Our favourite Summer exhibitions showing in Dublin
We present our favourite exhibitions showing in Ireland's capital this Summer...
By
Aoife Allen
August 4, 2023
Whether “tá an ghrian ag scoilteach na gloch” or you are in need of shelter from a summer shower, these galleries across Ireland have a plethora of exhibitions to keep you occupied for the summer months.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker at The National Gallery of Ireland
Focusing on Lavinia Fontana—a late sixteenth-century Bolognese painter—the National Gallery of Ireland presents a selection of works from the artist's prolific career to its visitors in its exhibition Trailblazer, Rule Breaker. Born in 1552 to her father Prospero Fontana, a painter and teacher at the School of Bologna by whom she was later trained, Fontana is, according to the gallery, widely believed to be the first woman artist to achieve professional success beyond the confines of a court or a convent. She was the first recorded woman in history who managed her own workshop, painted altarpieces and featured the female nude in her art, as well as being the first woman to be accepted to the prestigious Accademia di San Luca in Rome. Not only was Fontana a mighty career woman, but she also took on the role of wife and mother, giving birth to eleven children in her lifetime; sadly only three of these children outlived her.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker, curated by Dr Aoife Brady, is the first monographic exhibition to examine the artist's work in over two decades, and the first ever to focus on her portraiture, bringing together a selection of her most highly regarded works from both international public and private collections. The gem of the display is the momentous ‘The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon’, from the gallery's own collection; painted in 1599 it stands an impressive 256 x 325 cm, being the first artwork by a female artist knowingly acquired by the gallery only eight years after the opening of its doors in 1872. This work is regarded as Fontana’s most important and ambitious composition and is considered to be one of the jewels in the crown of the National Gallery collection, continuously on display for the past 150 years. The piece is accompanied by other key works in the catalogue of Fontana such as ‘Minerva Dressing’ and ‘Judith with the Head of Holofernes’.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker is showing at The National Gallery of Ireland until 27th August.
Kevin Atherton, In Two Minds at The Irish Museum of Modern Art
Kevin Atherton’s In Two Minds, originally produced in 1978, is currently a work in focus at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, acting as a conversation between the artist's past and present self. With the original video recorded in London’s Serpentine Gallery, the gallery is now showing an updated response video filmed in 2014 for the exhibition Primal Architecture at IMMA that ran from November 2014 to May 2015. Atherson’s conversation with himself revolves around the nature of the gallery space, the art object, the viewer, and critically the role of the artist and subject. By providing the viewers with an updated conversation and re-entering his art, Atherson attempts to give a sense of a changed world and subject.
Hailing from the Isle of Man, Kevin Atherton works with new media and performance in a sculptural context. Since the 1980s, he has been active in creating large-scale public sculpture commissions, and now partakes in a time-based practice, with a particular interest in the relationship between the real and the fictional. A retired fine art educator, Atherton was previously the Head of the Department of Postgraduate Pathways in the Faculty of Fine Art in NCAD, undoubtedly influencing an entire generation of young Irish artists.
In Two Minds was acquired by IMMA in 2016 through a unique partnership with Hennessy Ireland which aimed to fund the purchase of important works by Ireland-based artists for the National Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art.
Kevin Atherton: In Two Minds is showing at The Irish Museum of Modern Art until 8th October.
BOWN + BACON at Hugh Lane Gallery
This new exhibition taking place in Hugh Lane Gallery this summer allows its visitors to view Francis Bacon through the eyes of Jane Bown. From 1949, for sixty years, Jane Bown worked for The Observer newspaper, photographing portraits of the most famous faces of her time. In 1980, Bown photographed the iconic Francis Bacon at his home/studio at 7 Reece Mews, London, though despite the shoot using three rolls of film, Bown was unsatisfied with the lighting. As she was leaving, she saw her chance; according to Bown, she saw her opportunity for “the jackpot picture, that haunted face against a simple, dark background.” This process helped capture the iconic images that can be seen in this exhibition.
Bacon was born in Dublin in 1909, yet grew up in Kildare until he left home at the age of sixteen and eventually settled in London, soon establishing himself as one of the leading artists of the generation. Focusing on the human form, his subjects included crucifixions, portraits of popes, self-portraits, and portraits of close friends, with abstracted figures sometimes isolated in geometrical structures. The mention of his name evokes images of distressed monster-like
creatures and haunting images of screaming popes, however, this exhibition reveals a different side of the artist; although an undeniably aged man in these pictures with visible lines and wrinkles, there is a certain softness to the images. The artist is shown vulnerable and uncovered, a completely different picture from his self-portraits containing obstructed views of the artist's face. Bown later reveals that she was frightened of Bacon, but was astonished by his face. Bown became known for her profound portraits, often in black and white, using only available, natural lighting; like the Bacon ones. Gaining a reputation as an intuitive photographer, Bown worked quickly and with minimal equipment, all factors which give her work an undeniable spontaneous and authentic feeling. Her portraits were also popular with the subject himself as Bacon used one of her photographs as the frontispiece to his 1985 Tate Gallery retrospective exhibition catalogue.
BOWN+BACON is showing at Hugh Lane Gallery until 7th of January 2024
‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan at Pallas Projects
Open for only a short time, ‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan at Pallas Projects is without a doubt one of the most unique exhibitions taking place this summer across Ireland. Nestled inconspicuously in the streets of North Dublin’s inner city Liberties, Pallas Projects - founded in 1996 - is a not-for-profit artist-run organization dedicated to the facilitation of artistic production and discourse, via the provision of affordable artist studios in Dublin's city centre, and curated projects. Dedicated to shining the spotlight on up-and-coming artists, the gallery provides an unpretentious space for all to come together to enjoy the art they showcase.
Acting as the fifth exhibition of their 2023 Artist-Initiated Projects programme, ‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan, will bring a motorcycle rally exhibition to the studios of Pallas Projects through a combination of film, music, and artwork with the intention of creating what the gallery describes as “a happening of mayhem”. Twelve members of The Freebirds Motorcycle Club from County Longford worked with the artist Brigid Mulligan—herself a little sister of a member—in order to produce a project that focused on club members' shared histories and the communal effects of loss; over the last twenty years, the club has lost three club members due to road traffic accidents. The exhibition features the film “Freebirds”, created by Brigid Mulligan and Bruno Pierucci which attempts to give an insight into the unseen side of Irish bikers in a rural community. The hope is that sharing this collaborative project could benefit grieving communities in Ireland today by diminishing the isolation of grief.
Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan is showing at Pallas Projects until 12th August.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app with each exhibition you visit!
Whether “tá an ghrian ag scoilteach na gloch” or you are in need of shelter from a summer shower, these galleries across Ireland have a plethora of exhibitions to keep you occupied for the summer months.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker at The National Gallery of Ireland
Focusing on Lavinia Fontana—a late sixteenth-century Bolognese painter—the National Gallery of Ireland presents a selection of works from the artist's prolific career to its visitors in its exhibition Trailblazer, Rule Breaker. Born in 1552 to her father Prospero Fontana, a painter and teacher at the School of Bologna by whom she was later trained, Fontana is, according to the gallery, widely believed to be the first woman artist to achieve professional success beyond the confines of a court or a convent. She was the first recorded woman in history who managed her own workshop, painted altarpieces and featured the female nude in her art, as well as being the first woman to be accepted to the prestigious Accademia di San Luca in Rome. Not only was Fontana a mighty career woman, but she also took on the role of wife and mother, giving birth to eleven children in her lifetime; sadly only three of these children outlived her.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker, curated by Dr Aoife Brady, is the first monographic exhibition to examine the artist's work in over two decades, and the first ever to focus on her portraiture, bringing together a selection of her most highly regarded works from both international public and private collections. The gem of the display is the momentous ‘The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon’, from the gallery's own collection; painted in 1599 it stands an impressive 256 x 325 cm, being the first artwork by a female artist knowingly acquired by the gallery only eight years after the opening of its doors in 1872. This work is regarded as Fontana’s most important and ambitious composition and is considered to be one of the jewels in the crown of the National Gallery collection, continuously on display for the past 150 years. The piece is accompanied by other key works in the catalogue of Fontana such as ‘Minerva Dressing’ and ‘Judith with the Head of Holofernes’.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker is showing at The National Gallery of Ireland until 27th August.
Kevin Atherton, In Two Minds at The Irish Museum of Modern Art
Kevin Atherton’s In Two Minds, originally produced in 1978, is currently a work in focus at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, acting as a conversation between the artist's past and present self. With the original video recorded in London’s Serpentine Gallery, the gallery is now showing an updated response video filmed in 2014 for the exhibition Primal Architecture at IMMA that ran from November 2014 to May 2015. Atherson’s conversation with himself revolves around the nature of the gallery space, the art object, the viewer, and critically the role of the artist and subject. By providing the viewers with an updated conversation and re-entering his art, Atherson attempts to give a sense of a changed world and subject.
