BEN GEOGHEGAN

2011-12-15T00:38:00.000-08:00

Cire Perdue

The 2nd Colours Arts Project.
Sunday 9th October 2011.

Took place on Mainguard Street, Galway. Up to 50 Artists were invited to select an art form from a pack of art knowledge cards and present work based on their interpretation of the text. 2011's event hosted a combination of emerging and established Artists and aimed to educate and attract a new audience by displaying art on the street. This event was not possible without the immense help and support of the local arts community and students from The Burren College of Art.

Ben worked with the sculptural process of 'Cire Perdue'.

French for 'lost wax,' this term describes a 5,000-year-old method of casting metal that was used by sculptors in Renaissance Italy. A plaster cast is made of a full-sized clay model. Wax is then applied to the inside of the cast and built up to the desired thickness for the finished piece. After the wax coating is lined with fireproof material, the whole piece is heated so that the wax melts and runs out through channels provided in the fireproof shells, leaving a cavity into which molten metal is poured. The final stage involves removing the shells from the cooled metal and polishing the sculpture. Using this dangerous process to cast the masterpiece 'Perseus with the Head of Medusa,' Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571) set his workshop on fire, which did not deter him from completing the process. The great Donatello (c.1386-1466) prudently had his sculpture cast by bell founders.

Title: Cire Perdue
Medium: 12 x 8 inch photographic print in frame.
Price: 50 euro
Edition: 2/5

2011-11-28T07:29:00.000-08:00

'Self Portrait as Indiana Jones, Eithne Shortall'

Price: 1000 euro
Year: 2011
Medium: Mounted Original Newspaper Print
Frame Size: 610x430mm

---------------------

LOST GEMS FOUND ON BACKS OF PAINTINGS

Geoghegan found three hidden paintings while photographing the backs of artworks at the Hugh Lane gallery, the most striking of which was this beach scene on the reverse of Edouard Vuillard's 1905 masterpiece The Mantlepiece, inset

A photographer has found unknown treasures on lurking on the backside of famous works, writes Eithne Shortall

An art project at the Hugh Lane gallery in Dublin has led to the discovery of three unseen paintings, including work from a post-impressionist master.
Ben Geoghegan, a Galway based artist, has been photographing the backs of paintings for several years and recently shot 18 works from the gallery.
He unearthed two paintings by Paul Henry, one of Ireland's most celebrated artists, and a post-impressionist work by the French painter Edouard Vuillard.
A beach scene was found on the rear of The Mantelpiece, a 1905 Vuillard. The "hidden painting" had only been seen by museum staff moving the work.
The drawing, shown here for the first time, depicts three people and a dog at the seaside. The work appears finished and has its own glass cover and frame.
While artist signatures, gallery stickers and wear and tear constituted most finds, Geoghegan also discovered two paintings on the back of Henry's Turf Bog Scene, painted between 1916 and 1919 while living in Achill.
The landscape and portrait of two women had no covering, so have suffered damage.
Geoghegan said he undertook the project to give familiar works a new dimension, but had not expected something so "fantastical". He said "I found a lot of provenance and sometimes notes from the artist. Also legal documents. Owners and buyers also added bits and bobs."
Niamh O'Sullivan, a professor of visual culture at the National College of Art and Design, said it was once quite common to reuse canvas and boards. "Artists worked through their ideas 'verso', bringing the painting to completion 'recto'," she said.
Philip McEvansoneya, an art history lecturer at Trinity College Dublin, said artists had a tradition of painting over an abandoned work or turning the canvas over. "Painting over the front is more common, because if the canvas is reversed then it has to be taken off the stretcher and remounted," he said.
"The images which end up on the back have not been much studied as they have clearly been dismissed in favour of what's on the front. Sometimes sketches may be found on the back rather then the semi- or wholly finished paintings."
He said the Vuillard had interesting features of impasto and scratching with the brush tip and was likely to have been the result of one period of work, put aside and never returned to.
Geoghegan also photographed the reverse of paintings by Claude Monet, Edouard Manet, Patrick Collins, Jack B. Yeats and James Whistler. Photographs of the of John Lavery's portrait of Major ComptonSmith and Sam Bough's Kilchurn Castle are on show at the Hugh Lane as part of Other Mens's Flowers exhibition.
On the reverse of Waterloo Bridge by Monet, one of the gallery's most popular pieces, he found "very distinctive archival devices" because the Tate recorded it. These included an intact wax stamp to protect against forgery by alerting curators to any attempt to open the frame back.
Micheal Dempsey, the head of exhibitions at Hugh Lane, said " The back has an aesthetic relevance. It shows what materials were used, how it was stored and how it has deteriorated."
Geoghegan is negotiating an exhibition space for all 18 works, including the unseen paintings. The photographs are ultrachrome inkjet prints, devised to look as real as possible.
The project also raised a copyright issue. In 1998, a US court ruled that photographs of paintings were not original and the owner of the painting had all the copyrights. No such case has come before the Irish courts.
The Hugh Lane wanted copyright to Geoghegan's work, but after employing a lawyer, he secured the rights. The matter was further complicated by the uncertainty over the copyrights of the backs of paintings.
Dempsey said this "grey area" was being explored and that Hugh Lane would argue that if they, or an estate, own the copyright to the image then they also have the right to the reverse.

