things made

things made at the RHA is a survey exhibition of sculpture by acclaimed Irish artist Janet Mullarney made during the 90s, which have been sourced from both public and private collections and will also include new work. This exhibition runs concurrently with things done, showing at the Taylor Galleries, Kildare Street. The exhibition consists of figurative sculpture formed from and incorporating materials such as bronze, wood, sponge, cloth, glass and furniture which display her refined language as a skilled carver and maker.
The artist explains “This is a show of sculpture; the materials essential to the concept, the space completed by the sculpture. It is a revisiting of the old, a juxtaposing with the new. It is the recycling of a language that speaks in different accents, a weaving in and out of thoughts and expressions that create a new picture, some giving light to others in the shade. The whole picture speaks of human dilemmas and aspirations.” Janet Mullarney, October 2010
Mullarney was born in Dublin in 1952 and has worked from a studio based in Italy since the late 1980’s. Her work has been exhibited extensively both in Ireland and abroad. Most recently exhibitions include, solo exhibitions: To make it home, Kinsale Arts Week, 2009, around the house, Casa Masaccio, Centro per l’arte Contemporanea, San Giovanni Valdarno, Italy, 2008, Random Links, Taylor Galleries, Dublin, 2003, Almas y Escaleras, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Oaxaca, Mexico, 2001.
Group exhibitions include: Collecting the New, Recent Acquisitions to IMMA Collection, 10,000 to 50: Contemporary Art from the Members of Business to Arts, 2008, SIAR 50, 50 years of Contemporary Irish Art from the Collections of the Contemporary Irish Art Society, 2006, Tir na nOg, 2004, enVisage: The Face in Contemporary Art, 2002, Figuration, 1997, IMMA/Glen Dimplex Awards, 1998 all at IMMA. Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland. Comharsana Beal Dorais, Contemporary Irish Art from the IMMA Collection at The Rooms, The Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, 2005. Views from an Island Irish Contemporary Art from the Collection of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Millenium Art Museum, Beijing, Shanghai Art Museum, Shangai, China; A.i.20 Artiste in Italia nel ventesimo secolo, Palazzo Mediceo, Serravezza, Italy 2004, Palazzo delle Libertà, Palazzo delle Papesse, Siena, Italy, 2003 Stedelikj Museum, Alst, Belgium, 2002
Collections and public commissions include AIB, The Arts Council, IMMA, OPW, Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, Limerick City Art Gallery, RVH Hospitals, Belfast, 2 on Hatch, Lower Hatch St. Dublin, St. Ultans Primary School, Cherry Orchard, Ballyfermot, Dublin, Waterford Regional Hospital, Waagstraat Project, Groningen, Holland,
Mullarney was awarded the Pollock Krasner Award in 1998 and was made a member of Aosdána in the same year. Her work may be viewed online at www.janetmullarney.com.

Selection of images from exhibition

Janet Mullarney, Hand on the Bull, 2010, Aluminium, 180 x 210 x 90cm, Photography by M. Verdi. Image courtesy of the artist and Taylor Gallery, Dublin.