Hailing from the Isle of Man, Kevin Atherton works with new media and performance in a sculptural context. Since the 1980s, he has been active in creating large-scale public sculpture commissions, and now partakes in a time-based practice, with a particular interest in the relationship between the real and the fictional. A retired fine art educator, Atherton was previously the Head of the Department of Postgraduate Pathways in the Faculty of Fine Art in NCAD, undoubtedly influencing an entire generation of young Irish artists.
In Two Minds was acquired by IMMA in 2016 through a unique partnership with Hennessy Ireland which aimed to fund the purchase of important works by Ireland-based artists for the National Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art.
Kevin Atherton: In Two Minds is showing at The Irish Museum of Modern Art until 8th October.
BOWN + BACON at Hugh Lane Gallery
This new exhibition taking place in Hugh Lane Gallery this summer allows its visitors to view Francis Bacon through the eyes of Jane Bown. From 1949, for sixty years, Jane Bown worked for The Observer newspaper, photographing portraits of the most famous faces of her time. In 1980, Bown photographed the iconic Francis Bacon at his home/studio at 7 Reece Mews, London, though despite the shoot using three rolls of film, Bown was unsatisfied with the lighting. As she was leaving, she saw her chance; according to Bown, she saw her opportunity for “the jackpot picture, that haunted face against a simple, dark background.” This process helped capture the iconic images that can be seen in this exhibition.
Bacon was born in Dublin in 1909, yet grew up in Kildare until he left home at the age of sixteen and eventually settled in London, soon establishing himself as one of the leading artists of the generation. Focusing on the human form, his subjects included crucifixions, portraits of popes, self-portraits, and portraits of close friends, with abstracted figures sometimes isolated in geometrical structures. The mention of his name evokes images of distressed monster-like
creatures and haunting images of screaming popes, however, this exhibition reveals a different side of the artist; although an undeniably aged man in these pictures with visible lines and wrinkles, there is a certain softness to the images. The artist is shown vulnerable and uncovered, a completely different picture from his self-portraits containing obstructed views of the artist's face. Bown later reveals that she was frightened of Bacon, but was astonished by his face. Bown became known for her profound portraits, often in black and white, using only available, natural lighting; like the Bacon ones. Gaining a reputation as an intuitive photographer, Bown worked quickly and with minimal equipment, all factors which give her work an undeniable spontaneous and authentic feeling. Her portraits were also popular with the subject himself as Bacon used one of her photographs as the frontispiece to his 1985 Tate Gallery retrospective exhibition catalogue.
BOWN+BACON is showing at Hugh Lane Gallery until 7th of January 2024
‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan at Pallas Projects
Open for only a short time, ‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan at Pallas Projects is without a doubt one of the most unique exhibitions taking place this summer across Ireland. Nestled inconspicuously in the streets of North Dublin’s inner city Liberties, Pallas Projects - founded in 1996 - is a not-for-profit artist-run organization dedicated to the facilitation of artistic production and discourse, via the provision of affordable artist studios in Dublin's city centre, and curated projects. Dedicated to shining the spotlight on up-and-coming artists, the gallery provides an unpretentious space for all to come together to enjoy the art they showcase.
Acting as the fifth exhibition of their 2023 Artist-Initiated Projects programme, ‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan, will bring a motorcycle rally exhibition to the studios of Pallas Projects through a combination of film, music, and artwork with the intention of creating what the gallery describes as “a happening of mayhem”. Twelve members of The Freebirds Motorcycle Club from County Longford worked with the artist Brigid Mulligan—herself a little sister of a member—in order to produce a project that focused on club members' shared histories and the communal effects of loss; over the last twenty years, the club has lost three club members due to road traffic accidents. The exhibition features the film “Freebirds”, created by Brigid Mulligan and Bruno Pierucci which attempts to give an insight into the unseen side of Irish bikers in a rural community. The hope is that sharing this collaborative project could benefit grieving communities in Ireland today by diminishing the isolation of grief.
Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan is showing at Pallas Projects until 12th August.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app with each exhibition you visit!
Whether “tá an ghrian ag scoilteach na gloch” or you are in need of shelter from a summer shower, these galleries across Ireland have a plethora of exhibitions to keep you occupied for the summer months.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker at The National Gallery of Ireland
Focusing on Lavinia Fontana—a late sixteenth-century Bolognese painter—the National Gallery of Ireland presents a selection of works from the artist's prolific career to its visitors in its exhibition Trailblazer, Rule Breaker. Born in 1552 to her father Prospero Fontana, a painter and teacher at the School of Bologna by whom she was later trained, Fontana is, according to the gallery, widely believed to be the first woman artist to achieve professional success beyond the confines of a court or a convent. She was the first recorded woman in history who managed her own workshop, painted altarpieces and featured the female nude in her art, as well as being the first woman to be accepted to the prestigious Accademia di San Luca in Rome. Not only was Fontana a mighty career woman, but she also took on the role of wife and mother, giving birth to eleven children in her lifetime; sadly only three of these children outlived her.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker, curated by Dr Aoife Brady, is the first monographic exhibition to examine the artist's work in over two decades, and the first ever to focus on her portraiture, bringing together a selection of her most highly regarded works from both international public and private collections. The gem of the display is the momentous ‘The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon’, from the gallery's own collection; painted in 1599 it stands an impressive 256 x 325 cm, being the first artwork by a female artist knowingly acquired by the gallery only eight years after the opening of its doors in 1872. This work is regarded as Fontana’s most important and ambitious composition and is considered to be one of the jewels in the crown of the National Gallery collection, continuously on display for the past 150 years. The piece is accompanied by other key works in the catalogue of Fontana such as ‘Minerva Dressing’ and ‘Judith with the Head of Holofernes’.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker is showing at The National Gallery of Ireland until 27th August.
Kevin Atherton, In Two Minds at The Irish Museum of Modern Art
Kevin Atherton’s In Two Minds, originally produced in 1978, is currently a work in focus at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, acting as a conversation between the artist's past and present self. With the original video recorded in London’s Serpentine Gallery, the gallery is now showing an updated response video filmed in 2014 for the exhibition Primal Architecture at IMMA that ran from November 2014 to May 2015. Atherson’s conversation with himself revolves around the nature of the gallery space, the art object, the viewer, and critically the role of the artist and subject. By providing the viewers with an updated conversation and re-entering his art, Atherson attempts to give a sense of a changed world and subject.
Hailing from the Isle of Man, Kevin Atherton works with new media and performance in a sculptural context. Since the 1980s, he has been active in creating large-scale public sculpture commissions, and now partakes in a time-based practice, with a particular interest in the relationship between the real and the fictional. A retired fine art educator, Atherton was previously the Head of the Department of Postgraduate Pathways in the Faculty of Fine Art in NCAD, undoubtedly influencing an entire generation of young Irish artists.
In Two Minds was acquired by IMMA in 2016 through a unique partnership with Hennessy Ireland which aimed to fund the purchase of important works by Ireland-based artists for the National Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art.
Kevin Atherton: In Two Minds is showing at The Irish Museum of Modern Art until 8th October.
BOWN + BACON at Hugh Lane Gallery
This new exhibition taking place in Hugh Lane Gallery this summer allows its visitors to view Francis Bacon through the eyes of Jane Bown. From 1949, for sixty years, Jane Bown worked for The Observer newspaper, photographing portraits of the most famous faces of her time. In 1980, Bown photographed the iconic Francis Bacon at his home/studio at 7 Reece Mews, London, though despite the shoot using three rolls of film, Bown was unsatisfied with the lighting. As she was leaving, she saw her chance; according to Bown, she saw her opportunity for “the jackpot picture, that haunted face against a simple, dark background.” This process helped capture the iconic images that can be seen in this exhibition.
Bacon was born in Dublin in 1909, yet grew up in Kildare until he left home at the age of sixteen and eventually settled in London, soon establishing himself as one of the leading artists of the generation. Focusing on the human form, his subjects included crucifixions, portraits of popes, self-portraits, and portraits of close friends, with abstracted figures sometimes isolated in geometrical structures. The mention of his name evokes images of distressed monster-like
creatures and haunting images of screaming popes, however, this exhibition reveals a different side of the artist; although an undeniably aged man in these pictures with visible lines and wrinkles, there is a certain softness to the images. The artist is shown vulnerable and uncovered, a completely different picture from his self-portraits containing obstructed views of the artist's face. Bown later reveals that she was frightened of Bacon, but was astonished by his face. Bown became known for her profound portraits, often in black and white, using only available, natural lighting; like the Bacon ones. Gaining a reputation as an intuitive photographer, Bown worked quickly and with minimal equipment, all factors which give her work an undeniable spontaneous and authentic feeling. Her portraits were also popular with the subject himself as Bacon used one of her photographs as the frontispiece to his 1985 Tate Gallery retrospective exhibition catalogue.
