John Behan and Ger Sweeney Exhibition

On Saturday 30 March we opened Recent Works an exhibition of sculpture by John Behan with paintings by Ger Sweeney.

‘The exhibition shines even in it’s darkness… long may such impact continue’ remarked guest speaker, Arts & Music Broadcaster, David Nice.

Martina Hamilton opened the exhibition introducing it as a ‘Wonderful exhibition to celebrate these two great artists’. Our guest speaker, Arts broadcaster David Nice, who we invited to open the exhibition had to cancel at short notice due to a family illness, but having seen the works via video link, was able to send a few words which were read out by Malcolm Hamilton.

In short, David observed that the time between Good Friday and Easter Sunday seemed an appropriate time to reflect … above all on mortality, and gave a poignant thought to the millions suffering in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan. John Behan’s sculptures are especially appropriate as they are a powerful sometimes visceral reminder of the suffering of the displaced, both now and in the past, renderings which David believes are the responsibility of the arts to reflect. He observed the juxtaposition of Ger Sweeney’s intense paintings with the darkness and light inherent in John Behan’s sculptures, and thought it worked ‘cannily well’.

We hope David will be able to visit the exhibition in person before it closes at the end of the month.

Ger Sweeney

‘A renewed interest in the expressive properties of drawing, gestural line and automatic writing currently informs an ongoing dialogue with abstraction in my painting practice. The elemental nature of the west of Ireland landscape where I live is now becoming a significant source of inspiration in my work. To engage with the elemental, the tactile, the mood or metaphor, through process, gesture, colour and line is the intent.’ Ger Sweeney, 2024

John Behan

John Behan’s recent work powerfully focuses on current migration crises. Having worked with migrant groups in Greece there are immediate parallels between Behan’s Irish Famine Ship themes and the narrative plight of people displaced and uprooted in contemporary times. These pieces are exhibited alongside new works from equally iconic Behan themes such as Oar Boats and Bull figures.

Celebrating St. Brigid's Day

Yoko Akino’s exhibition, An Irish Rhapsody.

We were delighted to welcome Yoko Akino to the Hamilton Gallery for the launch of her exhibition, An Irish Rhapsody. The exhibition was launched to coincide with the St. Brigid’s Day celebrations. Yoko was inspired by St. Brigid as both a goddess and saint, by their living connections to rural life and to the landscape. The exhibition continues until the 23 March.

Yoko Akino’s exhibition also coincided with the launch of two St Brigid’s Day / Imbolc Stamps which the artist designed for An Post. The images below are linked directly to the An Post website where you can view the stamps.

Willow Art

As part of the programme of events for the St. Brid’s festival ‘24, willow weaver Helena Golden worked with artists Aideen Connolly, Catherine Fanning and Heidi Wickham to create wonderful 3D willow artworks at the Hamilton Gallery.

St. Brigid’s Well Exhibition opens in Beijing

The exhibition showcasing artworks by 101 women artists, inspired by Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin specially commissioned poem of the same title, was opened at the beautiful Nanchizi Art Museum in Beijing curtesy of Ireland’s Ambassador to China Ann Derwin and the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs. Martina and Malcolm Hamilton made a trip out there for the opening night.

Martina enjoying a cup of tea with Ann Derwin

Christmas Greetings with exciting gallery news for early 2024

Hamilton Gallery wish all our artists, patrons and gallery visitors a very happy Christmas and New Year. We hope you will enjoy this update on current events and we have some exciting news for early in 2024

Ancestral Houses opens in Chongqing

After Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen, Chongqing is the fourth largest city in China, with an estimated urban population of 16.34 million as of 2020. The city is a vast and sprawling municipality at the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing rivers in southwestern China. and when the population is measured to include all it’s municipalities it is in fact the largest city in the world.

All of us at the gallery are delighted that our invited artists exhibition Ancestral Houses has opened at the Luzumiao Arts Centre, under the curatorship of Hong Kong VA Galleries in Yuzhang Chongquing City.

Ireland’s Ambassador to China, Ann Derwin opened the exhibition to celebrate the anniversary of W B Yeats receiving the Nobel Prize for literature. The exhibition will run at Luzumiao Arts Centre until January 10th.

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all our participating artists, to Ambassador Ann Derwin and the staff of Irelands Embassy and Consular Missions in China, to Vincent Deng our fantastic curator in China, and to the Luzumiao Art Centre for hosting the exhibition in their wonderful facility.

Ancestral Houses has also been exhibited in June this year for #YeatsDay celebrations at LolliGo Art Space Beijing and in Chengdu city as part of the Chengdu Ireland Week in September.

read our Beijing Blog Post

Read our chengdu blog

Ancestral Houses is Hamilton Gallery’s seventh invited artists exhibition which thematically draws upon a major poem by W B Yeats and set against the backdrop of Irelands Decade of Commemoration.

The exhibitions are in complement to the work of the Yeats Society who run the Yeats International Summer School, Yeats Day and #YeatsDay

The exhibition also formed part of Sligo’s Tread Softly… festival programme and in June 2023 was shown in Beijing .

The exhibition comprises an individual work from each of 125 invited artists.

Winter Gathering

Our annual Winter Gathering Exhibition for invited artists is currently running in the gallery. This special show each year is constantly updated as work sold for each artist for Christmas is replaced with new work.

