LANDSCAPE RISING

Karl Burke, Mary Furlong, Kim Haughton and Joby Hickey.
A major group exhibition of contemporary Irish photography hosted by Solomon Fine Art
from Thursday June 30 to Saturday July 23 to coincide with 
PhotoIreland Festival 2016.

Solomon Fine Art, Balfe Street, Dublin 2, Ireland.
tel:  +353 (0)86 8142380 / e:  info@solomonfineart.ie.
Today the output of professional and vernacular lens-based art has never been more vibrant. The last nine years have been a personal voyage of discovery and “Landscape Rising” is a glimpse at the myriad photography that I found exists in contemporary Ireland. Aided by photography festivals such as PhotoIreland in Dublin, now in its seventh year, the range of work emerging here is becoming established on the international stage. However despite the efforts of specialist galleries such as The Gallery of Photography here in Dublin and Belfast Exposed, plus an increasing number of mainstream commercial and public art galleries including photography in their exhibition programmes, it is remarkable that photography within Ireland is still regarded as a niche art form with Irish talent still often achieving more recognition abroad than from their homeland.

Photography in Ireland dates back to 1839, and it seems incredible that this is not always reflected in people’s perception of the work being produced here. As recently as 2011 in his book “Photography and Ireland” the academic Justin Carville wrote: “Outside of Ireland, ideas of Irish photography centre around picturesque tourist views of the emerald green of the Irish landscape and photojournalistic representations of The Troubles.“ This was an effort to dispel the myopic view from abroad and enlighten those still unable to appreciate how much had changed. Previous histories on the subject include “Photography in Ireland; The Nineteenth Century”, by Edward Chandler, and ‘A Century in Focus; Photography and Photographers in the North of Ireland 1839-1939”, by W. A Maguire.

This group exhibition for Solomon Fine Art Gallery brings together four established Irish photographers exploring themes around the 1916 commemoration, landscapes, lifestyle and people, lending weight to the thesis that the photographers here are more than able to produce lens-based art that both re-images its own history, traditions and landscapes, and that can demonstrate awareness of other cultural scenes. The techniques incorporate traditional documentary, still life and portraiture through analogue and digital means in the individual style of each photographer. Whether it is experimental, using 19th century production methods and self-built equipment or digital, the work reaches beyond the picturesque and provides considered views and conceptualisation that skew perceptions of work emerging from Ireland as anything other than transformative.

Ends.
Jennie Ricketts © 2016.