Contrasts winter group show 2024-2025

'Contrasts', winter group show - 18 December 2024 to 15 March 2025

Winter group show

Artists: Annika Berglund, Hugh Cummins, Mary A. Fitzgerald, David Fox, Nickie Hayden, Eoin Mac Lochlainn, Miriam McConnon, Sheila Naughton, Yanny Petters, Kelly Ratchford, Vicky Smith and Maria Atanacković.

Official opening: Wednesday 18 December 2024, 6:00pm

Olivier Cornet Gallery, 3 Great Denmark Street, Dublin 1, D01 NV63, Ireland.

This winter group exhibition will run in our main exhibition space until 15 March 2025.

Wall pieces are also available for viewing in our 3D virtual space where you can also access the price catalogue.

The Olivier Cornet Gallery is delighted to present

Contrasts

A winter group exhibition

In a year of upheavals, combining -paradoxically- paradigm shifts and unchallenged status quo, the Olivier Cornet Gallery is presenting a themeless exhibition, or rather one featuring many themes. With ‘Contrasts’, we will -more than ever before maybe- highlight the rich diversity of artists the gallery is working with, showcasing examples of their best work this year. The exhibition purports to assemble in unison a wide selection of contrasting colours, media and practices.

Our visitors can expect surprises too with, for instance, a new series of small works in glass by Kelly Ratchford, juxtaposed with more familiar themes. Miriam McConnon, for instance, continues to explore the theme of people displaced by conflict with her new series of Domestic Resistance. And yet, the piece featuring in this show, Domestic Resistance V, has an unusual element to it when one considers the artist's normal practice:

In this painting, a wedding dress is laid out like an ancient artifact. It is crumpled and aged. It holds a narrative in the pattern that is encrypted into its fabric. These patterns are personal testimonies from the artist’s life. It is an autobiographical work, a testimony to her personal domestic resistance . This is rare for the artist Miriam McConnon whose practice is usually based around the personal narratives of other people’s lives.

Miriam’s recent work examines the link between pattern and tribalism in archaeology and social history. She expresses the personal accounts of people displaced by conflict through objects and patterns related to their individual journey. These objects are presented like ancient artifacts that display evidence of resilience in the face of the trauma of war."

Nickie Hayden's new painting 'Healing Totems' marks a new departure for this artist who has been working in a more minimalist way of late. And yet the artist continues to imbue her work with a strong sense of empathy towards the world around her.

My painting and its underlying intentions are heartfelt. I have embedded healing symbols and incorporated elements from modalities like Reiki into my new work, I am channelling a positive, transformative energy that goes beyond the canvas. Art has an incredible power to convey emotions and inspire change, especially when it's infused with the genuine wish for healing, love, and tolerance that I am describing.

It's true that the world often feels weighed down by greed, inequality, and environmental neglect, and it can feel overwhelming to try to make a difference. However, my work stands as a testament to the idea that change begins with small acts—acts of expression, empathy, and connection. Art has the capacity to awaken people, provoke thought, and spread a ripple of positivity and hope. Even if it touches just one person profoundly, it has made an impact.

Hugh Cummins's new series of works also heralds a new direction for the artist: Cummins has gained a reputation for constructing striking 3D pieces from sheets of different woods often with a focus on curves and shapes that defy the strengths of the woods used. For this winter show, the artist has turned a corner with a new series of wall hanging pieces that focus on linear shapes with an exploration of abrupt changes of direction. He uses the natural colour of the woods and added vibrant colours of dyed Sycamore to bring a new perspective on his work.

For this winter group exhibition, we have also invited the artist Maria Atanacković, winner of the Signal Arts Centre’s Open Exhibition 2024.

Contrasts features work by Annika Berglund, Hugh Cummins, Mary A. Fitzgerald, David Fox, Nickie Hayden, Eoin Mac Lochlainn, Miriam McConnon, Sheila Naughton, Yanny Petters, Kelly Ratchford, Vicky Smith and Maria Atanacković.

Coverage/reviews

15 Glossy Gifts For The Art Lover In Your Life, Penny McCormick, The Gloss Magazine, 5 December 2024.
Fios Feasa, Raidió na Life, Rossa Ó Sioradáin interviews Eoin Mac Lochlainn about the show.
'On Show: Two to View', What lies beneath, Niall MacMonagle, The Irish Independent, 5 January 2025.
Blue Art Inspiration To Beat Blue Monday, Penny McCormick, The Gloss Magazine, 20 January 2025.
Contrasts Winter Group Show, Totally Dublin, 29 January 2025 (featuring the works by Nickie Hayden, Eoin Mac Lochlainn, Miriam McConnon and Sheila Naughton)
What’s On: Art, antiques and interiors auctions and exhibitions, Philip Carton, The Business Post. Both the online version (released on 1 February 2025) and the print version (published on 2 February 2025) featured Mary A. Fitzgerald's painting Slip, Slip Pink.
Art To Inspire Love This Valentine’s Day, Penny McCormick, The Gloss Magazine, 14 February 2025 (featuring Mary A. Fitzgerald's painting Slip, Slip Pink and Hugh Cummins's Turning Points III)