A quirky exhibition featuring Kerry artists is on display in Cork city
LE Salon du Kerry is a new exhibition consisting of works from a group of talented artists selected from both County Kerry and from the print collection of the Grilse Gallery.
The exhibition is presented by Crane Visual and on display in the Musgrave Theatre at the Firkin Crane until Thursday, February 22.
The quirky exhibition features 33 artworks from 18 artists that first got together at the Grilse Gallery in late 2023.
The featured artists include Darragh Kinch, Silke Michels, Dorota Borowa, Úna Ni Shé, Rochelle Lucey, Deirdre McKenna, Zoë Uí Fhaoláin Green, Jacqueline O’Driscoll, Ciara O’Connor, Cathy Giles, Karen Hendy, Alan Raggett, Niall Naessens, Lucy and Robert Carter, Cormac Boydell, Rachel Parry, Charles Tyrrell and Lisa Fingleton.
“Having attended the VAI / Kerry Arts Office Get Together in Killorglin I was left with the feeling that there were enough artists in the room and enough manifest good-will to produce an exhibition in the short-term,” said curator Dermot Browne.
“This is a conscious effort to work against the stream in terms of the expectations around both meeting curators and planning exhibitions. The thought was, what might happen if we didn’t take 2 - 3 years to plan and strategize an exhibition, but instead trusted in the moment and created a context for the ‘artistic flow’ that acknowledged that moment in time,” he added.
The reasoning behind using the Firkin Crane as the location for the exhibition had been described as echoing the long established historical pattern of transporting butter up from Kerry to the butter market in Shandon, which is situated next to the Firkin Crane.
The exhibition is in association with the Grilse Gallery, based in Killorglin that primarily exhibits contemporary prints and drawings, as well as photographic and digital media, moving image and sound works.
The exhibition includes a range of artworks and finishes including still life oil on birch wood, screenprints on archival paper, oils on linen, wool felt drawings, embroidery and hand stitch on vintage napkin and charcoal to name a few.