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Full issue here.

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Full issue -HERE-

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Michael FitzGerald is Moulting

I'm excited about this show. It's by my good friend Mike (who received a nomination for the distinguished NCAD staff prize graduate show last year - you may recognize it). This is his first solo show. Generally I only befriend highly intelligent and confident people, you'll probably recognise these personality traits within his art work. We're lucky his body of work is ready on time at all. For the last three weeks he has been willing each piece to dry with masses of heaters in a large cold warehouse space. I've only just found out that he has also recorded a sound piece, him singing which will be piped out of a showeresque 'gas-chamberish spout'. Let him work yo into a lather with a voice I have heard hold some fierce Irish ballads at the end of many late nights. Realistically one to watch and perheps invest in.

Salon D'Exploration

Having been shown a photo preview of the work in this collaborative exhibitioin I can say it features pieces really utilising the idea of working with the characters and features of the building, some work literally creeping from the walls. All are by recent NCAD or DIT graduates. Nollaig Molloy's 'seems to, so' upholds the sense of object disruption she often creates and also relates to the history of the Back Loft. Amanda Doran, the celebrated Saatchi New Sensation shortlist, stays on top form with Adams Family portraits, kid you not. There's a general eerieness to be got from the work, actually, that asks 'What abnormalities am I looking at?' Aisling NiChlaonadh's paintings stare out hauntingly and a collaborative piece by artist Ruth Kerr and PhD physician Eamonn Kennedy looks like molton gold but is in fact an image of cancer cells.

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NCAD Grad Shows 

There is a kaleidoscopic array of works from this year’s NCAD graduates. As usual, the exhibition runs the gamut and features everything fromsteampunk-inspired metalwork to a set of Dublin Tarot Cards aptly entitled, C’mere Til I Tell Ya. Don't forget to walk towards St John's Lane which currently contains the Fine Art Media student's degree show. The first piece you'll come across is Jump by Hannah Moon. Little known fact - her pool was developed with the help of the same water design team who created Jedward'sEurovision fountain. I also recommend YvonneReynold's fascinating and shockingly real money display, Louise Kavanagh's gorgeous rows of layered wire forms, Katie Lilga Mooney Shepard's serene photo installation and Sarah Devereux's search for a sugar daddy, which ended up onBroadsheet. 

(This piece is a mix of a piece by Amy O'Connor and myslef.)

NCAD MFA show 

I really liked loads of this show, and it was fun to be in the Steambox building. Very EarlsfortTerrace-y. I believe it too was a school, there were aged crucifixes lying about the smoking area cleared out from the rooms. Two of myfavourite works were both video pieces. You'll understand more my particular attraction to them both when I tell you I was quite hungoverthe day I looked around. One was of a lady snaking her yoga body meditatively back and forth in sync with an image of her, the other was HUGE, of feet being massaged. Both were by Tanya O'Keeffe. Look out too for a subtle FrankWasser (who also has work in the NCAD gallery's Recent Graduates show, Work Head) and the first piece up the stairs, Paul O'Neill's, also exciting. Watch it from the start to the finish and feel intensely pumped. 

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Borza's

Seeking an opportune spot to exhibit yourself and your superior style? On the increasingly cosmopolitan Thomas Street what appears to be a glass cube filled with funky chairs has popped open. Yet this is no mere pop-up store. This is in fact a traditional Borzas chip shop. So don't be a rude hipster and stand there staring at it. Go inside, become a chipster. Order a bag of salty, chunky crisps with a juicy burger or luscious onion rings. Wear your most striking attire, sit yourself down and wait for your order to arrive. There are televisions to entertain you, but there are also the tremendous glass windows from whch to watch people. Study the silhouettes that flash by. Be casual. Bring a date along and charm them into a walk along the quays. Or, alternatively, bring your laptop as there’s free WiFi. NCAD students get 10% off.

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NCAD shows

Looking for proof that people are open to approaching things in a fresh and, more importantly, creative manner? Check out this trio of NCAD shows, dotted around the city. The MA Interim exhibition on Francis St. occupies four spaces which the students approached; two antique shops, an old restaurant and an empty store. "Half the work is how to respond to a space that isn’t a traditional white cube," says Frank Wasser, an MA student who is also co-curating Moxie Studio's show, Applause, of nearly fifty 3rd year Paint and Sculpture undergrads. Basic Space, a massive warehouse at the back of Vicar St. recently given to students for use, has allowed NCADers to think in a much larger way about their work. It's used also for exhibitions and Threads, an NCAD based collaborative group, will be showing on Wednesday. It feels exciting.

