Things That Matter
Recent
Things That Matter
Things That Matter was an open submission show devised and curated by Ian Wieczorek, presented in association with Westport Arts Festival 2011. The show, located in McGing's Bar, Westport, Co. Mayo ran from 30th September - 9th October 2011. The primary stipulation was that works responding to the proposed theme be made using actual beermats as a support/base material. The show comprised 86 works by 47 artists from Ireland and beyond.
With special thanks to Anthony Finnegan of McGing’s Bar for facilitating the show.
Exhibition callout text:
Things That Matter might seem a bit lightweight, a bit of fun, but there is a serious side to the show. Visual Art has been traditionally confined to the formal gallery setting, which means that people who encounter it are those that have knowingly chosen to do so. There has been a conscious move in more recent years to take Visual Art out of this formal context, and place it in public spaces where people who are not necessarily self-proclaimed ‘art lovers’ can engage with a whole range of ideas and art practices. It means that Art can be experienced without the elitist status that it is often still perceived.
Things That Matter takes the lowly beermat, and makes the proposition that it can be as valid a vehicle for Visual Art as much as any traditional medium. It opens this proposal up to the visual arts community and gives the opportunity to explore a less traditional, formal medium. It then presents artists’ responses in possibly the most appropriate location for such work, a venue where the beermat is a familiar object, easily recognised. It also proposes that art is not about preciousness, rather it is about artistic invention and responsiveness. It explores possibilities, and deconstructs preconceptions. And there is no reason why art can’t be fun too. Beermat art. Why not?
John McGing’s has a tradition as a venue for art exhibitions. Facilitated by the enlightened bar manager Anthony Finnegan, over recent years McGing’s has hosted a number of successful exhibitions, both open submission, curated and solo shows. And the response has always been positive from the bar’s clientele.
Things That Matter is devised and curated by Mayo-based visual artist Ian Wieczorek. An established painter in his own right, Ian was instrumental in instigating and curating BLINK, the hugely successful Exhibition Programme and Art Trail