Design Portfolio

Michael Canning's eco warriors
Sue Hubbard views a new suite of Michael Canning's delicately observed botanical paintings currently on show at Waterhouse & Dodd Gallery, London

Neil Shawcross reinventing still life
New work from Neil Shawcross at the Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast, this spring shows his penchant for invention with the media of paint and print, writes Marianne O'Kane Boal

This, and other things
Stephanie McBride discusses themes within Anne Tallentire's practice and current exhibition, some of which was created in response to the environment at IMMA

49 Ox hides and a lump of faith
Mark Ewart visits self-taught artist Martin Finnin in his studio, as the Limerick-born painter prepares for a solo exhibition this May at the John Martin Gallery, London

State of surveillance
Ahead of his exhibition at the Kevin Kavanagh Gallery this month, Mick O'Dea recalls some landmark moments in his career in conversation with Brian McAveraÊ

Rachel Joynt designs on natural history
ÔFor me, a successful public artwork needs to have a sense of place, a freshness, some intrigue and playfulness', Rachel Joynt tells Lisa Godson

Ten years of the AIB Prize
In reviewing ten years of the AIB Prize, Prize Frances Ruane points to some essential qualities required by artists in order to succeed in today's art world

Telling images of China
Shane McCausland examines the Chinese narrative tradition as seen in the paintings on loan from the Shanghai Museum currently on view at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin

Satirizing the nation
John Schwatschke's true forte lies in caricature, writes Gerry Walker in his assessment of the Dublin-born artist

Out of the darkroom
David Davison discusses the charismatic lensmen captured in their natural habitat by David Cantwell in his ongoing photographic project

Margaret Allen social commentator
Derville Murphy sheds light on the Victorian artist who was the first Irish female artist to tackle politically motivated subjects

A Woman for all seasons
Nicola Gordon Bowe applauds Mrs Delany, the woman at the centre of the recently published book and exhibition at the Sir John Soane Museum, London

Illustrating history
Karena Morton surveys the full range of extant medieval wall painting in Ireland from ex-situ fragments to recent discoveries

Battle of styles
Terence Reeves-Smyth discusses the contrasting aesthetics of Bernard Ward, 1st Viscount Bangor and his wife Lady Anne Brigh, as revealed in Castle Ward's singular facades

Theatre of the City
Daniel Libeskind's exhilarating Grand Canal Theatre provides the city of Dublin with its own example of starchitecture, writes Raymund Ryan

Drama through the window
The greats of Irish Theatre come to life in Peadar Lamb's glass frieze for the New York-based Irish Repertory Theatre, writes James Hanley