Last weekend, the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) hosted the annual Vue, Ireland’s national contemporary art fair, presented by Savills.
Vue, which began in 2007, sees Ireland’s most talented visual artists compete for the biggest prize in Irish contemporary art. The €5,000 Vue Contemporary Art Prize is awarded to the artist who has produced a body of work in the last year that has been of particular interest or who has made a notable contribution to Irish visual arts. The fair, then, offers a stellar collection of Irish contemporary art.
For instance last year’s winner, Richard Gorman, one of Ireland’s leading abstract painters who also works in printmaking, received the award for “Kan”, a series made up of carborundum prints on Indian paper.
Eighteen of Ireland’s leading contemporary galleries participated in this year’s event, including Solomon Fine Art, Molesworth Gallery and Art Box, with each gallery nominating a particularly artist for the prize. The competition was adjudicated by the Director of the RHA, Dr Patrick T Murphy.
Vue has a vast collection of art in various mediums. Personal favourites included Peter Monaghan’s mixed media piece, “Square Wave” in the Gormley Fine Art Space, as well as Patrick O’Reilly’s exquisite bronze “Bull” and Tom Climent’s electric “Heart Box”, made of oil and plaster on canvas, both brought by the Solomon Fine Art gallery. Bernadette Madden “Blue Pool” screen print also stood out. A number of sculptural and installation pieces proved impressive too, including Fergus Martin’s “Submarine”, from the Green on Red Gallery, Richard Gorman’s stainless steel “Landers Sculpture” from the Stoney Road Press and Edwina Bracken’s copper “Tower, a/b/c/d”, represented by the Hillsboro Gallery. Another stand out piece was the Gallery of Photography’s Yvette Monahan, “The Thousand Year-Old Boy”, which was also nominated for the Savills Art Prize this year.
There was a striking collection of abstraction and colour across the fair. Highlights include Niall Leavy’s “Mesmerise”, a piece of watercolour and gold leaf on paper from the Eight Gallery and Maser’s “Unitled XIII” woodcut, from the Graphic Studio gallery. Kevin McAleenan’s “Where Now” and Michael Craig Martin’s “Intimate Relations: Handcuffs” were also impressive.
This year’s winner was Patrick Graham, represented by the Hillsboro Gallery. Graham is a member of Aosdana and is widely respected as one of Ireland’s leading contemporary artists. Graham’s expressive style and draughtsmanship in working in a variety of mixed mediums has gained acclaim both nationally and internationally. He was nominated this year for the body of work featured in his most recent exhibition, Lullaby, at Hillsboro. This includes his stunning self-portrait and several other large pieces, characteristic of his expressive style in a muted palette.
The fair is an unmissable event in the Irish visual arts calendar. Vue will return to the RHA for another fair next year in 2017, with Ireland’s leading galleries and their respective stables of artists exhibiting a different collection of works.
