Imposed Geometries
Tom Brawn Betty Gannon Cormac O’Leary
Published online to coincide with the exhibition
IMPOSED GEOMETRIES Tom Brawn/ Cormac O’Leary Tom Brawn / Betty Gannon Betty Gannon Cormac O’Leary Curated by Ian Wieczorek Ian Wieczorek Ballina Arts Centre, Barrett Street, Ballina, Co. Mayo, Ireland October 2022 Presented in association with Ballina Fringe Festival All works copyright the artists All rights reserved © 2022
IMPOSED GEOMETRIES an exhibition of painting and sculpture by
Tom Brawn Betty Gannon Cormac O’Leary Curated by Ian Wieczorek
Curator’s Note Imposed Geometries explores the idea of the man-made structure within a broader spatial context: organised architectural forms existing within ‘loose’, undetermined environments. Philosopher Gaston Bachelard describes the house as “a body of images that give mankind proofs or illusions of stability.” Imposed Geometries takes the concept of the house/structure and offers a series of dynamic meditations in painting and sculpture by West of Ireland artists: Tom Brawn, Betty Gannon and Cormac O’Leary. What drew me to these three artists was the fact that, independently, they have all recently created work that explores the architectural geometry of man-made structures within their surroundings. While the methodologies and intentions of the three artists might differ, the works themselves offer a thematically cohesive visual core, while offering strands whose intentional trajectories both complement and radiate outwards. Ian Wieczorek
In their own words: TOM BRAWN Art philosopher has Nicolas Bourriaud has proposed the concept of the Radicant: the culture maker as immigrant, exile and global traveller. To be Radicant means “setting one’s roots in motion, denying them any value as origins, translating ideas, transcoding images, transplanting behaviours, exchanging rather than imposing.” In my work I seek to embrace this Radicant philosophy and to explore perceived and actual realities, hidden and imperceptible truths. Ukiyo (Japanese, meaning ‘floating world’) is a metaphor for how culture is transmitted and received. At its heart is a representation of an actual Japanese tea house, an architectural expression that embodies the Zen ethos of the ritual of the tea ceremony, a place both within and yet distanced from the chaos of the outside world. The work is a palimpsest of cultural tropes, the demarcation and imposition of boundaries, the mapping of systems, and the separation of order and disorder.
In their own words: BETTY GANNON Located in the familiar notional geography of architectural construction, these works explore buildings in the processes of construction and demolition, and the relationship with their surroundings. Rather than literal visual studies of buildings, they draw from the dynamic that exists between chaos and order, and the energies of transformation implicit in these processes of change. The results are embodiments of structures in flux.
In their own words: CORMAC O’LEARY During the pandemic lockdowns I did sporadic work in my studio. Like everyone else I was distracted by the sudden change in routine and lifestyle all around me. In my sketchbooks I found several small charcoal drawings of isolated structures in nondescript landscapes which had always interested me. I had glimpsed this ‘vernacular architecture’, mainly DIY functional outbuildings, in the rural environs about me. Random and quirky, they had always attracted my attention. I began to paint small oils on off-cut board panels, one leading to another. The claustral monochromatic compositions began to make more sense as a growing dystopian drama unfolded in the wider world beyond me. Isolated, insular and self-contained, these anomalies in my work seemed to capture the oddness of my experience as normal life was further limited and reduced. Stack houses, sheds, hutches, kennels, coops – each one with its own peculiar quirk – appeared without planning permission, squatting in the hinterland of my imagination. Ramshackle, haphazard improvisations, poignant outliers, withstanding weather and plague, grim outposts of survival against the odds.
THE ARTISTS
TOM BRAWN Tom Brawn lives and works in Westport, Co. Mayo. He is a multidisciplinary artist, working in text, print, audio-visual and installation, and holds a BA in Art and Design from ATU (Atlantic Technological College, formerly GMIT). He also has a parallel practice as a freelance florist, which also informs his visual art practice. He has exhibited in various exhibitions in Co. Mayo, and is a recipient of an Agility Award from the Arts Council of Ireland. His work is concerned with the emotional response of a person to their environment.
Website: www.tombrawn.com Email: info@tombrawn.com Instagram: @brawnsflowers
BETTY GANNON Betty Gannon lives and works in Westport, Co Mayo, mainly working in drawing, painting, 3D work and photography. She has had nine solo exhibitions throughout Ireland and Northern Ireland and has been selected to exhibit in numerous curated group exhibitions. She has also taken part in group shows in the USA, Canada, Italy, France and Germany. Gannon was an award winner at the Leitrim Sculpture Centre Summer Exhibition in 2018, and received an Agility Award in 2021 from the Arts Council of Ireland. She has been selected for a forthcoming residency in AIR Krems, Austria in December 2022, and has a forthcoming solo show at NOEDOK, St Pölten, Austria alongside this year’s Lower Austria Cultural Prize winners. Email: gannonbetty@gmail.com Website: www.bettygannon.ie Instagram: @betty_gannon
CORMAC O’LEARY Cormac O’Leary is a visual artist based in County Leitrim. He studied fine art at Sligo IT (now ATU) 1987 - 91. He has had over 30 solo exhibitions and numerous group shows including RHA annual exhibitions, Dublin (2016 / 18 / 22) RUA annual exhibitions, Belfast (2016 / 18). Residencies include Vermont, USA (2010), Auribeau, France (2016). Awards include Milliken Bros ltd. Art materials Award (2000), Iontas painting award (2001). His work is represented in public and private collections in Ireland, UK, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, USA, Japan and Australia. Website: www.cormacolearyartist.yolasite.com Email: corafoleary@gmail.com Instagram: @cafoleary
IAN WIECZOREK (curator) Ian Wieczorek is a visual artist working primarily in painting, video and installation. He has lived and worked in Mayo since 1992, and is a Fine Art BA graduate from GMIT Mayo Campus (now ATU). Over the past 20 years he has exhibited widely both in Ireland and internationally, with participation in group/curated shows in N. Ireland, Germany, France, Portugal, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, USA, Wales, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, and solo exhibitions (16 to date) in Ireland, N. Ireland, UK, Czech Republic, and online. Wieczorek has also devised and curated a number of shows in Ireland, and has undertaken residencies in Ireland, UK, France and Austria. Website: www.ianwieczorek.com Email: ianwieczorek8@gmail.com
LIST OF WORKS 1. 2. 3-16. 17. 18. 19-23. 24-33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39.
Hutch Series 1 Untitled Small Hutch Series 1-14 Restless Structures 4 Restless Structures 3 Gable series 1-5 Hutch Series 2-11 Shelter Series 3 Shelter Series 2 Shelter Series 4 Shelter Series 1 Untitled (Structure Series) Ukiyo
1 2
39
3-16
Oil on board Acrylic on canvas Oil on board Acrylic on canvas Acrylic on canvas Mixed media Oil on board Acrylic on canvas Acrylic on canvas Acrylic on canvas Acrylic on canvas Graphite on paper Mixed media
17/18
19-23
Cormac O’Leary Betty Gannon Cormac O’Leary Betty Gannon Betty Gannon Betty Gannon Cormac O’Leary Betty Gannon Betty Gannon Betty Gannon Betty Gannon Betty Gannon Tom Brawn
24-33
CONCOURSE GALLERY
€350.00 €195.00 €150.00 each €450.00 €450.00 €150.00 each €350.00 each €295.00 €295.00 €295.00 €295.00 €475.00 POA
34 35 36 37 38
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS With thanks to Sean Walsh, Ballina Fringe Festival & Ballina Arts Centre for making this exhibition possible