Painter and printmaker Ailbhe Barrett’s engagement with making, or ‘sculpting’ the copperplate to her will, results in work of transcendental emotional intensity, writes Angela Griffith
Ailbhe Barrett is a landscape artist. A familiar subject in Irish art, the landscape was viewed historically in a variety of ways, including through an idealised colonial lens and as a potent Irish Revivalist metaphor. Since the emergence of Modernist movements, landscape art has veered from mimetic to self-reflexive projections, often questioning humankind’s problematic relationship with nature. Barrett believes in the power of art and its ability to set, question or steer agendas. Describing herself as a small voice, she sees her role as a questioner, asking what our purpose is.
To read this article in full, subscribe or buy this edition of the Irish Arts Review
Liam Belton recalls the protests in the National College of Art between 1967 and 1971 that led to the formation of an autonomous board to oversee the running of the college. These developments, along with other major events of the period, are encapsulated in his artwork Homage to Paint and Protest
Themes of the natural world and climate chaos lie at the heart of Caoimhín Gaffney’s exhibition, writes Eamonn Maxwell
Vivienne Roche’s approach is formally beautiful and seemingly straightforward in its address, but opens onto profound and unsettling ideas about time, loss and persistence, writes Sarah Kelleher
