Fiona Woods - extended interview on ABC Radio National Australia

Artworks Feature: Rural artists with a wide orbit

 This week in Artworks, a feature about art and rural communities, art and agriculture.

Last month in Swan Hill, a town on the Victorian/New South Wales border, an assortment of artists, arts organisations, farmers, historians and other interested locals gathered to talk about cultural life in rural communities, and to hear guests from around Australia and abroad. The event was called ACRE 2 and, at a time when so many rural communities around Australia, and indeed around the world, are undergoing huge changes, one of the major question posed was: what's the role of art and creativity in re-imagining the landscape? 

For Artworks, Michael Shirrefs went to the Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery, on the banks of the Murray River, to speak to some of the participants. And he was amazed at the range and scope of the discussions, which clearly mark a big shift in the way rural arts communities see themselves.
Please see following Link:

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/artworks/stories/2011/3237586.htm

The Outside is Inside

The Outside is Inside

New Works by Martina Cleary  

   

Opening Reception Friday 3rd June at 7pm

The exhibition will be opened by Elaine D’Alton, Clare Women’s Network

 

The work presented in this show has  evolved through a collaboration with Clare Women’s network based in Ennis, beginning in 2009. The large tableaux photographic images, while collaboratively constructed are inspired by real life events. Part of this project was initially presented as a series of posters, released daily with statistical information during the 16 Days International Campaign against Gender-Based Violence in November 2009. Subsequent research, supported by the Create Artist in the Community scheme has sought to focus on exploring how perceptions of safety and threat correlate with womens lived experience of both private and public spaces within the local community. While some of the works in this show are constructed or performed, others are inspired by over sixty individual interviews and are more documentary in nature. Part II of this body of work will be presented as a solo exhibition at the RHA Ashford Gallery in November 2011.

Artist’s Bio

Martina Cleary is a multi-media artist working with photography, video, drawing and text as her primary media. In Ireland she attended NCAD and The Crawford College of Art & Design, followed by post-graduate studies at The Academy of Fine Arts and The Alvar Aalto University, Helsinki. Beginning in the early 90’s, her work has been shown and collected in Ireland, Finland and Germany. Recent shows and awards have included; The Irish Arts Council Project Award 2010, the Create Artist in the Community Award 2010, the Roscommon Arts Office Art@Work Residency 2009,  EV+A 2008 at Limerick City Gallery, Impressions 2008 All Ireland Print Show (First Prize) at Galway Arts Centre and ‘Things That Go Bump’ a solo show at Monster Truck Studio & Gallery, Dublin in 2008.

Martina’s work deals with investigating what lies hidden beneath the surface of the everyday, particularly with respect to the construction of stories, histories and knowledges of place which inform the creation of individual and collective identity. Her work often brings together memories, associations and perceptions attached to particular sites, whether historical or contemporary to discover the relationship between place, power and the potential of the individual to affect change.  

 

Martina’s work has been supported by The Irish Arts Council, Clare County Council, The Finnish Arts Council, The Finnish Cultural Foundation, The Finnish Institute in London and a number of other Arts organizations in both Ireland and Finland. Along with her work as an artist, Martina is currently Head of Photography at Burren College of Art and also works as a lecturer in Critical & Contextual Studies at Limerick School of Art and Design.

Further information about this artist is available at www.martinacleary.com

 

National Campaign for the Arts - Meet and Greet – Monday 16 May at 11am

National Campaign for the Arts - Meet and Greet – Monday 16 May at 11am

The Courthouse Gallery invites you to a Meet and Greet coffee morning / meeting on Monday 16 May at 11 am in the Courthouse Gallery, Parliament Street, Ennistymon.

This meeting is one of over 30 organised in and for each constituency throughout the country on that day, as part of the National Campaign for the Arts.

The Meet and Greet is an opportunity for you to get to know your new TD’s and Senators and to put to them your hopes and concerns about the Arts in your area.

We believe the arts make an invaluable contribution to society. As Ireland struggles to rebuild its

reputation on the international stage and restore confidence at home, we believe the arts can help.