BOWN+BACON is showing at Hugh Lane Gallery until 7th of January 2024
‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan at Pallas Projects
Open for only a short time, ‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan at Pallas Projects is without a doubt one of the most unique exhibitions taking place this summer across Ireland. Nestled inconspicuously in the streets of North Dublin’s inner city Liberties, Pallas Projects - founded in 1996 - is a not-for-profit artist-run organization dedicated to the facilitation of artistic production and discourse, via the provision of affordable artist studios in Dublin's city centre, and curated projects. Dedicated to shining the spotlight on up-and-coming artists, the gallery provides an unpretentious space for all to come together to enjoy the art they showcase.
Acting as the fifth exhibition of their 2023 Artist-Initiated Projects programme, ‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan, will bring a motorcycle rally exhibition to the studios of Pallas Projects through a combination of film, music, and artwork with the intention of creating what the gallery describes as “a happening of mayhem”. Twelve members of The Freebirds Motorcycle Club from County Longford worked with the artist Brigid Mulligan—herself a little sister of a member—in order to produce a project that focused on club members' shared histories and the communal effects of loss; over the last twenty years, the club has lost three club members due to road traffic accidents. The exhibition features the film “Freebirds”, created by Brigid Mulligan and Bruno Pierucci which attempts to give an insight into the unseen side of Irish bikers in a rural community. The hope is that sharing this collaborative project could benefit grieving communities in Ireland today by diminishing the isolation of grief.
Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan is showing at Pallas Projects until 12th August.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app with each exhibition you visit!
Whether “tá an ghrian ag scoilteach na gloch” or you are in need of shelter from a summer shower, these galleries across Ireland have a plethora of exhibitions to keep you occupied for the summer months.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker at The National Gallery of Ireland
Focusing on Lavinia Fontana—a late sixteenth-century Bolognese painter—the National Gallery of Ireland presents a selection of works from the artist's prolific career to its visitors in its exhibition Trailblazer, Rule Breaker. Born in 1552 to her father Prospero Fontana, a painter and teacher at the School of Bologna by whom she was later trained, Fontana is, according to the gallery, widely believed to be the first woman artist to achieve professional success beyond the confines of a court or a convent. She was the first recorded woman in history who managed her own workshop, painted altarpieces and featured the female nude in her art, as well as being the first woman to be accepted to the prestigious Accademia di San Luca in Rome. Not only was Fontana a mighty career woman, but she also took on the role of wife and mother, giving birth to eleven children in her lifetime; sadly only three of these children outlived her.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker, curated by Dr Aoife Brady, is the first monographic exhibition to examine the artist's work in over two decades, and the first ever to focus on her portraiture, bringing together a selection of her most highly regarded works from both international public and private collections. The gem of the display is the momentous ‘The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon’, from the gallery's own collection; painted in 1599 it stands an impressive 256 x 325 cm, being the first artwork by a female artist knowingly acquired by the gallery only eight years after the opening of its doors in 1872. This work is regarded as Fontana’s most important and ambitious composition and is considered to be one of the jewels in the crown of the National Gallery collection, continuously on display for the past 150 years. The piece is accompanied by other key works in the catalogue of Fontana such as ‘Minerva Dressing’ and ‘Judith with the Head of Holofernes’.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker is showing at The National Gallery of Ireland until 27th August.
Kevin Atherton, In Two Minds at The Irish Museum of Modern Art
Kevin Atherton’s In Two Minds, originally produced in 1978, is currently a work in focus at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, acting as a conversation between the artist's past and present self. With the original video recorded in London’s Serpentine Gallery, the gallery is now showing an updated response video filmed in 2014 for the exhibition Primal Architecture at IMMA that ran from November 2014 to May 2015. Atherson’s conversation with himself revolves around the nature of the gallery space, the art object, the viewer, and critically the role of the artist and subject. By providing the viewers with an updated conversation and re-entering his art, Atherson attempts to give a sense of a changed world and subject.
Hailing from the Isle of Man, Kevin Atherton works with new media and performance in a sculptural context. Since the 1980s, he has been active in creating large-scale public sculpture commissions, and now partakes in a time-based practice, with a particular interest in the relationship between the real and the fictional. A retired fine art educator, Atherton was previously the Head of the Department of Postgraduate Pathways in the Faculty of Fine Art in NCAD, undoubtedly influencing an entire generation of young Irish artists.
In Two Minds was acquired by IMMA in 2016 through a unique partnership with Hennessy Ireland which aimed to fund the purchase of important works by Ireland-based artists for the National Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art.
Kevin Atherton: In Two Minds is showing at The Irish Museum of Modern Art until 8th October.
BOWN + BACON at Hugh Lane Gallery
This new exhibition taking place in Hugh Lane Gallery this summer allows its visitors to view Francis Bacon through the eyes of Jane Bown. From 1949, for sixty years, Jane Bown worked for The Observer newspaper, photographing portraits of the most famous faces of her time. In 1980, Bown photographed the iconic Francis Bacon at his home/studio at 7 Reece Mews, London, though despite the shoot using three rolls of film, Bown was unsatisfied with the lighting. As she was leaving, she saw her chance; according to Bown, she saw her opportunity for “the jackpot picture, that haunted face against a simple, dark background.” This process helped capture the iconic images that can be seen in this exhibition.
Bacon was born in Dublin in 1909, yet grew up in Kildare until he left home at the age of sixteen and eventually settled in London, soon establishing himself as one of the leading artists of the generation. Focusing on the human form, his subjects included crucifixions, portraits of popes, self-portraits, and portraits of close friends, with abstracted figures sometimes isolated in geometrical structures. The mention of his name evokes images of distressed monster-like
creatures and haunting images of screaming popes, however, this exhibition reveals a different side of the artist; although an undeniably aged man in these pictures with visible lines and wrinkles, there is a certain softness to the images. The artist is shown vulnerable and uncovered, a completely different picture from his self-portraits containing obstructed views of the artist's face. Bown later reveals that she was frightened of Bacon, but was astonished by his face. Bown became known for her profound portraits, often in black and white, using only available, natural lighting; like the Bacon ones. Gaining a reputation as an intuitive photographer, Bown worked quickly and with minimal equipment, all factors which give her work an undeniable spontaneous and authentic feeling. Her portraits were also popular with the subject himself as Bacon used one of her photographs as the frontispiece to his 1985 Tate Gallery retrospective exhibition catalogue.
BOWN+BACON is showing at Hugh Lane Gallery until 7th of January 2024
‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan at Pallas Projects
Open for only a short time, ‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan at Pallas Projects is without a doubt one of the most unique exhibitions taking place this summer across Ireland. Nestled inconspicuously in the streets of North Dublin’s inner city Liberties, Pallas Projects - founded in 1996 - is a not-for-profit artist-run organization dedicated to the facilitation of artistic production and discourse, via the provision of affordable artist studios in Dublin's city centre, and curated projects. Dedicated to shining the spotlight on up-and-coming artists, the gallery provides an unpretentious space for all to come together to enjoy the art they showcase.
Acting as the fifth exhibition of their 2023 Artist-Initiated Projects programme, ‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan, will bring a motorcycle rally exhibition to the studios of Pallas Projects through a combination of film, music, and artwork with the intention of creating what the gallery describes as “a happening of mayhem”. Twelve members of The Freebirds Motorcycle Club from County Longford worked with the artist Brigid Mulligan—herself a little sister of a member—in order to produce a project that focused on club members' shared histories and the communal effects of loss; over the last twenty years, the club has lost three club members due to road traffic accidents. The exhibition features the film “Freebirds”, created by Brigid Mulligan and Bruno Pierucci which attempts to give an insight into the unseen side of Irish bikers in a rural community. The hope is that sharing this collaborative project could benefit grieving communities in Ireland today by diminishing the isolation of grief.
Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan is showing at Pallas Projects until 12th August.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app with each exhibition you visit!
