Art Ireland at the RDS
Ireland’s largest visual arts event of the year—Art Ireland 2002—is a must for your diary, whether you are a dedicated connoisseur, an occasional collector or simply love art matters. This now annual event has successfully pioneered the concept of the accessible and enjoyable art fair here since its inauguration just two years ago—providing a truly unique opportunity for members of the public to view thousands of works by dozens of the country’s leading artists under a single roof. The concept is, of course, long established in many other European countries and Art Ireland founder/organiser Maria McMenamin says the Irish public has responded very positively to the idea of a large-scale Irish art fair (over 7,000 people in 2001). ‘Thanks to its variety of exhibits and democratic nature, Art Ireland plays an important role in breaking down many of the prejudices and pretensions surrounding the visual arts scene,’ she says. Among the artists already confirmed to take part are such well known names as Sandra Bell, Graham Elliot, Darlene Garr, Ursula Klinger, Ludmila Korol, Syra Larkin, Margaret Irwin, Louise Mansfield, John Philip Murray, John Nolan, Liam O’Neill, Ian Pollock, James Quinn and Claudio Viscardi. Galleries taking part will include the Catto Gallery (London), The Greenhouse Gallery (Scotland), The Greenlane Gallery (Dingle), The Leinster Gallery (Dublin), the Magil Fine Art Gallery (Dublin) and The Sandford Gallery (London). Art Ireland 2002, Main Hall of the RDS, Ballsbridge, Dublin: 22–24 November
 
Up Close and Personal
Eilis O’Connell’s fourth solo exhibition at the Green On Red Gallery is being billed as an opportunity to view this artist’s extraordinary work in a more intimate setting. With just seven or eight small scale sculptures made from such diverse materials as plaster, bronze and moss, this new body of work marks a return to handwrought and personal objects. A number of the works on display are plaster casts which the artist waxes and hand-paints to create a bronze-like patina, suggestive of the forms she uses in her larger-scale work such as Under and Over at Lismore Castle (see the Irish Arts Review, Summer 2002).
Eilis O’Connell: until 16 November 2002
 
New Gallery in Pembroke
Latest name on the block is the Blue Leaf Gallery on Pembroke Street. The new Dublin venue is the second gallery venture by Cathy Boyle and Ciara Gibbons, whose initial outlet in Fairview launched only last year has proven a tremendous success. The talented duo have now expanded into the prestigious Pembroke precinct where they have brought together an eye-catching ensemble of Irish and international artists—both new and established. Expect a similar formula to that which has proven such an instant hit in Fairview, where the new owners have demonstrated an intuitive flair for promoting saleable contemporary artworks at extremely affordable prices. The gallery will be formally launched on 5 November with a group show followed on 19 November by a Rasher exhibition featuring Paul Kavanagh. Names to watch out for on the Blue Leaf roster include Leonard Sexton, Brian Smyth, Eugene MacGowan, Tom Climent, John Ratajkowski, Suzy O’Mullane and Sonia Caldwell. The second Blue Leaf premises is a much larger space than the existing Fairview outlet and holds out the promise of
widening both artist/client base. Group Show: 5 November. Rasher: 19 November
 
Focus on the Northwest
Artist Nicholas Hely Hutchinson returns to The Frederick Gallery for his second one man exhibition at the Dublin venue opening on 11 November. Nicholas has strong family ties with Ireland, and travels both to Dublin and the west coast regularly each year. In addition to the artist’s beloved Co. Mayo, this year’s exhibition will feature pictures from Nicholas’ first trip to the northwest with Donegal, Fermanagh and Sligo featuring strongly. Nicholas works in a variety of media, but is perhaps best known for his use of gouache over a pastel colour. This gives some of his work an ethereal quality where translucent layers of colour float over a solid base. He has built up a considerable following for his paintings, which are so immediately recognisable and characterised by his unusual perspective/vibrant palette. Hely Hutchinson’s first show at the Frederick in December 2000 was a complete sell-out. Nicholas Hely Hutchinson: 11–22 November
 
de Vere Irish Art Sale
There are 300 lots included in the de Vere Irish Art Sale on 26 November and this will require both a morning (for the prints and cheaper lots) and an evening session to dispose of the entire catalogue. There’s a good-sized (14” x 21”) Jack B. Yeats entitled Closing Time, St Stephen’s Green with an estimate of €100,000–€150,000 and a fine still life by William Scott painted in 1950, estimated at €40,000–€60,000. There are three William Leech’s and four Paddy Collins’ in the sale but, with his retrospective coming up in the National Gallery in the New Year, Paul Henry will be attracting particular interest. There are two Henry’s in this sale with his Achill Sound estimated to fetch €50,000–€70,000. The highest price paid to date for a Paul Henry was for his Bog Workers,a large canvas that fetched Stg£210,000 last year.
 