This meeting is a way for you to open up a dialogue with your new representatives on how their continued investment in the arts is indeed an investment in Ireland and in the realisation of the society we all want.

We very much hope you will be able to attend the Meet and Greet for Clare constituency and look forward to seeing you then.

Trudi van der Elsen           Kathryn Comber

Co-ordinator / Curator       Gallery Committee

             

          “VENUS”  
              Works by
      Vicky Lennie
     April 29th- May 26^th

             Official opening
          by actress Vanessa Earl 
       on Friday April 29^th at 8 pm

 


 
 In the middle of the room a large rectangle upholstered in red velvet is hanging. It has a hole in it which you can stick your head into, and a painting on the other side, like at a seaside photo booth. Opposite hangs a mirror in which you can see yourself transformed...

The female nude is a familiar figure in art history. In fact, she is the subject of the oldest representational art that we have: some figurines have been dated at up to 200,000 years old. But how many of these images actually describe real women?

Drawing from her experiences in pregnancy and motherhood, and by referencing and manipulating images from art history, Vicky Lennie explores this genre from different viewpoints, using media ranging from drawing and painting to installation and stuffed fabric sculpture. By the use of means such as touch and mirrors, the viewer is no longer a detached observer, but becomes a part of the artworks themselves.

Vicky Lennie was born and raised in Edinburgh and studied at the Glasgow School of Art, graduating in 1993. She moved to the west of Ireland in 1996, and helped to establish the Doolin Artists group who held several successful exhibitions. Vicky now works from her studio at the Blue Frog Café and Arts Venue, Ennistymon, Co. Clare, where she also teaches life drawing and programmes arts events and exhibitions for the venue. She has exhibited in various Irish galleries and Arts Centres, including the Belltable Arts Centre in Limerick and the Dept. of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands in Dublin.

info@vickylennie.net
www.vickylennie.net

 “Birds of the Shore”  William Glynn
 in the Red Couch Space
April 29th- May 26^th

g William Glynn was born in Kilrush and brought up in Kilkee, Co.Clare. He spent most of his working life teaching in the UK. Returning to Ireland on retirement, his hobby photography, became a serious pursuit. He loves the stark beauty of the West Clare coastline with its ever changing sea and sky and abundance of wild life. Impressed by Cartier-Bresson’s idea of the significant moment he tries to capture these unrepeatable fleeting instants.

“insight”

 

Will O’Kane

Sue Morris

March 25th – April 21^st

opening reception Friday March 25^th at 8pm

Will O'Kane is an artist who focuses on figurative painting. Starting points for his work can come from his own photography, from found materials and images, from memory and also from direct observation. He has exhibited throughout Ireland and abroad and is currently based in Dublin.

A quote from his notebook below explains aspects of his show at the Courthouse:
'Collectively paintings such as Dough, Wasp's Nest and Wooden Cross-Boss deal with an archetypal shape while complementing portraits such as 'Red Badge' and 'GML' on a metaphorical level... Still life and portraits, while on the one hand playing with visual forms, can be taken as an essay on individual emotional experiences.'

Sue Morris followed her degree at Chelsea College of Art with an MA from the Royal College of Art, London. She has exhibited widely and has works in corporate, public and private collections.

'The Obsessive Compulsive Drawings' explores the boundaries of drawing practice in a
multi-media installation. The work examines themes of constriction and growth, sameness and difference and poses questions of perceptions and preconceptions of obsessive compulsive behaviour.

nòinean

AN EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS

by BRID HARHEN

In the Red Couch Space

MARCH 25 – APRIL 21,

Opening reception Saturday March 26^th at 2pm

The Ennistymon Courthouse Gallery is delighted to show the work of Brid Harhen.

Ms. Brid Harhen was born in Liscannor, Co. Clare in 1972. She only started painting five years ago and The Ennistymon Courthouse Gallery is proud to show her work.

