An Exhibition about Ireland.
So I have been invited to take part in an exhibition taking place in Frank Ryan’s bar in Smithfield. Just right across the road from me, so it was impossible for me to say no to this. Not that I would have said no, but me and public events don’t go extremely well together the past year or two, but sure fuck it ! here we go.
The event is being hosted by Marcos the bar manager. Marcos is trying to broaden the horizons of Frank Ryan’s starting with opening its doors to the creative and artsy kind and putting on these events. The Pub hosts a large selection of great beers and also something I loved was their wide range of non alcoholic beers and ciders too.I had noticed that the pubs social media had been posting a hell of a lot more lately also, taking photos of inside the bar as it has a lot of nooks and crannies filled with framed art work from the past. This I can only assume, was the creative mind of Marcos trying to gather up some more followers and love for the bar. Im sure its working as its not hard to fall in love with this place. Small dark and filled with interesting people, Frank Ryan’s is the perfect place to hold the creatives of Dublin. I was honoured that they had even remembered me, let alone get in touch and ask me to share some of my work.
So I said YES !
This leads to panic. In a good way though. I don’t have anything of my work printed. I created the store on this site but none of it is actually stocked, its made to order. So for the exhibition I needed to get some prints. It was exciting looking through my work over the years and seeing where I have come from. I have picked some of my favourites from the past years and stuff from recent months gone by. Some of the photos I shot with the Fuji and the new lens I have recently bought, and also one or two film shots which I am really excited for people to see.
Of course I was not expecting to be showing work this month and certainly did not budget for it, so after getting my prints done it was interesting to see what the actual cost was for everything. Surprisingly, for the amount of photos I had printed, it was not much. I got some framed A2’s, A3’s and also some foam boards. Marcos has mentioned that not only is this going to be an exhibition, he wants it to have a market like style, so all works can be sold on the premisses. This, for me, is always a tough decision. I am always told that I under value my work. So this time around i’m trying to think of a price I would be willing to pay for someone else’s work and also how much profit I would really like to make from the images. So I was sitting around with a pen and paper and a calculator trying to figure out decent prices and what type of profit I would be aiming for. Usually this kind of stuff takes the passion and fun out of the art for me. Defiantly when it comes to paid work or a particular job you're being asked to do, but this felt different. It actually felt nice, like I was really making a product I loved and wanted others to love too. After help from the fur ball :) (see images below) I was happy with the prices I came up with and I really think ther’re respective of my work.
Now in saying all this, I am really not expecting anyone to buy my work (says the negative voice in my head) but not in a disappointing way, i’m just not going here to sell. What I am really looking forward to is being part of the culture. Being part of this first time show from Frank Ryan’s. Getting the opportunity to print and display my work and also to meet the other artists attending. The whole day will be exciting. And if at the end of it I come out with some sold pieces HAPPY DAYZ !
After a week of choosing photos, trips back and forth from the printers and finally getting all images back home. I laid them all out on my couch, and just stared for a few minutes. It was a good feeling. I was so happy to see my work printed and framed. So excited that without me even realising, I had gone in search for the hammer and nails. I was so happy that I wanted to see what these would look like on my wall :)
THEY LOOK GREAT !
Friday night at the moment so I will have another day and a half to admire these prints on my wall until I gather them up and do my best to put a nice display over in Frank Ryan’s. I will continue this little write up after the event has come and gone. Lets hope all goes to plan and we have a great night of ART, LOVE and PINTS :)
ON THE NIGHT !
Frank’s has opened their doors to us. The photographers, illustrators, musicians and the painters. A night that started with thought, curiosity and anxiety whilst trying to figure out the best layout for our prints, but quickly was over come by excitement. The place looked great. With mine being the largest of the lot, I decided to lay the images flat on the table which actually worked out well as they linked in with one another like a puzzle.
Beside me was Renato Da Cunha Melo also known as Natoman, a Brazilian illustrator. This guys work was really nice. I bought one of his pieces for the apartment that my girlfriend picked out which will look great once we get it framed and on the wall.
This piece was from the (RE) Built exhibition he done in the Bernard Shaw back in November 2019 and is an illustration of the front of the old building Bernard shaw had before they sadly shut those doors. The artwork also shows the Big Blue Bus which is still knocking around outside their knew settlement @ Cross Gun Quays.
You can find more from Renato here ——
Cat Coil (Cat The Rat) was a fellow photographer who’s work depicted some minimalist scenes from around Dublin. Images that certainly got you thinking and gets a good conversation going. One image which my friends really got into was an image taken in “Love Lane” near temple bar. The image was, what seemed to be tinfoil and cigarettes, the tinfoil being left over from some heavy drug use I can only assume.
This scene snapped by Cat is great as its taken down a lane way that is filled with love hearts, tiles with love quotes and as mentioned, the lane itself is called “Love Lane”, Not something you hope to find whilst walking a street with that title.
One other image that I found interesting from her work was of a syringe lying on the ground next to some baby doll arms and legs which seemed to have been ripped from the body. The questions in my head was,
Who the fuck are leaving these things around to be perfectly photographed ?? :-)
You can see more of these images on her insta page below.
Camila Carvalho who is a Brazilian photographer had some really nice images which where perfectly presented and framed. She had her images hanging from a line above the bar table which also on the table where some lovely little framed prints. Great shots of photos taken around Dublin . You could tell from the images that as soon as she would see a scene worthy of her camera, there would be some time taken to compose the shot as each image had such great composition and the way in which they where presented on the line, pegged up made it seem like we where viewing them straight out of the chemical bath in the dark room and hanging to dry.
You can find more of her work on her stunning website below.
Hugo Vasconcelos is another Brazil photographer based in Dublin. This guy had some amazing work from festivals around Ireland. One of which was knockanstockan, an Irish independent music festival which has now taken a break for a while, at least we all hope its just for a while. From what I have heard, the insurrance is just to much to be able to keep the festival going. Hugo has taken some great snaps from these festivals and his images are full of passion fun and life! He also has some great day to day street scenes which I love and its also great to see Dublin like this through the eyes of someone who was not raised in Ireland. He captures Dublin at her best.
Also, great film shots too!
We where also treated to some little gifts from the guys over at Hopefully Brewing CO. Irish Craft brewers but with a twist. Founded by Brazilians, this is just another example of the love, arts and culture that the Brazilian population is bringing to Dublin. Amazing design work on the cans. Each can of Hopfully's range of Pale Ale's and Japanese Hops is designed by an art director in London, who commissions illustrations to reflect the taste of each brew. I picked the “12 Lovers” which has been designed by Rachel O’Regan. As mentioned on Rachels website “Rachel is an illustrator based in Dublin, Ireland. Her work typically blends abstract paint work with digitally produced illustration. Rachel has, in the past, been reviewed as "a contemporary cross-media Bosch." (Broken Frontier, 2018)” The design of this can is beautiful. .
For me, this night in Frank Ryan’s has opened up a new door for me to go through when it comes to my photography. Having my work viewed in print form by the public was a really exciting feeling and further more, having my work purchased was a real compliment. I will certainly be looking to further my experience within the market and exhibition side of photography and will continue to print and frame my work for others to see.
Frankly Franks @ Franks Ryan’s will be a monthly art show and I am lucky to live across the road so I can pop over and see others displaying their work and I would recommend all to try make the next one.
One thousand thank yous to the people who made it down and to those who purchased my work. I am over the moon at how the night turned out.