Whether “tá an ghrian ag scoilteach na gloch” or you are in need of shelter from a summer shower, these galleries across Ireland have a plethora of exhibitions to keep you occupied for the summer months.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker at The National Gallery of Ireland
Focusing on Lavinia Fontana—a late sixteenth-century Bolognese painter—the National Gallery of Ireland presents a selection of works from the artist's prolific career to its visitors in its exhibition Trailblazer, Rule Breaker. Born in 1552 to her father Prospero Fontana, a painter and teacher at the School of Bologna by whom she was later trained, Fontana is, according to the gallery, widely believed to be the first woman artist to achieve professional success beyond the confines of a court or a convent. She was the first recorded woman in history who managed her own workshop, painted altarpieces and featured the female nude in her art, as well as being the first woman to be accepted to the prestigious Accademia di San Luca in Rome. Not only was Fontana a mighty career woman, but she also took on the role of wife and mother, giving birth to eleven children in her lifetime; sadly only three of these children outlived her.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker, curated by Dr Aoife Brady, is the first monographic exhibition to examine the artist's work in over two decades, and the first ever to focus on her portraiture, bringing together a selection of her most highly regarded works from both international public and private collections. The gem of the display is the momentous ‘The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon’, from the gallery's own collection; painted in 1599 it stands an impressive 256 x 325 cm, being the first artwork by a female artist knowingly acquired by the gallery only eight years after the opening of its doors in 1872. This work is regarded as Fontana’s most important and ambitious composition and is considered to be one of the jewels in the crown of the National Gallery collection, continuously on display for the past 150 years. The piece is accompanied by other key works in the catalogue of Fontana such as ‘Minerva Dressing’ and ‘Judith with the Head of Holofernes’.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker is showing at The National Gallery of Ireland until 27th August.
Kevin Atherton, In Two Minds at The Irish Museum of Modern Art
Kevin Atherton’s In Two Minds, originally produced in 1978, is currently a work in focus at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, acting as a conversation between the artist's past and present self. With the original video recorded in London’s Serpentine Gallery, the gallery is now showing an updated response video filmed in 2014 for the exhibition Primal Architecture at IMMA that ran from November 2014 to May 2015. Atherson’s conversation with himself revolves around the nature of the gallery space, the art object, the viewer, and critically the role of the artist and subject. By providing the viewers with an updated conversation and re-entering his art, Atherson attempts to give a sense of a changed world and subject.
Hailing from the Isle of Man, Kevin Atherton works with new media and performance in a sculptural context. Since the 1980s, he has been active in creating large-scale public sculpture commissions, and now partakes in a time-based practice, with a particular interest in the relationship between the real and the fictional. A retired fine art educator, Atherton was previously the Head of the Department of Postgraduate Pathways in the Faculty of Fine Art in NCAD, undoubtedly influencing an entire generation of young Irish artists.
In Two Minds was acquired by IMMA in 2016 through a unique partnership with Hennessy Ireland which aimed to fund the purchase of important works by Ireland-based artists for the National Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art.
Kevin Atherton: In Two Minds is showing at The Irish Museum of Modern Art until 8th October.
BOWN + BACON at Hugh Lane Gallery
This new exhibition taking place in Hugh Lane Gallery this summer allows its visitors to view Francis Bacon through the eyes of Jane Bown. From 1949, for sixty years, Jane Bown worked for The Observer newspaper, photographing portraits of the most famous faces of her time. In 1980, Bown photographed the iconic Francis Bacon at his home/studio at 7 Reece Mews, London, though despite the shoot using three rolls of film, Bown was unsatisfied with the lighting. As she was leaving, she saw her chance; according to Bown, she saw her opportunity for “the jackpot picture, that haunted face against a simple, dark background.” This process helped capture the iconic images that can be seen in this exhibition.
Bacon was born in Dublin in 1909, yet grew up in Kildare until he left home at the age of sixteen and eventually settled in London, soon establishing himself as one of the leading artists of the generation. Focusing on the human form, his subjects included crucifixions, portraits of popes, self-portraits, and portraits of close friends, with abstracted figures sometimes isolated in geometrical structures. The mention of his name evokes images of distressed monster-like
creatures and haunting images of screaming popes, however, this exhibition reveals a different side of the artist; although an undeniably aged man in these pictures with visible lines and wrinkles, there is a certain softness to the images. The artist is shown vulnerable and uncovered, a completely different picture from his self-portraits containing obstructed views of the artist's face. Bown later reveals that she was frightened of Bacon, but was astonished by his face. Bown became known for her profound portraits, often in black and white, using only available, natural lighting; like the Bacon ones. Gaining a reputation as an intuitive photographer, Bown worked quickly and with minimal equipment, all factors which give her work an undeniable spontaneous and authentic feeling. Her portraits were also popular with the subject himself as Bacon used one of her photographs as the frontispiece to his 1985 Tate Gallery retrospective exhibition catalogue.
BOWN+BACON is showing at Hugh Lane Gallery until 7th of January 2024
‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan at Pallas Projects
Open for only a short time, ‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan at Pallas Projects is without a doubt one of the most unique exhibitions taking place this summer across Ireland. Nestled inconspicuously in the streets of North Dublin’s inner city Liberties, Pallas Projects - founded in 1996 - is a not-for-profit artist-run organization dedicated to the facilitation of artistic production and discourse, via the provision of affordable artist studios in Dublin's city centre, and curated projects. Dedicated to shining the spotlight on up-and-coming artists, the gallery provides an unpretentious space for all to come together to enjoy the art they showcase.
Acting as the fifth exhibition of their 2023 Artist-Initiated Projects programme, ‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan, will bring a motorcycle rally exhibition to the studios of Pallas Projects through a combination of film, music, and artwork with the intention of creating what the gallery describes as “a happening of mayhem”. Twelve members of The Freebirds Motorcycle Club from County Longford worked with the artist Brigid Mulligan—herself a little sister of a member—in order to produce a project that focused on club members' shared histories and the communal effects of loss; over the last twenty years, the club has lost three club members due to road traffic accidents. The exhibition features the film “Freebirds”, created by Brigid Mulligan and Bruno Pierucci which attempts to give an insight into the unseen side of Irish bikers in a rural community. The hope is that sharing this collaborative project could benefit grieving communities in Ireland today by diminishing the isolation of grief.
Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan is showing at Pallas Projects until 12th August.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app with each exhibition you visit!
Whether “tá an ghrian ag scoilteach na gloch” or you are in need of shelter from a summer shower, these galleries across Ireland have a plethora of exhibitions to keep you occupied for the summer months.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker at The National Gallery of Ireland
Focusing on Lavinia Fontana—a late sixteenth-century Bolognese painter—the National Gallery of Ireland presents a selection of works from the artist's prolific career to its visitors in its exhibition Trailblazer, Rule Breaker. Born in 1552 to her father Prospero Fontana, a painter and teacher at the School of Bologna by whom she was later trained, Fontana is, according to the gallery, widely believed to be the first woman artist to achieve professional success beyond the confines of a court or a convent. She was the first recorded woman in history who managed her own workshop, painted altarpieces and featured the female nude in her art, as well as being the first woman to be accepted to the prestigious Accademia di San Luca in Rome. Not only was Fontana a mighty career woman, but she also took on the role of wife and mother, giving birth to eleven children in her lifetime; sadly only three of these children outlived her.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker, curated by Dr Aoife Brady, is the first monographic exhibition to examine the artist's work in over two decades, and the first ever to focus on her portraiture, bringing together a selection of her most highly regarded works from both international public and private collections. The gem of the display is the momentous ‘The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon’, from the gallery's own collection; painted in 1599 it stands an impressive 256 x 325 cm, being the first artwork by a female artist knowingly acquired by the gallery only eight years after the opening of its doors in 1872. This work is regarded as Fontana’s most important and ambitious composition and is considered to be one of the jewels in the crown of the National Gallery collection, continuously on display for the past 150 years. The piece is accompanied by other key works in the catalogue of Fontana such as ‘Minerva Dressing’ and ‘Judith with the Head of Holofernes’.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker is showing at The National Gallery of Ireland until 27th August.
Kevin Atherton, In Two Minds at The Irish Museum of Modern Art
Kevin Atherton’s In Two Minds, originally produced in 1978, is currently a work in focus at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, acting as a conversation between the artist's past and present self. With the original video recorded in London’s Serpentine Gallery, the gallery is now showing an updated response video filmed in 2014 for the exhibition Primal Architecture at IMMA that ran from November 2014 to May 2015. Atherson’s conversation with himself revolves around the nature of the gallery space, the art object, the viewer, and critically the role of the artist and subject. By providing the viewers with an updated conversation and re-entering his art, Atherson attempts to give a sense of a changed world and subject.
Hailing from the Isle of Man, Kevin Atherton works with new media and performance in a sculptural context. Since the 1980s, he has been active in creating large-scale public sculpture commissions, and now partakes in a time-based practice, with a particular interest in the relationship between the real and the fictional. A retired fine art educator, Atherton was previously the Head of the Department of Postgraduate Pathways in the Faculty of Fine Art in NCAD, undoubtedly influencing an entire generation of young Irish artists.
In Two Minds was acquired by IMMA in 2016 through a unique partnership with Hennessy Ireland which aimed to fund the purchase of important works by Ireland-based artists for the National Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art.
Kevin Atherton: In Two Minds is showing at The Irish Museum of Modern Art until 8th October.
