Connacht Tribune
Ireland as Muse: Emigrant artists to explore impact of place in new exhibit
Galway-based artists Darryl Vance and Fabiano Mulas will present a joint exhibition of recent works at The Courthouse Gallery in Kinvara, County Galway, from
July 4th–15th, 2019. The gallery, home to the Kinvara Area Visual Arts group, will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. An opening talk and reception with the artists will launch the show on Thursday July 4th at 8 p.m. All are welcome.
Reflecting the artists’ moves to new surroundings – Mulas from his homeland in Sardinia, Vance from the San Francisco Bay Area – the exhibit, Two Places at Once, features a range of styles, from Mulas’ natural and manmade landscapes, to Vance’s boldly painted arrangements of color, surface and geometry. Their works embody themes of chaos and order, transition and home.
“Whatever I’ve done has always reflected the where and the when, but what has changed about this new work is the experience of being in two places: the place of memory and the place of reality,” Vance said. “And there is the space in between. It’s a type of bardo that I seem to be painting my way through.”
Mulas, a restaurant owner and chef, is converting a large outbuilding at the family’s organic farm in Derrykeel into his art studio. “Coming to Ireland 14 years ago, building our restaurant, Basilico, I’ve gradually managed to build a nest, to give myself the freedom I need to create,” he said. “The farm is my Irish studio. I can breathe there. I can explore all the ways nature works in one place. Then, when you travel, you come back and see different things.”
Vance’s palette reflects dramatic shifts in color and light from the sunny climes of Northern California to the cooler, softer hues of the west of Ireland. “I’m painting oil on cardboard, using boxes that once held all my belongings. When I got a studio in Ireland, I found myself looking at this pile of flattened boxes and pondering what the material meant to me, and what it might mean to anyone else in movement.” Vance is also drawn to the idea of finding logic in apparent chaos. “I don’t knowingly create that logic, but over the course of making a painting, I find my own path through the forest. And since I’ve never thought of the artist as guide or shaman, I hope each viewer can make discoveries of their own.”
The artists, who are friends, share a fine arts background: Mulas is a graduate of Kensington and Chelsea College of Art and Design who earned an honours degree in Painting from Central St. Martin’s in London, and Vance earned a B.F.A. with honours from The Atlanta College of Art.
“I think for artists, it’s about putting yourself into the canvas,” Mulas said. “How can you impact those two dimensions? I’m rebuilding my life to what I want it to be. For me, it’s art, food and nature in one place. And they’re all linked. When I left art school in London and returned to Sardinia, I was drawn to painting derelict buildings. I was unhappy there, and it was only later that I realized these paintings were a reflection of my subconscious state. Now, I want to paint moss growing in tree trunks, study how nature fills in the gaps. Now, I’m painting life.”
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Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
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Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