As mentioned in the article above:

Title: "Turf Bog Scene, Paul Henry" from the Hugh Lane Collection
Year: 2008
Medium: Photographic print mounted on MDF
Dimensions: 410 x 290 mm.
Price: 500.00 Euro plus p&p. Edition 2/5.

2011-11-15T08:58:00.000-08:00

The Imaginary Archive.

Tulca 2011. After the Fall.
Curated by Megs Morley.

4th November - 20th November, 2011

Ben Geoghegan presented new work in collaboration with artist and writer Gregory Sholette for “After the Fall”. A critical international figure in the area of collectivity and artist-led activity and politics, Sholette has been collaborating with the 126 Gallery and its membership over the last number of months to re-visit the concept of the Imaginary Archive.

Synopsis: Imagine yourself uncovering a cache of materials and documents that record a past whose future never arrived? Imaginary Archive Galway (IAG) is just such a repository: printed materials, objects, and narratives that imagine an alternative history, which nevertheless sheds a surprisingly strong light on concrete realities. New York based artist Gregory Sholette invited participants from Galway, New Zealand, Europe, and the United States to produce this “what if” collection of archival materials addressing topics from forgotten Irish inventors and fantastic nation-branding campaigns, to uncharted offshore islands and mysterious pirate radio broadcasts. On display at 126 Gallery, IAG consists of under-represented, unknown, invisible, or merely hoped-for "historical" materials that point to multiple ways of interpreting the past, the present, and the future. For more information click here.

Biography:
Gregory Sholette is a New York-based artist, writer, and founding member of the artists’ collectives Political Art Documentation/Distribution (PAD/D: 1980-1988), and REPOhistory (1989-2000). His publications include Dark Matter: Art and Politics in an Age of Enterprise Culture (Pluto Press, 2011); Collectivism After Modernism: The Art of Social Imagination after 1945 (with Blake Stimson for University of Minnesota, 2007.

www.gregorysholette.com
www.darkmatterarchives.net

Participating artists: Niall Moore (Galway), Dave Callan (Galway), Simon Fleming (Galway), Roger O'Shea (Galway), Ben Geoghegan (Galway), Austin Ivers (Galway), Tiarnán McDonough (Galway), Paul Maye (Galway), Àine Phillips (Clare), Allan Hugues (Belfast), John Hulsey, Brian Hand (Dublin), Jeffrey Skoller (NY), Matthew F. Greco (NYC), Todd Ayoung (NY), Aaron Burr Society (NY), Yevgeniy Fiks (NYC), Maureen Connor (NYC), Johan Lundh and Danna Vajda (NYC/Sweden), Trust Art (NYC), Ellen Rothenberg (Chicago), Oliver Ressler (Austria), Markus Wetzel (Berlin), Murray Hewitt (NZ), Jeremy Booth (NZ), Grant Corbishley (NZ), Dara Greenwald & Josh McPhee (NYC), Bryce Galloway (NZ), Lee Harrop (Australia), Malcom Doidge (NZ) and White Fungus (Taiwan) working in collaboration with Imaginary Archivists Olga Kopenkina and Gregory Sholette (NYC).

GALWAY FISHMARKET/SPANISH PARADE 1986/2011

In 1986 a pressure group formed in Galway to engage in dialogue with the city council on the development of the Fishmarket/Spanish Arch area of the city. The group was made up of several organisations from bird conservationists, heritage enthusiasts, craft works and visual artists to name a few.