BOWN + BACON at Hugh Lane Gallery
This new exhibition taking place in Hugh Lane Gallery this summer allows its visitors to view Francis Bacon through the eyes of Jane Bown. From 1949, for sixty years, Jane Bown worked for The Observer newspaper, photographing portraits of the most famous faces of her time. In 1980, Bown photographed the iconic Francis Bacon at his home/studio at 7 Reece Mews, London, though despite the shoot using three rolls of film, Bown was unsatisfied with the lighting. As she was leaving, she saw her chance; according to Bown, she saw her opportunity for “the jackpot picture, that haunted face against a simple, dark background.” This process helped capture the iconic images that can be seen in this exhibition.
Bacon was born in Dublin in 1909, yet grew up in Kildare until he left home at the age of sixteen and eventually settled in London, soon establishing himself as one of the leading artists of the generation. Focusing on the human form, his subjects included crucifixions, portraits of popes, self-portraits, and portraits of close friends, with abstracted figures sometimes isolated in geometrical structures. The mention of his name evokes images of distressed monster-like
creatures and haunting images of screaming popes, however, this exhibition reveals a different side of the artist; although an undeniably aged man in these pictures with visible lines and wrinkles, there is a certain softness to the images. The artist is shown vulnerable and uncovered, a completely different picture from his self-portraits containing obstructed views of the artist's face. Bown later reveals that she was frightened of Bacon, but was astonished by his face. Bown became known for her profound portraits, often in black and white, using only available, natural lighting; like the Bacon ones. Gaining a reputation as an intuitive photographer, Bown worked quickly and with minimal equipment, all factors which give her work an undeniable spontaneous and authentic feeling. Her portraits were also popular with the subject himself as Bacon used one of her photographs as the frontispiece to his 1985 Tate Gallery retrospective exhibition catalogue.
BOWN+BACON is showing at Hugh Lane Gallery until 7th of January 2024
‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan at Pallas Projects
Open for only a short time, ‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan at Pallas Projects is without a doubt one of the most unique exhibitions taking place this summer across Ireland. Nestled inconspicuously in the streets of North Dublin’s inner city Liberties, Pallas Projects - founded in 1996 - is a not-for-profit artist-run organization dedicated to the facilitation of artistic production and discourse, via the provision of affordable artist studios in Dublin's city centre, and curated projects. Dedicated to shining the spotlight on up-and-coming artists, the gallery provides an unpretentious space for all to come together to enjoy the art they showcase.
Acting as the fifth exhibition of their 2023 Artist-Initiated Projects programme, ‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan, will bring a motorcycle rally exhibition to the studios of Pallas Projects through a combination of film, music, and artwork with the intention of creating what the gallery describes as “a happening of mayhem”. Twelve members of The Freebirds Motorcycle Club from County Longford worked with the artist Brigid Mulligan—herself a little sister of a member—in order to produce a project that focused on club members' shared histories and the communal effects of loss; over the last twenty years, the club has lost three club members due to road traffic accidents. The exhibition features the film “Freebirds”, created by Brigid Mulligan and Bruno Pierucci which attempts to give an insight into the unseen side of Irish bikers in a rural community. The hope is that sharing this collaborative project could benefit grieving communities in Ireland today by diminishing the isolation of grief.
Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan is showing at Pallas Projects until 12th August.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app with each exhibition you visit!
Whether “tá an ghrian ag scoilteach na gloch” or you are in need of shelter from a summer shower, these galleries across Ireland have a plethora of exhibitions to keep you occupied for the summer months.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker at The National Gallery of Ireland
Focusing on Lavinia Fontana—a late sixteenth-century Bolognese painter—the National Gallery of Ireland presents a selection of works from the artist's prolific career to its visitors in its exhibition Trailblazer, Rule Breaker. Born in 1552 to her father Prospero Fontana, a painter and teacher at the School of Bologna by whom she was later trained, Fontana is, according to the gallery, widely believed to be the first woman artist to achieve professional success beyond the confines of a court or a convent. She was the first recorded woman in history who managed her own workshop, painted altarpieces and featured the female nude in her art, as well as being the first woman to be accepted to the prestigious Accademia di San Luca in Rome. Not only was Fontana a mighty career woman, but she also took on the role of wife and mother, giving birth to eleven children in her lifetime; sadly only three of these children outlived her.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker, curated by Dr Aoife Brady, is the first monographic exhibition to examine the artist's work in over two decades, and the first ever to focus on her portraiture, bringing together a selection of her most highly regarded works from both international public and private collections. The gem of the display is the momentous ‘The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon’, from the gallery's own collection; painted in 1599 it stands an impressive 256 x 325 cm, being the first artwork by a female artist knowingly acquired by the gallery only eight years after the opening of its doors in 1872. This work is regarded as Fontana’s most important and ambitious composition and is considered to be one of the jewels in the crown of the National Gallery collection, continuously on display for the past 150 years. The piece is accompanied by other key works in the catalogue of Fontana such as ‘Minerva Dressing’ and ‘Judith with the Head of Holofernes’.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker is showing at The National Gallery of Ireland until 27th August.
Kevin Atherton, In Two Minds at The Irish Museum of Modern Art
Kevin Atherton’s In Two Minds, originally produced in 1978, is currently a work in focus at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, acting as a conversation between the artist's past and present self. With the original video recorded in London’s Serpentine Gallery, the gallery is now showing an updated response video filmed in 2014 for the exhibition Primal Architecture at IMMA that ran from November 2014 to May 2015. Atherson’s conversation with himself revolves around the nature of the gallery space, the art object, the viewer, and critically the role of the artist and subject. By providing the viewers with an updated conversation and re-entering his art, Atherson attempts to give a sense of a changed world and subject.
Hailing from the Isle of Man, Kevin Atherton works with new media and performance in a sculptural context. Since the 1980s, he has been active in creating large-scale public sculpture commissions, and now partakes in a time-based practice, with a particular interest in the relationship between the real and the fictional. A retired fine art educator, Atherton was previously the Head of the Department of Postgraduate Pathways in the Faculty of Fine Art in NCAD, undoubtedly influencing an entire generation of young Irish artists.
In Two Minds was acquired by IMMA in 2016 through a unique partnership with Hennessy Ireland which aimed to fund the purchase of important works by Ireland-based artists for the National Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art.
Kevin Atherton: In Two Minds is showing at The Irish Museum of Modern Art until 8th October.
BOWN + BACON at Hugh Lane Gallery
This new exhibition taking place in Hugh Lane Gallery this summer allows its visitors to view Francis Bacon through the eyes of Jane Bown. From 1949, for sixty years, Jane Bown worked for The Observer newspaper, photographing portraits of the most famous faces of her time. In 1980, Bown photographed the iconic Francis Bacon at his home/studio at 7 Reece Mews, London, though despite the shoot using three rolls of film, Bown was unsatisfied with the lighting. As she was leaving, she saw her chance; according to Bown, she saw her opportunity for “the jackpot picture, that haunted face against a simple, dark background.” This process helped capture the iconic images that can be seen in this exhibition.
Bacon was born in Dublin in 1909, yet grew up in Kildare until he left home at the age of sixteen and eventually settled in London, soon establishing himself as one of the leading artists of the generation. Focusing on the human form, his subjects included crucifixions, portraits of popes, self-portraits, and portraits of close friends, with abstracted figures sometimes isolated in geometrical structures. The mention of his name evokes images of distressed monster-like
creatures and haunting images of screaming popes, however, this exhibition reveals a different side of the artist; although an undeniably aged man in these pictures with visible lines and wrinkles, there is a certain softness to the images. The artist is shown vulnerable and uncovered, a completely different picture from his self-portraits containing obstructed views of the artist's face. Bown later reveals that she was frightened of Bacon, but was astonished by his face. Bown became known for her profound portraits, often in black and white, using only available, natural lighting; like the Bacon ones. Gaining a reputation as an intuitive photographer, Bown worked quickly and with minimal equipment, all factors which give her work an undeniable spontaneous and authentic feeling. Her portraits were also popular with the subject himself as Bacon used one of her photographs as the frontispiece to his 1985 Tate Gallery retrospective exhibition catalogue.
BOWN+BACON is showing at Hugh Lane Gallery until 7th of January 2024
‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan at Pallas Projects
Open for only a short time, ‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan at Pallas Projects is without a doubt one of the most unique exhibitions taking place this summer across Ireland. Nestled inconspicuously in the streets of North Dublin’s inner city Liberties, Pallas Projects - founded in 1996 - is a not-for-profit artist-run organization dedicated to the facilitation of artistic production and discourse, via the provision of affordable artist studios in Dublin's city centre, and curated projects. Dedicated to shining the spotlight on up-and-coming artists, the gallery provides an unpretentious space for all to come together to enjoy the art they showcase.