Take an moment for yourself and drop in whenever you are out and about over the Christmas season.

We have just added striking new sculptures to Winter Gathering by renowned Irish sculptor John Behan.

Though recently celebrating his 80th Birthday, John travels to Greece to conduct workshops with refugees who have made perilous journeys across the Mediterranean to reach Europe, or who have undertaken arduous treks overland. Two works in the front gallery are themed on his experiences meeting and working with refugees and displaced people, while the third piece is a celebration of the artistic relationship between Paul Gauguin and Vincent Van Gogh.

Rough Crossing by John Behan (Detail) (Bronze, Unique, 39cm (H) / 53cm (L) / 24cm (D)

Ukrainian Migrant and Son by John Behan (Bronze, Unique, 59cm (H) / 33cm (W) / 15cm (D)

Van Gogh and Gauguin on the road to Tarascon by John Behan (Bronze, Unique 40cm (H) / 22cm (W) / 22cm (D)

St Brigid's Well

Lá Fhéile Bride / St Brigid’s Day celebrations 2024

Sligo & Beijing.

2024 marks 1500 years since the death of St Brigid. Lá Fhéile Bríde, on February 1st, also known as the ancient Imbolc or Imbolg Gaelic traditional festival is now a national holiday in Ireland. It carries a burgeoning international celebration of women’s creativity at its heart.

We will be marking the day with very special events here at our Gallery in Sligo and also in Beijing China.

Here in Sligo we are hosting an exhibition of new works by Artist Yoko Akino. Her exhibition coincides with the launch of a new stamp for the Irish Postal Service commemorating of St Brigid on her 1500th anniversary which Yoko has designed.

Alongside Yoko’s exhibition we have also invited five women artists to create responses to Lá Fhéile Bríde & Imbolc in reed and willow weaving associated with beloved woven cross traditions that are carried out across Ireland at this time.

At the instigation of Irelands Department of Foreign Affairs, Hamilton Gallery began a series of invited artists exhibitions in 2019 themed on the creative work and lives of inspirational Irish women; figures such as Eva Gore-Booth and Leland Bardwell. These exhibitions involved works by hundreds of Irish women artists, and they have been shown both here in Sligo, in London, Dublin and Berlin in association with Irelands Diplomatic and Consular missions.

For our most recent Lá Fheile Bride / St Brigid’s Days Exhibition we commissioned a new poem from one of Irelands foremost poets, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin. Eiléan’s poem, St Brigid’s Well, became the thematic inspiration for new paintings by 96 Irish women artists.

We are delighted that St Brigid’s Well, will open for Lá Fhélie Bride and International Women’s Day celebrations in Beijing in late January 2024.

*Poet Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin reading from the works of her great friend Leland Bardwell for our Lá Fhéile Bríde exhibition in 2019*

Christmas exhibition - Winter Gathering

We were delighted to welcome an enthusiastic crowd for the opening of Winter Gathering, our annual invited artists Christmas show. For us here at Hamilton Gallery, Winter Gathering marks the beginning of the festive season, an it’s a wonderful opportunity for artists and friends of the gallery to gather and celebrate.

Offering a wide range of styles and mediums, from paintings, sculpture, ceramics, lino prints, etchings and mixed media, the exhibition has something for everyone!

This year Winter Gathering includes artists: Yoko Akino, John Behan, Rikki Van Den Berg, Barra Cassidy, Daniel Chester, Aideen Connolly, Gráinne Cuffe, Mags Duffy, Susan Early, Catherine Fanning, Medbh Gillard, Martina Hamilton, Diane Henshaw, Stephanie Hess, Kate MacDonagh, Susan Mannion, James Mc Creary, Eamonn Mullarkey, Marilin North, Donncadh O’Callaghan, Ruth O’Donnell, Cormac O’Leary, Fiona Power, Lorna Watkins

Thank you to all the artists for their invaluable contribution. Below are a few selected pieces but you can click here to see the the whole catalogue.

Gleniff Horseshoe Valley, Aideen Connolly

He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven, Yoko Akino

Quench, Nourish, Transform, Barra Cassidy

In the Autumn, we had the great pleasure in hosting two extraordinary exhibitions; the first a double exhibition by Graham & Lisa Gingles, and the second by local artist Heidi Wickham:

Behind the Masquerade and other Conundrums, by Graham & Lisa Gingles,

Lisa Gingles’ collection of detailed drawings and sculptures of human & mythical creatures, challenged her audience to explore themes of masked identity in the human psyche. These were displayed alongside her father’s extraordinary drawings and mixed media wall sculptures.

A Sootpeddler’s Banquet, by Heidi Wickham

Heidi’s circus themed exhibition was a true spectacle and treat for us all. transforming the gallery into a make-believe world of theatre, magic, mystery and intrigue, through colour, music and lights, Heidi’s paintings and installations were an out pouring of her incredible imagination and artistic talent.

“My first experience of festival decor was way back in the 80´s when I made some signage for Glastonbury Festival. I was with a travelling family of entertainers, my brother’s rig were those old fashioned swing boats and I fell in to sign painting whilst hanging out with the performers. Since then, I’ve worked on theatre sets, murals and festival decor, but it’s the shabby back of house chaos that really inspired me to make this collection.“ Heidi Wickham.