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Is Anybody watching?  Shape Art Studio Exhibition for Skibbereen Arts Festival

21/7/2015

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Is Anybody Watching? is the new studio exhibition at Shape Arts Studio for Skibbereen Arts Festival 2015. Opening on Saturday 25th July as part of the Art Trail this exhibition draws out the common thread of voyeurism in each of the three studio artists work. 

Paul Forde Cialis's  non  judgemental mixed media works are the observations of a voyeur pulling back the curtain to glimpse and share the complex, multi-layered world of sexual social media and other dark recesses of the human condition.

Alison Cronin's continuing fascination with archival photographs has developed into a series of paintings, removing the images from their original context and meaning and leaving the viewer confronted by a moment, captured on a surface, that once meant something.

Rebecca Keyser's practice is based on the figure, whether working from a model, or candid photographs of unaware subjects. Her bold nudes and layered photographs suggest movement and life, closely observed.

This exhibition is neither shy, nor retiring - but is anybody watching?

The exhibition will be open throughout the arts festival (25 July - 2 August)  from 11am til 5pm, and possibly for a further week if circumstances allow.




 

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Sunday times article mentions  rebecca keyser & features one of her paintings.

19/7/2015

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Delighted to be mentioned in this Sunday Times article (Culture section) by Cristin Leach Hughes from Sunday 12 July.  The piece is about the Arts Centre and its position in the community, but also is a review of the Summer exhibition.  The bit about me is on the second page.  The painting of mine that is mentioned (Absence) sold on the opening night, and in the photograph on that page you can see my other painting - a triple male nude, in blue and red, called Stasis.  
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Stupid Kunst

2/7/2015

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Studio artist Paul Forde Cialis has a new blog! stupidkunst.wordpress.com is a place where Paul will be setting down some thoughts on his life, creative and otherwise, for our delectation.

Don't let his claims to be far from literate fool you for a moment, this "freeform splattering of thoughts and images" is actually a fascinating insight into the working process and artistic interests of a very unique artist. 

So get over there and take  a peek!

(image from recent post Thank you Daddy)


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Shape Artists exhibiting this summer

29/6/2015

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A quick update on where to see work by Shape Artists this summer. Rebecca Keyser has work in a group exhibition Hue at Hive Emerging Gallery in Waterford until July 
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Shape Launch

1/6/2015

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A few snaps from the launch day on Saturday, featuring great people, great art, and really great cupcakes! Thanks to all  the family, friends, strangers and passers-by who came in to see us throughout the day.
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What is Shape?

28/5/2015

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What is Shape?

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Shape is an artists collective. What does that mean? It means we're a collection of artists, currently a collection of three. What is the collective noun for artists? Probably a colony, as with weasels, or a stable, as with horses. Hopefully not a hastiness, as with cooks, or an ostentation, as with peacocks. Personally I like the idea of a drunkenship as with cobblers, or a dazzle as with zebras. (ref. wikipedia)

This particular dazzle of artists is currently housed in the masonic hall in dear old Skibbereen, in County Cork, and while we are not wholly defined by our current casing, it is a particularly uniquely historical one. Built in the 1860's as a lecture hall our current premises was bought by the freemasons, specifically the Fifteenth Lodge of Ireland, our current landlords. Over the years it has been used as a lecture hall, badminton hall, drill facility for the Irish military reserve and storage facility before becoming our studio in 2013. The lodge still use their meeting rooms at the upper rear of the building, which include hand painted stencil work in a style unique to Irish Masonic Halls and a stained glass ceiling panel, renovated after fire damage in 2006, whilst the rear downstairs offices are occupied by the Department of Social Welfare. (ref. munsterfreemasons)


So here we work, sharing a space with the freemasons and the dole office. The studio is a large hall, divided into quarters by temporary partitions to create three working spaces and a gallery space, with a balcony for books, tea and sofas. High ceilings and large windows create an uplifting feeling of space and light that in the summer is magical, and in the winter is bloody cold.


All three Shape artists are individuals. We do not have a manifesto, or a common goal, other than to pursue our own artistic endeavours. We do all maintain parallel careers in arts facilitation, working with, between the three of us, schools, young people, older people, mental health service users, and hospital patients amongst others, which subsidise our ability to afford the luxury of a space in which to make art.


So that is where we work, and what else we do, but I still haven't really touched on my original question: what is Shape? Shape can be a noun (the quality of a distinct object or body in having an external surface or outline of specific form or figure) or a verb (to give definite form, shape, organization, or character to; fashion or form). Shape is a fundamental component of artwork, along with colour, line, tone and so on. It cannot be denied that all three of us use shapes in our artwork on a regular basis, so in that way it is a descriptive title. It's use as a verb, to shape, in some ways defines the activity of the artist who is engaged in shaping their artwork. (ref. dictionary)


So Shape is an appropriate name for us, for while we are not defined by any particular shape – the artists may change, the venue may change, the style of the work may change- we together create a shape. A shape of artists. Perhaps that is the collective noun I was looking for all along.


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    The Shape Blog is brought to you by all three Shape artists, Alison Trim, Paul Forde Cialis, and Toma McCullim, with the possibility of occasional guest posts from people we like.

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