Gallery Date with Siomha Connolly

Siomha Connolly is based in Ireland. Here, she talk about the exhibits she saw recently.

Can you talk about the most recent exhibition(s) you saw?

Over the past eighteen months, we've been starved of art and culture with museums and galleries being shut during the pandemic. The first big exhibition I went to post-lockdown this year was at the RHA Gallery (Royal Hibernian Academy) in Dublin, Ireland. The RHA is a modern art museum which houses Irish and international art. The Gallery runs an annual exhibition, this year is the 191st year, and it is run through a submission process accepting pieces across painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, print and mixed media. The space is quite airy, with five different rooms across two floors. I am usually drawn to modern, contemporary more abstract pieces but there was such a variety on show here that it opened me up to all manner of styles. 

Before that, I visited Making and Momentum at the National Museum of Ireland which was a celebration of Irish modernist architect and designer, Eileen Gray, curated by fashion designer Richard Malone, which included a reimagining of some of Gray's most memorable works by current artists and designers. A dream home could be filled with pieces from this exhibition.

Another gallery I visit often is the National Gallery of Ireland on Merrion Square in Dublin. It's a storied building that has been an art institution since the late 19th century so you know those walls hold secrets. I go to the National Gallery when I want to get lost. It is vast, with lots of different rooms, some permanent exhibitions and others visiting. The mood shifts dramatically from room to room and you can as easily find yourself in front of a Caravaggio as a Picasso. I always pause at Mainie Jellett, a wonderful Irish artist working in the early 19th century, embracing the rise of Modernist art and exploring her own take on Cubism.

What exhibitions have stayed with you/are memorable so far and museum/gallery so far? 

I associate art, museums and galleries with travel as one of the first things I do when I am visiting a new city is to look up what exhibitions are on. One that always stands out is a visit to Atelier Brâncuși in Paris. On the piazza beside the towering, inside-out Centre Pompidou sits a modernist block of concrete and glass and once you get inside, you will find an exact replica of Romanian artist Constantin Brâncuși's studio as he left it at the time of his death in 1957. He bequeathed his entire studio to the French state on the one condition that it would be displayed as he left it. His sculptures are masterful, his tools exquisite.

Similarly, a visit to Joan Miró's home and studio in Palma, Mallorca has also stayed with me. Perhaps it's something about seeing the artist's creative space that is more memorable than just the pieces alone. Where Brâncuși's studio is a muted palette, Miró's is a riot of colour. Similarly to Brâncuși's tools, Miró's everyday objects - chairs, tables, stools, desks - all stand out too. On the grounds there is also a gallery filled with Miró's works as well as pieces by other artists.

Another exhibition that is very memorable was The EY Exhibition: Picasso 1932 - Love, Fame, Tragedy at the Tate Modern, London in 2018. I almost didn't make it to this exhibition but a last-minute work trip and a couple of hours of spare time allowed me to get a ticket before the exhibit closed. I bought a poster of The Dream which I still have at home. Days spent wandering around the MoMA and The Met in New York also stand out.

Photos: Siomha Connolly, Portrait: Liadh Connolly

What exhibitions or gallery/museum are you planning to see next?

Now that things are getting back to normal, I am looking forward to travelling again. I am going to Paris next month and I will visit Centre Pompidou to see the Georgia O'Keeffe exhibition. Someday I would love to see the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark. There's a lot more to see! 

Georgia O'keeffe,  from 8 September  to 6 December, 2021, Centre Pompidou

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