Laois artists come together for new joint exhibition
The Old School Art Collective pictured in their joint art studio at Bloom HQ are Antoinette Breen, Kevin McCann and Mike Rafter Photos: Stan Henderson
A SUPER mix of retrospective, figurative and classic art is currently on display in Bloom HQ in Mountrath from resident artists Antoinette Breen, Mike Rafter and Kevin McCann - who came together with the joint exhibition following a cancellation from the intended artist for November due to a family situation.
The three old school talented artists have worked together for well over a decade and held their Old School Art Collective studio in the old convent which is now Bloom HQ since the Brigidine Nuns donated the building to the town’s people over five years ago to be used as a community-hub.
The gallery, called the Gallery of Divine Inspiration has had 25 successful monthly art exhibitions featuring works by many artists since beginning back in October 2023.
One of the exhibiting artists, Kevin McCann, is also the curator of the gallery. Kevin prides himself on helping young emerging local artists along with more established artists to have a platform from which to display their works.
The three artists spoke to the while hanging their exhibition pieces.
On behalf of the Gallery of Divine Inspiration, Kevin said: “We’re having an emergency exhibition this month because there was a family crisis with the intended artist and we hope that everything is okay. We dialled 999 at short notice and they said that the show must go on so Antoinette, Mike and I pulled together with this exhibition to keep the momentum going at the Gallery of Divine Inspiration.
“Fair play to Mike and Antoinette for rowing in so that the Old School Art Collective could hobble up some old retrospective paintings from our studio here in Bloom and our studios at home to keep the show on the road.
“It isn’t bad after doing 25 consecutive monthly exhibitions to have one artist pull out at short notice. I always had it in my head that someone could pull out for whatever reason because you never know what can happen but hopefully everything goes well for the family of the intended November artist. This show will be what it will be because it wasn’t thought out or promoted in any way.” Commenting on his exhibition pieces, Mike said: “There is really no particular style to these pieces because they are a selection of old works. They are landscapes and are figurative featuring the likes of Abbeyleix House and Farm, a plein air of people canoeing along a river in county Kerry and a man in Roscrea who I don’t know so they’re all retrospective in nature.” Antoinette spoke about her exhibition pieces and said: “My works are based around nature, family and relations. One of them is of Saint Luke’s in Rathgar in Dublin from during my time there in 2018 when I was fighting a battle. I gave it a positive vibe of bright colours and sunshine.
“Another is the farm in Deerpark in Mountrath in a sort of moody in-between world and another is of Killanure Church with mountains in the background. The mountains are very important. There’s two of my granddaughters Eden and Hannah which portrays the innocence of childhood.” Speaking about his works and style, Kevin said: “Again my works are retrospective. Given the small space of time there’s no continuity in the work. Some of my classic fictional queens are in the exhibition with one brand new work called Gin and Fags 7 and face Creams 0. That queen used to be a beauty queen but as they get older, they don’t tend to age well. I have a portrait of Father Morrissey and an interpretation of Li la li from Simon and Garfunkel’s ***The Boxer***.
“I always have social commentary going on in my head, so I always paint a few queens to interpret that. I always give them fags in their hands rather than have them picking their noses too.” Despite being put together in less than a week this fabulous retrospective exhibition is definitely worth a visit. It offers art-lovers a glimpse into the worlds of these three fantastic local artists. The exhibition can be viewed in Bloom HQ during its opening hours, and the artists can be found on their social media pages.