Acting as the fifth exhibition of their 2023 Artist-Initiated Projects programme, ‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan, will bring a motorcycle rally exhibition to the studios of Pallas Projects through a combination of film, music, and artwork with the intention of creating what the gallery describes as “a happening of mayhem”. Twelve members of The Freebirds Motorcycle Club from County Longford worked with the artist Brigid Mulligan—herself a little sister of a member—in order to produce a project that focused on club members' shared histories and the communal effects of loss; over the last twenty years, the club has lost three club members due to road traffic accidents. The exhibition features the film “Freebirds”, created by Brigid Mulligan and Bruno Pierucci which attempts to give an insight into the unseen side of Irish bikers in a rural community. The hope is that sharing this collaborative project could benefit grieving communities in Ireland today by diminishing the isolation of grief.
Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan is showing at Pallas Projects until 12th August.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app with each exhibition you visit!
Whether “tá an ghrian ag scoilteach na gloch” or you are in need of shelter from a summer shower, these galleries across Ireland have a plethora of exhibitions to keep you occupied for the summer months.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker at The National Gallery of Ireland
Focusing on Lavinia Fontana—a late sixteenth-century Bolognese painter—the National Gallery of Ireland presents a selection of works from the artist's prolific career to its visitors in its exhibition Trailblazer, Rule Breaker. Born in 1552 to her father Prospero Fontana, a painter and teacher at the School of Bologna by whom she was later trained, Fontana is, according to the gallery, widely believed to be the first woman artist to achieve professional success beyond the confines of a court or a convent. She was the first recorded woman in history who managed her own workshop, painted altarpieces and featured the female nude in her art, as well as being the first woman to be accepted to the prestigious Accademia di San Luca in Rome. Not only was Fontana a mighty career woman, but she also took on the role of wife and mother, giving birth to eleven children in her lifetime; sadly only three of these children outlived her.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker, curated by Dr Aoife Brady, is the first monographic exhibition to examine the artist's work in over two decades, and the first ever to focus on her portraiture, bringing together a selection of her most highly regarded works from both international public and private collections. The gem of the display is the momentous ‘The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon’, from the gallery's own collection; painted in 1599 it stands an impressive 256 x 325 cm, being the first artwork by a female artist knowingly acquired by the gallery only eight years after the opening of its doors in 1872. This work is regarded as Fontana’s most important and ambitious composition and is considered to be one of the jewels in the crown of the National Gallery collection, continuously on display for the past 150 years. The piece is accompanied by other key works in the catalogue of Fontana such as ‘Minerva Dressing’ and ‘Judith with the Head of Holofernes’.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker is showing at The National Gallery of Ireland until 27th August.
Kevin Atherton, In Two Minds at The Irish Museum of Modern Art
Kevin Atherton’s In Two Minds, originally produced in 1978, is currently a work in focus at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, acting as a conversation between the artist's past and present self. With the original video recorded in London’s Serpentine Gallery, the gallery is now showing an updated response video filmed in 2014 for the exhibition Primal Architecture at IMMA that ran from November 2014 to May 2015. Atherson’s conversation with himself revolves around the nature of the gallery space, the art object, the viewer, and critically the role of the artist and subject. By providing the viewers with an updated conversation and re-entering his art, Atherson attempts to give a sense of a changed world and subject.
Hailing from the Isle of Man, Kevin Atherton works with new media and performance in a sculptural context. Since the 1980s, he has been active in creating large-scale public sculpture commissions, and now partakes in a time-based practice, with a particular interest in the relationship between the real and the fictional. A retired fine art educator, Atherton was previously the Head of the Department of Postgraduate Pathways in the Faculty of Fine Art in NCAD, undoubtedly influencing an entire generation of young Irish artists.
In Two Minds was acquired by IMMA in 2016 through a unique partnership with Hennessy Ireland which aimed to fund the purchase of important works by Ireland-based artists for the National Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art.
Kevin Atherton: In Two Minds is showing at The Irish Museum of Modern Art until 8th October.
BOWN + BACON at Hugh Lane Gallery
This new exhibition taking place in Hugh Lane Gallery this summer allows its visitors to view Francis Bacon through the eyes of Jane Bown. From 1949, for sixty years, Jane Bown worked for The Observer newspaper, photographing portraits of the most famous faces of her time. In 1980, Bown photographed the iconic Francis Bacon at his home/studio at 7 Reece Mews, London, though despite the shoot using three rolls of film, Bown was unsatisfied with the lighting. As she was leaving, she saw her chance; according to Bown, she saw her opportunity for “the jackpot picture, that haunted face against a simple, dark background.” This process helped capture the iconic images that can be seen in this exhibition.
Bacon was born in Dublin in 1909, yet grew up in Kildare until he left home at the age of sixteen and eventually settled in London, soon establishing himself as one of the leading artists of the generation. Focusing on the human form, his subjects included crucifixions, portraits of popes, self-portraits, and portraits of close friends, with abstracted figures sometimes isolated in geometrical structures. The mention of his name evokes images of distressed monster-like
creatures and haunting images of screaming popes, however, this exhibition reveals a different side of the artist; although an undeniably aged man in these pictures with visible lines and wrinkles, there is a certain softness to the images. The artist is shown vulnerable and uncovered, a completely different picture from his self-portraits containing obstructed views of the artist's face. Bown later reveals that she was frightened of Bacon, but was astonished by his face. Bown became known for her profound portraits, often in black and white, using only available, natural lighting; like the Bacon ones. Gaining a reputation as an intuitive photographer, Bown worked quickly and with minimal equipment, all factors which give her work an undeniable spontaneous and authentic feeling. Her portraits were also popular with the subject himself as Bacon used one of her photographs as the frontispiece to his 1985 Tate Gallery retrospective exhibition catalogue.
BOWN+BACON is showing at Hugh Lane Gallery until 7th of January 2024
‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan at Pallas Projects
Open for only a short time, ‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan at Pallas Projects is without a doubt one of the most unique exhibitions taking place this summer across Ireland. Nestled inconspicuously in the streets of North Dublin’s inner city Liberties, Pallas Projects - founded in 1996 - is a not-for-profit artist-run organization dedicated to the facilitation of artistic production and discourse, via the provision of affordable artist studios in Dublin's city centre, and curated projects. Dedicated to shining the spotlight on up-and-coming artists, the gallery provides an unpretentious space for all to come together to enjoy the art they showcase.
Acting as the fifth exhibition of their 2023 Artist-Initiated Projects programme, ‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan, will bring a motorcycle rally exhibition to the studios of Pallas Projects through a combination of film, music, and artwork with the intention of creating what the gallery describes as “a happening of mayhem”. Twelve members of The Freebirds Motorcycle Club from County Longford worked with the artist Brigid Mulligan—herself a little sister of a member—in order to produce a project that focused on club members' shared histories and the communal effects of loss; over the last twenty years, the club has lost three club members due to road traffic accidents. The exhibition features the film “Freebirds”, created by Brigid Mulligan and Bruno Pierucci which attempts to give an insight into the unseen side of Irish bikers in a rural community. The hope is that sharing this collaborative project could benefit grieving communities in Ireland today by diminishing the isolation of grief.
Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan is showing at Pallas Projects until 12th August.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app with each exhibition you visit!
Whether “tá an ghrian ag scoilteach na gloch” or you are in need of shelter from a summer shower, these galleries across Ireland have a plethora of exhibitions to keep you occupied for the summer months.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker at The National Gallery of Ireland
Focusing on Lavinia Fontana—a late sixteenth-century Bolognese painter—the National Gallery of Ireland presents a selection of works from the artist's prolific career to its visitors in its exhibition Trailblazer, Rule Breaker. Born in 1552 to her father Prospero Fontana, a painter and teacher at the School of Bologna by whom she was later trained, Fontana is, according to the gallery, widely believed to be the first woman artist to achieve professional success beyond the confines of a court or a convent. She was the first recorded woman in history who managed her own workshop, painted altarpieces and featured the female nude in her art, as well as being the first woman to be accepted to the prestigious Accademia di San Luca in Rome. Not only was Fontana a mighty career woman, but she also took on the role of wife and mother, giving birth to eleven children in her lifetime; sadly only three of these children outlived her.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker, curated by Dr Aoife Brady, is the first monographic exhibition to examine the artist's work in over two decades, and the first ever to focus on her portraiture, bringing together a selection of her most highly regarded works from both international public and private collections. The gem of the display is the momentous ‘The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon’, from the gallery's own collection; painted in 1599 it stands an impressive 256 x 325 cm, being the first artwork by a female artist knowingly acquired by the gallery only eight years after the opening of its doors in 1872. This work is regarded as Fontana’s most important and ambitious composition and is considered to be one of the jewels in the crown of the National Gallery collection, continuously on display for the past 150 years. The piece is accompanied by other key works in the catalogue of Fontana such as ‘Minerva Dressing’ and ‘Judith with the Head of Holofernes’.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker is showing at The National Gallery of Ireland until 27th August.
