News

17 September 2024

On Tuesday 17 September, VAI in conjunction with DLR Arts Office held a meeting with curators to which Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown-based artists were invited. Four curators from different backgrounds and with different approaches first gave a short bio and then joined small groups of artists for a 20-minute or so discussion, after which they rotated from table to table. It was an extremely informative event, and some of the key points are summarized in this document, What is a curator?.

15 September 2024

The Russborough Car Boot Art Fair took place on Sunday 15 September 2024. After a rather discouraging start of constant drizzle from 8 o’clock (set-up time) to around 11 o'clock (opening time), the fair was as enjoyable as ever. Having learned from previous experience, we had brought a lot more small works, and a lot fewer larger framed pieces, and both resulted in sales. But equally satisfying were the conversations with visitors and other artists and the sense of interest in and appreciation of the creative process, all of which made it a most encouraging and energizing experience.

August 2024

It's that time of the year again - the Russborough Car Boot Art Fair will take place on Sunday 15 September 2024, and GRID Collective is delighted to be returning after a most enjoyable first outing last year. We have been creating a new body of affordable art especially for this event and hope to see old friends and new in the grounds of Russborough House very soon.

January 2024

GRID Collective is pleased to be participating in the Brigid 1500 celebrations taking place in Kildare during January and February 2024 during which our collaborative 3D work, Triquetra, will be on view in an art trail organized by Sult Artist-led Collective.

Triquetra’s three-dimensional form embodies Brigid the saint, Brigid the goddess, Brigid the human being. A collaborative work, it emerged from a ‘mood board’ which included her cloak, her decanonisation in 1969, the withered foot legend, and Brigid’s tomb, providing us with wide-ranging material to explore what she represents for us individually, collectively, and as Irish women. Using three casts of Brigid from a 15th century panel in New Abbey, Co. Kildare, we first worked separately, then brought the modified casts together into a single piece. Triquetra is our acknowledgement of Brigid’s ability to reflect the many aspects of the feminine.

The press release from Sult explains:

In January and February 2024, Kildare Town will transform into an open air art gallery, when more than 20 local businesses will exhibit 60 works of international and national art in their windows as part of the Brigid 1500 celebrations in 2024. This uniquely accessible art exhibition titled “Unravelling an Icon, Celebrating and Remembering Brigid and her Legacy,” is organised by Sult Artist-led Collective based in Kildare, to reflect the traditions, customs and symbols associated with Brigid’s legacy, to mark the 1500th anniversary of the death of Brigid in February 2024. Following an international open call in May this year, 215 pieces of art were submitted by artists from all over the world including England, Wales, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Ethiopia, Australia, Japan, Canada, USA and New Zealand as well as from across Ireland.

“The huge number of entries blew us away - it really shows the international reach of Brigid. Our team at Sult had the difficult task of shortlisting the entries down to 50. Fortunately we had invaluable help from a member of Co. Kildare Arts Service as well as a curator from IMMA. The exhibition will also include works by our Sult Collective members. The idea behind the exhibition is to make art as accessible as possible and create more opportunities for people to interact with art. We hope the local community and visitors to the town will really enjoy the artworks and learn more about Brigid and her messages of inclusivity, generosity and the power of women,” said Pamela de Brí, Sult Artist Collective member. The exhibition will include paintings, ceramics, photography, film, sculpture, animation, printmaking, stitching, felting, weaving, digital art, stained glass, drawing, embroidery, mosaic, mixed media, batik and textile works.

The exhibition art trail, “Unravelling an Icon, Celebrating and Remembering Brigid and her Legacy,” will be accompanied by a high-quality, limited-edition catalogue of the selected artworks and this will be available during the celebrations to mark Brigid’s anniversary. In addition, the local children from Ballyshannon National School and Kildare Town Educate Together are currently working with Sult Artist, Liza Kavanagh, on their interpretation of Brigid and their work will be displayed on a monitor in Southwells in Kildare Town.

Ann McKenna, Sult Artist Collective member, said: ‘Brigid has always been a unifying force and this exhibition art trail will bring businesses, the local community, national and international artists together to celebrate and mark Brigid 1500. “The artworks will be displayed in windows to be seen from the outside and will be illuminated in the evening, so people can view the work at all times even when the businesses are closed. “The unique art exhibition will give visitors and locals to Kildare Town an opportunity to enjoy the diverse range of work from all over the world that have been created to celebrate Brigid.” There will be a guide map of the exhibits available to direct visitors to each shop window exhibit. The free Brigid 1500 Art Trail in Kildare Town will be launched at 4.00p.m. on Saturday 27th January and will run from 28th January – 18th February 2024.

This project is supported by Brigid 1500 and Kildare Co Council.

News posts 2023

Our exhibition, A Geometric Progression, in Tallaght University Hospital, closed at the end of May 2023. The exhibition, consisting 40 works, was curated by Alison Baker Kerrigan, Arts Officer at Tallaght University Hospital, and kindly supported by the Meath Foundation.

Illustrating the evolution of GRID Collective over the past six years, A Geometric Progression included new works, as well as several pieces demonstrating our ethos of collaborative process. Holding the exhibition in a hospital environment demands awareness of the specificity of certain locations and so requires different ways of presenting; Alison Baker Kerrigan’s curation of the 40 pieces on view gave us the opportunity to see these with a fresh, and often revealing, perspective. This in turns allowed for new interpretations and renewed consideration of GRID Collective’s approach. As Baker Kerrigan describes it, A Geometric Progression“ openly [invites] the viewer into a visual conversation as the artists explore the push and pull between formality and randomness”.

The feedback from the exhibition was overwhelmingly positive. Alison Baker Kerrigan very kindly passed on some of the comments she received.

Patients:

'I walk the corridor in the evening to keep myself busy and get some steps in. The artworks help lift my mood and give me something pleasant to focus on.'

'Very interesting exhibition and a pleasure to view while I am in Hospital, I wish more Hospitals did something like this, it's fantastic.'

'Personally I love the Conversation pieces, the artists put together in a grid format - so much variety to see and to try to understand.'

Staff:

'I see something new every time I walk by.'

'My favourite artwork is 'To Infinity and Beyond' it captures such hope, something we all need.'

'This show is full of rich textures, vibrant colour and eye catching images.'

'Beautiful artworks, so diverse. Every board is a new conversation.'

Hospital artist:

'I really enjoyed seeing the mixture of colour, texture and the interesting inclusion of 3D elements.'

Finally, some kind words from Martina Larkin, CEO of the Meath Foundation.

"It was such an privilege to meet with Fifi, Helen and Mary and to hear how their experiences shape not only their own art but also impact on each other. It was such a wonderful opportunity to hear how each of the artists’ lives had shaped their artistic expression. I hadn’t realised, until speaking to the artists, how much they promote the creativity of the older professional artist and was hugely impressed in their advocacy towards increasing the representation and support of their peers. I felt such joy hearing how much the artists appreciated each individual’s interpretation of their art and it inspired me to keep looking differently at the art around the hospital and beyond. They inspired me to honour my own interpretation."