Drogheda Arts Festival

Helena Gorey – Understory
2022-04-29 10:30 - 2022-06-18 17:00 (Europe/Dublin) | Highlanes Gallery
Helena Gorey’s home is a cottage situated in pastoral landscape close to where she grew up, with a view to a field with an almost perfect horizon line. One of her earliest memories is picking blackcurrants in this field planted by her father. The experience of growing up and living in this place and its surrounding nature has influenced much of her work. Hers is not a desire to represent but to distill the essence of this place. Her approach is intuitive and her paintings are developed slowly over time. Her desire is to make works that have a sense of depth but may appear effortless.
Paintings are sometimes bisected by a subtle horizontal line suggesting a possible land or seascape and conjure the atmosphere and wonder of nature through a veil of – light, mist, fog and rain. When a sense of completeness is not achieved on first touch a process of layering from light to dark and dark to light is developed in order to arrive home.
With Understory she continues this engagement with nature and focuses on the beauty in humble plants of the hedgerows using titles such as Lady’s Bedstraw, Leaf, Sloe Berry and Spinney. By concentrating on the richness of colour and texture in nature she attempts to create an immersive sense of landscape without trying to representing it.

Objects and Oscillations- Brian Hegarty
2022-04-30 10:30 - 2022-06-18 17:00 | Droichead Arts Centre
An exhibition by Brian Hegarty presented by Droichead Arts Centre in association with Drogheda Arts Festival 2022.
Hegarty’s practice is an exploration on the transverse between the visual and sound, using a combine of collage, appropriation and audio elements. Over the last few years the vinyl lp cover has become his medium of choice, folding together an interest in cultural imagery and a love of music. While past works were a direct recontextualizing of appropriated images from the record sleeves the new work aims to open up the narrative and delve into a psychological reworking of the source material pushing the work into a more abstract terrain.
There is a symbiotic relationship between my experience of music and the visual language of my work. Structures and strategies found in music where the idea of inverting and juxtaposing creates new possibilities has become an underpinning within my work”
This exhibition will also feature aspects from ‘thirtythree-45’ a crossover project in Brian’s practice where he promotes underground music, runs a D.I.Y music label, publishes photo zines and streams an internet radio station.
Opening 4pm on 30 April.Running until Sat 18 June.
