the featured markets. Kevin Sanquest: 3 – 28 January
Light in the darkness
The National Gallery of Ireland’s annual Turner watercolour exhibition spans the career of one of Britain’s most accomplished watercolourists, J M W Turner (1775-1851). The Gallery’s collection of Turner watercolours constitutes the Vaughan Bequest of thirty-one watercolours, added to over the years by means of gift and purchase. Today, the collection comprises a total of thirty-six exquisite watercolours. ‘Turner: A Light in the Darkness’ will be complemented this year by a display of silhouettes and miniatures from the Mary A McNeill Bequest which includes works by John Comerford, Richard Crosse, Henry Bone and Nathaniel Hone the Elder. J M W Turner: 1 – 31 January
