Quintet

3 - 25 April | CIT Wandesford Quay Gallery

An exhibition of stone sculpture by James Horan, Redmond Herrity, Michael Quane, Martha Quinn and Blessing Sanyanga

Please note this exhibition has been extended to the 25 April

CIT Wandesford Quay Gallery is delighted to host the group exhibition, Quintet, which features the artists Redmond Herrity, James Horan, Michael Quane, Martha Quinn and Blessing Sanyanga. Quintet. Guest Speaker Billy MacGill will officially open the exhibition on Thursday, 2nd April 2015 at 6pm and the exhibition runs until 25 of April.

This exhibition brings a diverse group of Ireland’s sculptors together for the first time. This exhibition is unique in nature as there are no prints, editions and casts, no reproductions or ephemeral artworks; each piece is a unique sculpture. At first glance this is an eclectic mix of figurative and abstract/geometric sculpture, but on closer inspection each artist works to find a balance between the historical weight intrinsically attached to a traditional sculpture material and the creation of contemporary art works.

Dublin born James Horan graduated from Crawford College of Art and Design in 2003. He works in stone, mainly limestone and marble and some softer more colourful stones when available. His work is figurative and expressive, noticeable by the oversized hands and feet. His work is featured in private collections around Ireland, the U.K and the U.S.A. Humour plays a large part in his work; both in the ideas and the physique of the figures he creates. He often portrays figures with underwear or super-hero capes, etc., to make light of more serious ideas.

Redmond Herrity, who works from his home place of Letterkenny in County Donegal, Ireland. He has travelled extensively creating private and public commissions for places throughout the world. During his time in India in the late 1990s, he was inspired by street sculptors and in a later trip to Australia worked with stone for the first time. He graduated from Leitrim Sculpture Centre in Ireland in 2001 and later worked in Carrara, Italy, where he began mastering the ancient techniques of marble portraiture. From classical portraits to modern sculpture, Redmond’s work spans centuries.

Martha Quinn was born in Ireland in 1975 and studied at IADT from 1992-1995 graduating with a distinction in sculpture and print. During the past 15 years Martha Quinn has gained a national reputation through her sculpture, paper works (drawings, prints and cut paperwork) and most notably through her numerous public sculptures.

Michael Quane is an accomplished contemporary sculptor who was born in Cork in 1962 and studied science at UCC before attending the Crawford College of Art and Design. His themes are usually centred on relationships between horses, other animals and people that are rarely at ease. Aidan Dunne The Irish Times arts critic has traced the artist’s fascination with the power of animals and the vulnerability of that power when Michael witnessed a donkey drowning in a bog hole while staying with his grandmother in Co. Offaly. This perhaps explains his well-known style where writhing animals are carved as voluptuous beasts often locked in combat with contorted limbs and bulging muscles.

Born in Harare Zimbabwe in 1978, Blessing Sayanga comes from a family of artists. From an early age he began stone sculpting. Working at the Cannon Peterson Art Centre in Harare with over 180 stone sculptors in 1998 he began exhibiting his creations. Cork based and a member of Backwater Artist Studios, Blessing’s inspiration comes from day to day life, dreams, imagination and the stones them selves.  All his sculptures are original and one offs; he works straight into the stone without having to do a model first. Only a number of sculptures that he makes are created from sketches. He mainly works in cobalt, soapstones, black granite, serpentines, marble, sandstone and limestone.

For further information please contact

Nicola Carragher
Gallery Assistant

CIT Wandesford Quay Gallery
Clarke’s Bridge, Wandesford Quay, Cork, Ireland.

Telephone: (021) 4335210

Email: ccad.gallery@cit.ie

Website: ccad-research.org/gallery/