Artist’s Proof is an exhibition by 24 Irish and international fine art printmaking artists. Visitors will be able to see the creative methodology of the printmaker showing the development of the idea from the research and exploration stages through to the rigorous process of making the print, requiring great technical skill. The prints will be displayed alongside two working proofs to provide a glimpse of how it was made. The exhibition features work by Norman Ackroyd RA (UK), Arno Kramer ( Netherlands), Elaine Leader ( Ireland), Mary Modeen (USA), Lars Nyberg ( Sweden), Takahiko Hayashi ( Japan), and Graphic Studio Dublin Members Grainne Cuffe, Cliona Doyle, Desmond Kenny, Brian Lalor, Stephen Lawlor, Sharon Lee, James McCreary, Niall Naessens, Ruth O'Donnell, Tom Phelan and Katherine Van Uytrecht.

Draíocht is delighted to announce an artist talk and print demonstration with exhibiting artist Niamh Flanagan as part of  Artist's Proof on Saturday March 6 @ 1pm in the Ground Floor Gallery, Draíocht, Blanchardstown. This is a free event but booking is advisable through Draíocht's Box Office:  01 8852622.

Draíocht in association with Fingal County Council’s Arts Office, are delighted to announce that from 1 March 2010 Garvan Gallagher will begin a 15 months residency in Draíocht’s Artist Studio. Gallagher will develop his own personal practice along side engaging a specific community engagement project in the area of Youth Arts. The residency will result in a solo exhibition of Gallagher’s personal work and a concluding exhibition for the Youth Arts project to be held during the period of Spréacha, Fingal’s Annual International Arts Festival for Children, in 2011.
Gallagher’s practice is primarily through lens-based mediums, frequently centralizing a single figure within a specific environment. His work often references the social body and investigates how society shapes people as human beings, as well as engaging with the fundamental issue of how trust comes to be mutually constituted between artist and subject.
Gallagher studied Photography at Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art & Design. He has exhibited both nationally and internationally, most recently at The Exchange Gallery, Dublin (2010), and previously at Limerick City Gallery of Art as part of a four week open-studio residency (2009); ev+a / Reading the City (2009); Recontres D’Arles, France (2009); and Newspace Centre for Photography in Portland, Oregon, US (2008).

From January to March 2010 well known artist and sculptor Cris Neumann facilitated the creation of 3D works with three classes of first and second year students from Coolmine and Hartstown Community Schools. This project explored the concepts of communication, mobility and technology, and how these concepts can work in the reduction and recycling of waste. On display will be three large sculptural pieces built by each class group, and smaller scale sculptures made by each student. This project was a fun reflection of Vodafone Ireland’s Green Agenda Policy and generated zero waste, as all materials were recycled from Vodafone. www.makeartnotrubbish.com

This exhibition features work by almost 80 of Europe’s leading basket-makers in materials ranging from wire to willow and includes both contemporary, sculptural work and traditional techniques. Visitors to the gallery will see how the work varies hugely from country to country, as do the materials. Curators Joe Hogan (Ire) and Mary Butcher (UK) are passionate about exposing people to these wonderful, age-old techniques. “Sadly, when the old basket makers die, so too will their traditional baskets,” says Hogan. “But as well as looking back, we are focusing on cutting edge contemporary work and that space in between, which most basket makers inhabit, creating professional, functional baskets.” This exhibition was produced by the National Craft Gallery in 2007 and is touring to a number of venues in Ireland, the UK and Europe.

Exploring the Exhibition – Basket Weaving Workshop:
This exhibition will be accompanied by a one day Basket Weaving Workshop for Adults on Sunday 09 May from 10am–5pm at a cost of €40. Places are limited so early booking is advisable through Draíocht’s Box Office on 01- 8852622

In this new series of drawings, in ink and Caran D’ache crayons, we see artist Holly Dungan’s interpretation of the quiet notions of the everyday, in particular the striking form of a tree. Presented in silhouette and disregarding specific detail concerning colour, species or contours of the bark, her images allude to what could be a fleeting glance of a tree’s majestic form on the horizon as seen, perhaps through the window of a car or train. Wexford born artist, Holly Dungan is currently based in Galway where she is due to complete an MA in Arts Policy and Practice at the National University of Galway in 2010. She graduated with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Dublin Institute of Technology in 2008. Recent exhibitions include Cockleshell Art Gallery 2009, Duncannon, Co. Wexford, Christmas Show 2009, Art Upstairs, Wexford, Art Supermarket 2008, Wexford, Futurology 2008, and Stone Gallery, Dublin.

Exploring the Exhibition
This exhibition will be accompanied by an artist talk in the first floor gallery on Saturday 17 April 2.30pm. This is a free event but booking is advisable through Draíocht’s Box Office on 01- 8852622.

Michael McSwiney portrays a world of abandoned, often threatening panoramas of land and sea. A sense of elusiveness is central to these mood-orientated images, where through alienating colours and strong atmospheric effects, these paintings portray an unnerving picture of nature. McSwiney (b. Cork 1969) began his studies at CCAD. He graduated with an Honours Degree in Fine Art from NCAD in 1991. For several years Michael traveled and worked in many countries such as Denmark, India and Egypt and from 2000-2008 was based in Oslo, Norway, where he was awarded grants from the Arts Council of Norway and the Norwegian Culture Department. His paintings are represented in both public and private collections in Denmark, Norway and Ireland. Michael and his family returned to live in Ireland in 2008.

This new series of work is an investigation into the nature of death and the emotions that it reveals. Everything has its’ time, after death all that remains is documentation or the memory of the person, the place or object. But even if the imagery has dark elements, the beauty of them becomes more evident. Pencil and paper is for Magnhild Opdøl a pure and poetic way to approach new matters, allowing her to get close to the subjects that she works with. Each drawing is a finished piece, some of which get developed into objects.

Magnhild Opdøl (1980) was born in Norway, and is now living and working in Dublin. Since graduating from the National College of Art and Design, with an MFA in 2007 she has been widely exhibited both in Ireland and internationally. Recent exhibitions in 2008/2009 include: Forty Years of Norwegian Painting 40/40 at Stenersenmueet Oslo; solo exhibitions in Gallery LNM, Oslo and Beginning With the End of the Tale, the Lab, Dublin. She has been awarded residencies at both The Red Stables, DCC and Temple Bar Gallery & Studios.