‘RENEWAL’: NEW EXHIBITION AT THE WRIGHT GALLERY, WESTPORT

The Wright Gallery has just launched a new exhibition by the Wright Artist collective. RENEWAL is the title of a brand new show of paintings and prints by Breda Burns, Mags Duffy, Betty Gannon, Pam Gray, Claire Griffin, Ma...ry O’Grady, Gráinne O’Reilly, Susie Quinn, Sinéad Wall and Ian Wieczorek. This vibrant and exciting new exhibition is the second in an ongoing series planned by the locally based collective in the artist-run gallery at The Quay in Westport, located directly opposite the Custom House Studios.

The Wright Gallery opened its doors on 3rd June this year, and its official opening was attended by over 250 people. The gallery has continued to build on this success, with a steady influx of visitors both local and from further afield. “We are delighted with the way this is working out,” confirms artist Betty Gannon. “There has been great interest in our first exhibition, and now it’s time to have a total change of work. It’s important that the gallery stays fresh and that people who have visited can come back and see a completely new exhibition.” Fresh is certainly the word: RENEWAL is a show full of pleasures and surprises, bursting with colour. The show runs until 26th August, when the next show by the Wright Artists will be unveiled.

The Wright Gallery is establishing itself as a significant artistic attraction for visitors to the Quay in Westport, as well as an important artistic outlet for a group of energetic and talented locally-based artists. Come along and see for yourselves.
The Wright Gallery is open Thursday-Monday inclusive, from 11am-6.00pm daily

Photographs from the first Wright opening.

Biographies of The Wright Artists.

Breda Burns

Westport native, currently based in the Custom House Studios, Westport.
Since studying Art at the Regional Technical College, Sligo, has continued
be engaged as an artist and arts worker . Solo shows have included 360° of
the Reek (Custom House Gallery, Westport), Death Valley + (10 Ormond Quay,
Dublin), Chasin' Space, Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar. Breda has also
participated in a numerous group shows and undertaken public and private
commissions. Layered works are build up slowly, with a range of landscape,
figurative and expressive elements revealing themselves at different
times.
E: bredaburns@hotmail.com
T: 086 3114467

Margaret Duffy

Born in Mayo, 1968. Arts education: Galway RTC (1986-90); Crawford College
of Art, Cork (1991-2). Has extensive art teaching experience at Second
level and PLC (Post Leaving Certificate), and has initiated and been
involved in various community arts projects in Mayo. Margaret’s work,
currently mainly in oils, concentrates heavily on materiality, and is
thematically occupied with the land and notions of community, belonging,
connectedness, isolation and displacement. She is represented in the
collections of the OPW, DOE N. Ireland, Mayo County Council and other
local organisations, and is also held in many private collections in
Ireland, UK and US. Has exhibited in various solo/group/selected shows in
Ireland and N. Ireland. She is currently working towards a new solo
exhibition.
E: magsandrew@eircom.net
T: 087 7719380

Betty Gannon

Born in Co. Mayo, 1966. Completed foundation course in Visual Education at
Sligo Institute of Technology (1986), and Design Communications at Athlone
Institute of Technology (1989). Graduated from GMIT with a BA in Fine Art
in 2008. Currently works from a studio at the Custom House, Westport.
Work is mainly concerned with drawing and painting, exploring notions of
form, energy and dynamics. Has exhibited in many group/selected shows
since 2003 in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Germany, including COE (2008)
and RDS Students Awards (2008). Her second solo show takes place in the
Alley Arts Centre, Co Tyrone later this year.
W: www.bettygannon.com
E: gannonbetty@gmail.com
T: 086 3196874

Pamela Gray

Pamela is from Westport, Co.Mayo. Currently based at the Custom House
Studios. Artistic practice based primarily in painting, drawing and
printmaking. Educational background includes a Diploma in Textile Design
(GMIT, Galway), a first class Honours Degree in Illustration (Derby
University, UK) and the first year of an MA in Children’s Book
Illustration (Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK). Has exhibited in
many selected group shows and has work in many private collections both in
Ireland and abroad. Other work includes the 2009 Westport Arts Festival
poster, and RoolaBoola Children’s Arts Festival programme 2002-5. Solo
shows include Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar (2005) and The Waterfront
Gallery, Westport (2009).
E: pgrayart@gmail.com
T: 085 1653072

Mary O’Grady

Mary studied art at Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, graduated
with B.A in Fine Art and Design in 2007. Has exhibited in many group shows
including R.D.S Student Art Awards(2005). Subject matter originally
inspired by microscopic images; present work is exploring surface and
texture through mixed media.
T: 086 8563859

Gráinne O'Reilly

Born in Westport, Co. Mayo in 1965. Studied Fine Art in Sligo Institute of
Technology, completing her studies in 1987. Gráinne then spent some years
travelling before coming home to Westport to rear her family. Gráinne is a
versatile, and practical artist, who also works in art therapy, teaching
and various community project, including working in the Linenhall Art
Centre for many years. Her own practice has different strands, covering
portraiture, still-life, figurative and environmentally-based abstract
paintings. Gráinne spent 3 half years working from the Custom House
Studios, and now has a studio at home. She has shown extensively, with 6
solo exhibitions since 2006.
E: graore@gmail.com
T: 087 7671252

Susie Quinn

Susie was born in Germany, in 1962. Moved to Kilmeena, Westport in 1984
where she lives with her Irish husband. Her background is in horticulture.
She was in the first year that completed the BA in Fine Art in Castlebar
GMIT in 2006. Susie has exhibited in several group shows and had work
accepted in the RHA Annual Open Submission Show in 2007/08. Her work is
represented is in the Mayo County Council Permanent Collection. Susie
works mostly in egg tempera and encaustic, and of late she is exploring
printmaking.
W: www.susiequinn.com
E: artistsusiequinn@hotmail.co.uk
T: 087 7813805

Sinead Wall

Sinead has a BA in History of Art & Archaeology from UCD, and MA in Irish
Art & Architecture from UCD (1994). She teaches printmaking at the WCFE
and the Customs House Studios, and currently gives Art History outreach
workshops on behalf of the National Gallery of Ireland. In recent years
Sinead has concentrated on working with woodcut and copperplate etching
techniques. The coastline of both counties Galway and Mayo are a constant
source of inspiration in her work. Sinead has been selected for a number
of group shows including the Annual RHA Exhibition. Her paintings have
featured at the Lavelle Gallery in Clifden since 2006 and her first solo
show, at the Livingstone Gallery in Westport, took place the same year.
E: sineadsimonwall@eircom.net
T: 087 7813805

Ian Wieczorek

Born England, 1958. Educational background in Science (Microbiology).
Moved to Co. Mayo in 1992. Freelance arts commentator/reviewer since 1994;
founder/editor of Arts West magazine (1994-2000). BA in Fine Art at GMIT,
Castlebar, Co. Mayo completed 2008. Based in Custom House Studios in
Westport since 2007. Art practice is based primarily in painting and
drawing, thematically exploring notions of context and essence. Has
exhibited widely in group/selected shows (Ireland, Northern Ireland,
Germany, China) since 2003, including IONTAS (2005) and COE (2009). His
fifth solo show was in the Courthouse, Ennistymon, Co. Clare in April
2010.
W: www.ianwieczorek.com
E: mail@ianwieczorek.com
T: 086 8200886

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