EXHIBITION OF NEW WORK BY MUIRIOSA MURPHY & SEAMUS MCDONNELL

Exhibition from Up and Coming Kerry Artists to open on Thursday, May 15th

An exhibition of artwork from two up and coming Kerry artists will go on display at the new Samhlaiocht Gallery on Thursday, May 15th. The exhibition features work by Muiriosa Murphy and Seamus McDonnell.

Muiriosa, who hails from Rathmore originally, is a born painter, sculptor and print-maker and finds inspiration in life but also in the tactile interaction with the materials she uses. "I love the freedom and sense of discovery every time I create something," she says.

Muiriosa's sculptures have an almost iconic look to them, and would not seem entirely out of place in a museum. "Well, I think that people today may feel a sense of alienation to the world around them. It's only in the most recent times, in an evolutionary sense, that humans have surrounded themselves with masses of concrete and metal, and so they can, at times, feel alienated from their surroundings," she says.

There is a certain timelessness about her sculpture, a feeling of connectivity to history. "I think that art should cross boundaries and be relevant irrespective of culture and time," she explains, quickly adding with a laugh, "not that I've achieved that just yet!"

Seamus McDonnell, who grew up in Ballymacelligott, is quite a fan of Muiriosa's work and believes she reaches the lofty targets she sets for art. "I think her work is excellent and I'm delighted to have an opportunity to exhibit work in the same gallery."

In fact the two artists are quick to complement each other and the opportunity afforded them by Samhlaiocht. "It's fantastic to have an opportunity to show work and we're really thankful to Samhlaiocht for giving us the opportunity," said Seamus.

Seamus has been sketching and drawing all his life before suddenly taking up oil painting eight years ago. "Well, I've always been good at art, and had a very strong interest in sketching, but I had a very vivid dream about a painting and just had to create the painting and luckily it turned out well!"

In fact this personal approach and connection to art is something that both artists are quite comfortable with, "I find I use Art almost as a therapeutic exercise," says Seamus, who works in Tralee General Hospital and Muiriosa quickly agrees. "Absolutely, it goes back to what I was saying about alienation - Art helps me to make sense of what's going on inside me while also helping me make sense of what's going on with other people."

This inter-connectivity is also reflected in the titles which the artists have chosen for their exhibition; Seamus is calling his collection 'Presence', while Muiriosa's is titled 'The Other'. One would be forgiven for thinking that the Artists had been friends for a long time, though this is not quite true.

Muiriosa submitted work for Samhlaiocht's annual Salon De Chiarrai exhibition which takes place late every year, while Seamus had popped into the Samhlaiocht Gallery with a collection of works sometime before. Trish Thompson, Visual Art Coordinator with Samhlaiocht, felt that the work would complement each other and set about organizing an exhibition and then fate took a hand. The two artists bumped into each other at Killarney Rotary Club proving it's a small world after all, or at the least a small county!

"It's fantastic to see such wonderful artists come together and have such respect for one another's work," said Trish, "we're just happy that we can accommodate the artistic process in some small way."

The exhibition will run until the 6th of June 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 http://www.samhlaiocht.com/