New art exhibition opens in north Mayo

TONY Gunning and Betty Gannon have collaborated to create a new exhibition of paintings called The Dichotomy of Change. The exhibition is open in Aras Inis Gluaire, Belmullet, and will run until Friday, October 24.

The exhibition, which explores the natural and man-made environment, was officially opened by Deirbhile Healy, the centre’s artistic director.

Tony Gunning’s work focuses on abandoned rural buildings, reflecting his fixation with the way in which nature reclaims spaces. Betty Gannon’s work focuses on threatened sea and land forests.

Tony Gunning has been a professional artist since 2000. His sell-out debut at the Davis Gallery, Dublin, in 2002 was followed by 15 solo shows. He has also exhibited at prestigious group shows including The Royal Academy in London, the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin, and the Royal Ulster Academy in Belfast. He won the Curator’s Award and the Bank of Ireland Emerging Artist Award at EV+A in 2007, has represented Ireland at the Florence Biennale in 2005, and has exhibited solo at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Gunning’s work is in many public and private collections including the National Collection (O.P.W.), the Northern Ireland Collection (Stormont) and the Bank of Ireland Collection.

Betty Gannon lives and works in Westport. She was selected for many solo exhibitions in Ireland and Northern Ireland and has exhibited in numerous group shows nationally and internationally.

An award winner at the Leitrim Sculpture Centre Summer Exhibition in 2018, she was also awarded an Agility Award in 2021 from the Arts Council of Ireland, and was selected for a residency in Krems, Austria in 2022.

Betty Gannon is currently researching and creating work supported by a Sustainable Arts Bursary Award from Wilderland, a public art and community ecology project in Mayo.