Dublin Gallery Weekend 2025 at the OCG

Off we go...

As I arrived at IMMA for the launch of Dublin Gallery Weekend on Thursday evening (6 November 2025), it was with a sense of relief -and what perfect timing I thought -that I realised that the interview RTE conducted at my gallery earlier that day, was being aired at the end of the 6 o'clock News.

Indeed, in the early afternoon, I had the pleasure to welcome  journalist and broadcaster Evelyn O'Rourke with her RTÉ cameraman. Evelyn conducted a series of interviews with the artists Geraldine O'Neill and Hazel O'Sullivan as well as the gallerists Jessica Taylor and Lawrence Taylor about their involvement in Dublin Gallery Weekend 2025. This interview is now available on RTE's YouTube channel.

The evening at IMMA was a huge success and both IMMA director Annie Fletcher and CAGA Chairman John Daly outlined the importance of the ecosystem constituted by the commercial art galleries and the art institutions in Ireland.

Dublin Gallery Weekend 2025 for us at the Olivier Cornet Gallery really kicked off the following day, i.e. on the Friday when, like most our CAGA fellow members, we launched our new show: ours was a group exhibition titled  'Ode to Giants'.  

As the show features responses to favourite artworks from 3 Dublin museums, one of them being IMMA, I was overjoyed a few weeks prior to the opening when Christina Kennedy, Senior Curator and Head of Collections at IMMA, accepted to open the show last Friday. A brilliant talk. 

Photo: Christina Kennedy, Senior Curator and Head of Collections at IMMA, guest speaker at the opening of our group show 'Ode to Giants'. The work partly featuring in the photo is Mary A. Fitzgerald's The Fancy, acrylic on canvas, 100x100cm. Acquired during the weekend by the OPW for the State Art Collection.

About  our group show Ode to Giants

I asked 13 of the artists I work with to respond to their favourite pieces from three museums in Dublin: IMMA, the National Gallery of Ireland and the National Museum of Ireland in Collins Barracks. The show, a key offering of Dublin Gallery Weekend 2025, purports to present a unique and engaging approach to appreciating art history and contemporary practice in Ireland.

Artists: Annika Berglund, Hugh Cummins, Mary A. Fitzgerald, David Fox, Conrad Frankel, Nickie Hayden, Eoin Mac Lochlainn, Miriam McConnon, Sheila Naughton, Bart O'Reilly, Yanny Petters, Kelly Ratchford and Vicky Smith.

Photo: opening of the show Friday evening. You might recognise the artists David Fox, Hugh Cummins, Eoin Mac Lochlainn, Vicky Smith, Mary A. Fitzgerald, Kelly Ratchford and Yanny Petters.

A weekend of talks, workshops and great food...

On Saturday morning, we hosted a 'Breakfast with Yanny Petters' event

The artist talked about 'A meeting, an ode to Harry Clarke', her verre églomisé work featuring in the group show Ode to Giants. Her talk was accompanied by a video showing the various stages of her creative process: a series of short films shot by the artist and beautifully edited into a great video by our intern Aoife Alston.

The event was sponsored by Parnell Street Bakery who provided us with delicious pastries, served with beautiful coffee compliments of The Castle Hotel, Dublin. 

On Saturday afternoon, Kelly Ratchford, aided by the artist Ali Moore and our intern Aoife, led a great Kids/Family workshop titled 'You can draw my card(d). It was pure magic to see the kids (and their parents!} having so much fun making cards to send to their friends.

Both events were very well attended! We'd like to also thank all our visitors who came to the gallery during the day. 

A successful weekend full of surprises

Yanny Petters' exquisite painting 'A Meeting, an ode to Harry Clarke' found a buyer in the afternoon and the following day, the OPW acquired 3 works for the State Art Collection: another piece from our current group show: The Fancy, Mary A. Fitzgerald's beautiful abstract painting, as well as two works from previous solo shows: Daniel Lipstein's 'Spirit Walking Towards Light' (from his show Self Portrait with a Pet and a Bathtub) and Eoin Mac Lochlainn's An ghaoth aniar / This too will pass X (from his show An ghaoth aniar / This too will pass).

Our interns Aoife Alston and Camille Lisonbee who led a few CAGA Gallery Tours were very happy about the success of their very well attended tours. 

This year, with the support of Culture Ireland, CAGA invited a few international curators. The Olivier Cornet Gallery was delighted to see two of its artists, namely Mary A. Fitzgerald and Eoin Mac Lochlainn, being selected for studio visits. 

One of these curators also came to visit our gallery and see our show, namely Silvia Guerra, Directrice Artistique du Lab'Bel (Laboratoire Artistique du Groupe Bel) in Paris. I was delighted to see Silvia saluting my gallery's 'distinctive perspective' in her LinkedIn summary post about her visit to Dublin Gallery Weekend 2025.

Image: Eoin Mac Lochlainn, An ghaoth aniar / This too will pass X, watercolour on birch panel, 45x30cm. Acquired by the OPW for the State Art Collection.

On the last day of Dublin Gallery Weekend 2025

We opened the gallery at 10:00 on the Sunday after laying our long table for our well prepared buffet. The Korean dishes arrived a bit late but the  ratatoulle, my signature dish (well, my mum's as it's her recipe after all) was all ready.  People started arriving at about 1pm and the food was all gone before we knew it. We''have to prepare/order more food next year.

The art historian Jean Ryan gave us a brilliant talk about 'How Artists Think' referring to the works in the exhibition Ode to Giants. A magical moment. I started collaborating with Jean over 12 years ago. She is now working with the Hightanes Gallery and other art institutions. A great storyteller, her very engaging interventions always captivate audiences. I was very lucky to meet her and work with her before anyone else.

I was delighted to welcome Tom Clinch to the gallery towards the end of the day. I was delighted to have the opportunity to thank him for all the work carried out by his team (led by Karen Walshe) at SoSimpatico, the company that produced Dublin Gallery Weekend 2025. A huge thank you to all the team at Sync & Swim too for all the work! 

Another big thank you to all my artists and my two interns Aoife Alston and Camile Lisonbee. Last but not least, thank you to all our visitors, customers and sponsors of Dublin Gallery Weekend 2025.

Olivier Cornet, 15 November2025

Photo: Jean Ryan delivering her brilliant talk on How Artists Think.