Galway Advertiser 2002/2002_06_06/GA_06062002_E1_034.pdf 

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[entsl feature All eyes on me
POP ART is alive and well in the work of Paul Regan, whose latest solo exhibition Parade is currently on at the Galway Arts Centre. The 33 works on show are mostly painted in emulsion and acrylic creating bold, heavily outlined images that resemble more the effect of a lino cut or a photo negative rather than traditional painings. The works are presented as posters, advertisements, film stills, and cartoons. The most striking feature of the exhibition is Regan's interest in eyes. He uses teddy bear eyes on many of the faces he portrays or else he bores holes in the canvass where the eyes should have been. Such hollowed out eyes can be seen in 'Cyclops Cowboy, Holy Eyes' which is drawn in the style of a newspaper cartoon. Typically for such a referential form like pop art, rhincstone is also used for the cowboys earrings. However, this is probably not what Glen Campbell meant when he sang about 'Rhinestone Cowboy'. Sometimes the attempts to reproduce the lino cut/negative leads to crudity and an effect which is clumsy and amateurish. The

New exhibition opens in Town Hall
in Canada. Her time there gave her the confidence to follow her artistic vision, as the Indians recognised and encouraged her transcendental perception of the world around her. Many of the paintings in the exhibition are inspired by her time with the Ojibwas and are imbued with a definite sense of native Amnerican spirituality. There are also recurrent images of mother and daughter, adult and child, contributing to the exhibition's thematic exploration of the artist's spiritual journey. There are 23 works in the exhibition, all of them oil on canvas. Upon returning to Ireland, Gallagher came to Galway at the suggestion of a friend and made her home here. She continued to dedicate her time to her art and now her life-long passion reaches its culmination in this her debut exhibition. Entitled The Conmon Thread, the show continues at the Town Hall throughout the months of June and might well mark the arrival of a remarkable artistic talent.

'Soldier' series attempts to say something but the simplification of the images leaves the soldiers looking more like a badly moulded and flattened plasticine than battle torn victims. While some of the works can seem ambiguous, or even vacuous, one piece that speaks volumes is 'Fixing it...with a stick'. Like the other works, this large piece is painted in bold, basic colours. It shows a baseball player, in a traditional pose of waiting to hit the ball, his bat held behind his head. Above him is the legend "Fix it...with a stick'. However, it's unlikely he's actually standing in Yankee Stadium. The man's face is blacked out except for two large teddy bear eyes and his mouth, which is open in a shape of happy surprise. That's not the shade from his peaked cap though, it's

OPENING TOMORROW ( F r i d a y J u n e 7) in the Town Hall is a fascinating exhibition of paintings by locally-based artist Evelyn Gallagher who is showing h e r w o r k for the first time. Originally from Leitrim, really a balaclava. His green Gallagher spent 16 years hat and orange shirt means living in Dublin where she he's more likely to be a had a senior position with member of the UVF or the Iarnrod Eireann. All that IRA than the New York time she nurtured a Yankees. On his hat there is passionate interest in art, a badge with the explosive visiting galleries at home symbol saying 'stick and abroad and painting together'. In other words, continuously. Eventually, don't step out of line or else her urge to paint prompted he'll fix you with a her to quit her job so she punishment beating. could devote herself to her On the other hand, there art. are works of charm and Though she has had no gentleness like 'Butterfly | formal artistic training, her G i r l ' . Here a young work has a raw power Japanese girl smiles at us which transmits itself to the against a bright orange viewer in a very personal background. Around her and emotional way. float three large ornamental Gallagher has a strong butterflies. Happiness in visionary impulse which is nature and happiness in the source for much of her humanity. work's inspiration and gives Parade runs until it its distinctive character. Saturday June 15 and look Upon leaving her job she out for a friend of Willy spent nine months on the Wonka's when you are Ojibwa Indian reservation there. Kernan Andrews

CMcB

Proust Questionnaire -:
Aoife Ni Thuarisc -WEATHER PRESENTERTCJ4
W h a t is y o u r idea of perfect happiness? Being live in studio, dinner with six of my closest friends, sitting in with my family. Which historical figure do you most identify with? Medbh. Queen of Connacht. Which living person do you most admire? Elvis, the King is alive. Which is the trait you most deplore in yourself? I have a love/hate relationship with my impetuous streak. W h a t is your greatest extravagance? My social life. What is your favourite journey? Life. On what occasion do you lie? I'm not a good liar I can't look someone in the eye and lie - so I endeavour not to. W h i c h living p e r s o n d o you most despise? I don't waste energy on despising. However George W Bush, I don't know him to despise him, I am wary of his politics and his impetuous streak as a reactor. W h a t or who is the greatest love of your life? My freedom. When and where were you happiest? At the moment Which talent would you most like to have? I'd love to be able to sing. As it is I can't inflict my voice on the world. W h a t is y o u r current state of mind? Let's see how it goes. W h a t do you consider your greatest achievement? Having loyal, close, friends I can confide in. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what do you think it would be? I would like to be the sound of laughter. W h a t is y o u r most treasured possession? My photographs. W h a t do you r e g a r d as t h e lowest depth of misery? A broken heart. What is your favourite occupation? Driving alone in my car at night. What is the quality you most like in a man? Fidelity in terms of love and loyal in terms of what he believes in. What is the quality you most like in a woman? Decisiveness and honesty. Who are your favourite writers? Martin O Caidhain, Patricia Cornwell. Paolo Coehlo. What is your motto? No panic. Michelle Viney

Connemara artist exhibits in Scotland
CONNEMARA ARTIST P a d r a i c Reaney has a new exhibition opening this week on the Isle of Arran in Scotland, inspired by the Tain Bo Culaigne and St Colmcille. Reaney's exhibition forms part of a festival being held on Arran, and is a continuation of a relationship between Reaney and the Green Harper Gallery which began several years ago. "The gallery owner saw my work in an exhibition of the Tain in the Bridge Mills," he says, "and got in touch with me to see if I would be interested in doing a show with them." He now shows pieces in the Green Harper Gallery on a regular basis, and among those who have bought his work there is musician Nick Harper, son of the legendary Roy. Reaney is from An Ceathru Rua but now lives and works in Moycullen. Locally, one of his larger paintings of Colmcille can be seen in the new library in An Ceathru Rua as Galway County Council recently purchased it for the building. The artist has been exhibiting widely in Britain of late. He recently had a show in north Wales as pan of an Irish festival held in Harlech. That show was made up of 24 pieces of etchings, block prints and silk screen prints. Several of his oil paintings of the famine and the Aran Islands recently formed part of the very first exhibition in the Barbara Stanley Gallery. London. At present Reaney is working on another historic subject, the Tribes of Galway. This formed the basis for his recent mixed media show at the Town Hall Theatre during l-eile 2002. "The paintings are works in progress and I'm already working on one sculpture." he explains, adding that people don't often get a chance to see artists' work in progress any more. Traditionally this process offered a great insight into the way work was created and it's something believes is valuable. The role which new technology can play in the world of art is something else which Reaney sees as significant and he was the first artist to have a virtual exhibition on the Kenny gallery website. This mixed media show on the famine was launched in March and will be on the site for the foreseeable future. The show can be seen by logging on to www.kennys.ie Kernan Andrews