COLOURFUL ART ON LONGEST DAY
‘THE TURNING OF THE SUN’ EXHIBITION IS NOW OPEN IN BUNCLODY, SHOWING THE WORK OF WEXFORD AND CARLOW’S BEST ARTISTS,
ON THE LONGEST DAY of the year, the Artbank Gallery in Bunclody was over-run by a large contingent of art fans who turned up for the opening of ‘ The Turning of the Sun’, an exhibition featuring the work of professional artists from Wexford and Carlow which will run at the not-for-profit community venue until July 20.
The two-county, 50-piece exhibition of paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints and stained glass on the theme of the summer solstice was officially opened by Denis Collins of the Denis Collins Gallery and Padraig Grant Photographic studio in Rowe Street, Wexford.
‘It was a lovely sunny evening and you’d think that with the weather and soccer matches on, there might have been a small crowd but it was jampacked. They were out the door and standing on the street. It was a fantastic turnout,’ said Denis, who remarked how interesting it was to see how 27 different artists responded to the theme.
The result made for a very colourful exhibition which wasn’t surprising given the sun theme, he said, making special mention of the work of Ann Duggan, Mary Wallace, Marja van Kampen and Elwira Bernaciak in that regard.
He commended the organisers Dick Donaghue, Jon King, John Renwick and Marja van Kampen and offered congratulations to Artbank which will celebrate its first anniversary on forthcoming Culture Night in September.
The gallery, worskhop and craftshop space is a self-funding initiative located in the old AIB bank building on Main Street, Bunclody, and run on a voluntary basis by artists to foster and encourage artistic endeavour and creativity in the community. It recently received grant aid from Wexford County Council to hold art workshops.
Artbank opens to the public from Tuesday to Saturday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. each day. A craft shop is now open in the branch manager’s office.