The upcoming show by photographer Aoibheann MacNamara, titled 'Dungeness', is a showcase on light, how it impacts textures and interacts with the natural landscape.
This June, Ard Bia will host MacNamara’s second photographic exhibition titled 'Dungeness'. The exhibition has been named after the coastal region in England, which has been a beacon for artists and writers over the years, most notably, the great Derek Jarmon.
As an artist of photography, MacNamara works in automatic, letting the light largely dictate the work. This is by design, resulting in 'more bleached out', barren landscapes, which feature prominently throughout the exhibition.
Dungeness has long since been the sanctuary for artists and writers, known to many as the location of Prospect Cottage, the home of the late artist and prominent gay rights activist, Derek Jarmon.
Today, Jamon's tar-washed yellow windowed hut of iconic standing is the big draw, but from there, a bigger aesthetic story evolves. Nuclear power stations, fish huts, lighthouses, colourful fishing debris, signal stations and much more presents a set design for escapist theatre in the shape of time spent there and of time removed.
This body of work, created over several early morning windswept walks while staying at the Fog Signal House in Dungeness during March 2024, pays homage to the beauty of a place that is like a moonscape with the most evocative structures within that 'scape.
“The muted colours of the images are untouched and left in their bleached-out state in a nod to analogue film we could not change once shot,” explained Aoibheann.
The summer exhibition series will continue in July with painter Jose M. Yagüe Manzanares who through his painting of photography displays a love letter through his craft to Ireland.
For more information call into Ard Bia on the Spanish Arch.
