a date with art

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186th Annual Exhibition, art, Dublin, Fergus A. Ryan, Ireland, paintings, RHA, Royal Hibernian Academy

Today is varnishing day at the RHA (Royal Hibernian Academy) – the precursor to the  186th Annual Exhibition that shows hundreds of works of art by known and unknown artist living in Ireland. This year the exhibition is running at an earlier than usual date to coincide with the 1916 Exhibition that was burnt during the 1919 Easter rising.

And lucky me, I was invited to join my talented friend Fergus A. Ryan to get a sneak peek at the exhibition before it officially opens tomorrow. The oil painting he is showing is called Entwined and depicts my beautiful niece, the artists inspiration for his beautiful work.

I can’t wait to see my niece hanging in the gallery – which The Guardian recently named the best art space in Dublin – after all, as a proud aunt, I love spending time with her, even if it is only in picture form.  So with that in mind I’d better get ready for my date with art.

Entwined (Oil), by Fergus A. Ryan

#100Muses inspiring Dublin

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#100Muses, art, ArtBox, Dragana Jurisic, Dublin, Exhibition, Ireland, Irish Times, muses, photography, RHA, Royal Hibernian Academy

Just around the corner of St Stephens Green, tucked  away on Ely Place is the wonderful RHA (Royal Hibernian Academy). For the 185th time the RHA Annual Exhibition is opening its doors to show more than 500 pieces of art (26th May – 9th August).

Like every year most works are curated through an open submission, and like every year it is a visual feast and a thought provoking experience.

This year one of the pieces that caught quite a lot of attention is Dragana Jurisic’s #23 of 100 Muses. This study of a seated nude is not only beautiful but raw, and shows the female form without any excuses.

As the Irish Times puts it in today’s paper:  Dragana Jurisic’s photograph, #23 of 100 Muses, a study of a seated, nude figure, is a considerable work. Jurisic is a well-established photographic artist, and this piece, from a project on the “female gaze”, has real gravity and presence and none of the flimsiness increasingly identified with photography as disseminated through Instagram and other digital platforms.

But #23 of 100 Muses is just a taste of what the project #100 Muses has in store. As part of a much larger project the 100 Muses sadly won’t been on display just yet. But to wet the appetite ArtBox is allowing a sneak peek of the work.

For one whole month (29th May – 27th June) ArtBox is exhibiting the first chapter of Dragana’s work.  #100Muses inspiring Dublin to embrace a true celebration of the female form in all it’s complexity, beauty and power.

#100 Muses

two exhibits and a concert

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art, Dorothy Cross, Dublin, events, exhibitions, Irish Sculptress Dorothy Cross, Larry Beau, music, Nan Goldin, RHA, Royal Hibernian Academy, Suzy O'Mullane, The House Presents

Yesterday the rain poured down and turned pavements into puddle-runs but not wanting to surrender to the weather I decided I would still go out and enjoy an evening of culture and entertainment.

First I met my friend D. at the RHA (Royal Hibernian Academy) for an exhibit opening – a collection of paintings, sculptures, installations and photography- called The Untold Want. The exhibit is a selection of Irish and international artist, a seemingly random one, but through the placement in the gallery and the relationship between the items creates individual reactions, stimulating ideas and emotions.

We wandered around, some items enticing, others somewhat odd, a few encouraged interaction and several were quite intriguing. I particularly enjoyed the works by Nan Goldin, the first and last photo in the selection my personal favorites, and I would love to be the owner of Foxglove by Irish Sculptress Dorothy Cross. As always I bumped into friends and strangers, chatted and made new connections, after all Dublin is small, the World of Art even smaller!

Afterwards D. and I went down to The Origin Gallery to see the opening of Suzy O’Mullane’s ‘There Was Nothing Good about Good Friday’. I have to admit it wasn’t to my taste, I found it quite rudimentary and not particularly new or exciting. However I did enjoy the passion the Gallery owner Noel displayed and Suzy is obviously excited about her work – and many loved what they saw.

But what made the opening for me was a surprise performance by the wonderful Larry Beau, a modern day troubadour, with an incredible voice and a talent for performing. I have met him on several occasions before and was delighted to spend some time chatting with him, shared time with a very uniquely creative person.

It was a truly enjoyable event and I met some interesting people – some of which I do hope to meet soon again. But after a  glass of wine and a gin & tonic in a pub it was time to head back to the north side and see what The House Presents was up to.

