Jennie Guy has turned her home into a gallery for Asian art, writes Eoin Lyons
A handsome two-storey-over-basement home in Sandymount isn't the first place you'd expect to find an art gallery, but, fuelled by her passion for contemporary art from Thailand, Jennie Guy has decided to give her house a dual purpose, and has just launched her first exhibition.
The walls of the reception rooms are hung with work by Nim Kruasaeng, a female artist from northeastern Thailand. "At the moment I'm working with four artists," she says. "One of them asked how my 'picture house' was coming along. That's really what this is: a home where you can buy what's on the walls. A lot of times art disappears from galleries into private homes and is never seen again, so this is kind of the reverse."
Guy became interested in art from Thailand two years ago, when she took a year out to travel with her now-four-year-old daughter, Molly. An artist friend in India suggested she visit Chiangmai, in northern Thailand, and meet Mitt Jai-In, one of the country's most celebrated artists. From him she began to learn more. "I fell in love with the country. Spending time there is very liberating. If something goes wrong, with work for example, it's not necessarily seen as a bad thing but an action that might result in something better."
Guy already had artistic connections - she contributed, for example, to a 2003 film about the artist and photographer Harry Thuiller jnr - and is now studying for a master's degree, with a view to becoming an art critic. In a previous life she set up Guy Stuart Foods with Laragh Stuart; she left the business when her daughter was born.
Her interest in Thai art developed further when a group of Thailand-based artists asked her to mediate an exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo. "The show was a collective of work from an organisation called the Land. The international art world is fascinated by this group at the moment - they're very in. The artists I've brought back to show here are connected to it in some way."
Guy didn't want to show their work collectively, however. "I decided to start with one artist at a time. Those who come can see works from other artists. I've more stored away. We've kept prices reasonable; most are just over €1,400 framed."Would Guy, who is working at the Irish pavilion at the Venice Biennial this summer, ever paint? "I couldn't lock myself in a studio. I'd rather focus on the creative side that brings this wonderful work to people's attention."
• Picture House is at 14 Saint John's Road, Sandymount, Dublin 4. Call 01-2194814 or see www.jennieguy contemporary.com. Open by appointment