A Revealing Exhibition
Belfast-born artist Sinead Aldridge currently lives in Sligo and is showing a solo exhibition of paintings at The Model Arts and Niland Gallery in Sligo. Her interest lies in exploring all the various possibilities that her chosen medium—oil paint—allows. The forms/colours in her paintings are landscapes, but she does not paint definable spaces. In her abstract canvasses, she creates various spatial relationship through the juxtaposition of shapes and the combination of colours. She uses both muted and flat colours, into which a violent or iridescent hue may be interjected. Large indefinable forms create a foreground behind which lies a deeper space. Layers of sketchy paint obscure once dominant figures. In her work, there is always a tension between what is revealed and what is hidden. The paintings that form her forthcoming show are recent works and have not been exhibited previously. A touring exhibition of extraordinary objects that can be played musically is also rostered for the same venue. Also look out for a special exhibition featuring portraits in the Niland collection and others drawn from collections around the country. This will complement the exhibition of contemporary portraiture held at the beginning of this year. Sinead Aldridge: 1-30 November. Soundshapes: 1-30 November. Portraits: 21 November–24 February
 
Art Awards on Tour
The RDS has been instrumental in the development of fine and applied arts since the 1740s, and the tradition continues today with the RDS Art Student Awards, which recognise excellence in the work of young and emerging Irish artists. Previous winners include such luminaries as Walter Osbourne, Maine Jellett, and Colin Middleton. This year, for the first time, the RDS launches the RDS Art Student Award Exhibition in the North of Ireland at the University of Ulster. The prestigious exhibition features winning pieces from this year’s Awards. RDS Art Student Award Exhibition: 7–29 November
 
Dublin in the Changing Times
Dublin—A Changing City is the first solo show by Tony Gunning. The exhibition at the Davis Gallery on Dublin’s Capel Street is a visual commentary on the changing face of the nation’s capital. Influenced by artists like Robert Ballagh, Edward Hopper and Colin Middleton, Gunning’s paintings fall somewhere between realism and surrealism. This artist was a civil servant with the Revenue Commissioners for 27 years until October 2000 when he retired to begin a new career as a full-time artist. In his mid-forties, his paintings were first seen publicly when he was a finalist on RTÉ’s Open House art competition in April of this year. Dublin—A Changing City: 4–16 November
 
Glór in Ennis
The idea to do a show at Glór in Ennis, Co. Clare, came about as a result of discussions Mick O’Dea had with the Glór director, Katie Verling, in the winter of 2001. He promised to invite four artists whose work he admired to show with him in Ennis. As it transpires, four of the artists in this show have studios at Henrietta Street, Dublin. Numbers 5, 6 and 7 are owned by Uinseann MacEoin who, for many years, has made the substantial studios in his houses available to artists at low rents. Uinseann is known to many as a conservationist, historian, republican, writer and town planner. The four participating artists are Charles Cullen, Michael Cullen (no relation), Gwen O’Dowd and Michael Lyons. Mick O’Dea, like Michael Lyons, comes from Ennis, County Clare. He has been teaching in various institutions, particularly NCAD, since 1981. More recently, he has been painting full-time, spending most of the year in Ireland and some months abroad. He is a member of the RHA and Aosdána. Locco—Painting and Print Exhibition: 1–23 November
 
Bermuda Triangle in Cork
Shinji Yamamoto is a Japanese artist based in Italy. Informed by his residency at the Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh in 1999, where he responded to surrounding landscapes, his installation Blue Gold (the economic term for water) at the Crawford Municipal Art Gallery in Cork ranges from video to installation and painting. The Bermuda Triangle by sculptor Janet Mullarney at the same venue is also worth checking out. Based in Italy, recent residencies in both Mexico and Ireland have informed the nature of her work and its relation to space. An exploratory variety of media is used to construct her works of haunting psychological implication. The classically titled Hortus Conclusus (Enclosed Garden) is likewise intriguing—an installation through which the artist explores ideologies of the garden and links between architectural space and physical experience.
Blue Gold/The Bermuda Triangle/Hortus Conclusus 1-30 November
 
The Challenge of Landscape
Cross over to the Rubicon Gallery for an insight into the latest artistic explorations of Dublin-born Eithne Jordan. Based primarily in Ireland throughout her career, Eithne has travelled extensively. The intense inner drama expressed in her earlier figurative paintings has been replaced by an examination of the solitary figure in space, interiors (both inhabited and empty) and, most recently, rural/urban landscape. Since her visit to the South-West region of France, she has engaged increasingly with the place itself as the subject for her work. Eithne has used the Languedoc landscape as a means to focus on the tradition of landscape painting, taking on the formal challenges that this presents. In her recent shift to industrial and urban environments, the academic pursuit of painting is an even more central concern. Eithne Jordan: 22 November – 22 December
 
Pink Panthers at Draiocht
Look out for Heile Welt, a first solo exhibition by young German artist Simone Schneider at the Draiocht. Heile Welt is a particular German expression that roughly translated means an intact or perfect world. In this exhibition, Schneider explores the natural human longing for such a world and the inevitable impossibility to find or believe in such a place. Toy pink panthers, rabbits, deers and houses in the landscape (repeated at manic level) seem to teeter on the edge of innocence rather than symbolise it as they should. Exhibited on sheets of candy pink paper, the work explores the surface of harmonious domestic living. Simone completed her MA in the National College of Art and Design last year. This exhibition continues a key objective of Draíocht’s visual arts policy to present and promote new work by young artists. Heile Welt—Simone Schneider: until November 16 .
 
It Could Be You
All young artists take note: the closing date for entries to the Golden Fleece Awards (Helen Lillias Mitchell Artistic Fund) is 29 November 2002. An inspirational weaver, painter, and teacher at the NCAD, Helen Lillias Mitchell died in January 2000. The Fund was created as a bequest by Lillias to create an annual award to help Irish artists to develop their vision. The 2002 inaugural winner of the €15,000 Award was Helen McAllister, who drew much of her inspiration from the concepts, techniques and motifs of Venetian 16th century textiles and shoes and used the award to further her training in Venice. Application requirements can be viewed on www.goldenfleeceaward.com
.