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Dublin Contemporary 2011 Exhibition Tour
Tour of the National Concert Hall & the Iveagh Gardens
Annual RHA Friends Trip Abroad to visit the Venice Biennale
Talk and tour of Irish Landscape Photography from the State Art Collection in Farmleigh, with exhibition curator Davey Moor
RHA Studio Visits
Upcoming Friends events
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Dublin Contemporary 2011 Exhibition Tour
Meet at Earlsford Terrace venue
Friday 30 September, 3pm
 The Friends enjoyed an interesting tour of the Dublin Contemporary exhibition in Earlsfort Terrace kindly given by Dublin Contemporary curator, Liliana Rodrigues. Throughout the afternoon tour the Friends of the RHA saw an impressive array of art from a large number of Irish and international artists. Highlights included Nevan Lahart, Desperate Optimists, Mark Cullen, Brian Duggan, Wang Du and Carlos Garaicoa to name but a few. A big thanks to Emma Dwyer and Liliana for all their time and help in organising this event.
Tour of the National Concert Hall & the Iveagh Gardens
Friday 7 October, 3pm
 Gardener, Fergal Kavanagh guided the Friends of the RHA through the Iveagh Gardens, explaining their wonderful and expansive history while also discussing the botany of the gardens and the sculpture on display.
This was followed by a fascinating tour of the Concert Hall and its history, given by Grace Sheehan. Here the Friends had the chance to go up on stage where all the magic happens, as well as getting a peak into the back corridors and rooms. The tour ended at the impressive open plan stairway and balcony with the exquisite Waterford Crystal Chandelier hanging overhead where the Friends heard about the Concert Hall’s impressive art collection on the surrounding walls. Many thanks to Rachel Gurney.
Annual RHA Friends Trip Abroad to visit the Venice Biennale
Thurs 13 - Sun 16 October 2011
 The Friends of the RHA enjoyed an inspiring and art filled trip to the beautiful city of Venice in October last year for our first Friends trip to the Venice Biennale.
The Friends spent three days with RHA Director, Patrick T Murphy, Michelle Considine and Rebecca Gale guiding the tour, wandering through the different international pavilions in the Giardini and the Arsenale, and also throughout the narrow Venetian streets to find the off site events in the historical buildings that scatter the city.
The Illuminations exhibition, which ran throughout the Giardini and Arsenale, also captivated the Friends and our tour guide Elisabetta gave interesting and insightful tours providing the Friends with an understanding of the works and an appreciation of the artists’ ideas.
As ever the evening meals together were a very enjoyable part of the trip, where the Friends got to relax and sample the local cuisine, wine and be serenaded once or twice! Another international Friends trip was enjoyed by all.
Talk and tour of Irish Landscape Photography from the State Art Collection in Farmleigh, with exhibition curator Davey Moor
Saturday 12 November, 2pm
 This exhibition was the first OPW exhibition curated by an independent curator and the Friends had the opportunity to have an in-depth tour of the 46 piece strong photographic exhibition, with its curator Davey Moor.
The tour consisted of an insightful look into the State’s collection of landscape photography. All of the works selected for the exhibition, in their own unique way, look at the influence of the human presence in nature, its relationship with the land and environment and the observations and ideas of the artist/photographer while capturing this.
Moor also explained many of the photographic techniques used in the creation of work, which was of great interest to the group. Many thanks to Davey Moor for giving such a thought-provoking tour.
RHA Studio Visits
Wednesday, 23 November, 6pm
Many thanks to the RHA studio artists Jennifer Cunningham, Hugh Delap, Orla Whelan and Alan Daly for inviting the Friends of the RHA into their studios and showing them their art in progress while discussing their work over a glass of wine. The evening was a great success with a large turn out of Friends viewing the interesting and diverse work of the four artists, which included video, print, painting and drawing.
Hugh Delap
 Hugh Delap is an artist who makes small abstract paintings. Delap arranges simple shapes, colours and patterns in familiar environments which combine abstract and figurative traditions in bright, playful compositions. Delap has exhibited in London, Chicago and Bologna including solo exhibitions at The Talbot Gallery in 2010 and Pallas Contemporary Projects in 2008. www.hughdelap.com
Jennifer Cunningham
Jennifer Cunningham is a visual artist based in Dublin and Galway. She works with video, paint, print, drawing, film and digital media. Through different narratives her work deals with the parameters of self, becoming self aware and also the notion of ‘das unheimlich’/ the uncanny and how familiar environments appear strange to us. Cunningham is a member of the Blackchurch Print Studio in Dublin and has won several awards for her work including the Henry Higgins Travelling Scholarship and the Taylor Art Award at the RDS in 2002.
www.jennifercunningham.ie
Orla Whelan
 Orla Whelan is an artist whose work is informed by personal experience, literature and art history and her work investigates the fields of memory, perception and representation. She works primarily in oil painting though her practice and also includes watercolour and drawing. Recent Solo exhibitions include seeing in black, Roscommon Art Centre (2011), At the Heart of Chance, Draiocht, Blanchardstown (2008/09). www.orlawhelan.com
Alan Daly
 Alan Daly’s practice is defined by a commitment to live observation within the genre of portraiture. He is striving to capture the energy of the encounter with the subject and to record the intensity of looking. Using charcoal to obtain a raw immediacy, his drawings on paper are completed in one vigorous session. Daly studied Fine Art Painting at D.I.T. He has previously held solo exhibitions at Draiocht Arts Centre, Talbot Gallery and the Belltable Arts Centre in Limerick. www.alandaly.org
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The Friends of the RHA enjoyed an inspiring and art filled trip to the beautiful city of Venice in October last year for our first Friends trip to the Venice Biennale.