The group proposed a vision for the Spanish Parade area which allowed for the buildings of the time to be refurbished and used as cultural amenities for the city. Providing a dynamic and diverse cultural area inside the city center. All aspects were considered from the traffic flow to the re-design and allocation of the buildings to various cultural agents of the city.

Where Jury's Inn stands now was to be the Galway Arts Center and along the Spanish Parade the houses were to be re-appropriated into meeting rooms, workshops and studio's.

This record jacket was produced as a tribute to the vision of the Galway Pressure Group of 1986.

2011-11-15T02:55:00.000-08:00

Gregory Sholette and Ben Geoghegan in Conversation. August-September 2011.

Commissioned by Tulca 2011 and included in the publication accompanying 'After the Fall'. Curated by Megs Morley.

It many respects it has become something of a cult object reminiscent of a manifesto to be read under the cover of darkness. The myth allows for a knowing frustration with certain ideological positions held in the city to be revealed and the report itself is the answer the question of how to over come them.

++++++

The heat from the radio transmitter was intense enough to dry out the moisture in the room’s thick walls by end of day. The broadcast had been going on for hours. Never so long before, and all about making Galway some sort of autonomous cultural center. Every artist listening shook their collective heads: Seven proposals, seven proposals, what on fuckin’ earth was this about anyway?

+++++++

As the sunset disappeared over Galway Bay, in the cover of darkness the presenters draw closer for warmth. In an effort to generate a reverse cross grain ideology, with mumbled thoughts they gather words and begin with ‘Why did he come?’ It’s said, he came to influence policy, before the big European Capital of Culture bid. The city’s internal structure had a flaw; the Visual Arts sector needed TLC and ASAP. In the cross fire; friendly got hit. Collateral damage and the manuscript got lost or was on a floppy zip disk. Before the speed transporters, the hyperdrivers and the timeloopers there was planes, trains and automobiles. Unknown friendly presenters were hard spot and face to face was the medium. Who would have known it was before time. The message, the manifesto is somewhere and everywhere out there. Hard to get a hold of and held waiting for the request of those interested by those with the script as Word Doc.

+++++++

A large abandoned building sat edgewise on the bank of the Corrib. The walls closest to the river were covered in plant tendrils and moss. Inside dampness ruled. Up a set of stone steps was a low arched doorway. Up another set of stairs the corridor opened into a larger space, still damp and just visible thanks to a diffused gray light. A folding wood table of the type used for playing cards sat in the center of the space. Tucked beneath the table rested a battered-looking apparatus: a portable radio transmitter. And it was here upon this table and with this knocked-about transmitter that a makeshift radio station came into being, if only now and then. Hurriedly brought out and assembled, its crooked telescoping antennae clipped via an orange automobile jumper to a dull steel cable running up the inside of the building (and probably keeping it from falling down), the electric provided by a muffled generator, and then, with a distorted and crackled pop…

“This is Radio Free Galway coming to you from an undisclosed location …”

++++++

“Now, Live to Air, an interview with Gango Hen, whom allegedly attended the presentation of the seven proposals, some time back.

How did you find out about the presentation Gango?

I heard about it from friends, I don’t remember who exactly now, it came up while I was sipping a pint in the coffin of ambition.

Can you remember anything from the presentation?

On mature recollection I can remember everything as if it was yesterday.

Can you describe the event?

It was in a hotel... or a bar... or a hotel with a bar. The atmosphere was tense, the room was stuffy and I had a hangover, me tongue was gasping for a drop of a hairy dag, I mean I was looking for the hair of the dog. Anyways, I was taking it all in, as in, I was taking in all whom were in the room, when a foreign national took to the stage. Co-members of the audience were quiet, a bit too quiet. The foreign national made this way to the front, he had a polite smile and started his presentation. I wasn't really paying attention to himsell but I did notice twenty minutes in, there was an unhealthy amount of movement in seats. Some took to the bar at the back of the room, so I saw my gap and out I went to order a pint of shout. It was lovely…… The pint of shout. There was talk at the bar something akin to what you might get at mass of a Sunday. Men chatting at the back, unsympathetic to the presentation of spiritual guidance. Then, all of a sudden, there was a bolt of tension across the room. Some, where standing, and of the standers some held fists for waving. I'm not sure exactly of what gripe they processed but the poor man at the podium was not having a good time of it. Fair play to him, but he managed to weathered four questions hurled fast and hard at him in quick time. My new friends at the bar were quiet now, and myself stood in disbelief at the turn of events. It became angry very quickly after the return of answers by yourman. Like a gaggle of wolfs hollering over one another. Himsell left the room followed by some of the fist wavers. Some send off, not marched but ran out.

