Artist Mary’s tribute to the women of old runs in Kinvara

LIFE in rural West Clare is captured to stunning effect in a new exhibition from Mary Foudy O’Halloran which opens in Kinvara on April 15.

‘Revisited’ re-examines the everyday lives of rural Irish women in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s and reworks the ordinary objects and tools of their hard physical work.

Mary’s other recent solo exhibitions include ‘Weighed’ at the Ballina Arts Centre and ‘Endurance’ in association with the Clare Arts Office. The latter also examined the past in the now, questioning the ordinary and familiar and objects of loss.

Mary works primarily in oil and mixed media, often incorporating ordinary household objects in her work.

Growing up in rural Clare, Mary was not unusual in being raised in a house without electricity and running water. Speaking about the body of work, she explained that all lives were heavy with labour, but women bore the biggest brunt of the hardship.

“In putting this exhibition together, I wanted to acknowledge the hard physical work of the generation of women who raised me,” she said.

“There was nothing particularly remarkable about their lives and the work they did, but they were a key part of building the economy we enjoy today.

“They not only had to keep the household going and carry out a considerable amount of work on the farm, but they did so while raising a large family of children and, in many cases, having up to one pregnancy a year. I wanted to acknowledge all of that and to elevate their work.”

The exhibition aims to be a conversation between the viewer, the artist and the unacknowledged, allowing them to speak.

Mary is now based in South Galway and has exhibited all over Ireland.

In 2006, she received the Student of the Year award upon graduation from the Cluain Mhuire Art School at the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT). She is a member of Visual Arts Ireland and KAVA.

‘Revisited’ will run, with the support of Galway County Council, at The Courthouse Gallery, Kinvara, from April 15 to 24. Admission is free. More details are available on Kava.ie.