IN an extraordinarily eventful week in Irish art the Le Brocquy retrospective at IMMA coupled with his exhibition at the reborn Taylor Galleries, the Banquet Exhibition in the RHA Gallery and Paula Rego at the Graphic Studio Gallery - yet another highlight will be the Temple Bar International Print Show at the Temple Bar Gallery and Studios. It will be open to the public from tomorrow and runs until November 10th.
It has been a major undertaking, and the Irish section alone will include 100 works by 65 artists. This has involved a huge winnowing of the works submitted originally they numbered roughly 1,000 from 230 artists. The selection has been made by Dr Roberta Waddell, curator of prints at the prestigious New York Public Library, author of several books and an internationally respected authority in her field. Selection has involved a good deal of flying to and from New York, and long hours pondering over the works spread out for her inspection in the Temple Bar Studios.
To an extent, the live-wire and go-between of the project has been David O'Donoghue, but there is a steering committee representing the major print studios as well as the two arts councils, North and South. Its members are Jim Allen, for the Northern Arts Council, Carmel Benson (Graphic Studio), Jane Dillon-Byrne (Arts Council), Jean Duncan (Seacourt Print Workshop), Terry Gravett (Belfast Print Workshop), Brian Kennedy (Cork Printmakers), Norah Norton (Temple Bar Gallery and Studios), David O'Donoghue (Temple Bar Properties), Niamh, O'Donnell (Black Church Print Studio), Patricia Quinn (Temple Bar Properties, and now director of the Arts Council). Since Temple Bar Properties is heavily involved, obviously this exhibition is intended to put both the area and the gallery further on the map perhaps internationally.
The list of the Irish artists chosen is too long to give here: enough to say that it includes Alfonso Monreal, William Crozier, Felim Egan and Diarmuid Delargy. It should be remembered that the show is based on open submission, not on a preselected number of established names. This has meant that some relative newcomers, people who are still struggling to make a name in a very competitive field, will be included.
By opting for an external selector, the organisers have insured themselves against clique choices and the sometimes notorious tendency of people in the art world to look after their pals. Virtually every technique or aspect of printmaking and, in the late 20th century, they are many will be represented: etching, aquatint, mezzotint, collograph, silkscreen, lithography, monoprint, woodcut, and even in more modern processes.
Dr Waddell says: "I was delighted to see the passion, energy and invention with which many artists approached their individual, personal dialogues with printmaking. These artists did not allow technique and craft to become an end in itself but rather use printmaking as a tool in service of artmaking.
"By responding each in their own way to the unique characteristics of various printmaking processes, they are challenged to stretch themselves, seeking to see where printmaking will lead them. This interaction between artist and medium can also yield surprises: discoveries, accidents and revelations, inherent to printmaking, give the work life and spirit."
She sums up: "As I completed my review of the prints and illustrated books for the show, weighty art-historical analysis seemed pretentious and beside the point. What sang out was the originality, vitality and variety of the work offered for my consideration. It has been an extraordinary and exhilarating experience to select this exhibition."
In the same week, as mentioned, the Graphic Studio Gallery launches an exhibition of the prints of the Anglo-Portuguese artist Paula Rego, who is London-based and whose sometimes "black", macabre vision has made her simultaneously fashionable and controversial. To my knowledge, not a single painting or drawing of hers has been seen in Dublin up to now, so this too is an event which should draw many eyes.
