Hilary Pyle reviews a history of Graphic Studio Dublin, which shows how an artistic necessity gave rise to a flourishing artistic resource
The decade of the 1960s was an extremely interesting time for contemporary art in Ireland. The Irish Exhibition of Living Art having successfully challenged the Academy in the 1940s, due to economic circumstances and lack of contact with outside stimuli, had become almost predictable. Original artists were there, but resting on their oars. For critics and the public, it was now fashionable to compare Irish artists with Irish writers, the former coming out a bad second. According to general opinion Irish art simply wasn’t on a par with Irish literature: we were a nation who thrived and excelled with the word, and any connection with the image that might be acceptable abroad existed in the Middle Ages.
Ahead of Dragana Jurisic’s solo show at the RHA in September we republish Stephanie McBride’s examination of the photographer’s 2011 show at the Droichead Arts Centre, studies of urban survival taken during the Celtic Tiger years, revealing Ireland’s struggling society.
Paul Larmour visits the new theatre, which he describes as a boon for the dramatic arts and the most exciting building in Belfast