Our recent art exploration day to Sligo included a visit to The Model. First, we viewed Emma Talbot’s exhibition The Age / L’Età. This is an amazing exhibition which is inspired by Gustav Klimt’s painting Three Ages of Woman, 1905. Through the various art forms on display, including animation, free-hanging painted silk panels, 3D work and drawings, Emma explores the themes of ageing, power and nature. The theme of nature is particularly strong as Emma wants us to look at our relationship with nature and show a greater appreciation for it in order to survive.
After exploring Emma’s work, we moved onto viewing Assembled Memories which is an exhibition based on the work of Jack B Yeats. We enjoyed viewing all of the artwork which formed part of this exhibition, including Mountain Widow, Singing the Minstrel Boy, Entertainment on the Barge, Communicating with Prisoners, An Island Funeral, White Shower, Sailor home from the Sea and Johnny Patterson singing ‘Bridget Donoghue’ (The Singing Clown).
Next up for viewing was Her Back to the World which is based on artwork completed by Irish women artists over 100 years. This was a very interesting exhibition and included artwork by: Stella Frost – Red Earth (watercolour), Estella Solomons – Portrait of a Woman (oil on canvas), Alice Maher – Thicket (mixed media on paper), Mary Swanzy – Portrait of a Woman (oil on canvas), Mainie Jellett – The Assumption & Abstract (gouache), Clare Langan – Triptych (photographs on board), Caroline Scally – Going to the Town (oil on canvas), Constance Gore-Booth – Untitled (Holloway Jail), 1919 (watercolour and pencil on paper), Mary Kelly – Asylum (photograph), Norah McGuinness – Les Bigoudenes (oil on board), Rita Duffy – Belfast Pieta (oil and charcoal on wax paper), Dorothy Cross – Below the Falls (photographs/painted glass) & Figures and Screens (etching & drawing on paper); Mary Cottenham Yeats – Portrait of Susan Mitchell (Watercolour), Anne Yeats – View from the Train (lithograph on paper), Mary Duncan – Stephen and Mary McKenna at Seaview Terrace (oil on canvas), Evie Hone – Composition (Gouache), Janet Mullarney – My Mind is Frazzled (wood and mixed media), Frances Beckett – Portrait of Estella Solomons (oil on canvas) and Maud Cotter – Breath (wax and pvc). We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to The Model and we learned so much about so many different artists and the various art forms. Art really is amazing!
