WAR Frances Crowe Joseph Cunniffe Noel Molloy
Anne Rigney Honor Fitzgerald Dympna Molloy
Working Artists Roscommon (WAR) present a series of new works in installation, sculpture & performance by the group’s six founding members. The exhibition will be officially opened by Maurice Buckley, Chairperson OPW I Friday 9th August 2019 at 6pm I All Welcome Exhibition continues during Roscommon Arts Centre’s opening hours until Saturday 5th October
Exhibition Events: Noel Molloy will give two performances as part of this exhibition GOING HOME: considers home, homelessness, powerlessness and what that involves Friday 16th August 4pm All Welcome WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? Considers celebrity and questions its meaning and impact Friday 20th September 4pm All Welcome
WAR Frances Crowe Joseph Cunniffe Noel Molloy Anne Rigney Honor Fitzgerald Dympna Molloy This exhibition has been selected as the Percent for Art project to mark the opening of the new extension at Roscommon Arts Centre. The build project was funded by Roscommon Council Council and part-funded by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. WAR is part of Roscommon Arts Centre’s 8 degrees West Programme, celebrating the contributions made by Roscommon born artists.
Press Release
Working Artists Roscommon (WAR) are delighted to announce their upcoming exhibition in the new gallery space in Roscommon Arts Centre. As part of 8degrees West celebration.
They are a group of six visual artists, working in diverse media, varying from painting, mixed media, collage, ceramics, wood sculpture, found objects, stone, bronze, fibre art, and performance.
Working Artists Roscommon have been together since 1990. Their aim was to create a greater awareness of contemporary art in Roscommon and to help each other feel less isolated as artists living in rural Ireland. They also wished to create spaces for their work to be exhibited and find studio space in which to work.
To this end they were successful in acquiring studio space at Edenvale House with the help of Roscommon County Council. WAR were also instrumental in receiving initial funding from the Arts Council which was used to establish Roscommon Arts Centre. This was their original hope and dream. To have an art Gallery and Arts Centre in Roscommon. This exhibition in the new Gallery space is in a sense, a dream come true for the members of WAR. Since their formation twenty nine years ago, WAR have exhibited both nationally and internationally including Germany, Poland, Scotland, USA, Canada and China, within their own individual practises and as a group. The exhibition will be officially opened by Mr. Maurice Buckley, Executive Chairman of the Office of Public Works. Maurice's connection with Roscommon and Working Artists goes back to his company System Label. When in the 1990's Maurice assisted WAR in their German Exhibition by transporting artwork to and from Germany. He and System Label also took part in the innovative "Artist @ Work" project run by Roscommon Arts Office, and has been a staunch supporter of the art in Roscommon.
The exhibition will be an eclectic mix of paintings, oil, acrylic, water colours by Honor Fitzgerald and Anne Rigney. A series of wall and free standing works of found object by Noel Molloy. Wood sculpture by Joe Cunniffe, bronze sculpture and installation by Dympna Molloy and a series of wall and free standing fibre work installations by Frances Crowe.
Noel Molloy will also create two performance pieces titled "Going Home" 16th August at 4pm and "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" 20th September at 4 pm (Culture Night) all events are free.
Frances Crowe: My most recent body of work explores the movement of people around the globe, due to famine, war, ethnic cleansing, persecution or natural disaster. From the famine victims forced to leave their land in 1847 to the present day refugees seeking asylum in this country. Their tales are interwoven into our own past, present and future. Weaving together the experiences of different nationalities, the narrative is the same, and history repeats itself. For this exhibition I have used transparent and recycled materials in the creation of a free standing installation and 4 wall mounted pieces telling the story of “The Disappeared”.
Joseph Cunniffe: I like to draw my inspiration from the surrounding countryside which I find rich with creative possibilities, working mainly in wood and other organic material in local forests, bogs and hedgerows. I surround myself with as much wood as possible and search each piece to see if any image will emerge, a bird, animal, human being or just an abstract idea. I try ot hold on to the first image that comes but invariably it will be modified and changed many times in the process of making the sculpture as it takes on a life of its own. I draw a lot to help clarify my ideas but these are seldom used as I like to allow the natural texture and grain of the wood dictate subject and design. Having a clear idea of wood is vital to the sculptor. Being an art of subtraction, it is not unusual for the image to disappear with the last blow of the mallet.