Brid takes her influences from her locality and the stunning views from her kitchen window in Moher. She has a love for nature and flowers which she carries through in her paintings. She has previously exhibited in the “Teach Ceol” in 2006 and the “Burren Centre” in Kilfenora in 2007, The Courthouse Gallery 2009, and at The Cliffs of Moher Centre.

Flamenco on St. Patrick's Day!

 AL- ANDAR FLAMENCO SHOW

          

17th March

 at 8pm 

 in the gallery

 tickets €10

An evening of flamenco culture featuring the stunning music and dance from Andalusia. Al-Andar performs Flamenco in its purest form.

The evocative singing of Olayo Jimenez, the pulsing beats of Lucas Gonzalez's guitar, and the passionate dance of Fatima Lucia  come together to  bring you the unique sensitivity of this old tradition from Southern Spain.

 

www.flamencogalway.com.          

Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzr-AF4gJb4 

Vicky Lennie “Artists Books”

February 18^th – 17^th March

In the Red Couch Space at the Courthouse Gallery

You are invited to the opening reception on 18, Feb, 2011 at 7pm.

To launch two new Artists Books, Vicky Lennie- will be having an exhibition of related work in the red couch space of the Courthouse Gallery in Ennistymon, Co. Clare from 18th February- 17th March 2011.
“The books: ‘Stones and Stories: Sketchbooks From the Burren and Aran Islands’ and ‘Early Irish Monks Understood that the World is Round’ are drawn from sketchbooks and paintings made around 1998/99, when I was living close to the Atlantic Ocean, in Doolin. Explorations of the surrounding area and folklore at that time led me through local stories and landscapes out to the many strange tales connected with the Atlantic.”
The exhibition will include original sketchbooks, paintings and ephemera, as well as the books themselves.

Vicky Lennie was born and raised in Edinburgh and studied at the Glasgow School of Art, graduating in 1993. She moved to the west of Ireland in 1996, and helped to establish the Doolin Artists group who held several successful exhibitions. Vicky now works from her studio at the Blue Frog Café and Arts Venue, Ennistymon, Co. Clare, where she also teaches life drawing and programmes arts events and exhibitions for the venue. She has exhibited in various Irish galleries and Arts Centres, including the Belltable Arts Centre in Limerick and the Dept. of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands in Dublin.

info@vickylennie.net
www.vickylennie.net

“Townlands” Exhibition by Alan Counihan & Gypsy Ray

“Townlands” Exhibition

18^th February – 17^th March

You are invited to the opening reception on 18, Feb, 2011 at 7pm

Townlands is an exhibition of works made over the past two years by artists Alan Counihan and Gypsy Ray as part of the Townlands Project. Works to be shown at the Courthouse Gallery will include photographs, drawings, sculpture, installation and film all of which have grown out of creative interaction with the artists’ local landscape

The Townlands Project (www.townlands.net) is an ongoing creative exploration of a rural landscape and community in north Kilkenny. It has involved the gathering of place and field names in nine parish townlands along with a series of oral history recordings. Engagement with the community has been wide-ranging resulting in a collaboration between Barnstorm Theatre Company and the local national school, an artist-in-residence-programme , a seminar and a short film, all based on the local landscape and its history. It is anticipated that a publication will follow in 2011-2012.

Over the past twenty years Alan Counihan has realised many large site-specific works in the public domain and exhibited widely both in Ireland and the U.S.A. His work is in many public and private collections on both sides of the Atlantic. He has been the recipient of several grants and awards including the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award. While perhaps best known for his object-based work his practice also incorporates photography, theatre, sound and texts. 

While resident in the USA, Gypsy Ray gained a national reputation for her social documentary photography especially for work focused on the issues of HIV/AIDS and its impact on specific communities.  Here in Ireland she has continued her creative engagement with place and people using both photography and drawing and was recently awarded a Kilkenny County Bursary for her initial work with the County Kilkenny Traveller Community.  Her drawings are a regular feature in the RHA annual exhibition.  A book of landscape imagery, "The Poetry of Place" was published in 2007.

For more information see : www.townlands.net

www.alancounihan.net.

www.gypsyray.wordpress.com