Shaping Ireland, Landscapes in Irish Art, is the new exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland. It explores the relationship between people and the environment.
I visited it last week and this is an invitation and recommendation post.
I hope you can see the exhibition and tell us, which of the paintings/photographs shows the real Ireland?
Like many others walking around the rooms admiring all the works of art, I was left with a big sense of nostalgia. Remembering the places I recognised in the paintings and daydreaming about those I have never been to but heard of many times.
One gets immersed in loads of greens and blues and also greys, one gets divided between times and eras, and gets caught in the outdoors while being indoors.
Throughout the artworks, one gets to know a country, but also the artists, who aimed to generate a dialogue on nature and culture, between people of the past and the present.
Today, environmental concerns are some of the most pressing problems facing humanity. To me, this display centres its interest in introducing environmental art to open the discussion of climate change, as to whether, through images, it is possible to stop, or not, the imprint of man on the planet.
As Aidan Dunne puts it, the exhibition is ideally presented as an educational resource, not only in terms of past and present art, but also in terms of a wide range of ideas and urgent problems, from climate change to planning.
Shaping Ireland Exhibition is organized thematically, in five parts (wild areas, settlements, agriculture, parks and gardens, and industry) instead of chronologically. The group show presents 72 works created over more than 250 years, from artists working in a range of creative mediums, spanning painting, sculpture, photography and video. Artists on display include Paul Henry, Dorothy Cross, Evie Hone, Willie Doherty, Niamh O’Malley and Nan Goldin.
It is on until the 7th of July and you can get your tickets, here.
The Gallery is located in Merrion Square West, Dublin 2. Its opening hours are: Monday: 11.00 – 17.30, Tuesday – Saturday: 9.15 – 17.30, Thursday: 9.15 – 20.30, and Sunday: 11.00 – 17.30
For more info, follow them on Facebook and Twitter. And if you would like to get involved, the NGI is inviting you to share what parts of the land mean a lot to you, so tag them on social media and use the hashtag #MyShapingIreland!
Dorothy Cross’s Foxglove (2018) is our #ShapingIreland artwork of the week, and it is one of the first works that you’ll see as you enter the exhibition.
Cross cast this elegant bronze from an original specimen of this native Irish wild plant using the lost wax process. pic.twitter.com/eGtQlMQzsF
— National Gallery of Ireland (@NGIreland) May 1, 2019
