RUA free talks

RUA Artist’s Talks

129th Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum



Friday 15 Oct @ 1pm, Excavations : Hughie O Donoghue Recent Paintings

O’Donoghue was born in Manchester but lived and worked for many years in Ireland. He graduated from Goldsmiths in 1982 and was Artist in Residence at the National Gallery, London from 1984-85. His work is characterised by an engagement with the past. He uses figuration and abstraction to explore themes of human identity, memory and experience, drawing on history, mythology and his own personal records. Collections include the British Museum and Imperial War Museum – London, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Hugh Lane, Municipal Gallery of Modern Art and the Ulster Museum.



Thurs 21 Oct @ 1pm, Eilis O Connell RHA

Eilis O’ Connell studied at the Crawford School of Art, Cork and Massachusetts College of Art, Boston. In 1998 she won a Royal Society of Arts Award. She represented Ireland at the Paris Biennale in 1982 and the Sao Paolo Biennale in 1985. While on a P.S.I. Fellowship in New York she won a two-year residency at Delfina Studios in London and was based there until 2001.



In 2002 her large bronze Unfurl was lent by the Cass Foundation to the Venice Biennale and her smaller sculptures were shown at the Guggenheim Museum. Recently she has been spending some time working on the island of Crete, where she is casting a series of small bronzes called Soul Houses, inspired by the local tradition of putting up little houses along the roadside where people have died. Eilis is a founder director of the national sculpture factory in Cork, a former member of the Arts Council of Ireland, a member of Aosdana, and a member of the R.H.A.



Weds 27 Oct @ 1pm, James Hanley RHA

James Hanley is a Dublin-based painter. An established portrait artist, painting many official and state portraits, he is represented in significant public, corporate and private collections in Ireland and abroad. Born in 1965, he graduated from University College Dublin in 1987 with a degree in History of Art and English, and from the National College of Art & Design in 1991 with a BA in Fine Art Painting. He works in a representational style, in both painting and drawing. He has exhibited extensively in group exhibitions in Ireland and abroad, and has had 7 solo exhibitions. James is a full Member of the Royal Hibernian Academy, was elected to Aosdána in 2008 and recently elected to the Board of Governors of the National Gallery of Ireland.



Thursday 4 Nov @ 1pm, Joseph McWilliams PPRUA

Belfast painter, Joseph Mc Williams was educated at the Belfast College of Art and the Open University. He was Senior Lecturer and Senior Course Tutor at the University of Ulster. He is perhaps best known for his paintings of “The Troubles” evidenced in exhibitions such as “Art for Society” Whitechapel Gallery London, “Documenta 6? Kassel, W. Germany, “A Troubled Journey 1966 – 1989? and “Colour on the March”, both at the Cavehill Gallery Belfast. His work has been exhibited in Ireland, Britain, Europe and the USA and is represented in many collections including; The Arts Council of N. Ireland, The Ulster Museum, Queen’s University, The University of Ulster, Coras Iompair Eireann, The N.Ireland Civil Service Collection, A.I.B. Collection, Boyle Civic Collection and the National Self-Portrait Collection. Joseph McWilliams was President of the R.U.A. from 2000 – 2004.



Weds 10 Nov @ 1pm, Julian Friers PRUA

Julian Friers is a self taught wildlife artist whose interest in the natural world developed from a very early age. He has completed work for a number of different conservation bodies including RSPB, IWC, WWF and IFCDW and designed the first Irish Duck Stamp for the American Duck Stamp Program. In 1998 he was commissioned to create thirty-two paintings to celebrate the conservation efforts of the Saudi Arabian Royal Family. Recent works have primarily been inspired by the rugged landscapes of Scotland and Ireland. Julian has had solo exhibitions in Ireland, Scotland, England, America and the Middle East and joint shows include LYWAM, Natural History Museum in London, Dublin Castle and the Natural History Museum in Bonn. He was elected Associate Academician to the RUA in 1995, elevated to Academician in 2008 and elected as RUA President in 2009.



All talks are free of charge. To book a place phone the Ulster Museum on 028 90440017