13th October – 12th November 2022

The exhibition will bring together new works completed during the Residency Programme 2021-2022 in the media of printmaking, performance, mixed media and painting.

The artists involved in the 2021 – 2022 Programme at Creative Spark were Vivienne Byrne (Co. Louth), Dónall Billing (Co. Antrim), Brigid Mulligan (Co. Galway), Eileen Fergusson (Co. Monaghan), Suzanne Carroll (Co. Louth), Geraldine Martin (Co. Louth), Alice Bertolasi (Italy) and Neeli Malik (U.K.). This is Creative Spark’s eight residency programme exhibition at An Táin Arts Centre.
 
The Creative Spark Residency Programme is supported by Create Louth and the Arts Council of Ireland and was established to support artists through offering studio space, research time, resources and creative opportunities they may not otherwise have in their own studio or practice. To date the residency programme has supported 45 artists over eight years. 

Opening launch: Wednesday 12th October at 7pm.

24th November – 23rd Decemeber 2022

Make It Make Sense is the inaugural exhibition of the members of Bó Studios. Bó Studios was set up in 2020, by artists Etaoin O’ Reilly, David Callan, Blathnaid McClean and Olivia Hill and is supported by An Táin Arts Centre and the Arts Council of Ireland. ‘Make it Make Sense’ features work from all four members, in ceramics, textiles and mixed media including wood, concrete, video and diegetic lighting.

The exhibition is a reflection and response of the last two years of work since the founding of the studio in Dundalk during a globally unprecedented pandemic of lockdowns and isolation and a positive look towards the future.

The title takes its name from the increasingly desperate refrain of these times “make it make sense” and attempts to apply it to the act of making art during these tumultuous times as well as addressing the challenge of combining the disparate mediums and personalities of the Bó Studios members on a collaborative exhibition. The work is also about what it means to have the space, how the studio, a physical entity of bricks and mortar and a roof, acts as a fertile bedrock and encourages the growth of creativity. Bouncing off of this idea, the work for this exhibition will reflect on GROWTH, MUTATION and METAMORPHOSIS. The artists will present an eclectic mix of work created during the last two years along with individual work created along the themes and a collaborative centre-piece. Reflecting the last two years of the founding of the studio, rather than a carefully curated layout, Bó will embrace the chaos. 

Opening launch: Wednesday 23rd November at 7pm.