20th century Irish art

See the new page tab above (http://stmelsart.blogspot.ie/p/blog-page.html)
There's now a selection of links for more information and videos of some the Irish artists we've been looking at for the Leaving Cert paper stored here for future reference.
More to follow soon.

Gallery question downloads

www.imma.ie/en/downloads/second levelprogpart1alicemaher.pdf

www.imma.ie/en/downloads/eileengraystudentresources2013.pdf

www.nationalgallery.ie/Learning/Teachers/Leaving_Cert_Resources
Follow the link to Visiting an Exhibition. 
Also look at Exploring Modern Irish Art; Exploring Modern Art and Impressionism

www.hughlane.ie/art-education-resources
Follow the link to The Francis Bacon Studio:A Resource for Teachers and Students

Virtual tour of The Moderns exhibition

Here's a link to a virtual tour of The Moderns exhibition which was held in IMMA a few years ago. Most of the Irish artists we've been looking at are included so it's worth having a look and reading the information to put these artists in context. As well as the Irish section it should also help you with the gallery question.

http://imma.gallery-access.com/intl/en/tour.php?w_id=2

Virtual tour of National Gallery of Ireland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypQJqolqmiY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Engage art exhibition

We had an enjoyable visit to the Engage art exhibition in the old Providers building in Longford today. It was great to have such an interesting, professional gallery space in walking distance from the school. Thanks to Gordon Farrell and Frank Farrell for explaining their work and to Shane and Rosie for facilitating our visit.

Art Tour 2013

This year we visited the new Luan Gallery in Athlone and Clonmacnoise for our tour. We had an enjoyable day out, and hopefully learned lots about exhibiting art and Early Christian Ireland.

The Luan Gallery was opened in November and is the first dedicated visual arts space in the Midlands. All the work on display at the moment is Midlands based, which made it very relevant for a Midlands school. The Engaged exhibition showcases the work of the artists who have been resident in the Abbey Road artists' studios since they opened in 2011. The was a great diversity of pieces on show from traditional and abstract painting to sculpture and film.

The second exhibition A Very Grand Canal, is a group show which mixed visuals, text and video and seemed to make an impact on our group. Our guides Catherine and Joe gave a very informative tour which highlighted the nature of the artworks, the architecture of the building as well as the practical aspects of curating and maintaining the exhibition, from controlling the humidity, light and temperature to building temporary walls and dividing the space to suit the work on display.

Also on display is the second of four installments of Shane Cullen's Fragmens sur les Institutions Républicanes IV. Shane is a native of Longford and Catherine explained that the mammoth work was all hand-painted over four years. This sits opposite a wall of glass overlooking the River Shannon, which Catherine referred to as a constantly changing, living artwork.

The gallery supplied worksheets after the tour which were well laid out and broad ranging and will be very useful when preparing for the Leaving Cert gallery question. Here's everyone busy filling them out:

Our trip to Clonmacnoise consisted of an audio-visual presentation and a self-guided tour of the exhibition and ruins. We focused on the architectual styles and the high crosses which are part of the Irish Art section of the Leaving Cert paper. Replicas of the beautifully decorated High Crosses now stand where the originals were, while they are housed inside the interpretative centre. These replicas are made of a mixture of sandstone, chalk and other materials and look identical to the originals which served to inform the masses about the scriptures at a time when literacy levels were very low. The buildings of the centre itself are designed to fit in with the ruins and resemble the round houses which once stood on the site.

Some work from this year

Despite the lack of posts there has been lots happening in the art room this year. Here's a few pictures to refresh your memories. First, Second and Fourth Years are still working on their abstract self-portrait brief, while Junior and Leaving Certs prepare for the upcoming practicals. Pictures from last week's tour to follow.

Corbelling with clay

Newgrange passage models

Impressionism and Post-impressionism using primary colours only.

Lino printing