New exhibition to open in Waterford exploring abstract art in all its glory
Soon to open at O’Connell Street’s Waterford Gallery of Art is a new exhibition presenting a selection of both historic and newly acquired abstract artworks from the permanent Waterford Art Collection.
Alongside artworks can also be found archival information, newspaper cuttings, and descriptions from the artists themselves – as well as critique by a cross-section of individuals invited and interested in demystifying this still often divisive visual language.
Even though it has been over one-hundred years since modern abstract artwork first began to be exhibited and explored in Ireland, it still proves to be a polarising art form, dividing opinions, interest, and interpretations. The exhibition’s title, ‘How to Tell a Hawk from a Handsaw,’ a quote from Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’, is referenced in one of the many newspaper clippings displayed from the first half of the twentieth century and questions how to discern between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ modern art.
Waterford artist Sheila Naughton, whose work is part of the collection, notes: “Abstract painting often needed to be explained, but even then people were still unsure if what they thought they were seeing was what they were meant to see and what the painting was meant to be about…ultimately a work succeeds if it elicits an emotional response from the viewer.”
Alongside older items from the Waterford Art Collection (by artists including Arthur Armstrong, Colin Middleton, Evie Hone, and Anne Yeats) are newer additions from artists living and working in Waterford and the southeast including Susan Connolly, Ciara Rodgers, Shelia Naughton, Julie Cusack, Darragh Lyons, John McHarg, Aidan Dunne, and more.
This free exhibition is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-5pm from 12 February – 20 June 2026. A special exhibition launch will take place at the gallery 6pm on 26 February.
