Rita Duffy’s exhibition of new work at the F E McWilliam Gallery & Studio is inspired by a three-month residency in Norway and combines the influence of Nordic myth and culture with familiar themes from the artist’s oeuvre, writes Riann Coulter
For several years Rita Duffy’s original and provocative art has been rooted in her native Belfast. From her studio overlooking the City Hall, she has played a significant role in the artistic life of the city and has been an outspoken advocate for the importance of visual art in a divided society. Through her work, Duffy has consistently tackled thorny issues that others have chosen to ignore. Engaging directly with themes of gender inequality, the repressive power of religious institutions and the divisions endemic in Northern Irish society, she has forged a powerful visual voice that conveys both her strident protests against injustice and her enduring belief that art can play an important role in creating a better future.
Muirne Lydon reveals the original brilliance of Murillo’s Prodigal Son as degraded varnish and old restorations are painstakingly removed from the 17th-century series at the National Gallery of Ireland
Using a selection of germane quotations Rolf Loeber recalls his mentor, the late Maurice Craig; their literary exchange taking the form of a tete-a-tete.
Cosmopolitan yet connected to local issues, Mervyn Wingfield, 7th Viscount Powerscourt played a prominent role in promoting Ireland’s cultural institutions at a pivotal time in their early history, writes Philip McEvansoneya