Anamnesis

‘Anamnesis’ is the latest exhibition by visual artist Marilyn Gaffney. The exhibition is a combination of painting, mixed media and installation.

Loosely translated, the word anamnesis means a recollection of events, especially from a supposed past existence. The themes Gaffney explores in this exhibition are time, space and memory. The art works are somewhere between fantasy and reality. The canvases are layered. They are complex and obsessively detailed. The artist combines traditional painting with digitally printed collage to create work that is some place between landscape and abstraction.

Marilyn Gaffney created the work in this exhibition while on the Bullock Lane Residency at Townhall, Cavan. The Bullock Lane Residency at Townhall Cavan is an initiative of Cavan County Council arts office and supported by the Arts Council. The town and the county of Cavan feature.  There is a series of charcoal drawings which includes ‘Bullock Lane’, ‘Cathedral’, ‘Townhall’ and a sensitive study entitled ‘Maimie’ in which the sitter gazes inquiringly at us.

Rhonda Tidy, in an essay entitled ‘Back to Eden’ for the catalogue accompanying this exhibition, has written, “A deeper philosophical enquiry undercuts the aesthetic charm of her work, repeatedly revisiting themes of time, space, body in addressing the overarching theme of memory.”

Anamnesis by Marilyn Gaffney opened at Townhall Cavan on Thursday 3 March at 7pm. An attentive audience listened as Cormac O Leary described the artist as having an "acute eye".  The appreciative gathering at the launch of Anamnesis included the Golden Oldies from Tullacmongan, artists, friends,family and members of the public interested in the visual arts.   Guest speaker Cormac O Leary described Marilyn's work as a "portal in to another dimension, the work is like time travel".   Cathaoirleach Paddy Smith admitted that he had difficulty with the title of the exhibition but was intrigued by the way the work was produced and the many layers of meaning and memory that the artist has captured.

Gaffney held a number of talks about her work with schools and groups.

Exhibition continued until Thursday 24 March and opened from 11am to 5pm Wednesday to Saturday.

Artworks in the exhibition:

Tryptic stretcher frame installation hosting 22 conventional artworks:

Catalogue Text by Rhonda Tidy and Dr. Declan Long

Time and Narrative by Artist in Residence Marilyn Gaffney | Culture Night

A digital projection display by artist Marilyn Gaffney of artwork in the form of still, moving images and sound. This work is from research while on residency at Bullock Lane.The work illustrates the personal stories of people and changes that urban memory has created in the town and surrounding areas. 

Location: Thomas Ashe Street, Cavan Town
Time: Afterdark 8.30pm until 11pm
Date: 18th September 2015
Genre: Audio Visual, Film, Visual Art
Phone: 049 4378548

Exhibition continues in the Teacher's Centre ,Main Street Cavan 20th September 2015

http://www.culturenight.ie/regional_event/time-and-narrative/

http://www.cavanarts.ie/Default.aspx?StructureID_str=1

Blacklion Arts and Hertitage Festival is pleased to be hosting an exhibition titled ‘Landscape and Memory’ curated by visual artist Marilyn Gaffney. The exhibition comprises of 22 international artists work. The exhibtion takes place at The Market House, Blacklion and will be on display during The Cathal Buí Festival 2015.

One of our deepest needs is for a sense of identity, belonging and human attachment to landscape and how we find identity in landscape and place. Landscape therefore is not simply what we see, but a way of seeing. We see it with our eye but interpret it with our mind and ascribe values to landscape for intangible spiritual reasons. Landscape can therefore be seen as a cultural construct in which our sense of place and memories inhere.

This group of artists gathered to talk in one shared language -as well as many tongues, on the matter of memory and landscape. Since the landscape changed in times for them, and as much as their eyes allowed, becoming their own. Many of them have come from other countries and cultures, adding to the personal voyage, the re- interpretation of the land by different experiences and tongues.

The landscape then changes, subtly transformed by memory, acquiring multiple forms: abstract digitized photos to fine painting; children playing in bucolic gardens that the artist eye turns sinister, portraits disintegrate to pixels, the human body as a textual form and repository for memories, human impact on the land, stating what matters is the personal voyage, the unique experience under the set point Memory and Landscape.

