As the Irish Arts Review celebrates its 25th year of publication, Brian McAvera seizes the opportunity to start a process of reframing the usual cartography of contemporary Irish art
I first started writing about art at the beginning of the 1980s. This selection, for the most part, concentrates on those artists who, to my mind, have been undervalued, ignored, or are in need of re-positioning. Nearly thirty years later, it is still salutary to watch young artists still re-inventing the wheel.
All art, irrespective of the artist, is positioned between tradition and innovation. At one extreme are those artists who work in traditional genres, employ traditional formulae, and are highly resistant to change. At the other extreme are the innovators, in form, style and content, though historically speaking, they are relatively few in number. Neither extreme is a guarantee of quality
