Niamh Clarke – lucent

lucent is an exhibition of small works curated by artist David Quinn,  including the work of twelve Irish and international artists:

Charles Brady (Ire), Niamh Clarke (NI), Vincent Hawkins (UK), Hiroyuki Hamada (JN), Tjibbe Hooghiemstra (NL), Jamie Mills (UK), Janet Mullarney (Ire), Helen O’Leary (Ire), David Quinn (Ire), Seamus Quinn (Ire), Sean Sullivan (US) and John Van Oers (BE)

‘One of the common threads through the work of the artists’ work that I have selected is a sensitivity for materials and for the quality of line. Most of the artists here also blur the distinction between painting and sculpture. Their sculptures can be quite painterly and there is a subtle tactile element even to the works on paper.

Although I have curated quite a few exhibitions, I am first and foremost an artist and not a curator. This exhibition is a very personal project.

The work I have included is by artists whose work and progress I am always keen to see. I think there is a lot of truth in Robert Motherwell’s quote ‘every intelligent painter carries the whole culture of modern painting in his head. It is his real subject, of which everything he paints is both a homage and critique.’

To a greater or lesser extent, the artists in this exhibition have been inspirational to me or sometimes it is just as Emerson said ‘in every work of genius we recognise our own rejected thoughts’.

Another interest for me is that it is often hard to pin down exactly what the works are about (if that is what one is inclined to do). There is an inherent ambiguity in lots of the work, a vague open-endedness. Also the scale that these artists often work on is intimate and personal. The works are memorable rather than monumental, suggestive rather than didactic, playful rather than strict. Where there is order it is often subverted and generally an air of gentle irreverence. Ultimately though the thing that draws these works together for me is that I find them beautiful.’                   

– David Quinn, 2022

lucent is supported by an Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon Touring Award initiated and led by Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre and will continue to Wexford Arts Centre, June to August, 2024.

lucent opens with an Artists’ Talk introduced by curator David Quinn on Saturday 10th February at 3:15pm