Brian Maguire
Then I laid the floor
Triskel Christchurch, Cork, 15th July – 30th September
Irish artist Brian Maguire collaborated with Robert Chase Heishman of Chicago and James Concagh of Sao Paolo, Brazil on this new exhibition at Triskel Christchurch, inspired by Concagh’s in-laws’ efforts to build a favela house on the outskirts of Sao Paolo, one of the world’s most densely populated cities. The in-laws - Valdemar and Valderci – are from the Northeast of the country, and face discrimination as immigrants. Nonetheless, they’ve soldiered on, adding to their new home brick by brick.
Summer Exhibition
Lavit Gallery, Cork, Until 29th July
The Lavit Gallery’s annual summer showcase of painting, print, photography, sculpture and craft features work by Tom Climent, Ita Freeney, Tom Campbell and many others. The exhibition is presented as part of the gallery’s 60th anniversary programme, which will also feature Into The Weave, a textiles exhibition, in August, and a group show by Maud Cotter, Eilis O’Connell and Vivienne Roche in the autumn.
Rita Duffy, Persistent Illusion
Crawford Arts Gallery, Until 8th October
Belfast artist Rita Duffy has long been known for the political nature of her work, often inspired by the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Her first solo exhibition at the Crawford includes three large-scale paintings that address urgent themes of planetary crisis and political chaos, along with a suite of satirical drawings, The Emperor has No Clothes, inspired by the Trump administration in America.
Détour: Selected works from the FRAC Bretagne collection
Glucksman Gallery, Cork, 28th July – 4th November
The Frac Bretagne was founded in 1981 by the National Government and the Brittany Regional Council in western France to collect contemporary art. Détour presents a selection of work from the collection, including Gil J Wolman’s cut-ups of maps of the city of Paris, designed to create disorientation; Raymond Hains’ photographs of signs in rural villages; Vera Molnar’s computer-generated renderings of the Saint-Victoire mountain range; and Charlotte Moth’s films of Parisian architecture.
Members and Friends Exhibition
Uillinn – West Cork Arts Centre, Skibbereen, Co Cork, Until 20th July
A showcase of work from West Cork and beyond, Uillinn’s summer show includes Dee Pieters’ paintings in oil on canvas; Aisling Roche’s porcelain sculptures; Sarah Ruttle’s textiles; and many more.
Night Painting
Limerick City Gallery of Art, Until 20th August
The LCGA’s summer exhibition features the work of three Limerick-based artists: Gerry Davis, Paddy Critchley and Stephen Murphy. Murphy was awarded the RCSI/Irish Times Award for his work in the Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition this year; Davis was awarded the Hennessy Portrait Prize in 2016; while Critchley won the De Vere’s Award for an Artwork of Significance at the RHA in 2021. The exhibition’s title refers to the time of day each of the three is most likely to be found painting.
David Beattie, Future Light from Distant Stars
Visual Carlow, Until 31st December
David Beattie lectures in Art and Research Collaboration at Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology. The focal point of his project at Visual Carlow is a large greenhouse which functions as a growing environment, a meeting place and a workshop space. In the coming months, Beattie will engage with the wider Carlow community to explore ideas of self-sufficiency, collective care and sustainable food production, and examine the potential for community, scientific and collaborative exchange to address the climate emergency.
Anne Collier, Eye
Lismore Castle Arts, Co Waterford, Until 29th October
The first exhibition in Ireland by the New York-based conceptual artist Anne Collier features images of eyes produced between 2007 and 2022. Some are the artist’s own work, such as the self-portraits Developing Tray #2 (Grey) and Cut, while others are sourced from photography manuals, advertisements, comic books, film stills and album sleeves. The project considers our emotional and psychological attachment to visual imagery, and photography’s relationship with memory, melancholia and loss.
Eamon Coleman, Twenty Eight Acres
Butler Gallery, Kilkenny, Until 30th July
Eamon Coleman, a Dublin-born artist long settled in Kilkenny, presents a series of new paintings on hand-made Momigani paper. The work is inspired by the artist’s walks in the Twenty Eight Acres, a site on the Castlecomer Plateaux in north Co Kilkenny where mining for iron ore, and later coal, began in the mid-17th century. The former slag heap is now a wildflower meadow.
David Mach, The Oligarch’s Nightmare
Galway Arts Festival Gallery 17th – 30th July
The British Turner Prize-nominated artist presents a new site-specific installation, specially commissioned by Galway Arts Festival. Mach’s previous exhibitions at GIAF included Precious Light in 2012, which featured the crucifixion sculpture, Golgotha; and Rock’n’roll in 2018, for which he placed a yacht, a car and a caravan within a monumental quantity of newspapers. The Oligarch’s Nightmare promises to be just as memorable.
It Took a Century: Women Artists and the RHA
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin Until 22nd October
A collaboration between the National Gallery and the Royal Hibernian Academy, this exhibition showcases women’s involvement in the RHA, from the election of Sarah Purser as the first women member in 1923 – a full 100 years into the institution’s existence - to the appointment of Abigail O’Brien as the first woman President in 2018. The exhibition combines an historic survey of the past century with a presentation of work by current woman members of the Academy.
Sarah Pierce, Scene of the Myth
Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Until 3rd September
Rike Frank and the Kunsthalle curate this exhibition by Sarah Pierce, who relocated to Dublin from the US in 2000. Pierce’s practice is nothing if not eclectic, including performances, videos, installations and archives, all produced over the past twenty years. One of her primary interests is community, which she explores in works such as No Title (2017), which focuses on dementia; Pathos of Distance (2015), which looks at the diaspora; and The Question Would Be The Answer To The Question, Are You Happy (2009-12), which takes translation as its subject.