At the Launch of Antoinette Spillane's exhibition : DAUGHTERS OF INAGH

RICK of TURF

A Rick of Turf was made by Packy Curtin as part of the exhibition BOG by Trudi van der Elsen in the Courthouse Gallery

BOG a multimedia exhibition by Trudi van der Elsen

 

BOG

TRUDI VAN DER ELSEN

Trudi van der Elsen, is a visual artist born in a bog-land area in the south of Holland known as "the Peel". She visited Ireland on a cycling tour of West of Ireland bogs in the '90s. She has since made her home in Co.Clare where she has built a solid reputation as an artist and art teacher over several years. Bog-lands are a major inspiration for her. Much of her artwork - painting, drawing and photography - resulted from research into bog-lands and the people who live in such areas.

This fascination, which continues with new research on the bog-lands of Ireland, was triggered in 1973 by a newspaper review of The Bog People, a book by P.V. Glob centering on the Tollund Man. The strange story of Tollund Man, and the Danish bog in which his remarkably preserved 2,000 year old body was found, made a profound impression on the young artist, although the photographs of the Tollund Man's body in Glob's book gave her the impression that the body was that of a woman! The atmosphere in those bog-lands and the tale of the mysterious Tollund man were the inspiration for a remarkable and highly acclaimed photographic series. She explains:

"I was curious about what the bog people had experienced. I wanted to gain a better understanding of what Tollund Man and such people, killed and buried in bogs at that time, felt, heard and smelled when they disappeared in the bogs. So, as part of my research, I tried to reproduce the experience of being consigned to a bog, and documented the process. I followed a geological line of bog-lands through Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark, making black and white still-shots which resemble freeze frames from an interrupted motion film. For me, the results were profound. The process had many remarkable resonances, and there were numerous connections with powerful, primal symbols which are fundamental to western culture. I was reminded of legends such as Narcissus and Ophelia and of symbols which have entered the western canon: the four elements (earth, water, fire and air), the four temperaments (sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic and melancholic). All these informed or found expression in the images generated by my research".

An academic analysis and appreciation of van der Elsen's images of 'bog people' was published in December 2009 in the University of Chicago Press book Bodies In The Bog and the Archaelogical Imagination written by Karin Sanders, professor of Scandinavian Studies at the University of California, Berkely.

As well as the photographic series, the Bog exhibition also includes examples of some of the artist's varied and eclectic painting styles. These include a remarkable new work portraying the artist herself painting an abstract inspired by Clare's Burren area.

The exhibition runs until April 1st.

"Daughters of Inagh" by Antoinette Spillane in the Red Couch Space

 

DAUGHTERS OF INAGH

Antoinette Spillane

An exhibition of work created at the mouth of the River Inagh

(From a collection called Motherline)

Family names are carried along the father's line, but our blood comes down through the mother's line like rivers through the landscape, bringing the mother's accent and ways of seeing things. Mother's wit, mother's tongue, mother's music; all come from the mother's way of beeing.

The same way as the local river carries the essence of all that grows along her banks, and the music of all the lives and that were formed and sustained by her waters.

Making shapes on the river beach, of mother and daughter, of grandmothers. Seeing the bodies crack, change and dissolve. Thinking of her capacity to give birth, of the woman's mouth, her kiss, her voice, her presence, her dress....

Then looking at the play of the water and light around a form that changes every moment, seems to shift perception towards the feeling or spirit of what's happening inside, rather than the form things take outside.

The name Inagh comes from Eidhneach which means Ivy. According to the ogham alphabet of the Druids, the Ivy tree embodies the intertwining qualities of love of the heart.

This work is in honour of my mother Inagh McNicholas

And in honour of the river Inagh and all her sons and daughters.

Winner of our Christmas Draw!

We are delighted to announce that Claire Waters is the winner
of Frank Golden's painting "Object Dots".
Frank generously donated this piece for a raffle to raise money for the Gallery.

The Courthouse Gallery

presents 

The North Clare Historical Society

Holy Wells

and

Hooleys

by Fr. Denis Crosby

Monday 22^nd February 2010 at 8pm 

Admission €5

Falls Hotel. Mural in the entrance hall.

"Ennistymon Inside Out"

   February 2nd -26th 2010

 at the Courthouse Gallery       12 noon - 4pm. Mon - Sat.   

  No admission charge

An exhibition of photographs of Ennistymon taken in 1988 by Alex Browne and Anthont Edwards, recording the interiors of some of the houses and shops in Ennistymon - including the famous murals in the Falls Hotel, which have since disappeared as indeed have many of the scenes dipicted in this exhibition.
All of these photos are available online at  www.clarelibrary.ie  and can be downloaded free for personal use.

                   Jo Curran's House, Main St.                

                A Clare County Library Exhibition        

Pictures from the CD Launch of NoLand Folk, "Ghosts Light The Scene"

WORLD PREMIER-North Clare made film SEASIDE STORIES by writer/director Fergus Tighe

Following a successful preview at the Cork Film Festival the North Clare made film SEASIDE STORIES... had it's WORLD PREMIER at  the COURTHOUSE STUDIOS GALLERY on DECEMBER 12th at 5 and 7pm

                                       

The Writer/Director Fergus Tighe was at both screenings as most of the actors including Fionn de Búrca (11 years) of Kilcornan who plays Locky, the boy around which the story swings. The film was made over the past 3 years from Gallivanting Media's base at the Courthouse Studios & Gallery

Top picture: Mick Flynn who wrote the song "Liscannor Bay" in the movie getting a hug from Fergus

Fergus was presented with a Birthday Cake after the showing of Seaside Stories

Locky is a boy who's been flourishing since his mother, Anna, gave up the drink three years ago. When Anna's old boyfriend Mick gets out of prison she falls back into her old ways of daytime drinking while Locky runs wild in the streets with his friend Callo, played by Caolann O'Dwyer 13. Meanwhile Sally arrives home determined to tell Locky that she is really his mother. This does not go exactly as planned and sets the scene for a series of events that changes the lives of all involved.

                                               

Fergus introducing Seasides  Stories to a packed house

All praise for Fionn de Búrca!

NoLand Folk new CD Launch Thursday 10th December @ 8pm

International folk-rock troubadours NoLand Folk will launch their second album "Ghosts Light the Scene" in the Courthouse Gallery on Thursday 10th Dec at 8pm.

Come and hear the band playing and enjoy the music. This is an open event and all are welcome to attend.

This follow-up to debut Never Going Home (2007) sees the band embark on a new course, articulated by some major changes in line-up. Recorded in the paludal hinterland of Co. Clare, ‘Ghosts Light the Scene’ is a tour de force of folk-rock using violins, accordions and guitars interwoven with an elegant, more electric setting to create a lush musical backdrop. What ensues is a vibrant, energetic and fearless set of songs.

Drawing from life experience and folk tradition moreso than outside influences, Ghosts Light the Scene tells a story of revenge, cacoethes, love, loss and dispossession. It marks the end of an old way, and the beginning of a new journey for this lonely ship…