Curated by Catherine Marshall as part of the VISUAL Lectures Programme 2014

VISUAL is happy to announce the start of an ongoing lecture series looking at contemporary Irish art, beginning in February 2014 and complementing the gallery exhibition Patrick Scott: Image, Space, Light. The lectures will look at different aspects of Modernism in Ireland as it emerged, at the challenge to traditional art disciplines and modes of presentation from new theoretical thinking, to new practices and new media.

Thursday 20th February: Catherine Marshall, Inheritance and Transformation; Modernism and Irish Traditional Culture. Catherine Marshall was the first Head of Collections at the Irish Museum of Modern Art and is currently Co-Editor of Vol V, Twentieth Century, Art and Architecture of Ireland, to be published by the Royal Irish Academy and Yale University Press later this year.

This lecture will look at the challenge to artists arising from the often conflicting needs of the new Irish Free State and the influence of International Modernism. It will reference academic art by William Orpen and Sean Keating and the challenges to it from Mainie Jellett, Louis Le Brocquy and a younger generation of artists.

Thursday 6th of March: Yvonne Scott, Concepts of Abstraction; The Irish Experience

Dr. Yvonne Scott, is the Founding Director of the Trinity College Irish Art Research Centre, and is a Lecturer in the History of Art at TCD. She has published extensively on contemporary Irish art, including the work of Patrick Scott.

All art is abstract to some degree. In this lecture Dr. Scott will look at the variations and nuances of non-figurative art as Irish artists increasingly abandoned traditional representation in favour of what is often seen as pure abstraction.

Thursday 20th March; Dr. Brenda Moore McCann: It’s still Art, just not Painting. Dr Brenda Moore McCann is the author of Brian O’Doherty/Patrick Ireland; Between Categories. She lectures on contemporary art in Ireland and abroad, and is currently researching the Rosc exhibitions in Ireland. In this lecture Dr Moore McCann will look at the challenges posed to painting by new practices such as performance, new media work, installation art and photography.

Thursday 27th of March:Dr Ellen Rowley, Designing for Modernity

Dr. Ellen Rowley has lectured widely on Irish art and architecture of the 20th century. She is one of the Editors of Architecture 1600 -2000; Vol IV of the forthcoming Art and Architecture of Ireland.

In her lecture Dr. Rowley will look at the material culture of Ireland as it changed from being a predominantly rural to a largely urban culture, particularly at the public buildings that play such a part in our everyday lives.

Thursday 3rd of April: Dr. Christine Poulter, The Theatre and the Visual Arts in Ireland (Provisional Title only). Dr Poulter is the Director of Undergraduate Teaching & Learning, School of Drama, Film & Music. Her research interests include the application of theatre techniques in non-theatre contexts and communities. She works with theatre workshop techniques centred around the creation of safe spaces in which to express oneself and encounter others. Dr Poulter had worked –in Britain as well as Ireland and projects have included Peace and reconciliation in collaboration with Co-operation Ireland

The VISUAL Lectures Programme is kindly supported by Carlow Local Authorities Arts Office