Stephen Brandes . Claire Carpenter . Gary Coyle . Brian Fay . Mark Francis . David Godbold . Anita Groener . Katie Holten . Timothy Emlyn Jones . Alice Maher . Niamh McCann . Eoin McHugh . Bea McMahon . Nick Miller . Tom Molloy . Isabel Nolan . Eoman O’Kane . Niamh O’Malley . Kathy Prendergast . Jim Savage . Gerda Teljeur . Martin Wedge
The Millennium Court Arts Centre presents a body of stunning new drawings by selected Irish artists. Curated by visual artist, teacher, and writer Arno Kramer, The exhibition is described as an ‘adventure.. based on visual quality’. Co-commissioned by Millennium Court Art Centre, Limerick City Gallery of Art, aKKuH in the Netherlands, the Centre Culturel Irlandais, the opening of ‘Into Irish Drawing’ at MCAC will provide the viewer with the final chance to see the exhibition.
This co commissioning partnership represents MCAC’s strong interest in and commitment to working with international partners and our ongoing support in the creation and promotion of new work by Irish artists.
This beautiful exhibition does not provide an objective summary of present day Irish drawing, it is instead a selection of work that was chosen for its visual quality. The exhibition is made up of a personal selection of work by the curator, chosen on the basis of its originality, authenticity and the fact that the pieces reflect the artist’s recognizable,signature style. In a broader perspective, the work was chosen for its identity, originality, content and the personal way in which it was created. The selection of artists encompasses the most respected and established artists working in Ireland along with exciting, emerging artists including Alice Maher, Stephen Brandes, David Godbold, Bea McMahon and Martin Wedge.
The exhibition responds to the continuing enthusiasm for drawing, popular with the public for its directness no other medium is better able to express the creation of art as directly as drawing. Drawing can be a private activity, which can very often betray conscious or subconscious thought process. The work within the exhibition possess a resonance with the viewer as it is possible for them to see and in many ways experience how a work has been created.
The use of drawing is the only common factor that unites the work in the exhibition. Wild, violent marks and scratches, thin spidery lines, brightly coloured cartoon characters, religious icons drawn in pen and ink and simple pencil drawings bearing the lightest touch make up the work and betray just some of the styles and materials used within this fascinating and beautiful exhibition.
Arno Kramer works as a visual artist in the Netherlands and in Ireland. He has compiled various exhibitions, particularly exhibitions of drawings. In 2005 he curated Into Drawing, contemporary Dutch drawing. This show travelled to 5 European countries. He was a teacher for 20 years a teacher at the AKI Akademie voor Beeldende Kunst en Vormgeving (Academy of the Visual Arts and Design) in Enschede, the Netherlands and has been a guest teacher at art colleges in Ireland, England, Scotland and the USA. He publishes on the visual arts and also writes poetry.
His own work has been displayed in the Netherlands, Ireland, England the USA, Sweden and Germany and is in private and public collections in these countries. As of the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Twenthe Enschede, Museum de Fundatie Heino,, Van Reekum Museum Apeldoorn, Fries Museum Leeuwarden, Stedelijk Museum Schiedam and in Ireland in the Limerick City Gallery of Art Limerick and the Model Arts and Niland Gallery in Sligo.
