Framewerk Gallery Exhibition

Paintings, Drawings and Woodcuts is a solo exhibition of work by Connor Maguire which consisted of 35 works comprised of a mixture of his favourite mediums being charcoal, oils and printmaking in the form of woodcuts. I was asked last year being 2016 by Dawn Richardson owner of the Framewerk gallery if I wished to put on a solo exhibition of work in April 2017. At the time I was working on a series of drawings concentrating on portraiture using one of my favourite mediums being charcoal and chalk.

I was never planning or working towards a solo show but I was drawing on a daily basis which is a common practice for me and building up such a vast quantity of work I thought maybe this would be a good opportunity to display my portraits alongside my woodcuts and paintings also. The exhibition mainly consisted of drawings which I must say is possibly my favourite medium.

Such a simple tool using a stick of charcoal mark making in a suggestive way concentrating on composition and tone trying to create a likeness but I believe if used correctly one can produce a piece of work that has more effect and much more powerful feeling than any painting can evoke.

After Dawn asked me to exhibit I thought I would apply for funding from the Arts Council NI and fortunate to say my application was successful which enabled me to get the work framed so as I could put on the exhibition. Without funding from the Arts Council NI the show would not have went ahead so have enormous gratitude for the aid and for help which shows just how important organisations which support the Arts are in Northern Ireland and elsewhere.

There was music also by DJ Sleepwalk aka Ryan McNicholl who created some lovely ambient tunes in the background. In my own experience and from speaking to other people I have found that some people can find entering a gallery quite intimidating and feel a bit insecure about walking in and looking at artwork on walls feeling quite awkward at times. We thought it would be good to have music in the background to make things a bit livelier and not so intimidating and I think Ryan did a fantastic job creating a very relaxed atmosphere where people felt comfortable whether they were on their own or in a group viewing the work.

The exhibition ran from the 10th April until the 22nd April 2017 with an invited viewing on Saturday being the 15th April 2017 which commenced at 2.00pm until 5.00pm.