Kevin Atherton, In Two Minds at The Irish Museum of Modern Art
Kevin Atherton’s In Two Minds, originally produced in 1978, is currently a work in focus at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, acting as a conversation between the artist's past and present self. With the original video recorded in London’s Serpentine Gallery, the gallery is now showing an updated response video filmed in 2014 for the exhibition Primal Architecture at IMMA that ran from November 2014 to May 2015. Atherson’s conversation with himself revolves around the nature of the gallery space, the art object, the viewer, and critically the role of the artist and subject. By providing the viewers with an updated conversation and re-entering his art, Atherson attempts to give a sense of a changed world and subject.
Hailing from the Isle of Man, Kevin Atherton works with new media and performance in a sculptural context. Since the 1980s, he has been active in creating large-scale public sculpture commissions, and now partakes in a time-based practice, with a particular interest in the relationship between the real and the fictional. A retired fine art educator, Atherton was previously the Head of the Department of Postgraduate Pathways in the Faculty of Fine Art in NCAD, undoubtedly influencing an entire generation of young Irish artists.
In Two Minds was acquired by IMMA in 2016 through a unique partnership with Hennessy Ireland which aimed to fund the purchase of important works by Ireland-based artists for the National Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art.
Kevin Atherton: In Two Minds is showing at The Irish Museum of Modern Art until 8th October.
BOWN + BACON at Hugh Lane Gallery
This new exhibition taking place in Hugh Lane Gallery this summer allows its visitors to view Francis Bacon through the eyes of Jane Bown. From 1949, for sixty years, Jane Bown worked for The Observer newspaper, photographing portraits of the most famous faces of her time. In 1980, Bown photographed the iconic Francis Bacon at his home/studio at 7 Reece Mews, London, though despite the shoot using three rolls of film, Bown was unsatisfied with the lighting. As she was leaving, she saw her chance; according to Bown, she saw her opportunity for “the jackpot picture, that haunted face against a simple, dark background.” This process helped capture the iconic images that can be seen in this exhibition.
Bacon was born in Dublin in 1909, yet grew up in Kildare until he left home at the age of sixteen and eventually settled in London, soon establishing himself as one of the leading artists of the generation. Focusing on the human form, his subjects included crucifixions, portraits of popes, self-portraits, and portraits of close friends, with abstracted figures sometimes isolated in geometrical structures. The mention of his name evokes images of distressed monster-like
creatures and haunting images of screaming popes, however, this exhibition reveals a different side of the artist; although an undeniably aged man in these pictures with visible lines and wrinkles, there is a certain softness to the images. The artist is shown vulnerable and uncovered, a completely different picture from his self-portraits containing obstructed views of the artist's face. Bown later reveals that she was frightened of Bacon, but was astonished by his face. Bown became known for her profound portraits, often in black and white, using only available, natural lighting; like the Bacon ones. Gaining a reputation as an intuitive photographer, Bown worked quickly and with minimal equipment, all factors which give her work an undeniable spontaneous and authentic feeling. Her portraits were also popular with the subject himself as Bacon used one of her photographs as the frontispiece to his 1985 Tate Gallery retrospective exhibition catalogue.
BOWN+BACON is showing at Hugh Lane Gallery until 7th of January 2024
‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan at Pallas Projects
Open for only a short time, ‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan at Pallas Projects is without a doubt one of the most unique exhibitions taking place this summer across Ireland. Nestled inconspicuously in the streets of North Dublin’s inner city Liberties, Pallas Projects - founded in 1996 - is a not-for-profit artist-run organization dedicated to the facilitation of artistic production and discourse, via the provision of affordable artist studios in Dublin's city centre, and curated projects. Dedicated to shining the spotlight on up-and-coming artists, the gallery provides an unpretentious space for all to come together to enjoy the art they showcase.
Acting as the fifth exhibition of their 2023 Artist-Initiated Projects programme, ‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan, will bring a motorcycle rally exhibition to the studios of Pallas Projects through a combination of film, music, and artwork with the intention of creating what the gallery describes as “a happening of mayhem”. Twelve members of The Freebirds Motorcycle Club from County Longford worked with the artist Brigid Mulligan—herself a little sister of a member—in order to produce a project that focused on club members' shared histories and the communal effects of loss; over the last twenty years, the club has lost three club members due to road traffic accidents. The exhibition features the film “Freebirds”, created by Brigid Mulligan and Bruno Pierucci which attempts to give an insight into the unseen side of Irish bikers in a rural community. The hope is that sharing this collaborative project could benefit grieving communities in Ireland today by diminishing the isolation of grief.
Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan is showing at Pallas Projects until 12th August.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app with each exhibition you visit!
Whether “tá an ghrian ag scoilteach na gloch” or you are in need of shelter from a summer shower, these galleries across Ireland have a plethora of exhibitions to keep you occupied for the summer months.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker at The National Gallery of Ireland
Focusing on Lavinia Fontana—a late sixteenth-century Bolognese painter—the National Gallery of Ireland presents a selection of works from the artist's prolific career to its visitors in its exhibition Trailblazer, Rule Breaker. Born in 1552 to her father Prospero Fontana, a painter and teacher at the School of Bologna by whom she was later trained, Fontana is, according to the gallery, widely believed to be the first woman artist to achieve professional success beyond the confines of a court or a convent. She was the first recorded woman in history who managed her own workshop, painted altarpieces and featured the female nude in her art, as well as being the first woman to be accepted to the prestigious Accademia di San Luca in Rome. Not only was Fontana a mighty career woman, but she also took on the role of wife and mother, giving birth to eleven children in her lifetime; sadly only three of these children outlived her.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker, curated by Dr Aoife Brady, is the first monographic exhibition to examine the artist's work in over two decades, and the first ever to focus on her portraiture, bringing together a selection of her most highly regarded works from both international public and private collections. The gem of the display is the momentous ‘The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon’, from the gallery's own collection; painted in 1599 it stands an impressive 256 x 325 cm, being the first artwork by a female artist knowingly acquired by the gallery only eight years after the opening of its doors in 1872. This work is regarded as Fontana’s most important and ambitious composition and is considered to be one of the jewels in the crown of the National Gallery collection, continuously on display for the past 150 years. The piece is accompanied by other key works in the catalogue of Fontana such as ‘Minerva Dressing’ and ‘Judith with the Head of Holofernes’.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker is showing at The National Gallery of Ireland until 27th August.
Kevin Atherton, In Two Minds at The Irish Museum of Modern Art
Kevin Atherton’s In Two Minds, originally produced in 1978, is currently a work in focus at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, acting as a conversation between the artist's past and present self. With the original video recorded in London’s Serpentine Gallery, the gallery is now showing an updated response video filmed in 2014 for the exhibition Primal Architecture at IMMA that ran from November 2014 to May 2015. Atherson’s conversation with himself revolves around the nature of the gallery space, the art object, the viewer, and critically the role of the artist and subject. By providing the viewers with an updated conversation and re-entering his art, Atherson attempts to give a sense of a changed world and subject.
Hailing from the Isle of Man, Kevin Atherton works with new media and performance in a sculptural context. Since the 1980s, he has been active in creating large-scale public sculpture commissions, and now partakes in a time-based practice, with a particular interest in the relationship between the real and the fictional. A retired fine art educator, Atherton was previously the Head of the Department of Postgraduate Pathways in the Faculty of Fine Art in NCAD, undoubtedly influencing an entire generation of young Irish artists.
In Two Minds was acquired by IMMA in 2016 through a unique partnership with Hennessy Ireland which aimed to fund the purchase of important works by Ireland-based artists for the National Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art.
Kevin Atherton: In Two Minds is showing at The Irish Museum of Modern Art until 8th October.
BOWN + BACON at Hugh Lane Gallery
This new exhibition taking place in Hugh Lane Gallery this summer allows its visitors to view Francis Bacon through the eyes of Jane Bown. From 1949, for sixty years, Jane Bown worked for The Observer newspaper, photographing portraits of the most famous faces of her time. In 1980, Bown photographed the iconic Francis Bacon at his home/studio at 7 Reece Mews, London, though despite the shoot using three rolls of film, Bown was unsatisfied with the lighting. As she was leaving, she saw her chance; according to Bown, she saw her opportunity for “the jackpot picture, that haunted face against a simple, dark background.” This process helped capture the iconic images that can be seen in this exhibition.