Exhibiting artists include: Malgorzata Dawidek Gryglicka (Poland), Nikolaos Lamprinos (Greece), Carly Zufelt (USA), Judith Mazzucco, (USA), Elena Feijoo (USA), Marilyn Gaffney (Ireland), Karen Esteves (USA), Madaline Walker (USA), Elaine Catherine Miller (USA), Tomás Castaño (Spain), Sasha Romashko (Ukraine), Stuart Gibson (USA), Andrew Reid Wildman (Great Britain), Xiaohong Zhang (USA), Reyhaneh Afzalian Naini (Iran), Marta Miranda (Argentina), Yami (France), Klaus Pinter (Austria), Vera L.P. Cauwenberghs (Belgium), Rachel Lin Weaver (USA), Courtney A. Henderson (USA), Zedekiah Schild (USA).

Landscape & Memory

artworks by international artists

Johnston Central Library Gallery Space will host an exhibition titled ‘Landscape and Memory’ curated by visual artist Marilyn Gaffney. 

The exhibition comprises of 20 international artists work.

One of our deepest needs is for a sense of identity, belonging and human attachment to landscape and how we find identity in landscape and place. Landscape therefore is not simply what we see, but a way of seeing. We see it with our eye but interpret it with our mind and ascribe values to landscape for intangible spiritual reasons. Landscape can therefore be seen as a cultural construct in which our sense of place and memories inhere. 

This group of artists gathered to talk in one shared language -as well as many tongues, on the matter of memory and landscape. Since the landscape changed in times for them, and as much as their eyes allowed, becoming their own. Many of them have come from other countries and cultures, adding to the personal voyage, the re- interpretation of the land by different experiences and tongues.

The landscape then changes, subtly transformed by memory, acquiring multiple forms: abstract digitized photos to fine painting; children playing in bucolic gardens that the artist eye turns sinister, portraits disintegrate to pixels, the human body as a textual form and repository for memories, human impact on the land, stating what matters is the personal voyage, the unique experience under the set point Memory and Landscape.

This exhibition is taking a step into the computer screen to bring the combined international artists together, into a ‘real’ space and ‘real’ artwork that we get a true sense of.

Exhibiting artists include: Malgorzata Dawidek Gryglicka (Poland), Nikolas Lamplaos (Greece), Carly Zufelt (USA), Judith Mazzucco, (USA), Elena Feijoo (USA), Marilyn Gaffney (Ireland), Karen Esteves (USA), Madaline Walker (USA), Tomás Castaño (Spain), Sasha Romashko (Ukraine), Stuart Gibson (USA), Andrew Reid Wildman (Great Britain), Xiaohong Zhang (USA), Reyhaneh Afzalian Naini (Iran), Marta Miranda (Argentina), Yami (France), Klaus Pinter (Austria), Vera L.P. Cauwenberghs (Belgium), Rachel Lin Weaver (USA), Courtney A. Henderson (USA), Elaine Catherine Miller (USA).

Official Opening by Cathaoirleach Shane P. O’Reilly
Welcome by Marta Miranda.
Opening 23 April at 7pm.  

The exhibition runs until 22 May and takes place during the Bealtaine Festival 2015.

with thanks to Johnston's Central Library, Cavan Arts and GT Electric.

Reveal

An Exhibition of Works from Cavan County Council's Art Collection

Dates:  24th March - 18th April

Cootehill Library is delighted to be hosting "Reveal" an exhibition of painting, prints and sculpture from Cavan County Council's Art Collection.  The pieces on show are from an ever expanding collection that Cavan County Council has taken great pride in collecting over the years.  This collection of contemporary art is important in supporting artists who live and work both in Cavan and beyond and also provides enjoyment for the people of Cavan.

The artists featured in ‘Reveal’ include Marilyn Gaffney, Clarie Halpin, Maria Bagnoli, Stuart Patrick, Catherine Kelly, Aoife Geary, Jane McCormick, Roisin Duffy, Aideen Barry and Charles Lamb. The painting ‘Blues’ by Rikki Van Den Berg also features in the exhibition.  Born in Holland, Rikki has spent much of her life in Ireland and has embarked on a personal journey in search of place and identity. Her work reflects a deep sense of vulnerability and an abstracted view of belonging. She is involved in the performing arts and has worked with Cavan Youth Theatre as a director. Another artist featured is Paul Burns from Shercock, Co. Cavan. His work "Winter Nights" is inspired by “A Funeral”, the poem by the late Dermot Healy.  Paul Burns work renders large-scale paintings and experimentations in both figurative and abstract styles. The painting depicts the journey of the poem and is set in a mythical but recognisable Sligo landscape.

