Riann Coulter finds a personal compendium collated with daring and vigour, in Basil Blackshaw’s work
Have you ever seen a zebra in Co Antrim? There may be some in Belfast Zoo but, bar the possibility of a break out, I can’t imagine those distinctive stripes mingling with the cows in rural Ulster. Yet, just such a creature takes centre stage in Basil Blackshaw’s current exhibition at the Fenton Gallery, Cork. A painter known for both his connections to his local environment and his images of dogs and horses, captured with a breeder’s eye for form and temperament, Blackshaw has once again exercised his capacity to surprise and delight his devoted following by producing a new body of fresh and innovative work
Róisín Kennedy discusses Carey Clarke’s Portrait of My Daughter, Michelle, the winner of the Ireland-US Council Portrait Prize at the 178th RHA Annual Exhibition
