Abbey Road Artists Studios launch the first of what it hopes will be many collaborations with AIT, starting with IN ORBIT, an exhibition of works by first and second year AIT Design and Visual Communications students.
The exhibition will be launched by Miriam Mulrennan, manager of Athlone Art and Heritage on Tuesday May 8 at 5pm. The exhibition will run on Wednesday May 9 and Thursday May 10 with doors open from 11am -5pm. The students from AIT who created the work will themselves be present to invigilate and discuss the work with visitors.
Miriam Mulrennan says, “In many cases we see the work of final year graduates is celebrated and this is important and appropriate. However the work produced by college students starting out on their course of study, often marks the beginning of their creative journey and for this reason this can be both surprising and experimental. From the offset we agreed with AIT that the end of each year marks a significant milestone as students progress on their creative journey. Additionally the work will be showcased while other community groups use the Abbey Road exhibition space, groups such as Athlone Arts Group and Abbey Road Active Age Group and the interaction between these ‘regulars’ and AIT students is at the heart of what Upstairs@studio5 is all about.”
The exhibition showcases a diverse selection of work produced by the students during their year of study, which encompasses fine art, 3D design, photography, bookmaking, graphic design, and textiles. Eddie Ryan senior lecturer in design at AIT says of the collaboration “This heady mix of practice, participation, ideas, and influence has produced a range of visually diverse, visually exciting, and intellectually engaged work that we are delighted to get to show you at Abbey Road.”
Athlone Art and Heritage coordinator Catherine Yorke, herself a former AIT Visual Communications graduate says of the collaboration, “This is an exciting opportunity to showcase work by students, giving audiences access to the broadest possible range of practices and an insight into the mindset of a design student. I am delighted to be involved with featuring and celebrating the work of AIT Year 1 and 2 students, for the first time in Abbey Road”.
The pieces on show reflect the multi-disciplinary practices inherent in AIT’s design programmes, and is also an inaugural show of this initial work in the wider community. The students are encouraged to develop and communicate their ideas through design, animation, performance, and fine art practice as well as collaborating with students of other disciplines (Higher Certificate in Business with Music and Instrument Technology, BSc in Business Computing ) learning from their college tutors, and participating in the influence of guest lecturers including Paul Timoney, Aideen Barry, Ruth Kennington, and Frances Breen.
This heady mix of practice, participation, ideas and influence has produced a range of visually diverse, visually exciting, and intellectually engaged work that we are delighted to get to show you at Abbey Road.
The exhibition will be launched on Tuesday May 8 at 5pm and will run on Wednesday May 9 and Thursday May 10 with doors open from 11am -5pm.
