Opening Reception Thursday 10 April, 6 – 8pm

McNulty and O’Reilly share a common interest in subject matter derived from rural Ireland for this exhibition of prints and video. Exploring their mutual interest in history, memory and narrative in their work, their work is situated in the local. O’Reilly’s work draws on a residency at the Heinrich Boll House on Achill Island where she was struck in particular by the Deserted Village, abandoned since famine times. John F. Deane’s poem The Abandoned Village, and an excerpt from Eavan Boland’s essay Outside History, from the book, Object Lessions, appear alongside a series of photo etchings. McNulty’s work explores personal history revising her grandmother and great grandmothers house as the basis for her large scale lithographs that become microscopic portals to the past. The exhibition is accompanied by a specially commissioned essay by Prof Luke Gibbons.

Geraldine O’Reilly is a visual artist based in Westmeath. A graduate of NCAD, she has had many solo exhibitions and shown in group exhibitions throughout Ireland, England, France, Belgium, USA, Sweden and Tasmania, Australia. She is a member of Aosdana, Black Church Print Studio, the Graphic Print Studio and a former Fulbright Scholar. She has also been awarded a number of important residencies most recently at the Centre Cultural Irlandais, Paris and The Heinrich Boll House, Achill Island, Co Mayo, Ireland. Her work is held in collections including The Great Hunger Museum/An Gorta Mor, Quinnipiac University, Hamden, CT, USA, OPW, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Trinity College, The National Gallery of Ireland, The Chester Beatty Library, Mc Mullen Museum, Boston College, USA, SUNY (State University of New York), University of Tasmania, and NCAD.

Margo McNulty is a graduate of GMIT and NCAD. Recent solo and group exhibitions include Imprint, Roscommon Arts Centre, Impressions, Galway Arts Centre and Claremorris Open. Recent residencies include Trade, Roscommon and Gorlice, Poland. Her work is included in a number of private and public collections including the National Gallery of Ireland, the National Museum and the OPW.