Honor Fitzgerald: My work is about my life both visual and emotional. It is informed by my daily practise of drawing, a medium of spontaneity and creativity. Line expresses the transitory nature of an idea and is the principal force, colour is instinctive. For this exhibition I have used oil on canvas, one medium of many I like to use. Material and form together make the piece. Creativity is where I find comfort, it allows me the freedom to express my ideas using a range of styles and materials. Point of view is the general theme of these paintings.
Dympna Molloy: My work for this exhibition had been long in the making. I observe not really noticing, or so I think. I write down these observations as poems. They relate to my feelings as a woman. How women are manipulated by culture, media, religion, family and each other. How women are "supposed" to be perceived. The work has a general title "Woman" and has developed from using materials I feel appropriate to portray what I want to say to bronze casting
Noel Molloy: Nucleus Requiem found object sculpture Nucleus (pl: nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to: Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom. Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA. This organelle has two major functions: it stores the cell's hereditary material, or DNA, and it coordinates the cell's activities, which include growth, intermediary metabolism, protein synthesis, and reproduction (cell division). Only the cells of advanced organisms, known as eukaryotes, have a nucleus. We change, the world changes, culture changes, families change, we constantly evolve, we destroy, we suffer the consequences, we fight, we kill, and we die.
Anne Rigney: I am from Westmeath but have lived and worked in Roscommon for over thirty years. I am primarily a painter but I use mixed media and collage elements in my work which is mostly abstract. The work for this exhibition is called “Heartlines” It is a reflection of my inner landscape, the joys and sorrows of life, living and loving. In a heartbeat things change, someone gets ill or dies. All changes, but life goes on. The heart continues to beat…….How does the heart feel when it is weeping? Heartlines, connections, family, friends, parents children, mother, father, brother sister son daughter, love, lovers, secrets, heartache, heartbreak, death, Grief, sadness, joy, laughter, tears, birth, sickness, old age, death, community, empty nest, grandchildren, joy, pets, beloved. Mother, father, daughter, sister brother, life, healing, stitching, memories, remembered. Light dark. Colour. What would my heart say “Be gentle with yourself and others”
Performance 16th August 4pm GOING HOME Considers home, homelessness, power and powerlessness and what that involves.
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? 20TH September 4pm Culture Night Considers celebrity and questions its meaning and impact. This performance is part of Roscommon Arts Centre’s Culture Night programme. Noel Molloy 2019
Anne Rigney Honor Fitzgerald Dympna Molloy
Working Artists Roscommon (WAR) present a series of new works in installation, sculpture & performance by the group’s six founding members. The exhibition will be officially opened by Maurice Buckley, Chairperson OPW I Friday 9th August 2019 at 6pm I All Welcome Exhibition continues during Roscommon Arts Centre’s opening hours until Saturday 5th October
Exhibition Events: Noel Molloy will give two performances as part of this exhibition GOING HOME: considers home, homelessness, powerlessness and what that involves Friday 16th August 4pm All Welcome WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? Considers celebrity and questions its meaning and impact Friday 20th September 4pm All Welcome
WAR Frances Crowe Joseph Cunniffe Noel Molloy Anne Rigney Honor Fitzgerald Dympna Molloy This exhibition has been selected as the Percent for Art project to mark the opening of the new extension at Roscommon Arts Centre. The build project was funded by Roscommon Council Council and part-funded by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. WAR is part of Roscommon Arts Centre’s 8 degrees West Programme, celebrating the contributions made by Roscommon born artists.
Press Release
Working Artists Roscommon (WAR) are delighted to announce their upcoming exhibition in the new gallery space in Roscommon Arts Centre. As part of 8degrees West celebration.
They are a group of six visual artists, working in diverse media, varying from painting, mixed media, collage, ceramics, wood sculpture, found objects, stone, bronze, fibre art, and performance.
Working Artists Roscommon have been together since 1990. Their aim was to create a greater awareness of contemporary art in Roscommon and to help each other feel less isolated as artists living in rural Ireland. They also wished to create spaces for their work to be exhibited and find studio space in which to work.
To this end they were successful in acquiring studio space at Edenvale House with the help of Roscommon County Council. WAR were also instrumental in receiving initial funding from the Arts Council which was used to establish Roscommon Arts Centre. This was their original hope and dream. To have an art Gallery and Arts Centre in Roscommon. This exhibition in the new Gallery space is in a sense, a dream come true for the members of WAR. Since their formation twenty nine years ago, WAR have exhibited both nationally and internationally including Germany, Poland, Scotland, USA, Canada and China, within their own individual practises and as a group. The exhibition will be officially opened by Mr. Maurice Buckley, Executive Chairman of the Office of Public Works. Maurice's connection with Roscommon and Working Artists goes back to his company System Label. When in the 1990's Maurice assisted WAR in their German Exhibition by transporting artwork to and from Germany. He and System Label also took part in the innovative "Artist @ Work" project run by Roscommon Arts Office, and has been a staunch supporter of the art in Roscommon.
