Spring Exhibition: Rapture, Terrain & In the Past

Hamilton Gallery is delighted to announce the opening of its Spring exhibition, Rapture, Terrain & In the Past. The show combines the work of three accomplished artists, Cathy Carman. Catherine Fanning and Stephen Lawlor. The artist’s individual character, through their chosen medium, colour palette and subject matter, gives this exhibition an exciting energy and serenity in equal measure.

Cathy Carman presents Rapture, a collection of 8 figurative sculptures in bronze, displayed on plinths of wood and steel. The plinths Cathy chooses are an important element to the artworks as they ‘contextualize and counterpoint’ the expressive poise of her human figures.

‘For me these sculptures are about Rapture; about a manifestation of ecstasy, joy and passion. I find the female form carries a sense of being as otherness, so one could say the work is a personal perspective on being female. Bronze is a material with broad spectrum of possibilities from cold to warm as well as strength to fragility. There is something solid about bronze, and then the colours I use are sometimes rich reds or subtle hues, with which I try to capture various emotions.’ Cathy Carman

For more information on Cathy Carman please click here.

Carried Away in Bronze on a Steel plinth

Sligo based visual artist Catherine Fanning, presents Terrain, a collection of 17 pieces of mixed-media artworks inspired by the natural world. Catherine’s creative process combines collage, acrylic ink, and paint on canvas and plaster, resulting in a wonderful mix of vibrant colour layering and pattern.

‘I collect small botanical pieces, such as seed pods, wildflowers, grass, and leaves. These finds, with their delicate forms, intricate patterns, and natural tones, decorate my studio space and become a reference for my work. They give me a starting point from which my work evolves. I will often work on several pieces at a time, as I enjoy an expressive and experimental way of working.

My artworks can be either representational or abstract depending on the subject, which varies but there is always a connection somewhere to nature.’ Catherine Fanning.

For more information on Catherine Fanning please click here

Planted Seeds - Acrylic Ink and paint on canvas

Garden of Thoughts - Acrylic Ink and paint on canvas

In the Past, in an exhibition of paintings and prints by Stephen Lawlor. These curated pieces represent his exploration of European Paintings from the 13th to the 19th century. The majority of the prints are based upon portraits of powerful women that range across time to bring them into the present as echoes of their iconic presence. In contrast to his prints, Stephen’s paintings are more landscape or scene oriented and hover between figuration and abstraction.

‘My prints and paintings connect in a strange way, but all are imbued with an historic reminiscence that contains a strange sense of nostalgia. For me past and present are not that far apart.’ Stephen Lawlor.

For more information on Stephen Lawlor please click here:

Veneto 1465 Acrylic on Aluminum 25 x 30cm

Vienna 1515 - Acrylic on Aluminum 25 x 30cm

Terrain, Rapture & In the Past continues until until 27 May.

St Brigid's Well exhibition returns as a celebration of feminine creativity

St. Brigid’s Well exhibition returns to the Hamilton Gallery on the 4th February, as the nation and other countries around the world celebrate the life and work of St’ Brigid, patron saint of creativity, protector of the vulnerable and Goddess of Fire. The exhibition includes work by almost 100 female Irish artists, including fresh work by our own gallery artists together with newly invited artists.

To leave the dead end behind, Angela Fewer

From a Dark Place on the road, Grainne Dowling

The exhibition is themed around a specifically commissioned poem by Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin as part of Lá Fhéile Bríde 2022, the global celebration of Women and Creativity initiated and run by Irish consulates and embassies around the world.

We look forward to inviting artists and friends of the gallery to a reading of “St Brigids Well” by Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin to officially open the exhibition on Saturday 4th February at 12 noon.

View The Exhibition

Hamilton Gallery has been a significant contributor to the Irish Foreign Ministry inspired Brigids Day / Lá Fhéile Bride celebration of women and creativity since 2019, hosting a series of invited artists exhibitions centered on the life and work of influential Irish women such as Leland Bardwell, Eva Gore-Booth and most recently Eiléan Ni Chuilleanáin.

Hundreds of Irish women artists have contributed to these exhibitions which have been shown in Sligo, Dublin and London, and in association with Irish Consulates and Embassies in New York and Berlin.

Martina welcoming everyone to the 12 Star Gallery exhibition and celebration of the life of Leland Bardwell in London, 2019.

Martina Hamilton has been representing and promoting Irish artists through her work as a gallerist and curator for over 30 years. She has built relationships with embassies around the world to generate awareness and interest in contemporary Irish artists with a particular focus in women’s creativity. This year, she has been invited to participate in a short film commissioned by the Department of Foreign Affairs to commemorate St. Brigid’s day. The film aims to appeal to audiences across the world and is ‘a celebration of creativity and feminine energy.’

In pre Christian ancient Irish mythology, Brigid appears as a fire goddess, as a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the daughter of the Dagda and wife of Bres, with whom she had a son named Ruadán. She was the god of numerous skills and qualities including wisdom and poetry. She had curative and protective powers. She was also the god of fire as well as being the god of metal forging and blacksmithing.

Her qualities were so numerous and significant that she may well have been a triple Deity, or indeed that she had two sisters, Brigid the Healer and Brigid The Smith. Her feast day was known as the Celtic celebration Imbolc.

