May New Exhibition about the Island of Inishark on display at NUI Galway

An exhibition from artist Pádraic Reaney’s, Inis Airc, is now open in NUI Galway’s Hardiman Research Building. The exhibition displays 23 art works responding to the changing form of the island of Inishark, off the west Galway coast, which was abandoned by the last residents in 1960.

The free exhibition, which runs until 28 May, consists of paintings and graphics that uniquely capture a crumbling cultural landscape, which once supported a community of over 200 people.

Since 2002, Pádraic has visited the island regularly, making studies in watercolour and drawing dilapidating houses and farmsteads, as all evidence of human impact fades away. His oil paintings and graphics viscerally enliven these spaces once again in a blending of colour, physical landscape, and remnants of fishing communities. This exhibition challenges the viewer to consider the history of our islands, and to critically examine the larger rural decline.

Born in Carraroe, Co. Galway, Pádraic Reaney studied Fine Art and now lives and works in Moycullen. His work has gained national and international acclaim, and he has held collections in such places as Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum, Quinnipiac University, USA; Siena Art Institute, Italy; and Urawa Wood-Cut Prints Association, Japan.

The exhibition is hosted by the University’s Moore Institute and funded by the Discipline of Geography for the 7th EUGEO Congress international conference.  

For more information about the exhibition contact Dr Richard Scriven, Discipline of Geography, NUI Galway, richard.scriven@nuigalway.ie. For more information on Pádraic Reaney’s art visit http://reaneyart.com/

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