The exhibition will be an eclectic mix of paintings, oil, acrylic, water colours by Honor Fitzgerald and Anne Rigney. A series of wall and free standing works of found object by Noel Molloy. Wood sculpture by Joe Cunniffe, bronze sculpture and installation by Dympna Molloy and a series of wall and free standing fibre work installations by Frances Crowe.
Noel Molloy will also create two performance pieces titled "Going Home" 16th August at 4pm and "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" 20th September at 4 pm (Culture Night) all events are free.
Frances Crowe: My most recent body of work explores the movement of people around the globe, due to famine, war, ethnic cleansing, persecution or natural disaster. From the famine victims forced to leave their land in 1847 to the present day refugees seeking asylum in this country. Their tales are interwoven into our own past, present and future. Weaving together the experiences of different nationalities, the narrative is the same, and history repeats itself. For this exhibition I have used transparent and recycled materials in the creation of a free standing installation and 4 wall mounted pieces telling the story of “The Disappeared”.
Joseph Cunniffe: I like to draw my inspiration from the surrounding countryside which I find rich with creative possibilities, working mainly in wood and other organic material in local forests, bogs and hedgerows. I surround myself with as much wood as possible and search each piece to see if any image will emerge, a bird, animal, human being or just an abstract idea. I try ot hold on to the first image that comes but invariably it will be modified and changed many times in the process of making the sculpture as it takes on a life of its own. I draw a lot to help clarify my ideas but these are seldom used as I like to allow the natural texture and grain of the wood dictate subject and design. Having a clear idea of wood is vital to the sculptor. Being an art of subtraction, it is not unusual for the image to disappear with the last blow of the mallet.
Honor Fitzgerald: My work is about my life both visual and emotional. It is informed by my daily practise of drawing, a medium of spontaneity and creativity. Line expresses the transitory nature of an idea and is the principal force, colour is instinctive. For this exhibition I have used oil on canvas, one medium of many I like to use. Material and form together make the piece. Creativity is where I find comfort, it allows me the freedom to express my ideas using a range of styles and materials. Point of view is the general theme of these paintings.
Dympna Molloy: My work for this exhibition had been long in the making. I observe not really noticing, or so I think. I write down these observations as poems. They relate to my feelings as a woman. How women are manipulated by culture, media, religion, family and each other. How women are "supposed" to be perceived. The work has a general title "Woman" and has developed from using materials I feel appropriate to portray what I want to say to bronze casting
Noel Molloy: Nucleus Requiem found object sculpture Nucleus (pl: nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to: Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom. Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA. This organelle has two major functions: it stores the cell's hereditary material, or DNA, and it coordinates the cell's activities, which include growth, intermediary metabolism, protein synthesis, and reproduction (cell division). Only the cells of advanced organisms, known as eukaryotes, have a nucleus. We change, the world changes, culture changes, families change, we constantly evolve, we destroy, we suffer the consequences, we fight, we kill, and we die.
Anne Rigney: I am from Westmeath but have lived and worked in Roscommon for over thirty years. I am primarily a painter but I use mixed media and collage elements in my work which is mostly abstract. The work for this exhibition is called “Heartlines” It is a reflection of my inner landscape, the joys and sorrows of life, living and loving. In a heartbeat things change, someone gets ill or dies. All changes, but life goes on. The heart continues to beat…….How does the heart feel when it is weeping? Heartlines, connections, family, friends, parents children, mother, father, brother sister son daughter, love, lovers, secrets, heartache, heartbreak, death, Grief, sadness, joy, laughter, tears, birth, sickness, old age, death, community, empty nest, grandchildren, joy, pets, beloved. Mother, father, daughter, sister brother, life, healing, stitching, memories, remembered. Light dark. Colour. What would my heart say “Be gentle with yourself and others”
Performance 16th August 4pm GOING HOME Considers home, homelessness, power and powerlessness and what that involves.
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? 20TH September 4pm Culture Night Considers celebrity and questions its meaning and impact. This performance is part of Roscommon Arts Centre’s Culture Night programme. Noel Molloy 2019