With the onset of Christianity in Ireland she became Brigid of Kildare, and ranks as of the nations 3 patron saints alongside St Patrick and St Columba.

Many legends and myths surround the wisdom, gentleness, ferocity and miracles of St Brigid's life to match her pre-Christian influence and power. Pre-eminent is the story of how she wove crosses from wild Irish rushes, a tradition carried on throughout Ireland to this day.

Offerings St. Brigid’s Well, Hilary Morley

‘Having St. Brigit’s Day as a National holiday is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate women’s creativity today whilst keeping alive the enduring traditions that are associated with Brigit such as weaving crosses from rushes and giving thanks for our health and general wellbeing.’ Martina Hamilton

St Brigid’s Well exhibition continues until Saturday 25 March.

A Winter Gathering – A group exhibition of invited artists

With over 20 of our own gallery artists together with exciting new talent, we are delighted to present our Christmas exhibition that incorporates a diverse mix of styles, genre and medium that we hope will excite the senses and reach deep into your soul.

Hamilton Gallery Update - July 2022

WELCOME to the July Newsletter

Summer is officially here, and just in time for our new solar panels to take full advantage of the long days, even if there isn’t as much sunshine as we would have hoped for!

We’re striving every year to be more eco-conscious here at No. 4 Castle Street - all our lighting stock is LED format since 2017 - and it is certainly worth all the upheaval and disruption of the last couple of months to get the roof completely replaced and insulated and the panels installed. It’s a small contribution to a more sustainable future for the next generation.

We would like to say a massive thanks to all our contributing artists and visiting public for their forbearance and understanding during the renovation.

Our big news for July is, of course, that we are delighted to welcome Cairde Visual to Hamilton Gallery for the first time, showing now until 29 July. In its 7th edition, this dynamic and vibrant open exhibition will feature a range of work from both Irish and international artists across all media.

Cairde Visual is an artist led initiative which has been founded and facilitated by Sligo based artists. It has been our pleasure to support the exhibition each year by offering an award of a solo or duo exhibition.

The most recent winner of the Cairde Visual / Hamilton Gallery Award back in 2019, was artist Heidi Wickham, whose exhibition ‘Inside the Circle’ Exploring Cold Spaces opened here with us in 2021 due to the pandemic.

“Winning The Hamilton Award was a huge surprise for me, I was in Scotland and received a text! After making some pieces, the pandemic halted everything and rather than mothball the prepared work, I started a whole new project in early 2021. It's a beautiful gallery and I've had the pleasure of exhibiting in group shows over fifteen years, but a solo is a completely different animal. Hamilton Gallery has been very supportive of both local and international artists, with the highest level of professionalism and kindness. The resulting body of work combined my passion for paint and sculpture, creating an immersive experience with sound and texture. Everything that was for sale, sold and enabled me to buy a two week trip some four hundred kms inside the Arctic Circle on the borders of Norway and Russia. That's what art can do.”– Heidi Wickham

The organisers of Cairde Sligo Arts Festival and all of us here at Hamilton Gallery wish to thank this year’s Cairde Visual selection panel Aidan Crotty, Marilin North and Lorna Watkins

Three significant awards are linked to CAIRDE VISUAL again this year, and we’re delighted to announce this years winners are:

Anna Leask - 36 Views of #BenBulben
Winner of The Model - Artist Residency Award

Brian Mc Donagh - The Nymphs of da Gai
Winner of the Cosgrove’s Delicatessen -€1,000 cash award

Helen Merrigan Colfer - Temple vi (Flutter)
Winner of the Hamilton Gallery Award

The opening reception of the Cairde Visual was held at City Hall on Saturday 2 July, where the winners of the awards were announced.

Tara McGowan, Deputy Mayor Rosaleen O’Grady, Brian Mc Donagh, Anna Leask and Martina Hamilton

Martina Hamilton, Lorna Watkins and Barra Cassidy

Martina Hamilton with Helen Merrigan Colfer’s winning sculpture, Temple vi (Flutter)

Our annual Yeats themed exhibition, Lapis Lazuli has given way to Cairde Visual 2022, however if you’ve not managed to see it yet, the exhibition will return for an extended run immediately after Cairde Visual, to coincide with the 63rd International Yeats Summer School, which this year runs from Thursday 28 July – Friday 5th August, and is the longest running Literary Summer School in the world!

As a keepsake for Lapis Lazuli, and for Yeats Day 2022 we’ve produced a 4th edition of ‘Poem in your Pocket’ series, featuring a handful of W B Yeats poems, including Lapis Lazuli, which you can pick up for free in the gallery, to muse over with a coffee, after you’ve seen Cairde Visual or Lapis Lazuli when it returns.

We were also thrilled that the #YeatsDay communal poetry celebration this year trended up to No. 1 on Twitter in Ireland on the 13 June – a great achievement for this annual Yeats Society initiative which is sponsored and co-produced by Hamilton Gallery each year.

Finally, in May we had a surprise visit from His Excellency Akhilesh Mishra, Ambassador of India to Ireland and his wife Mrs. Reeti Mishra. They are both keen advocates of the arts and we hope that their visit will inspire and result in future arts collaborations between Ireland and India.