Beatrice O'Connell

'The Flood' and other stories, gallery views

2011-11-28T02:29:00.001-08:00

'The Flood' and other stories at Moxie, Plane/Site Galleries, 18-28 November

2011-11-12T05:43:00.000-08:00

The exhibition opens this Thursday 17 November and runs until 28 November. 12-5pm daily. The reception is kindly sponsored by Terroirs Fine Food and Wine and Ruairi O'Cuiv, Public Art manager, Dublin City Council is opening it. Here are some photographs of the building, Moxie, Plane/Site galleries, Pembroke Row, Lad Lane off Baggot Street, Dublin 2. A detailed map can be found here: www.mox.ie

The Flood and Other Stories

2011-10-11T12:05:00.000-07:00

So only a month to go before the exhibition at IMOCA. Here are two pieces, important to the central theme.

Here's the Press Release for the show.

'The Flood' and other stories

an exhibition by Beatrice O'Connell

at IMOCA, Pembroke Row, Lad Lane, Off Baggot Street, Dublin 2 November 18-28

In a remote part of northern Madagascar there is a legend. One day a lost traveller, thirsty and exhausted, arrived in a village asking for water. The village chief explained that he wished they had enough water to demonstrate the tribe's natural good will towards strangers but unfortunately as water was such a scarce and valuable resource, they would have to refuse his request. The traveller who happened to be a witch doctor left empty handed. However, on the way out of the village he met a young pregnant woman. Seeing that he was thirsty she offered him the last of her water. Furious with the lack of kindness shown by the village yet heartened by the kindness of the woman, he cursed the village with the chief’s two wishes; that they would have enough water to satisfy the thirst of strangers, and that the villagers would show their true selves. In the morning the village was completely flooded and all the inhabitants except the young woman had been turned into crocodiles. It is said that the local people are all decedents of the woman who gave the stranger water. The locals feel an affinity and sympathy towards the crocodiles and offerings of zebu meat are made on religious festivals.

This tale is taken as a starting point for an engagement with social and gender history. Drawn from the artist's personal experience, themes of isolation and vulnerability are explored. Individual acts of kindness and affection are contrasted with societal greed. Questions are posed around the individual's relationship with her surroundings. These questions are interwoven throughout the narrative, allowing metaphors to emerge. The artist draws on her own photographic archive taken while documenting her travels. Theatre and literature are also referenced to explore human vulnerability.

Beatrice O'Connell graduated from the BA in Fine Art, DIT in 1996. She had her first solo exhibition in that year in the National Concert Hall, Dublin. O'Connell has had solo exhibitions in the Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Dublin, The Hunt Museum, Limerick, The Lambay House Art Gallery, Howth, The Talbot Gallery, Dublin and the Cross Gallery, Dublin.O'Connell has been the recipient of various awards at Íontas, Éigse Carlow and a Dublin Corporation Bursary.She has participated in many group exhibitions in Ireland, the UK, US and Australia including the Annual Wexford Opera Festival Exhibition,Íontas, Oireachtas, Éigse Carlow and Temple Bar Gallery.She has completed commissions for public and private clients. Her work is in various public collections such as the OPW and AXA Insurance and private collections in Ireland, the UK, US and Australia.

obeatrice@gmail.com

www.mox.ie

www.imoca.ie

Paintings 2011

2011-07-05T03:00:00.000-07:00

Cast Shadow

Oil on Canvas

40cm x 40cm

The Cliff Walk Kilkee

Oil on Canvas

40cm x 40cm

The Other Side of Menaced

Oil on Canvas

30cm x 30cm

Lurking There

Oil on Canvas

30cm x 30cm

Drawings, Sketches and Sculpture 2011

2011-05-03T03:41:00.000-07:00

Clay Head H 12cm x W 8cm x D 8cm

Charcoal on Fabriano: 'Elephant Mother and Child' 135 x 80 cm.
Watercolour and Acrylic sketches, 'Mother carrying child' 1 and 2, 'Cup o Tea' 25 x 36 cm each.

