Artlink has always been a community based organisation and the restriction on indoor events in 2020/21 presented a significant challenge in maintaining our relationship with our members and the wider public.Through a series of initiatives, we have brought exhibitions to our audience in a virtual replica of the Saldanha Gallery at Fort Dunree, in the windows of the former ESB Showroom, in the grounds of Fort Dunree and in this exhibition by artlink member Bethany Garvey Williams, along the old factory wall at the shorefront.
During this time of great emotional and social upheaval, artist Bethany Garvey Williams was inspired to research media sources to create a series of art works which reflect on the powerful emotional connection we all share in times of grief, political unrest and cultural celebration. These works, reproduced from original paintings, highlight the most human of responses at times of intense emotions – to gather and share our experiences. The work celebrates the energy of community that occurs through these gatherings and specifically this community, not an abstract idea, but the real people who make up this place. Collective gatherings, whether joyful or mournful, are a part of what weaves us together.
Bethany uses photographs, ‘factual’ representations of events, to base her compositions on, then applies her personal perspective by adapting the imagery. Her vision is realised by highlighting certain characters, loose and gestural mark making and adjusting colour, composition and perspective. Bethany’s art practice is rooted in traditional painterly techniques while incorporating elements of contemporary news and commercial and social media as source material.
Bethany Garvey Williams, currently based in Dublin, has familial connections to Buncrana. Her work exhibited in the ‘This is…’, Graduate exhibition, TU Dublin (2018) was purchased by the Irish state collection. She has been artist in residence in Abbey Church, Parnell Square, Dublin since 2018. This resulted in her first solo exhibition ‘Parabola’ (2020). Bethany has created installations, site-specific work and regularly contributes to community arts festivals in Donegal including The Amazing Grace Festival and Feel Good
Fortnight.
- September 21, 2021
