GLUCKSMAN: Field of Vision

FIELD OF VISION 

“The world we see in these works of art is both remembered and imagined.”  So says one of the wall blurbs at Field of Vision, an exhibition, curated by Fiona Kearney from the UCC Art Collection and currently showing at the Glucksman.

Dreams  too feature here and one of the first paintings you see is “Van Gogh (Winter) , from a dream” by Tony O'Malley. Quite a shock to see the Dutch master in a wintry Irish landscape, such  a contrast to his normal colours.

The exhibition invites you “to see deeper into the country than you expected”. That shouldn’t be too hard for us, as most of us are only a generation or two, often only a mile or two, away from that countryside. Still you have to make the effort, cross the bounds.

As one very familiar with the bull and the boar in the farmyards and fields between Glanmire and Glounthaune for well over a decade, I did immediately like John Behan’s sculpture of a rugged bull. Had several encounters with those muscled monsters.

Stopped a while also at Brian Lalor’s “Parting Day”. Looks like a pretty Irish countryside cliché, with the village dominated by the church (a bit like Glounthaune) and two people winding their way home at the day’s end. But there is something about the shadows here. I will to have to take another look.

Never seen a horse like Basil Blackshaw’s in an Irish field! Maybe you might dream one up when lying in the long summer grass, the white clouds herding overhead. This large scale animal reminds me of the famous cave paintings in Lascaux, though maybe not as big.

I was engaged here for a while and quite happy to have visited this unheralded show. The landscape means different things to different people. For a different view, a younger one, see here  They preferred the show upstairs “Schooldays” while I preferred this one, a floor below.

Artists: Andrew Boyd, Basil Blackshaw, Billy Foley, Katherine Boucher Beug, Brian Lawlor, Albert Irwin, Nancy Wynne-Jones, Anne Madden, Patrick Collins, Barrie Coooke, John Behan, Martin Gale, Tony O’Malley, Charles Tyrell, Jill Denis.

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