'Trust' - Curated by Mark Cullen - October 1st - 30th

Trust

Maeve Curtis, Kate Molloy and Beth O' Halloran
Curated by Mark Cullen

The Niland Gallery

October 1^st - 30^th

Opening Reception: Friday 30^th of September 6 – 8pm.

Mark Cullen was invited by Engage Studios to curate a show in The Niland Gallery following some form of interaction  with the artists of Engage Studios.

The idea of trust comes from a belief in artists being able to rise to the challenge of exhibiting their own work without excessive curatorial mediation, and in an understanding that the 'exhibition' presents a valuable opportunity for artists, entrusted by the gallery, to explore their work in the public realm. It is a trust in the artists vision of their own work. Following an invitation from Engage Cullen invited these three artists to take on the three rooms of the Niland Gallery, a room each per artist. Manifold manifestations of trust will permeate the hang as the different circumstances of each artist effects how their work can be installed; Maeve Curtis will have her work installed in absentia as she passes the mantle of trust over to a colleague, Kate Molloy will have her first opportunity to explore her working constellations in a gallery show since graduating in 2011, and Beth O Halloran has entursted the curator to hang her work following consultations at her studio.

Beth O’Halloran’s practice of late has been multi-disciplinary combining painting and photography with site-specific installations. Her interests lie in asking questions about transitional states and the blurred borders between changing conditions which can manifest physically or metaphysically. She has exhibited predominantly in Ireland and the U.S. but also Japan and the U.K. Recent exhibitions include her first museum based show at the Olin Museum of Art, Maine. She received her master’s degree at IADT, and her BA from NCAD and the Glasgow School of Art.

Kate Molloy is a member of Engage Studios and a graduate of GMIT. Her work is a combination of abstract paintings and drawings based on endless elements of the everyday with the main focus of the work is in its placement, how it may create a conversation amongst the pieces. In a way posing the question can paintings or drawings influence each other by considering the way they have been arranged together?

Maeve Curtis poses questions about our ubiquitous use of imaging technology - Why have we become so trusting of imaging technology? Is our faith in machines changing how we see ourselves as individuals?  Are we possibly at the start of the long anticipated endgame of the individual where machines will no longer have faith in us? She graduated from NUI, Galway with a First Class Honours Degree in 2007. She has been the recipient of many awards and is currently exhibiting work in the prestigious Threadneedle Prize Exhibition, in the Mall Galleries, London.

Mark Cullen is an artist and founder/director of Pallas Projects/Studios.

The Niland Gallery is an Engage Art Studios project and is made possible by the generous support of the Niland family and the Arts Council. The Niland Gallery is open Friday and Saturday from 12 until 5pm or by appointment and is located on Merchants Road, Galway.
Contact: thenilandgallery@gmail.com or engageartstudios@gmail.com


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