AN EXPLORATION of the struggle between industry and the environment, as well as an exploration of the act of painting itself, make up the two new exhibitions which are to open in the Galway Arts’ Centre.
The opening of solo shows of new work by Irish artists Sinead Ni Mhaonaigh and Michele Horrigan will take place this evening at 6pm in the centre at 47 Dominick Street.
Michele Horrigan’s videos and photographs explore notions of environment and landscape. In Nature Obscured by Factory/Factory Obscured by Fog looks at the social and environmental impacts of the Aughinish Alumina Factory on the Shannon River Estuary.
The refinery produces 1.8 million tonnes of alumina yearly, making it the largest factory of its kind in Europe.
Horrigan uses extracts from newspapers and media reports, displayed chronologically on a television monitor, to narrate a debate surrounding the deaths of agricultural livestock, toxic deposits in the soil, and harmful sulphur emissions, allegedly attributed to the factory’s activities.
A projected video shows wildlife in the locale where horses quietly graze, birds greet the dawn and ducks swim on the water in the shadow of the factory, highlighting the struggles between nature and industry.
A publication on Horrigan’s work, featuring texts by Karen Normoyle-Haugh and John Logan, will be launched on the opening night.
The arts centre, in association with Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, will also present an exhibition of new paintings by Sinéad Ní Mhaonaigh. Her work explores the performative aspect of painting but also alludes to the idea of a contemplative place, between where a journey begins or ends. It is from this space that Ní Mhaonaigh’s latest series of paintings emerge. Present in these paintings are echoes of the equivocal constructions which typified Ní Mhaonaigh’s previous exhibitions.
Admission to both exhibitions is free. The shows run until February 28.
