by Rose Rushe
Photo: Brian Gavin
JOHN Shinnors, regarded properly as one of the country’s great artists, has a show all his own that contains not one of his works. It is current at Limerick School of Art and Design in Clare Street, held within its Church Gallery.
‘Personal Choice’ is what he titled this collection of art created by LSAD alumni and curated by himself.
Names such as Donald Teskey, Diana Copperwhite and Jack Donovan hang/ are installed with professional artists who hug the Mid West still – David Lilburn, Gill Kenny, Charlie Harper, Vivienne Bogan and Gavin Hogg. There is a score in total.
It was Finance Minister Michael Noonan who launched the Church Gallery exhibition, noting that one City of Culture effect is “to bring the artistic life of Limerick onto a wider platform”.
“It is not enough for us to have a strong industrial or retail base in Limerick; artistic life needs to be equally strong and must be woven in to the fabric of ordinary life,” he stated.
With director of City of Culture Mike Fitzpatrick being head of LSAD, an internationally ranked college, it was he who approached John Shinnors with the curatorial offer. It’s reflective on Shinnors and his body of work, on alumni, on the college’s current impetus and on our 2014 designation as a city.
Describing the artists’ works as stimulating and inspiring, Shinnors, a Janesboro native, noted that while they all shared “a lively sense of tradition”, these artists were notable for “an imaginative and original response to the subject matter they are engaged in”.
Go, see their light in Clare Street campus until April 26.
