̈ä̈r̈̈ẗ̈ ǝɹǝɥ n̈̈öẅ

ALT Image: Bernadette Kiely, Stay silent and still [survival of the fittest], 2023, oil on canvas, 158 x 213 cm – realistic depiction of cows down by a river (among trees by the river, on the river bank, in the river apparently drinking the water; there‘s a sense of hazy sunshine • “Bernadette Kiely lives beside the river Nore in Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny and this has become the driving force in her work. Particularly drawn to and inspired by flooding, her work is responsive to environmental shifts, the effects of weather on land, rivers and on human lives. She depicts imagery that often veils what we are looking at and makes us think again, blankets of mist, fog, fire, smoke and floodwater. Her work draws attention to a sense of unease and an awareness of atmospheric conditions - and prompts us towards a fundamental reassessment of ourselves and our relationship to the world around us. In this new exhibition Survival of the fittest [the answer is] Blowing in the wind Bernadette…”

ALT Image: Mary Lohan, Strand V, 2023, Sennelier oil stick on paper, 35 x 49 cm – sea view of strong-blue waves heading towards a beach in the foreground, with a greenish hill climbing to the right towards the horizon; greyish sky • “In February 2020 I headed for Wexford and a place facing the Irish Sea, where I had worked on many previous occasions. My intention was to start a new body of work to show, maybe later that year, or in 2021. Shortly after, the pandemic intervened and my stay was cut short. I returned to my studio in the Visual Arts Centre on Dublin’s northside. In turn the studios were also forced to close and I was reduced to working on my dining table at home. Eventually I managed to arrange a two month fellowship in the Ballinglen Arts Foundation. Their studios are in the village of Ballycastle, on the north coast of County Mayo. For the first time since Wexford I was able to come to grips with my work. Working in the studio in the morning I spent the afternoon and…

ALT Image: a totemic (?) half-figure in carved, painted wood against a neutral grey photographic setting • "Unseeing Traces is a community project developed by IMMA in collaboration with New Communities Partnership (NCP), Ireland’s largest independent migrant-led national network. Inspired by a unique collection of hundreds of traditional artefacts inherited from the Kingdom of Kongo, by Nasser Aidara, NCP Community Development Coordinator, these artefacts will be exhibited at IMMA in dialogue with works from the IMMA Collection that rely on activation to uncover their cultural significance. The former Kingdom of Kongo (1300 – 1900s) was a large dominion covering present day Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola and the Congo Republic. The artefacts and artworks share a relational quality. Their meanings emerge from everyday rituals or special ceremonies – each carry a trace of past performances which can be re-activated through an encounter. Exploring displacement, colonialism, race and…"

ALT Image: Eamon Colman, Echoes from Time, 2022-2023. Mixed media on 360 gram Awagami paper, 300 x 300 cm. © Eamon Colman. Courtesy the artist. Photography Anthony Hobbs. – lively, colourful artwork, mostly abstract; suggestion of mounds, or even (people dressed up as) ghosts (due to shoots over their heads); format almost square – there seems to be a rectangular chunk missing bottom left • "Butler Gallery is delighted to present Twenty Eight Acres, an exhibition of new works on paper by Kilkenny-based visual artist Eamon Colman. Colman has spent many years walking the length and breadth of the Twenty Eight Acres, a site located along the Castlecomer Plateaux in north County Kilkenny where mining began in the mid-17 th Century with the extraction of iron ore. In later years, coal deposits were found beneath the shale and these were to form the basis of the coal mining industry in the area which lasted for over 300 years. The Twenty Eight Acres site was used as a slag heap for spoils…"

ALT Image: photo of two stained-glass works, each about A2 size (?) on plinths in the entrance hall of the Hugh Lane; the closer work depicts a lit candle in candle-holder on the left, and a rough-sleeper in a Georgian doorway on the right; the farther work suggests a rural landscape, or – more likely – an allotment, with plants growing in raised beds • "Solder: Global Connection through Art is the culmination of two years intense work by adult participants in the LYCS Global Citizenship project. The artists accepted the challenge to investigate and reflect upon Global Citizenship Education and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Working with Helena Murphy in LYCS, there were many weeks of debate and reflection, after which the participants worked with artist Claire Halpin to bring their responses to life in stained glass. At the outset of their project the artists visited the Hugh Lane Gallery where they were welcomed by Jessica O’Donnell, Head of Education and Community Outreach…"

