The Construct, OPW Collection touring exhibition, Newtownards, Omagh, Athlone and Bray, 2015.
Construct is the 2015 joint annual touring exhibition drawn from the public art collections of the Office of Public Works (OPW) and the Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP) of Northern Ireland. It features an eclectic mixture of print, painting, drawing and three-dimensional works by Irish and Northern Irish based artists. The exhibition, which includes 29 artworks drawn from the public art collections north and south of the border, was selected by eleven young curators from the Ulster University in Belfast, Co Antrim.
Construct featuring work by Elaine Byrne, Martin Healy, Lisa Dunne, Michelle Byrne, Hugh Watt, Lawson Burch, Trevor McElnea, Comhghall Casey, Patricia Byrne, Kathryn McGuire, Ian Joyce, Cilla Patton, Colm MacAthlaoich, Rosaleen Sanderson, The Palimpsest,/Rianú project, Andrew Clancy, Shane O’Connor, Alan Phelan, Ros Harvey, Barbara Freeman, Margaret Arthur, James Allen, Leanne McDonagh, Atsushi Kaga, Richard J Croft, Kelly Power, Colin M. Corkey and James Hanley RHA
Minister Simon Harris, TD, Minister of State with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works in the Republic of Ireland welcomed the launch of ‘CONSTRUCT’ – A joint DFP/OPW Exhibition of Government Artworks, which opened today at Omagh Library, Co. Tyrone.
The annual joint touring exhibition of artworks from the collections of the Office of Public Works (OPW) in the Republic of Ireland and the Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP) of Northern Ireland is entitled ‘CONSTRUCT’. This exhibition is a selection of 29 artworks from the public collections, north and south, chosen by eleven young curators from the Ulster University in Belfast, Co. Antrim.
Speaking ahead of the opening, Minister Harris said, “It gives me great pleasure that the wonderful ‘CONTRUCT’ exhibition hosted by Libraries NI will be on view in Omagh Library, Co. Tyrone. This unique and long-lived cross border cultural partnership has invited curatorial input from student curators who selected the artworks according to their own tastes and the links between them”.
The OPW has been working in co-operation with the DFP in relation to art exhibitions since 1997 and the joint exhibitions have toured extensively throughout Ireland – to arts centres, libraries, civic offices, colleges and heritage properties – and to several venues abroad. The artworks included in these exhibitions have mainly been purchased for public buildings located throughout the island.
This exciting travelling exhibition launched last month at the Ards Art Centre, Newtownards, Co Down and will now go on display at Omagh Library, Co Tyrone from today 1 October and will run until the end of October 2015. It will then move to the Luan Gallery, Athlone, Co. Westmeath on 6 November and will conclude at the Bray Institute of Further Education in Co. Wicklow on 18 December 2015.
The Minister concluded, “I would like to thank the DFP team, my own OPW team members and Libraries NI for hosting the exhibition at Omagh Library. I know it received a wonderful reception from the Ards and North Down Borough Council and the curators themselves must be very proud of their hard work. I am sure that it will prove equally popular here in Omagh in the coming weeks”.
Note to Editors:
An exhibition catalogue is available from the Office of Public Works, Art Management Office. Please email: artmanagement@opw.ie or telephone +353 1 6476812 to request a copy.
Short Promotional Video, Luan Gallery Athlone