Deenihan to open Solstice exhibition

Jimmy Deenihan, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht opens Margaret Corcoran’s new exhibition ‘Return to Cythera’ at the Solstice Arts Centre, Navan, tonight, Thursday 24th April, at 7.30pm.
Margaret Corcoran is a graduate of NCAD and holds a masters in fine art painting.  Her work features in both public and private collections and is represented by Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Dublin and John Martin Gallery, Mayfair and Chelsea, London.
Through referencing 17th to 19th century paintings, Corcoran weaves a “pattern map” to highlight both current and universal themes.  Her painting moves from a pre-occupation with emphatic traditional methodology to an increasing freedom, where the significance of her practice allows the paint and process “to speak for itself”.
The title Return to Cythera, is a reference to Watteau’s ‘The Embarkation for Cythera’ whilst equally conjuring historical and mythical expeditionary sensibilities of both the Age of Discovery and the Odyssey.  In tandem, if not more prevalent throughout the selected work, is the concept of transformation. The metamorphosis of Daphne - a nymph of Greek mythology, who is transformed into a laurel tree to escape the advances of the god Apollo, is objectively referenced in drawing and paintings. The majority of Corcoran’s works within the exhibition are multiple layered transfigurations or insertions from works by artists such as Claude Lorrain, Ingres and Wenzel.  Corcoran also revisits a number of her own pieces, such as The Castle (2008) and Persian Adam and Eve (2012), that are furthermore transformative in scale and execution.
As Daphne is demonstrative of an environmental intelligence, Corcoran’s wooded landscapes are both theatrical space and a breathing ensemble of supernatural power.  Forests act as a laboratory of artist inquiry, producing multiples solutions and pathways through a universe of infinite time and probabilities.
As part of the exhibition, which runs until Saturday 7th June, there will be a number of gallery events.
On Wednesday 7th May, at 7.30pm, Dr Yvonne Scott, director, Trinity College Irish Art Research Centre, hosts ‘In Conversation with Margaret Corcoran’ (Tickets €2).
Tuesday 22nd May sees ‘Eidola’ at 7.30pm, a programme of early and contemporary music in correlation to the exhibition, with Eamon Sweeney (baroque guitar), Anita Verdes (violin) Malachy Robinson (double bass/violone). Tickets €10. Events must be pre-booked through box office as seating is limited.
For information and event booking visit www.solsticeartscentre.com or (046) 909 2300. Gallery hours are Tuesday- Saturday, 11am-4pm. Gallery admission is free of charge.