ALT Image: Kelvin Mann: Brent geese - Starboard – about 50 geese depicted flying towards viewer’s; they're in a circular configuration of individuals (not a formation) against what seems to be a gold background • "Kelvin Mann’s eagerly anticipated solo exhibition Navigate explores the concept of movement and migration through the lens of various forms of navigation. The etchings and screen prints depict migrating birds, schools of fish, animal migration paths, lighthouses, maritime maps and travelling mobile homes. Each of these elements represents a different way of navigating through the world, whether through instinct, technology, or human ingenuity. Mann uses gold and platinum leaf as a means to embellish the prints and also to highlight the value and significance we should place on the natural world and its inhabitants. Through simplified geometric maps, Mann represents countries and bodies of water identifiable only by their unique configuration of the lighthouses that guide…"

ALT Image: Kevin O'Farrell: Repairing the keel on a 56’ wooden trawler, Hegarty’s Boatyard, 2014 – under what seems a huge hull we see two men working on a boat's keel; the large propellor and (possibly) rudder are closest to us; the hull is supported by a complex arrangement of girders short, thick beams • "The last surviving traditional wooden boatyard in Ireland.This body of documentary photography, developed over 20 years, celebrates Ireland’s disappearing maritime heritage and the skills of traditional wooden boatbuilders focusing on three generations of the same family working in Hegarty’s Boatyard, Oldcourt, Skibbereen, Co Cork. Kevin O’Farrell’s practice draws on the traditions of photojournalism and magazine reportage. The exhibition comprises many photographs of the restoration of the AK Ilen, the last of Ireland’s traditional wooden, ocean-going sailing ships, as well as a new set of photographs of the restoration of the Saoirse, a 42 foot ketch on which Connor O’Brien…"

ALT Image: Rita Duffy, Circus Animals' Desert, 2023, oil on linen, 65 x 90 cm © Rita Duffy –  strong colours, strong expressions; a figure with long hair wearing blue high-heel shoes is in a magician's box, with a saw resting on top, already having cut in a bit; on the box also is a model of a city, transected by the saw; there is a small donkey in the enclosure, but no magician; the figure looks very worried • "For her first solo exhibition at Crawford Art Gallery, artist Rita Duffy presents a trilogy of new, large-scale works that address urgent themes of planetary crisis and political chaos. This triptych for our times has its genesis in Duffy’s intense series of small, satirical drawings, The Emperor has No Clothes (2020), which was recently acquired by Crawford Art Gallery for the National Collection. Rita Duffy (b.1959) is one of the major contemporary artists to emerge from Northern Ireland. Encompassing themes and images of Irish identity, history, and politics, her work is…"

ALT Image: painting of a reclining nude, realistically depicted, head closest to us, legs farthest, knees bent, right elbow raised; in the background is a partially occluded rectangle of strong orange-yellow • "The University of Atypical is delighted to invite you to join us for the launch of, Upside Down an exhibition of new work by artist Ciaran Magill opening at 5pm on Thursday the 4th of May as part of the Late Night Art scheme Bodies in motion, bodies at rest. This exhibition of figurative paintings explores the artist’s fascination with high-energy athletic poses offset against quiet contemplative positions within a domestic setting. The acrobatic males are like an astral-projection of the artist’s own dreams, often imagined while lying on his bed. Likewise, the levitating females allude to gender politics, a recurring theme in the artist’s sixteen -year career. With fifteen solo shows to date, this is Ciaran’s first ever solo exhibition of work focused on the human figure…"

ALT Image: warped mesh in black on a very red background; painterly • "Taylor Galleries are pleased to present an exhibition of new paintings by gallery artist Charles Tyrrell. Comprising mainly of large scale canvases, the artist continues his involvement with grids as first presented in 2019 where the grids were developed with acrylic paint on Yupo paper and also, Indian ink on card. In this new body of work the grid has been simplified and articulated differently. Less stark graphic depiction and more painterly figure-ground interplay. This new work follows on from the artist's Liffey Grid, a four by ten metre vitreous enamel painting forming a gateway into the new Tropical Fruit Warehouse development on Sir John Rogerson's Quay in Dublin which was installed in 2022."