This exhibition features paintings made in the West of Ireland by artists, father and daughter, Diarmuid O’Ceallacháin (1915 – 1993) and Noël O´Callaghan. The works in the show are mainly in oil and span a period of 77 years and chart the changing and unchanging aspects of this part of the world. It will be opened on the 6th June 2014 at 8pm by Dr. Eimear O´Connor.
Diarmuid O’Ceallacháin
Diarmuid O’Ceallacháin who was a full-time teacher of painting at the Crawford Art School from 1940 to 1970 has been hailed as “Cork´s finest 20th century painter”. He studied at the Metropolitan school of Art where he was taught by Seán Keating and Maurice MacGonigal. He won a number of awards including The Taylor Scholarship (1938) and The Taylor Prize (1939) and a Diploma and medal from the Académie Française for drawings exhibited in Paris in 1958. From 1937 he began to make painting trips to the West of Ireland where he visited Charles Lamb in his studio in Carraroe and stayed with Muiris Ó Suillabháin while studying Irish. He travelled widely and painted in many countries, however he continued to return to paint the West of Ireland throughout his life.
Noël O´Callaghan
Noël O´Callaghan graduated from UCC with a degree in English and History. She worked as a professional actor and in the mid 1980´s moved to Berlin. There she worked in theatre, music and painting. She has exhibited widely and her work is in private and public collections. In 2005 she was awarded her present studio by the Berlin Department of Culture. From an early age she spent childhood summers in Connemara and remembers, even then, being struck by the stark difference between this part of Ireland and the south. She began returning there to paint during the 90s to experience the similarities and differences between the scenes of her father´s day and the present. There are still turf-stacks, but these are now often covered in blue plastic. New machinery and cutting methods are evident. Old fridges and abandoned cars lie embedded in the landscape. Fir plantations serrate the edges of bogs. Wind turbines grace the horizon. The skies are scored by jet trails. The rich muted colours, however, and the ever-changing weather remain the same.