The Perlman Teaching Museum at Carleton College will celebrate “The Emerald Isle” with a new exhibit in its Braucher Gallery. “Post-Picturesque: Photographing Ireland” presents the work of nine accomplished Irish artists, each taking a unique approach to showcasing the idyllic rural landscape of their homeland.
The ambitious exhibition, curated by Perlman Teaching Museum director Laurel Bradley, opens Friday, March 3 with a reception from 8 to 9:30 p.m. in the Weitz Center for Creativity Commons and a special appearance and lecture by one of the featured artists, Anthony Haughey, at 7 p.m. in room 236 of the Weitz Center, who will present “Ireland in Crisis: Post Celtic Tiger Photography.”
“Post-Picturesque” introduces to American audiences the work of acclaimed Irish photographers Gary Coyle, Martin Cregg, David Farrell, Paul Gaffney, Anthony Haughey, Miriam O’Connor, Jill Quigley, Anna Rackard, and Ruby Wallis—each bringing a new aesthetic and critical approach to the celebrated rural Irish landscape.
Additional events accompanying the exhibit include curator tours with Laurel Bradley on April 4 from 12 to 1 p.m. and April 20 from 5 to 6 p.m., and a lecture by Galway-based artist Ruby Wallis on April 27 at 5 p.m. in the Boliou Hall Auditorium titled “A Journey ‘Back to the Land’ Through Photography in the West of Ireland.”
Curator Laurel Bradley writes:
Reaching beyond beautiful and clichéd images of Ireland as a rural idyll, this exhibition presents contemporary Irish photographers who invent compelling approaches to picturing their countryside. Each grapples with the challenge of visually defining a landscape that retains many features of the nation’s agrarian past, even as economic forces, modern farming methods, European Union regulations, real estate development, and lifestyle choices transform the rural experience.
“Post-Picturesque: Photographing Ireland” is presented by the Carleton College Perlman Teaching Museum, with support from Culture Ireland; artist visits are sponsored by the Christopher U. Light Lectureship in the Arts. The exhibit runs March 3 through May 7, 2017 (closed during Spring Break, March 13-26, 2017) and is free and open to the public.
For more information, including gallery hours and disability accommodations, call (507) 222-4342 or visit go.carleton.edu/museum. The Perlman Teaching Museum is located in the Weitz Center for Creativity at Third and College Streets in Northfield.