Aisling Smyth at the Blackbird
Friday, August 10, 2007
In June 2007, the Blackbird Gallery, Kilkenny pexhibited a show of new works by acclaimed Cork artist Aisling Smyth.
This new exhibition “Aquarium” brought together works on paper in acrylics and charcoal which were painted on field trips to Spain, and larger canvases finding inspiration from her sketchbooks which she subsequently completed at her Cork studio.
Field trips and working outdoors are an important practise in Aisling’s work. Travel and new experiences regenerate and reactivate her way of seeing. The body of work with which she is now engaged began on a painting trip to Spain. Expecting a consistent stream of bright Spanish light, she found dull overcast days not unlike those of an Irish October. Nevertheless, like all field trips, adaption is the key, and so she kept drawing - an integral part of her practise - searching for a new point of interest. It came in the form of an aquarium in a small city square in Alicante.
“At first I was intrigued by the fish; their movement, their expressions, the variety of sizes and types. The more I watched them the more it fuelled my imagination to paint. The aquarium has glass on all sides enabling the viewer to see right through to the other side. The issue of space, is for me, a great source of excitement and challenge. This aquarium presented to me a new way of dealing with the problem of depicting movement, space and light on a 2D surface.”
On returning back to her studio in Cork, she set about making monoprints and larger work based on the information she had gathered. The fish were now like distant friends and the space but a memory. A new means of depiction was required. All in all, this subject matter has allowed her to explore many of the pertinent matters which concern her as a painter.
Aisling Smyth Profile and Biography
In June 2006, Aisling Smyth completed a four year honours degree in fine art from the Crawford College of Art and Design, Cork, for which she was awarded a distinction in both her major study – painting - and also in art history.
On the merits of her degree show, Aisling was awarded the Michael Langford Memorial Bursary, a prize which entitles the artist to her own studio space in a professional environment for six months
Other achievements include the Best Degree student medal award and selection for the Student Awards Exhibition in the RDS July 2006, where her piece was purchased by the Office of Public Works.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
This March, the Blackbird Gallery presented a showing of new works by acclaimed Kilkenny artists Richard Coghlan and Alan Raggett.
Over the last number of years, both artists have been extensively involved with Endangered Studios, a Kilkenny County Countil Arts office initiative that facilitated the coming together of a group of artists in the rust of an abandoned builders providers premises. The group subsequently achieved success and critical acclaim with exhibitions during the Kilkenny Arts Festivals of 2004 and 2006.
This new exhibition of work brought together the fruits of six months of intensive work and exploration for both artists.
Richard Coghlan works exclusively with self produced pigments to create his linear works on paper. Using charred organic matter, Coghlan creates a startling range of pigments that are then ground in gesso and oil. These produce
marks and washes of immense subtlety, tone and hue.
Richard has studied in both Ireland and Wales as well as with various established artists. Studying as a sculptor’s apprentice in 1997 and 1998 he worked through the medium of stone. The tactile palette of marking, texture and mass have had an indelible influence on his subsequent work.
Alan Raggett confines himself to a palette of ultramarine, burnt sienna, burnt umber, titanium white and yellow ochre. Manipulating this limited colour range, he produces abstract figurative canvasses where he is free to explore the textural qualities of the paint medium, using a mix of happenstance
and concise control to create plays of shadow and light.
Since leaving college in 2003 Alan Raggett has worked and exhibited solo and with the Endangered Studio group.
His work is very much about uncomplicating painting. He uses only five colours and each piece is allowed one figure. Giving himself structure and rules in the making of paintings allows more freedom for his working process to grow
organically.
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