EXHIBITION OF LANDSCAPES BY KERRY BASED ARTISTS OPENS IN THE NEW SAMHLAIOCHT GALLERY
Boreens, Curteens and Cnuceens to open on Thursday, April 17th
An exhibition of artwork titled, Boreens, Curteens and Cnuceens, will go on display at the new Samhlaiocht Gallery on Thursday 17th April. The exhibition features work by four Kerry Based Artists, Roger Cattermole, Donal Stack, Rosemary Purcell and Antoinette O'Regan and all the work on display will focus on the beautiful Kerry landscape.
"Returning to West Kerry had been a recurring dream for me," said Antoinette O'Regan one of the four artists featured in the exhibition. "Now that my dream is realized, my surroundings are both my inspiration and an ongoing challenge." Antoinette, who was a student at Limerick College of Art has exhibited widely throughout Ireland and spent time at the prestigious Ciall Rialig Art Studios in Ballinskelligs. "The various and widely changing moods of Kerry create a romantic and intense atmosphere for the viewer," said Antoinette, an atmosphere she skillfully captures in her work.
Rosemary Purcell, winner of the Beara Arts award in 2003, lives and works in the Kenmare area of South Kerry. "I take my inspiration from the natural beauty that surrounds me," said Rosemary. "South Kerry is known for its wild and dramatic scenery, but it is its subtle changes in light and colour that influences my artwork, my work is an attempt to capture this ever changing environment."
Rosemary fully captures the rich and dramatic beauty of the South Kerry landscape and her work elicits a visceral response. "Well maybe that's because even though you can't eat the scenery but by gentle osmosis it does influence who we are," adds Rosemary. That influence is plain to see.
In contrast to the wild beauty of south Kerry landscape captured by Rosemary, Donal Stack, who graduated from Crawford Municipal College of Art in 1986, focuses on the tamer and more cultivated lasdscapes of North Kerry and, in particular, on the farmlands. "This is a landscape that has been tamed and cultivated by generations of hardworking and resourceful farming families, each leaving its mark, whether in the fields' structures, in the houses and farm buildings or in the actual animals and livestock that live on the land," said Donal.
"It is not a dramatic landscape but more a pastoral landscape. Its drama is in the detail. It is a transforming landscape; the vernacular architecture is being replaced by modern homes and hitech farm buildings. This is an inevitable process as was the replacing of stone farm buildings with corrugated iron sheds."
Roger Cattermole was born and raised in the UK. He was a student of the Harrow school of Art and has successfully exhibited throughout Ireland and England. In 1996 he relocated to County Kerry and has dedicated his time to professional painting. The move proved to be successful one as the landscape and culture of Kerry has had a profound influence on his painting and philosophical outlook. "Each landscape has its own particular and unique characteristic," said Roger, "in this work I aspire to capture the nature and mystery of the land."
All four artists through a variety of differing techniques and styles capture the indescribable beauty of Kerry. The exhibition is not only for art lovers but for everyone that has every looked at a Kerry landscape and been inspired.
The exhibition will run until the 9th of May in the new Samhlaiocht Gallery, which is located in the Old Presbytery on Lower Castle Street in the heart of Tralee. The Gallery is open from 10 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday, is free to visit and all are welcome.
For more information on Samhlaiocht please log on to www.samhlaiocht.com
