Catalogue of the 185th RHA Annual Exhibition
Preface by Mick O’Dea PRHA. Essay by Eavan Boland
“One of the first things I try to do when I go to a strange city is find a local art museum. I know I might be there for only a day or so. I might visit a University. I might give a talk or a poetry reading. But I also know soon enough I’ll leave that place having understood far too little about it. And, on top of that, I may never be there again.
But if I can go to that art museum the sense of displacement lifts. I’ll become aware, no matter where I am –or how big or small the gallery -that what I’m looking at is at least a fraction of the private and public history of where I am. That human feelings, decisions and choices went into creating this space.
I’ll also know as I look at a painting that someone chose this image. Someone selected this place on the wall for it to hang. They thought carefully about how much light it would get. As a result, someone in this community stopped in front of it, grew to recognize it, came back to see it again and again. More than that, as I stand there, I know I myself will have the feeling that I’m revisiting not just visiting these paintings. And that in turn has to do with my childhood.”
Eavan Boland, extract from essay Connections
Editor: Abigail O’Brien RHA
Design: Jason Ellams
Catalogue available form May 22nd