There was a sense of a world in ever-shifting crisis, paired with boundless artistic curiosity, at the 194th Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) Annual Exhibition
There was a sense of a world in ever-shifting crisis, paired with boundless artistic curiosity, at the 194th Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) Annual Exhibition. Themes of resilience and fragility emerged in works as varied as Miriam McConnon’s charcoal drawing The Refugee’s Armour, Niall Conroy’s photographic portrait Knitter of Zhytniy Market, Kyiv, Ukraine and Shota Kotake’s photo-in-a-photo, Our Tour Guide Taras Holding a Photo of the Reactor No. 4 Then at the Reactor No. 4 Now. Elsewhere, Joy Gerrard captured global unrest in the form of public protest, while Laura O’Connor’s Cultural Methods (a gynaecological speculum in porcelain with shamrock decoration), brought questions of personal autonomy closer to home.
Liam Belton seemed determined to capture it all with his impressive, multi-panel, mixed-media installation Homage to Paint and Protest. More than four metres wide and almost four metres tall, it ranged from bright, painted abstraction to dark, melted horror.
Works by invited artists Vivienne Dick and Ailbhe Ní Bhriain stood out, as did paintings by Manar Mervat Al Shouha, Kaye Maahs, Donald Teskey, Jack Hickey, Mary Kelly, Sinéad Ní Mhaonaigh, James English and Colin Martin. Katie Spiers, Michael Kobuladze, Sadhbh Mowlds and Ciarraí MacCormac provided outstanding, unexpected sculptural moments, while textile-based work shone in the brilliant tragicomedy of Asha Murray’s Are You Domestic Enough?, Gerri O’Brien’s Editor’s Touch and Jennifer Trouton’s wall installation Mater Hibernia.
Last December’s amendment to its original charter allows the RHA to increase its full membership from thirty to fifty-five members, along with ten associate members. As the exhibition opened its doors, the academy had already expanded to forty-six members. This year’s annual exhibition open call received an unprecedented 5,313 submissions by 3,136 artists, from which 346 (6.5%), were chosen to hang among the total of 515, largely superb, works on display.
Cristín Leach
The idea of creating a visitor centre in a working graveyard might seem lacking in taste, but a visit to Dublin’s famous Glasnevin Cemetery will dispel any such feeling.
Swedish-born artist Cecilia Danell is this year’s winner of the €5,000 Merrion Plinth Award.
Creating a woodturned form from uniform six-inch blocks of ash wood was the challenge set to Irish Woodturners Guild’s members