Art

Five art exhibitions to see this week

Aidan Dunne: 18 artists explore the words we cannot say in Letterbomb at Synge St

James McCreary’s work was among the first to be sent to clients from Behaviour & Attitudes and Graphic Studio.

Aidan Dunne's face
Aidan Dunne
Sat Feb 23 2019 - 05:00

THE WORKS: 30 YEARS OF THE B&A/GRAPHIC STUDIO DUBLIN COMMISSION

Graphic Studio Gallery, Through the arch, Cope St, Temple Bar, Dublin, until March 9th graphicstudiodublin.com

Thirty years ago Graham Wilkinson and his associates at the young market research company Behaviour & Attitudes initiated a collaborative project with Dublin’s Graphic Studio. Eschewing booze and other traditional offerings, they commissioned fine art prints from a graphic artist – James McCreary was the first – to send to clients and associates. The idea caught on and, 30 years later, the collaboration continues, making it one of the most remarkable arts-business partnerships ever. This show is a retrospective and celebration.

Letterbomb poster by Richard Seabrooke.

LETTERBOMB: DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONTLINE OF TYPE & LETTERING DESIGN
Copper House Gallery, St Kevin's Cottages, Synge St, Dublin February 28th – March 5th thecopperhousegallery.com
Classic-type design is closely associated with printing and the page, yet people increasingly encounter type in digital, onscreen form. Just as technology makes type design freer and more flexible than ever before, it threatens to eclipse its main platforms. Here, 18 artists use contemporary means of type design, among them Syd Bluett, Fiona McDonnell, Holly Pereira, Steve Simpson and Vents, to explore the idea of taboo – the words we cannot say.

READ MORE

Cara Murphy: Sense of Place, detail, Surface Matters. Photograph: David Pauley

SURFACE MATTERS: WORK FROM THE DESIGN AND CRAFTS COUNCIL'S PORTFOLIO: CRITICAL SELECTION 2019-2020
Coach House Gallery (beside the Dubhlinn Garden), Dublin Castle, until May 19th
A three-person international jury chose from submissions by a wide range of Irish makers to make this exhibition of work by 24 of them. The show includes ceramics, metalwork, basketry, woodwork including furniture, glass and jewellery by many of the most renowned makers in the country, including Joseph Walsh, Joe Hogan, Sara Flynn, Cara Murphy and Aannemarie Reinhold. The show will later tour to Barcelona and then Kilkenny.

Robert Ryan, Ghost of a Lost Species., 2018, Other Worlds.

OTHER WORLDS: ANN QUINN AND ROBERT RYAN
Claremorris Gallery, Mount St, Claremorris, Co Mayo, until March 29th claremorrisgallery.com
An inspired pairing of work by two artists who in their work infuse the everyday world with magic. No cheap tricks here: the intensity they conjure stems from their meditative engagement with their own experience and surroundings. Their artistic personalities, incidentally, are equally compelling but individually distinctive.

Morley Hill project, Galway Arts Centre.

KPAPLAK DONKER: MORLEY HILL, NIK TAYLOR
Galway Arts Centre, 47 Dominick St, Galway,until March 22nd galwayartscentre.ie
Nik Taylor, self-described as an obsessive systematic potterer, lives in Co Kerry and works under several pseudonyms. He works unpredictably, too, as he uses diverse media and means. This show includes several Morley Hill ("a sprawling exploration of structure and form through the use of wood") works, including "collage, paintings and kinetic wood sculptures", and Spalla Gap works, comprising "natural and manmade objects" found on the shoreline.