Amharcealaín - Visual Art
BALLINA ARTS CENTRE
Ballina Civic Offices, Arran Place, Ballina, Co. Mayo.T: 096 73593 E: ballinaartscentre@gmail.net W: www.ballinaartscentre.com
Off Season – Niall Kerrigan exhibition at Ballina Arts Centre - runs until 5th March
Reminiscent of the ‘Famine Villages’, the concept of Off Season comes from the months when holidays towns and villages are unoccupied waiting for the life to be breathed into them again. Shops in small, seaside towns waiting for the tourist business to return; colourful playgrounds and amusement parks sitting empty.
These locations portray the loneliness and emptiness of place without people. Off Season takes as its subject a more contemporary version of this loneliness; one created by a more affluent society. Despite this, there is loneliness in these villages and towns during the ‘off season’ period.
Niall Kerrigan is an artists and award-winning graphic designer, originally from Dublin, now living in Killala, Co. Mayo. Since moving to Mayo, he has documented the area he lives and works in, through the medium of photography, which includes his first major body of work Derelict: Silent & Still, an exhibition inspired by what he terms “the architecture of abandonment”.
Admission is free and all are welcome.
LINENHALL ARTS CENTRE
Linenhall St, Castlebar, Mayo.
T: 094 9023733 E: linenhall@anu.ie W: www.thelinenhall.com
LINENHALL GALLERY
Zita Reihill - Poetic Space. Friday 4th - Saturday 26th March
An exhibition of recent oil paintings by Dublin-based artist Zita Reihill that find their inspiration in poetry. “The basis of this work is poetry, it is about the depths that poetry takes you. A poet’s word strikes true, it moves the very depths of pure being. So, this body of work is about finding that voice, a voice so remote within us, that it is the voice we hear when we listen as far back as memory reaches, the very limits of memory, even beyond memory perhaps.” Zita has been exhibiting regularly in Dublin for the past 15 years, and has also been involved in shows in London, New York, Venice and Melbourne. Her work is represented in many prestigious collections.
Adm. Free
Tuesday 8th - Wednesday 16th March. It's been a Long Journey- it still is.
Mayo Rape Crisis Centre presents an exhibition of an arts project carried out with female asylum seekers living in direct provision in County Mayo, and with visual artist Isabela Basombrio Hoban and quilt maker Agnes Warren. The exhibition which comprises photographic, text, sound and textile works is the result of this innovative and deeply moving project. The poignant title is a quote from a Female Aslyum Seeker who is 6 years in Direct Provision. Mayo Rape Crisis Centre has been at the forefront of services delivering support to asylum seekers.The Launch of this exhibition will be part of International Women's Day celebrations. This project was part funded by Mayo East Leader Partnership. Official opening on Tuesday 8th March @ 3.00pm. All welcome.
St Joseph’s Secondary School - We Are the Artists. Tuesday 22nd - Thursday 31st March
A diverse and engaging exhibition by the students of St Joseph’s Secondary School, Castlebar, including junk couture fashion design, ceramics, textile design, interior design painting, short animation films, graphic design and observational drawings. All years are participating, from 1st to 6th Year and Transition Year students, and the work reflects an innovative approach to artistic creativity. According to St Joseph’s art teachers Ann Geary and Joanne O’Hora, “We believe art should be a central part of effective teaching and learning. The arts can stimulate or release imagination by bringing into existence an alternative reality, In that way children can envision a world that is different from the world they know, Art education opens the possibilities of creating new worlds. If we have the ability to share our Artwork across the new spectrums, then we are pursuing this concept.” Adm. Free. Official opening on Tuesday 22nd March @ 8.00pm. All welcome
Ross Stewart - Steel Bridges, Bog Bodies. Friday 1st - Saturday 30th April
An exhibition of new mixed media works on canvas and paper, inspired by the artist’s recent experiences in Oregon fused with a deep rooted love of Irish landscape and culture. This new work finds the repetitive geometric patterns of manmade concrete and steel structures of the modern city submerged under layers of organic texture and mark-making, exploring “how the temporary power of modern structure can and will be easily lost in Nature and forgotten in our memory”.
Ross Stewart is an Irish artist working in painting, illustration and animation, notably conceptual design and art direction. He was Art Director on the award-winning film The Secret of Kells, recently nominated for an Academy Award. His personal artwork is based on organically developed landscape studies, focusing on atmosphere and mood rather than representational form. His highly textured mixed media paintings suggest wide expanses of bog or moor, solitary trees or boulders with vivid, intricate details submerged under glazes of earthy colours. Ross Stewart has exhibited across Ireland and the UK over the last 11 years and his work is held in public and private collections internationally. Adm. free. Official opening on Friday 1st April at 7.30pm. All welcome.
CUSTOM HOUSE STUDIOS
The Quay, Westport, Mayo T: 098-28735.E: customhouse@eircom.net W: www.customhousestudios.ie
Mature Colours
Opening Teresa Maguire. Runs until March 6th
The artwork on display is from the Mayo County Council Arts and Health Programme at the McBride CNU Westport. This programme has been running since 2004 in five centres in Co. Mayo and is supported by Mayo County Council Arts Office, H.S.E Western Region and the Arts Council. Older people at the McBride CNU have worked with facilitator Irma Van Baalen to create the body of work you will see on show at the exhibition.
10,000 Things Every Child Should Know
The World of Wonder, by Sue Morris. March 10th - 3rd April 2011.
Sue Morris followed her degree at Chelsea College of Art with an MA from the Royal College of Art, London. She moved to Ireland in the early 90's and now lives in County Sligo.She has exhibited widely in the UK and Ireland and has had work commissioned by, and held, in corporate, public and private collections. She currently has a studio residence at the Model Arts Centre Sligo.
Recent Solo Exhibitions: Market Place Arts Centre Armagh, 2011.Queen Street Studios Gallery, Belfast, 2010. South Tipperary Arts Centre, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, 2010. Upstairs Gallery, Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny, 2010. The Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar, Co Mayo, 2009. www.suemorris.ie
Mountmellick Library and Art Gallery, Laois. March 8- 31, 2011, RANSOM ROOM an EXHIBITION by Isabela Basombrio Hoban
This exhibition refers to the current economic climate in Ireland and the larger question of value and meaning through the use of gold. The "gold" objects on view are a reference to the ancient use of gold in Peru (where the artist is from). The exhibition title "Ransom Room" alludes to the 16th century captured Peruvian Inca leader Atahualpa who offered to fill a room with gold in return for his freedom. http://www.castlebar.ie/arts/isabela