INTRODUCING THE MEMBERS OF GROUP 8

Brendan Grealy graduated from GMIT in 1998 with a Diploma in Art & Design and from Crawford College of Art & Design in 1999 with a Degree in Fineart. He is a highly versatile painter who engages with a variety of thematics that share a common thread – that of his immediate environment. The artistic treatment of his subject matter is carefully, and consistently considered in his sophisticated methods of paint application.

Grellan Ganly is currently completing his Degree in Art & Design in GMIT. His work is heavily influenced by history, particularly that of Irish folklore and Celtic mythology. He employs the media of both acrylic paint and kiln fired ceramics. Both media possess an underlying fluidity and mystery that combine in a way that constantly challenges the viewer as to the various layers of meaning contained in his work

Joyce Little is a visual artist working in the medium of paint, print and installation. Her area of interest is that of the contemporary woman. Her work is thought provoking, culturally critical and at times irreverently humorous or satirical. She studied in Grafton Academy of Fashion Design, NCAD, GMIT, and most recently completed an MA in Visual Arts Practice at IADT.

Lee Ní Chinnéide is originally from Dublin and now lives near Ahascragh. A homeopath by profession, Lee is a powerful singer and interpreter of songs. She regularly performs with The Lunar Jazz Ensemble in pubs and at events in Galway and beyond.

Nuala Ní Chonchúir is an award winning writer and poet originally from Dublin and currently lives in Ballinasloe. Her third short fiction collection Nude was published by Salt in September 2009. The Irish Times called it ‘a memorable achievement’. She is one of four winners of the 2009 Templar Poetry Pamphlet competition. Her pamphlet Portrait of the Artist with a Red Car was published November 2009. Nuala’s novel You was published by New Island in April 2010. She received an Arts Council Bursary in 2009 and is fiction editor of Horizon Review.

Tommy Campbell is a sculptor working in the medium of Bog Oak. He is inspired by his surroundings and the materials he uses. Mainly a self-taught artist, he has had workshops with Dutch sculptor Peter Kooning and the late Brian Little.

Úna Spain graduated from GMIT in 1997 with a Diploma in Art & Design and was awarded an Honours Degree in Photography from DIT in 2009. Her most recent body of work consisted of photography, Super 8 film and a limited edition artists book collectively entitled Marking Time which looked at three ‘erstwhile’ sites in Ballinasloe and people formerly associated with them. The critic Aidan Dunne described this work as a ‘brilliant, composite insight into the social and psychological reality of change on a local scale in Ireland’ (Irish Times, June 17, 2009).

Zara Little-Campbell is a writer from Ballinasloe. She is currently studying for a PhD in Creative Writing at Swansea University, Wales. Her poetry has been published in Sigla and Crannóg. She co-edited Rewind and a selection of her poetry was published in the same anthology. Zara won the Jonathan Swift Award for poetry in 2008 with her poem ‘Sycamore Trees’ and was shortlisted for the Short Story Award in 2009.

Group 8 Mission Statement

Group 8 is a non-profit, professional arts group, united in the belief that art worthy of exposure can express the vitality of a community, and foster awareness, imagination and co-operative learning between the artist and their community.

GROUP 8 HARD AT WORK

 

Here's a pic of 5 of the 8, hard  at work in Tosnú Art Gallery in Ballinasloe, brainstorming, for the upcoming exhibition. I took the pic - I was hard at work too!!!

From the left: Grellan Ganly, Joyce Little, Tommy Campbell, Úna Spain and Brendan Greally.

EXHIBITION CATALOGUE

We are currently preparing the catalogue to go with our exhibition - it will contain images of the art work as well as poetry. We are also trying to come up with a name for our exhibition which has the theme of  'a sense of place'. All the art works have taken Ballinasloe as their starting point but we don't want to use the title 'a sense of place' - it's too clichéd. Some of the poems and the paintings have inspired each other. It has been a true collaborative process by and about artists in Ballinasloe.
Anyway, one member came up with a great suggestion for the exhibition's title at today's meeting - we will thrash it out and announce it anon.

JOINT EXHIBITION - GROUP 8

Group 8's first exhibiton will take place between the 13th and the 20th of March 2010 in The Regency Room in Hayden's Hotel in Ballinasloe.

The launch night will take place on Saturday the 13th March 2010 at 7pm. Come and see sculpture, photography and paintings; listen to live poetry and music, and enjoy a glass of wine.

The exhibition will be open throughout the week, including Saint Patrick's Day.

Introducing GROUP 8

Group 8 is a professional artists' collective based in Ballinasloe, County Galway, Ireland. We came together last August (2009) with a view to bringing our work to the people of Ballinasloe, in order to add to the cultural interest of the town. We decided the best way to do that was to organise a joint exhibition of our work in Ballinasloe.

We are 5 visual artists, 2 writers and 1 singer. We are:

Joyce Little - visual and multimedia artist

Tommy Campbell - sculptor

Grellan Ganly - visual artist

Úna Spain - visual artist

Brendan Grealy - visual artist

Nuala Ní Chonchúir - writer

Zara Little-Campbell - writer

Lee Ní Chinnéide - singer