Right. OK can you tell me anything about the report?

What report?

(Crackling interference contorts the signal)

Are we still live…..?

Through the white noise…

The one which had been presented?
Oh.... no. I mean, ( break in transmission)

I know, yes. There is a report, reportedly, part of it was reprinted in ‘Brochure Two,’ but I never seen it, the full report …

The transmission goes dead

++++++++++

++++++++++

All guests, especially foreign ones, are expected to wander helplessly into the locally known mine fields of any small community. Packed with explosive social histories, resentments, feuds and gossip the detonation of these buried anti-personnel weapons is anticipated, and not only for the laugh it provides, but also because the blast proves something to those who live there, something about their very existence. Needless to say, no amount of care will save the guest from his or her fate, and in fact the proper visitor knows how to read the signals sent to him by locals regarding where the mines are located and then, dutifully, steer directly into the field without protest.

++++++

Was what they said about him true? Well, no, not all of it, forgivable or not (someone will vouch for this). And yes, he did misspell the name of a certain councilman John Tierney as John Tyranny (maybe his word processor did not pick this up or it inserted the change all by its heartless self).

+++++++

With presenters shirking to fit spaces and gaps in various vessels they collectively salvaged, a space for reflection descended on the crew of rafts. Facing out over the lip of the craft; the long front of culture often reforms and reshapes, exhibiting multiple reflections. Critical mass collected on the ground of the parish, regardless of the powerbrokers and civic support systems and went on to produce Adapt, Average, Artisit? First Draft, Enso, 126, Féach, Space Invaders, Rosa Parks, Artspace, Niland and Engage, MART, LORG, Kitchen Collective, Knee-Jerk, Akin, Emerge, Shower of Kunst, and Live@8. The collective led agency for airing voices runs in parallel with the script. Some presenters have fallen and some moved on but they are not forgotten. The maps have been charted in transmissions. Their vision and courage provides the legacy and guidance for the future. The Archive winks and gently laps against the barely sea worthy rafts. This assembly of vessels, cross lashed together as a craft, is going to make it through, down the Corrib passing Radio Free Galway out into the abundant Bay in time for nightfall. Once more to find space amongst the darkness…

The white noise clears and the Radio Free Galway transmission is back …

++++++

“…this is Radio Free Galway and we are breaking and entering the archive –possibly from vents in the floor or some other basement entry point (ha ha) - we are spreading about the city invisibly, and speeding up time and slowing it down and moving it back and forth using a whole assortment of arms and instruments for crawling through different thickness of history including: paddles, flippers, clamps, claws, clips, spines, pins, pinchers, needles, scoops, whips, tails, chips, pincers, needles…its thick stuff full of Rodchenkoplasm and Tatlinoplasm, and Popovaplasm, not to mention a certain azure radiation known as Blue Funk n. Inf., chiefly Brit. A state of great terror…because revolution is history out of place…”

Gregory Sholette is a New York Artist and Writer who was commissioned under the Arts Council Critical Voices programme to create a report on the visual arts in Galway in 2001.

2011-11-14T10:13:00.000-08:00

Ash Bucket Top.
2011.

2011-11-12T01:30:00.000-08:00

Title: Birds
From on going 'Picture Series' see list top right.
Price: 20 euro plus p&p.
Details: 12 x 8 inch photographic print from 35 mm neg. Edition 1/5

2011-11-04T02:11:00.000-07:00

2011-10-16T08:57:00.000-07:00

Photo on plywood.
2011
215 x 132 x 12 mm
Price: 50 euro

2011-10-16T04:04:00.000-07:00

Reynolds bike frame.
Clog teeth; 40 in the front and 17 at the back.
CFX wheels; Tyres: 700x20 at the front and 700x23 at the back.
Brooks B17 saddle.
Price: 450 euro

-----------

In memory of Frank McCarthy.
A gentle and charming man, rest in peace.

Photo courtesy of Áine Philips and Jane Talbot.

2011-10-16T03:44:00.000-07:00

TITLE: Painting No.2
PRICE: 1000 euro plus p&p.
DETAILS: Oil paint on 36 x 24 x 1'3/4 inch canvas stretcher.