The House Presents are one of my favorite event creators in Dublin. A modern day salon with a mixture of music, readings, performances, spoken word and theater. The delightful Natalie and Paula have so much passion for the arts that they chose the acts with care, and they never disappoint.

I sadly missed the first act, but I was just in time to enjoy some Bluegrass. A group called The New Breadwinners, consisting of John (mandolin), Luke Coffey (banjo), and Niall Hughes (guitar), were brilliant. These three gifted, young guys filled the lounge with truly amazing music. It definitely was worth dropping in for after a  long night of visual art the perfect ending to an evening filled with a little bit of magic.

The arty-farty world of Dublin really did put on a good show – despite the rain – a perfect night out.

Exhibition Opening – YU:The Lost Country

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art, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, Dragana Jurisic, Dragana Jurisic YU: The Lost Country, Dublin, Exhibition, Jurisic, photography, photos, Rebecca West, RHA Ashford Gallery, Royal Hibernian Academy, Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA), YU, Yugoslavia

Last night the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA)  was buzzing with activity at the opening of five exhibitions. One stood out for many –  YU: The Lost Country by the talented photographer Dragana Jurisic.

This extraordinary exhibition is a photographic exploration of identity, displacement and memory. Jurisic has a personal interest in these topics as she herself is from Yugoslavia, a county that no longer exist, a home she can no longer return to.

Formed after the first world war Yugoslavia fell apart in 1991, splintering into seven countries, leaving three whole generations struggling to figure out who they where and where they belonged, many deciding that they belonged nowhere.

Since Yugoslavia was, as Mussolini put it so eloquently “…cobbled together in Paris” after World War I, it was always a country that struggled with identity, artificial borders forcing strangers and enemies to become one.

Fascinated by this the Anglo-Irish writer Rebecca West wrote her masterpiece Black Lamb and Grey Falcon based on her travels to Yugoslavia and it’s publication in 1941 coincided with the Nazi invasion of the country she had grown to love, even calling it her motherland.

Jurisic used West’s book to retrace her own journey around her lost homeland in an attempt to recreate something that was lost but soon found that the sense of displacement and lost identity was stronger there, than in the country she now lives in.

This shows in Jurisic’s work: ” Photography, contains elements such as fleetingness, which allow it to capture that sense of rootlessness and dislocation with relative ease. Both exile and photography intensify our perception of the world. In both the memory is in its underlying core. Both are characterised by melancholy.”

The result of this ambition journey is the wonderful exhibition YU: The Lost Country , a visual journey into the past and present punctuated by West’s prose and Jurisic’s own words. The attempt to answer the universal question about identity in a very personal way.

And since Jurisic herself follows Roland Barthes’ assertions “that photography is more akin to magic than to art“,  it is no surprise that many of the photos have an otherworldly feel to them and leaves the viewer wondering about their own memories and identity.

Dragana Jurisic YU: The Lost Country

September 05, 2014 – September 26, 2014

RHA Ashford Gallery

a beautiful gift

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art, Dragana Jurisic, generous gift, home, Macedonia, photo of a woman diving, photography, photos, quote, RHA, Royal Hibernian Academy, Skopje, YU: 'The Lost Country'

I have several very talented friends, but one in particular: Dragana Jurisic. She is a beautiful photographer and I love both her company and her work.

Yesterday she gave me an incredible and generous gift, a ‘thank you’ for the help I’d given her in the past. I still can’t quite believe that I may now call this work of art my own and I spent some time hanging it. It now thrones on a wall in my living room, somewhere that I will see and enjoy it everyday.

Dragana took ‘my’ photo in Skopje, Macedonia and it shows a bronze statue of a woman diving into a river (I think it may be the Vadar) below a stone bridge, and if you look closely you can even see some bronze legs sticking out of the water.

The photo was taken as part of her Doctorate and solo exhibition: YU: ‘The Lost Country’ in Belfast last year. This week the exhibition is coming to Dublin, to the RHA (Royal Hibernian Academy), and I am really looking forward to going to the opening on Thursday night.

But until then I will enjoy just looking at my very own ‘Jurisic’ and I know it will give me great pleasure for years to come.

Skopje, Macedonia. Main square littered with ridiculous ‘wizardof Oz’-like sculptures. Disney art vs. infrastructure. It’s very clear which has taken precedence. A nation in crisis. Flags everywhere. ‘We are Macedonians, whatever that means.’

Dragana Jurisic (from her writings)