It's all been a bit quiet for the last couple of months, I've taken the time out to do a bit of drawing and sculpture, perhaps it is a starting point for a new project. I'm hoping to get into the zoo again, the elephants are so expressive, there are a few playful youngsters who try to shove eachother into the water while the mothers hover protectively in the background. They are a mirror to the spectators who are trying to let little Johnny have a gander without climbing up and falling into the enclosure.

Ailsa

2011-01-21T02:54:00.001-08:00

Portraiture

2011-01-21T02:43:00.001-08:00

Drawings and Prints 2010

2010-09-23T03:21:00.000-07:00

Most of these drawings are sketches of the Dodder, Milltown Golf Club, and surroundings, I seem to remember the river bank used to be public land. There is a small part of the course separate from the rest, opposite Dartry, I remember horses roaming around, back in the 80's it seemed idyllic and wild to me as a child with plenty of places to explore. The golf course has sanitised it now, and I didn't feel very welcome sketching there, the resident on the riverbank let their dogs out, I must look very threatening with my sketchpad!

The prints are experiments with drypoint, a new departure as I haven't done any printmaking since college. A course in the Print Museum helped to refresh my memory, so much more to learn...

The prints are 12 x 7 cms and 27 x18 cm, the drawings are 25 x25 cm and the charcoal drawing is a big one, about 140 x 125 cm I have it on the studio wall now, it's so big I don't know where to put it!

I always know where I am by the way the road looks

2010-01-26T03:11:00.000-08:00

2010-01-26T03:01:00.000-08:00

Here is the list of paintings from the 2006 exhibition,

" I always know where I am by the way the road looks"

All works are oil on canvas

In the undergrowth 40cm x 40cm
In search of a suitable place 60cm x 45cm
A connoisseur of roads 60cm x 45cm
Her dance is like a gleam of sunlight on a stream 90cm x 70cm
Canal walk 60cm x 45cm
The clearing 40cm x 40cm
Down among the reed beds 60cm x 45cm
The smell of salt water 40cm x 40cm
Preparing the ground 40cm x 40cm
One tree hill 40cm x 40cm
The house on the hill 40cm x40cm
Abandoned building 40cm x 40cm
Bend in the river 60cm x 45cm
Cycladian tree 40cm x 40cm
Sun splashes 100cm x 100cm
To find some respite 100cm x 100cm
Reflection 40cm x 40cm
View through the bridge 40cm x 40cm

Duende, the darker work

2009-08-12T14:15:00.000-07:00

I've just moved into a new studio in the Irish Design Shop and Studios, hopefully I'll have some new work underway when we open for Culture Night on September 25th. Here are some of the darker paintings from the Talbot Show, focussing on the anxieties associated with womanhood and adulthood. In the catalogue I made reference to Nick cave's lecture 'The Secret Life of the Love Song' he said " All love songs must contain duende. For the love song is never truly happy. It must first embrace the potential for pain... The love song must resonate with the susurration of sorrow, the tintinnabulation of grief". People have been asking me why duende? Well the simple answer is that I feel the paintings have to reflect the complex mixture of feelings associated with childhood and parenthood, the feelings universal to our experience of life - joy, sadness, apprehension, excitement, duende seemed to sum this up for me. Thanks to everybody who contributed to the catalogue and who turned up on the opening night.

New Shoes

2009-06-16T15:06:00.000-07:00

New Shoes, oil on MDF, 25 x 30 cm

The High Chair

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Image on the left:

The High Chair, 25 x 30cm, oil on MDF

Exhibition

2009-06-16T14:26:00.000-07:00

Running at the Talbot Gallery from June 12th to July 4th 2009
Duende
Thanks to everyone who attended the opening.
Here is some of the new work. 'Led by the hand' and 'Runaway' both 40 x 40 cm, oil on canvas

The Exhibition in June

2009-02-27T14:07:00.000-08:00

I've now shipped all the work off to the gallery and am out of the studio, getting ready for baby number 2 in a few weeks time. Josephine has kindly taken some good photos of the work which I will put up now. Jason has kindly edited my artist's statement making it more coherent, it's going to be quite a personal show I think, well maybe it's all those hormones flying around!
Feel free to send me an email on obeatrice@gmail.com.