2011-10-05T14:10:00.000-07:00

Classic

Price: 20 euro plus p&p (cuppa tea not included).

click on image for enlargement

2011-10-05T13:15:00.000-07:00

TITLE: Splash
YEAR:2011
SIZE: Frame dimensions 350x260x15mm
DETAILS: A4 drawing

click on image for enlargement

2011-10-03T10:23:00.001-07:00

Title: Shine Ray
From on going 'Picture Series' see list top right.
Price: 20 euro plus p&p.
Details: 12 x 8 inch photographic print from 35 mm neg. Edition 1/5
click on image to view enlargement

2011-09-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

Service: All digital photographic post production commissions considered...
Please contact bengeoghegan@gmail.com for inquiries about photograghic post production assignments.

2011-09-28T08:14:00.000-07:00

Title: To Be Announced
Medium: Matt black acrylic spray paint on lenticular print in plastic frame.
Size: 380mm x 280mm
Price: 300 euro. Edition 1/1

2011-09-25T10:52:00.000-07:00

TITLE: Overlapping
YEAR: 2011
MEDIUM: Window mounted frame. Feint tip pen on 80 gsm A4 white paper.
Frame size : 365 x 285 x 20 mm
PRICE: 70 euro plus p&p.

2011-09-04T06:18:00.000-07:00

2nd hand copy of About Looking by John Berger.
Fairly good condition, plug and cable not included.
7 euro plus p&p.

2011-09-02T04:56:00.001-07:00

TITLE: Flurry Monster
YEAR: 2011
MEDIUM: Pen and ink drawing on 80 gsm White paper.
PRICE: 20 euro plus p&p.

2011-09-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

Title: Blue Flake
From on going 'Picture Series' see list top right.
Price: 20 euro plus p&p.
Details: 12 x 8 inch photographic print from 35 mm neg. Edition 1/5

2011-08-09T10:40:00.000-07:00

2nd hand paperback copy of 'On the Road', in very good condition.
Five Euro plus packaging and postage, 2 euro = 7 Euro total.

2011-08-06T04:57:00.001-07:00

‘Notice to the Public’ was made in response to the exhibition ‘Collective Consciousness’ while in dialogue with curator Maeve Mulrennan; to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Artspace Studio’s.

Opening reception 6pm Friday 29th of July 2011.
‘Collective Consciousness’ > 29th July to 27th August 2011.
Galway Arts Centre

TITLE: “Notice to the Public; Original A4 notice placed on chairs in the public gallery at Galway City Council meetings.”
MEDIUM: Box Framed; A2 Photographic Inkjet Print.
YEAR: 2011.
PRICE: 300 euro. No Edition; ONLY ONE WORK MADE.

Dr Áine Phillips wrote in The Visual Artists' News Sheet
Critique Supplement. Edition 1. September/October 2011

Political systems were satirized more furiously in Ben Geoghegan's Notice to the Public, a framed copy of a local government public notice hung ominously in the stairwell of GAC confronting the visitor with this mandate: " You cannot participate any debate..." This piece proved an effective antithetical manifesto for the exhibition, evincing the obvious benefits of enlightened and accessible approaches to public engagement. Geoghegan's exposure of the methodologies of power, relating to suppressing discourse and exchange, directly contradicted and complimented those of Artspace's expressed mission.

2011-08-03T07:52:00.000-07:00

'Tree-House' by Private Commission.

Designed in collaboration with commissioning family.
Special features include secret trap door leading to exit slide from inside the tree-house, rope ladder, half door, and swing. This tree house was built using recycled material from 'Versus' a public art commission for the National University of Ireland, Galway.

For further information regarding built projects please contact Ben via email bengeoghegan@gmail.com

2011-08-03T07:51:00.000-07:00

"Interstice" Artspace Studios Galway at Supermarket Art Fair Stockholm 2011

Artist: Ben Geoghegan
Title: "Turf Bog Scene, Paul Henry" from the Hugh Lane Collection
Year: 2008
Medium: Photographic print mounted on MDF
Dimensions: 410 x 290 mm.
Price: 500.00 Euro plus p&p. Edition 2/5.

Artist: Ben Geoghegan
Title: "Still Life with Flowers, Pheasants and Woodcock, Unknown" from The Galway City Collection of Paintings
Year: 2005
Medium: Photographic print mounted on MDF,
Dimensions: 395 x 320 mm
Price: 500.00 Euro plus p&p. Edition 1/5.

2011-08-03T07:50:00.001-07:00

Royal Academy Summer Show rejection 2009.