The exhibition will be officially opened by Eoin Doyle, Director of Service at Cavan County Council on Tuesday 24^th March at 7pm.  All are welcome to come along to this event and enjoy all the works in the exhibition until it closes on Saturday 18^th April.

Mind Map XVI, 2013

Under Brigid’s Cloak

On February 1 Lá Fhéile Bríde / St. Brigid’s Day / Imbolc we will celebrate the coming of Spring,

the return of life to the earth after the dark stillness of Winter. In the folklore of Ireland and

Scotland Brigid was associated with new life, creativity, healing and poetry and she remains

an important figure for our times. Celebrate with fire and rushes and stories , poems and legends

associated with Brigid and some more besides in the company of Nuala Hayes, storyteller and

Rita Duffy, visual artist.

Nuala Hayes is an Actor , Storyteller and Broadcaster who loves to retell the old stories and maybe

to give them a new twist.  She believes in the inspiration and intuition that the figure of Brigid

provokes.  In 2014, she devised a Storytelling and Musical performance to remember the Battle of

Clontarf in 1014. She appeared in a one woman play by Susan Knight called ‘A Simple Twist of Fate’ and with Doireann Ní Bhriain she produced a Radio Documentary “ Who was Vere Foster? ”, about a forgotten hero of Irish Education, which was broadcast on R.T.E Lyric fm.

In 2015 she hopes to complete a collection of Folktales from Laois for the History Press.   She has

collaborated previously with Rita Duffy on the Shirt Factory Project and on Everlasting Voices , a

collection of recordings from storytellers from all parts of Ireland, with visual responses to the stories

from Rita, produced by the Verbal Arts Centre in Derry in 2001. 

Nuala Hayes, Storyteller/Actress

Rita Duffy is leading Irish artist and her work is strongly based in the figurative/narrative tradition.

Her paintings have been described as active poetic spaces where the energy of contradictory and

destructive forces are transmuted and resolved. Her work has evolved out of a Belfast context heavily inscribed by the visual components of social, political and national affiliations where meaning is not neutral.     Her work includes socially engaged projects and recent achievements include The Shirt Factory as part of the Derry / Londonderry City of Culture.

Rita Duffy, Visual Artist

Marilyn Gaffney is a visual artist who has recently completed her MA from the National College of Art and Design.   Her work is based on our relationship to landscape and how particular places hold

memories and can embody emotional responses.  The notion of Urban Memory and the loss of certain

things within a place when it has been changed features as research within her work.   She is interested in a combination of representation and abstraction in painting.  Aidan Dunne, The Irish Times art critic described her work in two and three dimensions as “very impressive” at Moxie Gallery, Dublin 2.  She was selected for ‘Place/Non Place at the Venice Arts Gallery in California in 2013.

Storytelling with Nuala Hayes

St Brigid’s Cross Making and Brídeóg doll making with Rita Duffy and Marilyn Gaffney.

Cavan Burren Park, Blacklion

Sunday February 1 at 2.30pm  

More information here.

Visual Artist Ireland

Marilyn Gaffney at The Eden Gallery

The Eden Gallery at Cavan County Museum presents artworks by visual artist Marilyn Gaffney.

Marilyn Gaffney holds an MFA from the National College of Art and Design.  She is the recipient
of the John O’Leary Award in 2010 from Sligo Institute of Technology.  She received the
D.O. Sullivan Medal Award in 2009 from Sligo IT.  Exhibiting both nationally and internationally;
her most recent work is currently on display in Naperville, California.

I am interested in our relationship to landscape and how particular places hold memories and
can embody emotional responses.  A snapshot memory of a place may be recreated through
automatic responses with material as a form of remembering.  This relationship of memory and
landscape brings about an emotional response because the place holds sentiment.  The notion
of Urban Memory and the loss of certain things within a place when it has been changed
features as research within my work.   I am interested in the combination of representation
and abstraction in painting. 

Exhibition runs until 16th September 2014

For Further Information Contact:

Cavan County Museum,
Virginia Road,
Ballyjamesduff,
Co. Cavan.
Ireland
Tel: 353 49 8544070
Email: ccmuseum@eircom.net

more information here on Cavan Arts and on DNote.