Group show curated in collaboration with Jackie Ryan

Viewable online here.

Artists: Annika Berglund, Aisling Conroy, Hugh Cummins, Mary A. Fitzgerald, John Fitzsimons, Jordi Forniés, Conrad Frankel, David Fox, Claire Halpin, Nickie Hayden, Patrick Hickey, Eoin Mac Lochlainn, Miriam McConnon, Sheila Naughton, Eamonn O’Doherty, Tony O’Malley, Yanny Petters, Kelly Ratchford, Vicky Smith and Susanne Wawra

Availability of the show: Tuesdays to Sundays at the gallery. Please click here to make sure you are aware of our December opening times and of our preference for visits by pre-booking. The show will also be available in our 3D Virtual Space.

The Olivier Cornet Gallery is delighted to present this group exhibition curated with art consultant and producer Jackie Ryan.

Jackie Ryan has just celebrated 21 years of collaboration with Irish artists on projects, commissions, and exhibitions in Ireland and around the world. We are delighted to have invited her to co-curate this exhibition of works on paper for our winter show.

“Fragility Endurance Resilience

Art on paper is one of the oldest art forms, and yet still considered by many to be fragile or ephemeral. Museums happily display three dimensional sculpture and oil paintings in the assurance that their condition will not deteriorate through the museum atmosphere or light. The irony is that many museums largest collections are works on paper, which are preciously stored away without engagement with the public. The growth of digital engagement with art is changing that. Covid-19 is changing that. Our world and the way we appreciate works on paper will be very different in 2021 and beyond. 

I began to discuss my love of works on paper, and the beauty of fine art print, with gallery owner Olivier Cornet long before Covid-19 appeared in our lives. However, we did debate audience engagement with art online, and breaking down many long held stereotypes that somehow art was less tangible if seen through a screen. We use the phrase regularly about looking at art ‘in the flesh’ up close and personal, without really thinking about why we are giving that more importance than physically being with the artifact. 

The past 8 months has seen the Olivier Cornet Gallery (OCG) alongside galleries worldwide embrace new ways we can engage with art through video clips of the process of art being made, through online viewing rooms and in the OCG’s case through their novel 3D Virtual Space.

So much great art emerges from the fragility of change. In the months ahead Olivier and I will collate a collection of works on paper, works that can be shared up close and personal through digital means, and which embody the resilience that underpins so much art. We will look at the longevity of works on paper, and the endurance of colour using pigments bound with oil, and inks which have outlived so many modern art movements. In the months ahead, watch and wait. We will unfold works on paper for the world to enjoy in a virtual and physical engagement which will highlight fragility and uphold endurance, and champion resilience. After all, without resilience there would be no art.”

Jackie Ryan, 4 December 2020

Just a reminder that, during Covid-19, visits to the Olivier Cornet Gallery are by appointment and that face protection is required. Call/text us or email us to let us know what time would suit you. Thank you.