21 November – 16 December 2015
Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre
Silver Part 3 at Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre is the third in a series of exhibitions taking place throughout 2015 to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Backwater Artists Group.
For the exhibition at Uillinn, work by twelve of the Backwater artists has been selected for a group exhibition spanning both galleries. Selected Artists are Darn Thorn, Donna McNamara, Lorraine Cooke, Megan Eustace, Éilis Ní Fhaoláin, Fiona Kelly, Helen O ‘Keeffe, Angie Shanahan, Ben Reilly, Jo Kelly, Lorraine Neeson and Roisin Lewis.
3 November 2015 – January 2016
Backwater Artists Group, Wandesford Quay, Cork
Exhibition of Photography by 10 Backwater Artists – Opening Friday, 13th November 6pm
A lot of Artists use photography, analogue or digital , moving or still, in a primary or secondary role in their work. This is a selection of such images, taken out of the studio and left to stand on its own in a formal gallery setting.
3 October – 31st October
The Garter Lane Arts Centre in Waterford
Silver Part 2, the second of a series of exhibitions from Backwater Artists Group, to celebrate our 25th Anniversary opens on Saturday 3rd October at. The exhibition is curated by Michael Beirne and Breda Lynch and includes work from selected members of Backwater Artists Group. Participating artists are Billy Dante, Maeve Lynch, Cassandra and Megan Eustace, Johnny Bugler, Fionnuala Kelly, Brian Crotty, Darn Thorn, Tracy Fitzgerald, Angie Shanahan, Deirdre O Brien, John Kent, Jo Kelly, Roisin Lewis, Lorraine Cooke, Dominic Fee, Luke Sisk, Blessing Sanyanga, Peter Martin, Ben Reilly, Eilis Ni Fhaolain, Lorraine Neeson and Helen O Keeffe.
25 May 2015 – 21 June 2015
Backwater Artists Group Exhibition, CIT Wandesford Quay Gallery
This is the first of a series of exhibitions scheduled to take place to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Backwater Artists Group.
13 June – 5 July 2014
CIT Wandesford Quay Gallery, Cork
This show is a selection of new work from Backwater Artists Group studios.
The group is comprised of established artists working alongside young and emerging artists, a dynamic which results in a stimulating mix of ideas and experience. Displaying a wide range of disciplines , the exhibition is a testament to the Artistic talent which is alive and well in Cork City.
Open Mon to Sat , 10am to 5.30pm
Exhibition runs from June 13th to July 5th.
We Live by the River
15 June – 6 July 2013
CIT Wandesford Quay Gallery, Cork
Selected members of Backwater Artists Group collaborated on an exhibition exchange with three artists from Gedok Cologne and Cork Midsummer Festival to celebrate the 25 year twinning relationship between Cork and Cologne. The exhibition drew on themes of coming and going, specifically in relation to the river, a landmark feature which dominates both cities. Anjelika Wittek, Beate Gordes and Hiltrud Gauf exhibited in Cork during the Midsummer Festival, and selected members from Backwater Artists Group, Susanne Leutenegger, Tony Magner, Tracy Fitzgerald, Jo Kelley and Maureen Considine presented their work in Rathaus/Spanischer Bau, Cologne from 28th May – 9th June.
Beate Gordes makes video work that employs the idea of journeying and the passage of daylight. Atmospheric soundtracks add a modern, ethereal quality to the work. Angelika Wittek produces wondrous, predominantly white, installations that transform the gallery space. Found objects are often treated to a sensory transformation through this practice. Conceptual drawing is central to Hiltrud Gauf’s practice, she works in both pencil on paper creating figurative scenarios and a contrasting highly textural style making stark abstract pieces.
We Live by the River is curated by Tina Darb, a Cork based curator, writer and artist. Backwater Artists Group is an artist-run studio group, established in Cork city centre in 1990.
Backwater acknowledges the support of EU Presidency Funding from Culture Ireland for this exhibition exchange.
Ordinary Things
13 November – 7 December 2013
CIT Wandesford Quay Gallery, Cork
Brían Crotty, Jo Kelley, Lorraine Neeson, Ben Reilly
ordinary adj. & n. adj. 1. a regular, normal, customary, usual (in the ordinary course of events)
thing n. 1. An object that one need not, cannot, or does not wish to give a specific name
The use of the ordinary or recognised object, or motif, in the work of the four artists, forms a connective dialogue. Though there are differences of aim and materiality, the work connects in its use of the transformative to explore experience.
Noli Me Tangere / Touch Me Not
16 November – 1 December 2012
CIT Wandesford Quay Gallery, Cork
Noli Me Tangere, meaning, “don’t touch me” / “touch me not”, ”cease holding on to me” or “stop clinging to me” is an iconographic staple of the Christian Art cannon. Moving away from its inherent religious associations through a playful form of subversion, this exhibition aims to reposition this statement in relation to contemporary artistic practice.
Noli me tangere, when viewed through the lens of these artworks, creates an in-between state, bordering the surreal, conjuring associations of the supernatural and the otherworldly. This statement can simply be interpreted as a physical distance between viewer and subject while some works suggest a conceptual intangibility, where the viewer is faced with an ambiguity of intention. In positioning the work as either the threat or the threatened, an element of danger and vulnerability comes into play.
Social conventions and gallery etiquette obviously oppose a tactile enquiry in relation to artworks – do not touch. The sentiment however, to ‘cease holding on to me’, can be read as a playful dialogue with the viewer, insinuating an intimacy while acknowledging the limited powers of communication.
Curated by Tom Dalton and David Upton, the show features the work of 14 artists from the Backwater Artist Studio Group and a specially commissioned text piece by independent writer Claire Eleanor Healy.
Review: Noli Me Tangere Review The Irish Examiner, November 2012
BACKWATER TWENTY – 10, A Celebration Of 20 Years Of Backwater Artists Group
13 March – 10 April 2010
Crawford Art Gallery, Emmett Place, Cork
Backwater celebrated 20 years of the group in 2010. As part of these celebrations over 130 past and present members exhibited at the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork. The exhibition was curated by Stephen Brandes and Vera Ryan.
Review: Crawford_review The Irish Examiner, March 2010
We Must Follow The Circle
5 June – 10 July 2007
Triskel Arts Centre, Tobin Street, Cork
Artists: Valerie Gleeson, Sarah Iremonger, Leo Mc Cann and Maureen O’ Connor
Curated by Kitty Anderson and Gavin Delahunty
It is frequently suggested that there is a hierarchy of certain artistic practices and regions over others, and the invitation to curate an exhibition in Cork with a local organisation such as Backwater Artists Group provoked such a discussion. The work selected for this exhibition refutes such an argument and is instead guided by the artworks themselves. Presented across galleries 3 & 6 at Triskel ‘We Must Follow the Circle’ is an attempt to represent and interpret the diverse activity at Backwater Artists Group: a non-commercial community, a meeting place a place to exchange ideas. Although the painting, photography, sculpture, and video presented in this exhibition have been produced in relative isolation, a common thread will lead the viewer through them all.
Central to the exhibition will be its structural and lighting design in partnership with artist/architect Essicka Kimberly
