Painters And Makers

Group Show
20 June – 18 July, 2019

SO Fine Art Editions presents an exciting mix of talented painters and makers. ‘Painters and Makers’ brings together works by nine artists: Mike Byrne, Neil Dunne,  Sarah Long, Eóin Francis McCormack, Alan Meredith, Matthew Mitchell, Aoife Soden, Gráinne Watts & Derek Wilson.  

Mike Byrne’s ceramic practice explores the edges of, and the connections between design, function, narrative and art. The use of a combination of fired clay and other materials, is an attempt to erode the boundaries between these disciplines.

Neil Dunne’s creative practice is complemented by his unique viewpoint into Irish Culture and society, his paintings deviate through printed matter, expressive gestural paintings and silkscreen prints.

Sarah Long’s Garden Series is an exploration of the rich allegorical tradition associated with gardens in Western culture. Sarah Long is a visual artist whose work explores the cultural ideas of the landscape.

Eoin Francis McCormack’s unique large scale works has caught the Irish public’s imagination. McCormack fabricates his own tools and uses a limited palette of 10 colours creating organic multi coloured and striking works.

Alan Meredith’s work to date straddles the boundaries of contemporary craft, sculpture and architecture and has been exhibited both nationally and  internationally.  On show is a collection of his sculptural wood turned vessels.

Matthew Mitchell’s paintings seek to find a visual language between our necessarily abstracted experience of place and being in the new digital landscape of unseen signals and grids. Mitchell uses organic material such as clay from the Burren, which enables the materiality of the landscape to be embodied in the tactile surface of the piece.

A recipient of the DCCOI Emerging Future Makers Award in 2018, Aoife Soden’s glass pieces draw heavily from her Irish background and from Scandinavian design. The contrast between simple shapes and bright colours, patterns and optic effects are central to her process.

Ceramicist Gráinne Watts,who recently showed in Ceramic Art London this year, continues to explore form inspired by the Natural world and organic geometry. Her ‘Bindu’ series are hand built organic forms, combining wheel thrown elements with coiling to create large round forms that gently rock with layers of colour to create movement with intricate ‘dot’ patterns.

Derek Wilson’s practice focuses on the making of a diverse range of contemporary objects from the functional to the sculptural. The colour, shape and materiality of his objects reference ideas of containment and minimalism. Working in celadon glazed porcelain and stoneware, his objects tend to be placed in groupings. Wilson showed this year in Ceramics Art London and in 2018 had solo shows in Tokyo and Fukuoka.

Click on the thumbnails below to see larger images of the works.