Two aspects of the curation at this year’s vibrant 195th Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) Annual Exhibition stood out.
Two aspects of the curation at this year’s vibrant 195th Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) Annual Exhibition stood out. Firstly, the significant presence of enticing, well-made sculptures. Secondly, the decision to group pairs and trios of works by different artists together throughout. Alice Maher’s iconic large drawing on paper, Ariadne II, was flanked by two outstanding smaller paintings: Peter Bradley’s Street Fighter, but Make It Fashion, and Andrzej Mazur’s Scattered Thoughts II. A performance print by Amanda Coogan was paired with Diana Copperwhite’s small Sonic painting. Anita Shelbourne’s Landscape topped Kaye Maahs’ Erratic Days. Bernadette Kiely’s No Promised Land hung near two of James English’s Annaghmakerrig Lough paintings. Colin Davidson’s Small Stranger stood on a plinth near Suzanne Dolan’s ceramic Boys Night. The pairing of John Behan’s bronze Gaza – We Want Food with Antonio Carty’s stark, wall-mounted Palestinian Angel series was instantly sobering, and not alone among some politically themed works by artists including Joy Gerrard and Denise McShannon.
Sculpture rigorously claimed its place this year, with Áine Ryan’s superb pillow/needle piece, She Rests, in glass and human hair, Sophie Longwill’s feather-and-glass Dream Seed I, Graham Gingles’ Pilgrim Is Bitterly Disappointed at What He Finds on Arriving at the Celestial City, Olga Duka’s marble Metamorphosis, Katherine Sankey’s ceramic Loxodrome, Eileen MacDonagh’s black granite Adrift, Richard Healy’s Connemara marble and Kilkenny limestone Cosmosis, and Vera Klute’s exquisite giant flower-sculpture Lustre II.
Paintings by names familiar and new stood out, including backstage scenes captured by Mick O’Dea while artist-in-residence with Druid Theatre Company, and works by Ann Quinn, Mary Bowen Galvin, Billie Adele O’Regan, Cíana Fitzgerald, David Fox, Jason Gubbiotti and Stephen Lawlor. Subtle but no-less-effective works included a series of pencil drawings by sculptor Michael Quane and two lens-based, motherhood-themed works: Katie Moore’s tender bath photograph, The Push and Pull, and Pauline Rowan’s Awake, Between the Gates.
Cristín Leach