2008-12-08T03:30:00.000-08:00

2008-12-08T03:15:00.000-08:00

Artist's Statement January 2008
After a break of a number of months and the birth of my daughter, the work has taken a new direction. Sketches are becoming more playful and the palette is brighter. Drawing,
often on a smaller scale, has instilled a sense of intimacy into the work.
The painting process is iterative. Paint is applied in layers. Combining pencil drawings and scraping back a composition is developed. Depicting the fall of light and a sense of movement contribute to achieving this. Painting for me is a sensual thing, the visceral qualities of paint lend an expressive intensity to the work. By working on a few pieces in parallel, a narrative sometimes emerges. I try to let this happen organically to leave the paintings open to new possibilities. Potential questions and connections weave in and out, allowing metaphors to become visible.

Beatrice O’Connell
Born 1973, Dublin
Graduated: 1996 D.I.T, Dublin

Solo Exhibitions:

2006 'I always know where I am by the way the road looks'
Talbot Gallery, Dublin
2005 Beatrice O’Connell and Kate Millar, Cross Gallery, Dublin
2004 “Undercurrents” Hunt Museum, Limerick City
2000 “New Paintings” Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Dublin 1
1998 “Gestures” Lambay House Art Gallery, Howth, Dublin
1996 National Concert Hall - Mezzanine Area

Group Exhibitions:

2008 'Treat' Talbot Gallery

2008 “Éigse”, Carlow
2007 'Treat' Talbot Gallery
2007 Affordable Art Show, New York
2006 Talbot Gallery Christmas and Summer Shows
2005 Hopewire, Bunclody, Co Wexford
2004 ‘Dubliners’, Four Dublin Painters,
Hopewire, Bunclody, Co Wexford
2004 “50/50” Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin
2002 Crackerbox Palace, Cairns, Australia
2001 Broadstone Studios Open Day
2000 Broadstone Studios Open Day
1999 Kevin Kavanagh Gallery
1999 Lambay House Art Gallery, Howth
1998 “Éigse 1998”, Carlow
Winner of the Emerging Artist Award
1996 Lambay House Gallery Debut
1996 “Art International” Sydney, Australia
1996 “Oireachtas 1996” Guinness Hopstore, Dublin
1996 “Íontas” touring Exhibition
Winner of the Student Award
1996 Riverside Centre, Dublin 2

Commissions:

2006 Commissions for Newtown School, Waterford & Muckross Park, Dublin
Portraiture and other commissions for private clients, 1996 to present
2000, Site specific commission for Mario’s Restaurant, Sandymount, Dublin 6
2001, Commissioned painting for The Goilin Singers, CD cover

Awards and Achievements:

2002 – 2004, Tutor in Life Drawing for Animation, Ballyfermot College of Further Education
2001, Winner of a Dublin Corporation Bursary Award
1998, “Eigse 1998”, Carlow
Winner of the Emerging Artist Award
1996, “Iontas”
Winner of the Student Award
Currently working from La Catedral Studios, St Augustine St, Off Thomas St, D 8
Work in public collections including the OPW and AXA Insurance.
Member of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland advisory board
Images of work can be viewed at:
http://www.irishartsreview.com/
http://www.canvas.ie/
http://www.huntmuseum.com/framesets_exhibitions/exhibitions_past.html
Press Coverage:
July 2008, Aidan Dunne, Irish Times; June 2006- OPW art catalogue, Art in State Buildings 1995 – 2005; May 2006- ‘Irish Arts Review’; April 2005- Jackie Ryan, Irish Property Buyer;17.04.05, Marianne Hartigan, Sunday Tribune; 10.04.05- Sunday Tribune; 1.04.05- The Event Guide; The Ticket; Dubliner Magazine;1.1.01- Aidan Dunne, ‘Irish Arts Review’; 12.3.00- Sunday Tribune; 1.3.01- Aidan Dunne, Irish Times; 18.2.00- Noelle Harrison, WOW (http://www.wow.ie/); 3.6.97- Sophie Gorman, Irish Independent, 16.6.96- Aidan Dunne, Irish Times.