Two new exciting exhibitions are to be launched in the Waterford Gallery of Art
Opening on 5th December, 6:30pm, BODIES will showcase artworks including new commissions from the Waterford Art Collection inspired by the human form. The exhibition will feature life drawing, carved marble feet, a glass hand as well as paintings from the likes of William Orpen and Mainie Jellett. There will also be more recent works and new acquisitions to the collection by Áine Ryan, Eamon Gray & James Horan, Cúan Cusack, photography by HK Stuart, and, most auspiciously, the launch of the newly OPW and WC&CC commissioned portrait of Dr. Mary Strangman by Una Sealy RHA. Sealy, based in Howth, Dublin, has previously been awarded for her portrait of local artist, Caoilfhionn Hanton.
Dr. Mary Somerville Parker Strangman (1872 – 1943) was born in Waterford, enrolled at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1891, and received her licence in 1896. After training and lecturing in Britain, Mary Strangman became the second woman to earn the fellowship of RCSI in 1902. Establishing a practice in Waterford, Strangman also volunteered at various local women’s charities and published several research articles on alcoholism and morphine addiction. Her increasing activism in women’s health, particularly combatting tuberculosis, as well as women’s suffrage led her to being elected Waterford’s first woman Councillor in 1912. Retiring from public office in 1920, Strangman continued in general practice and as physician at Waterford County and City Infirmary.
Also launching at the same time will be GROUND (two-unfold) by Susan Connolly. It is the first iteration of Connolly’s exhibition GROUND (100+one), originally commissioned by the F.E. McWilliam Gallery and Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council. This body of work reflects and reappraises 100 years of Irish abstract painting and takes its cues from ‘Decoration’ (1923) by Mainie Jellett, considered the first Irish abstract painting.
Originally from Kildare, Susan is now based between Belfast and Waterford where she is a lecturer and Course Leader in the Visual Art Department of South East Technological University. She studied at Limerick College of Art and Design, the National College of Art and Design, Dublin and Belfast School of Art where she was awarded an MFA and PhD. Susan is a member of Queen Street Studios and her work is in public and private collections throughout Ireland including the Arts Council of Ireland and the Office of Public Works.
The exhibition is free, open Wednesday to Saturday, 10am-5pm and is accompanied by a limited-edition art book designed by Alex Synge with texts by Sarah Long, Craig Staff and Riann Coulter.
-ends-
