The Year Ahead: Fascinating and diverse range of exhibitions for the MAC's galleries
The Visual Arts programme for 2023/24 focuses on a number of solo and thematic group exhibitions by local, national, and international artists and community partners, reflecting the developments and current issues within the visual arts and wider society.
Having begun the year with significant profile-raising exhibitions by local artists Louise Wallace and Sharon Kelly, alongside the community-led exhibition At The Table, Thai- born, New York-based multi-media artist Korakrit Arunanondchai brings his first exhibition in Ireland to the MAC in September. Tap the image to find out more.
Korakrit Arunanondchai’s practice addresses issues of inbetweenness and dissolved identity with regard to generation, gender and nationality. Animism, natural sciences, philosophy and poetry also play an important role in Arunanondchai’s art, where the power of storytelling is at the core, and the boundary between the personal, the spiritual and the geopolitical is blurred.
Central to the work is Korakrit Arunanondchai’s own personal farewell to his grandfather, whose death severs a link to understanding the consequences of the Cold War in this region – and also to the artist’s own family history.
We look forward to a major exhibition“I See His Blood Upon the Rose” tracing the history of the flower in art, its evolution from botanical illustrtions to the opulent still-life paintings of the 17th century, their adoption as symbols of political influence, revolution, and human control over nature.
“I See His Blood Upon the Rose” will present intriguing juxtapositions between artists and works spanning centuries whilst also drawing on subtle pairings such as the delicately constructed paper collages of English artist Mary Delany and the painstakingly detailed brushwork of her Dutch contemporary Rachel Ruysch.
In addition to many significant historical paintings, the exhibition includes important works by contemporary artists for whom the subject has remained an enduring interest. Judith Linhares takes satisfaction in the ‘oppositional stance’ of painting flowers in a postmodern world whilst Tracey Emin sees her neon as love poems, not sent to one individual but to many.
Featured artists include: Rachel Ruysch - Gavin O’Curry - Michael Landy - Tracey Emin - Mary Delany - Mario Nuzzi - Ted Pim - Bernie Boston - Alvaro Barrington - John Currin – Jennifer Trouton - Judith Linhares.
Main image: [Still] Korakrit Arunanondchai, with history in a room filled with
people with funny names 4, 2017. 23:32 min video. Image ©
Korakrit Arunanondchai 2023, Courtesy of the artist; Bangkok
CityCity Gallery; Carlos/Ishikawa, London; C L E A R I N G, New
York / Brussels; and Kukje Gallery, Seoul.