 

Shiva Linga Paintings

Shiva is male creative energy. Linga symbolises him. Sculpturally he is expressed like a phallus, but these paintings show Shiva unborn as ovals and are serene. Which they should be, each was made in northwest India for domestic meditation. Depicting not just a God but a history of worship and tradition, even entirely out of context in a gallery space they retain a contemplative aura. Shiva appeared in visual form over 5000 years ago, possibly the longest evolution of an image. A large sheet boasts The Thousand Names of Shiva. Among these are some real gems including Emitter of all Fragrance and Delight, The one with Dreadlocks, Drawing his Semen up (the Central Channel), Spiritually Intoxicated, Fond of Limbs, With Lips Suspended as Space and Earth, Best of the Best of All Gods, and Having a Great Collarbone. Sounds like my kind of guy.

 

Garvan Gallagher - Wearing Purple

These photographs delighted me. Part of the Bealtaine festival, the portraits are of folk from the artist's home town of Donegal. Growing up they blended casually into the village but now, they stand out as Senior Citizens. Gallagher gave over a large amount of control to them with each portrait taken by the subject themselves, though within the artist's specifications. He gives a sweet anecdote of his old accordion teacher dressing up in honour of the sitting. Each sitter was given a disposable camera to record their life. A car park outside Lidl appears, as do fields, sheep and garden walls. And there's Kathleen McGinley in her kitchen! I appreciated that though these elders are the postman, teachers and not artists themselves, the images captured are mostly considered, well framed shots, recorded with care.

See full issue - HERE - 

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Oops!...I did it Again

If you hang around the seminar room at the top floor of the granery building in NCAD, you'll hear classic pop songs being thrilled. This is Anthony Keigher's latest performance. But whereas his previous performances have generally put himself centre stage and the audience at his mercy, this time it's one on one, just you and him. The idea is 'positive failure'. He will be using clips of vocals and visuals from each performer on a later completed piece. Keigher is flirting with the massive potential Karaoke has to fail. Go along and destroy yourself and the songs he's chosen. 'It could be good but it's not and I'd never let you go so far that it would be good. I wouldn't show you if you're actually good at karaoke' he promises, 'or maybe you will be. It's intuitive.' Book yourself in whenever it suits. Come Up, Sign Up, Sing Up.

ON/OFF

I think Donal Dineen is one of those people that genuinely loves music and wants - in a very honest way - for other musicians to flaunt their sounds and let people hear creative music. Last summer at EP, I figured I'd chill the first day and just wander around enjoying things I liked. At the main stage in Body and Soul that night I stopped to watch this incredible band. Not just banging out these great beats but creating an amazing atmosphere for the whole crowd. It was of course Donal Dineen playing with his band made up from the talented artists he is surrounded by. ON/OFF is the first off-site show by The Joinery. Most of the musicians are playing because of their association with Dineen. He's a collaborator, a true lover of music. Halves, Spilly Walker, Katie Kim, Niwell Tsumbu and Meljoann join him.

Garry O'Neill -Subculturalist Garry O'Neill has collected photographs of Dublin youth scenes from the last half century. le cool chatted to him in his apartment, surrounded by shelves of vinyls and books on subculture.

I got a few good photos, then I got a lot of good photos. Some told you more about certain scenes than three or four pages of text could.

Punk became very uniform. You could buy your outfit in the shop, spike your hair, have a mohawk. The early guys were still wearing flares and cuban heels, but they'd have a few badges, pins and maybe a tie or crucifix in their ear.

There's one wonderful story of Johnny Eagle, who owns that tattoo shop on Eden quay, he took the old Irish FCA green uniform, dyed it navy, bought all these old buttons and badges from Dandelion and basically turned it into an SS German uniform. He had a bus conductors hat and Sergeant Pepper boots. There's a picture of him with some punk girls I'd love to have.

Garry's pics will be gathered into a book (and a documentary) which you can help fund:it. Read full interview HERE.


Full issue - HERE - scroll all the way across to get reach the interview.