Bacon was born in Dublin in 1909, yet grew up in Kildare until he left home at the age of sixteen and eventually settled in London, soon establishing himself as one of the leading artists of the generation. Focusing on the human form, his subjects included crucifixions, portraits of popes, self-portraits, and portraits of close friends, with abstracted figures sometimes isolated in geometrical structures. The mention of his name evokes images of distressed monster-like
creatures and haunting images of screaming popes, however, this exhibition reveals a different side of the artist; although an undeniably aged man in these pictures with visible lines and wrinkles, there is a certain softness to the images. The artist is shown vulnerable and uncovered, a completely different picture from his self-portraits containing obstructed views of the artist's face. Bown later reveals that she was frightened of Bacon, but was astonished by his face. Bown became known for her profound portraits, often in black and white, using only available, natural lighting; like the Bacon ones. Gaining a reputation as an intuitive photographer, Bown worked quickly and with minimal equipment, all factors which give her work an undeniable spontaneous and authentic feeling. Her portraits were also popular with the subject himself as Bacon used one of her photographs as the frontispiece to his 1985 Tate Gallery retrospective exhibition catalogue.
BOWN+BACON is showing at Hugh Lane Gallery until 7th of January 2024
‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan at Pallas Projects
Open for only a short time, ‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan at Pallas Projects is without a doubt one of the most unique exhibitions taking place this summer across Ireland. Nestled inconspicuously in the streets of North Dublin’s inner city Liberties, Pallas Projects - founded in 1996 - is a not-for-profit artist-run organization dedicated to the facilitation of artistic production and discourse, via the provision of affordable artist studios in Dublin's city centre, and curated projects. Dedicated to shining the spotlight on up-and-coming artists, the gallery provides an unpretentious space for all to come together to enjoy the art they showcase.
Acting as the fifth exhibition of their 2023 Artist-Initiated Projects programme, ‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan, will bring a motorcycle rally exhibition to the studios of Pallas Projects through a combination of film, music, and artwork with the intention of creating what the gallery describes as “a happening of mayhem”. Twelve members of The Freebirds Motorcycle Club from County Longford worked with the artist Brigid Mulligan—herself a little sister of a member—in order to produce a project that focused on club members' shared histories and the communal effects of loss; over the last twenty years, the club has lost three club members due to road traffic accidents. The exhibition features the film “Freebirds”, created by Brigid Mulligan and Bruno Pierucci which attempts to give an insight into the unseen side of Irish bikers in a rural community. The hope is that sharing this collaborative project could benefit grieving communities in Ireland today by diminishing the isolation of grief.
Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan is showing at Pallas Projects until 12th August.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app with each exhibition you visit!
Whether “tá an ghrian ag scoilteach na gloch” or you are in need of shelter from a summer shower, these galleries across Ireland have a plethora of exhibitions to keep you occupied for the summer months.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker at The National Gallery of Ireland
Focusing on Lavinia Fontana—a late sixteenth-century Bolognese painter—the National Gallery of Ireland presents a selection of works from the artist's prolific career to its visitors in its exhibition Trailblazer, Rule Breaker. Born in 1552 to her father Prospero Fontana, a painter and teacher at the School of Bologna by whom she was later trained, Fontana is, according to the gallery, widely believed to be the first woman artist to achieve professional success beyond the confines of a court or a convent. She was the first recorded woman in history who managed her own workshop, painted altarpieces and featured the female nude in her art, as well as being the first woman to be accepted to the prestigious Accademia di San Luca in Rome. Not only was Fontana a mighty career woman, but she also took on the role of wife and mother, giving birth to eleven children in her lifetime; sadly only three of these children outlived her.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker, curated by Dr Aoife Brady, is the first monographic exhibition to examine the artist's work in over two decades, and the first ever to focus on her portraiture, bringing together a selection of her most highly regarded works from both international public and private collections. The gem of the display is the momentous ‘The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon’, from the gallery's own collection; painted in 1599 it stands an impressive 256 x 325 cm, being the first artwork by a female artist knowingly acquired by the gallery only eight years after the opening of its doors in 1872. This work is regarded as Fontana’s most important and ambitious composition and is considered to be one of the jewels in the crown of the National Gallery collection, continuously on display for the past 150 years. The piece is accompanied by other key works in the catalogue of Fontana such as ‘Minerva Dressing’ and ‘Judith with the Head of Holofernes’.
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker is showing at The National Gallery of Ireland until 27th August.
Kevin Atherton, In Two Minds at The Irish Museum of Modern Art
Kevin Atherton’s In Two Minds, originally produced in 1978, is currently a work in focus at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, acting as a conversation between the artist's past and present self. With the original video recorded in London’s Serpentine Gallery, the gallery is now showing an updated response video filmed in 2014 for the exhibition Primal Architecture at IMMA that ran from November 2014 to May 2015. Atherson’s conversation with himself revolves around the nature of the gallery space, the art object, the viewer, and critically the role of the artist and subject. By providing the viewers with an updated conversation and re-entering his art, Atherson attempts to give a sense of a changed world and subject.
Hailing from the Isle of Man, Kevin Atherton works with new media and performance in a sculptural context. Since the 1980s, he has been active in creating large-scale public sculpture commissions, and now partakes in a time-based practice, with a particular interest in the relationship between the real and the fictional. A retired fine art educator, Atherton was previously the Head of the Department of Postgraduate Pathways in the Faculty of Fine Art in NCAD, undoubtedly influencing an entire generation of young Irish artists.
In Two Minds was acquired by IMMA in 2016 through a unique partnership with Hennessy Ireland which aimed to fund the purchase of important works by Ireland-based artists for the National Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art.
Kevin Atherton: In Two Minds is showing at The Irish Museum of Modern Art until 8th October.
BOWN + BACON at Hugh Lane Gallery
This new exhibition taking place in Hugh Lane Gallery this summer allows its visitors to view Francis Bacon through the eyes of Jane Bown. From 1949, for sixty years, Jane Bown worked for The Observer newspaper, photographing portraits of the most famous faces of her time. In 1980, Bown photographed the iconic Francis Bacon at his home/studio at 7 Reece Mews, London, though despite the shoot using three rolls of film, Bown was unsatisfied with the lighting. As she was leaving, she saw her chance; according to Bown, she saw her opportunity for “the jackpot picture, that haunted face against a simple, dark background.” This process helped capture the iconic images that can be seen in this exhibition.
Bacon was born in Dublin in 1909, yet grew up in Kildare until he left home at the age of sixteen and eventually settled in London, soon establishing himself as one of the leading artists of the generation. Focusing on the human form, his subjects included crucifixions, portraits of popes, self-portraits, and portraits of close friends, with abstracted figures sometimes isolated in geometrical structures. The mention of his name evokes images of distressed monster-like
creatures and haunting images of screaming popes, however, this exhibition reveals a different side of the artist; although an undeniably aged man in these pictures with visible lines and wrinkles, there is a certain softness to the images. The artist is shown vulnerable and uncovered, a completely different picture from his self-portraits containing obstructed views of the artist's face. Bown later reveals that she was frightened of Bacon, but was astonished by his face. Bown became known for her profound portraits, often in black and white, using only available, natural lighting; like the Bacon ones. Gaining a reputation as an intuitive photographer, Bown worked quickly and with minimal equipment, all factors which give her work an undeniable spontaneous and authentic feeling. Her portraits were also popular with the subject himself as Bacon used one of her photographs as the frontispiece to his 1985 Tate Gallery retrospective exhibition catalogue.
BOWN+BACON is showing at Hugh Lane Gallery until 7th of January 2024
‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan at Pallas Projects
Open for only a short time, ‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan at Pallas Projects is without a doubt one of the most unique exhibitions taking place this summer across Ireland. Nestled inconspicuously in the streets of North Dublin’s inner city Liberties, Pallas Projects - founded in 1996 - is a not-for-profit artist-run organization dedicated to the facilitation of artistic production and discourse, via the provision of affordable artist studios in Dublin's city centre, and curated projects. Dedicated to shining the spotlight on up-and-coming artists, the gallery provides an unpretentious space for all to come together to enjoy the art they showcase.
Acting as the fifth exhibition of their 2023 Artist-Initiated Projects programme, ‘Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan, will bring a motorcycle rally exhibition to the studios of Pallas Projects through a combination of film, music, and artwork with the intention of creating what the gallery describes as “a happening of mayhem”. Twelve members of The Freebirds Motorcycle Club from County Longford worked with the artist Brigid Mulligan—herself a little sister of a member—in order to produce a project that focused on club members' shared histories and the communal effects of loss; over the last twenty years, the club has lost three club members due to road traffic accidents. The exhibition features the film “Freebirds”, created by Brigid Mulligan and Bruno Pierucci which attempts to give an insight into the unseen side of Irish bikers in a rural community. The hope is that sharing this collaborative project could benefit grieving communities in Ireland today by diminishing the isolation of grief.
Freebirds M.C.C. Project’ with Biddy Mulligan is showing at Pallas Projects until 12th August.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app with each exhibition you visit!