2010-01-11T13:34:00.000-08:00

Poster designed by Ben Geoghegan.

Residency - November 2009. 500 Word Documentation follows...

Artspace member Ben Geoghegan invited London based Visual Artist Saskia Takens-Milne to participate in an ongoing programme of various multi dimensional events in the Project Room, Artspace Studios, Galway.
This residency took place between the 7th to the 14th of November 2009 and coincided with the first week of ‘Tulca’, Galway’s Visual Arts Festival.
During a lengthy email correspondence, Ben and Saskia discussed the broad terms of participation within an experimental space held within the context of a collective Artist’s Studio. A residency schedule emerged with the intension of creating a space of ‘conversational exchange’ between Saskia, Artspace Members and local/national visual art practitioners.
The zeal and verve of Tulca were enjoyed and formed the backdrop for the week’s residency. Attending exhibitions and events lead to meetings with various curators and exhibiting artists.
The Project Room functioned as both a studio; to work, and an exhibition space. Audiences of related and unrelated practitioners from within the Artspace membership and beyond were encouraged to engage with Saskia’s practice through viewing and discussing video works on display.
Saskia considered production of artworks before arrival, allocating the week as a timeframe for two works. The first related to an on-going series dealing with iconic film scenes. In this instance Alfred Hitchcock's, ‘Vertigo’ provided the starting point for the work. This video piece involved finding a suitable location for shooting, production of video material and post-production, which was successfully carried out during Saskia’s residency. Working rough cuts of this video work can be viewed on Saskia’s Blog, along with a counter part to this piece, which refers to another Hitchcock film ‘The Birds’.
The second work began production in the Project Room at Artspace. This work entailed inviting Artspace members to tell the plot of the most recent film they have seen, to camera. These descriptions are to be compiled to generate a 'mega-plot' by inter-splicing the different film descriptions into an ever-changing plot; swapping between the various descriptions but keeping the integrity of beginning, middle and end. Juliette De La Mer and John Brady took part in this work.
In the spirit of conversational exchange Saskia curated a screening of video works, which have influenced her practice for the Artspace members. This screening was presented as a way to explore Saskia’s practice in-directly.
A number of studio visits took place during the course of the residency. These included visits from Maeve Mulrennan, Galway Arts Centre; Megs Morley, Public Art Officer for Galway City; Fionnuala Gallagher, National University of Ireland, Galway - Arts Officer; Austin Ivers; Deirdre O’Mahony; Artspace members; David Finn, Juliette De La Mer, Laura Brennan, John Brady and Aideen Barry.
Both Ben Geoghegan and Artspace Studios supported this residency. Ben provided accommodation, logistical and administrative support and Artspace provided the Project Room.
Along with the dialogue exchanged between artists and curators; and works produced during her residency in Galway, Saskia has been invited to participate in ‘Muscailt’, February 2010.

Image copyright of the Artist, Saskia Takens-Milne

http://saskiatakensmilne.blogspot.com/
http://saskiatakensmilne.com/pages/art/chooser.html

2009-03-24T09:24:00.000-07:00

Commissioned Public Art Work by the National University of Ireland, Galway.
9th to 15th of Feb 2009

Ben Geoghegan's work 'Versus' was on display during the course of the entire Muscailt Festival. Prominently placed on the College Green it announced the presence of Muscailt as soon as students and visitors entered the college. It's high profile was echoed by a photo printed in the Galway Advertiser and radio coverage from Galway Bay and Flirt FM. The unusual imagery in this installation activates your imagination. A life sized art installation 'Versus' might be posing the question Arts Vs Leisure. The billboard style pieces were imagined with the NUI Galway's College Green in mind. Changing your view on the picturesque entrance to the University, this piece creates a new perspective on the College Green. The goalposts face each other, football field apart... perhaps inviting you to a game? Which would you chose: to view the installation as art or be part of it? With NUI Galway's Landscape ever changing this exciting piece energized the entrance and provided a contemporary picture that adds a new dimension to the face of the University.

The above text comes from a NUIG Arts Office Report on the Muscuilt Festival, written by Kathy Murphy; Festival coordinator.

2008-12-21T03:52:00.000-08:00

NEW IRISH PHOTOGRAPHIC WORKS
as presented on rue Baudanoni, off rue de la Roquette, Arles:
Friday 11 July, la nuit de l’année,
21.00 – 00.00hrs

Ireland [an insider’s view] presents a brief overview of emerging Irish photographic talent.

In recent years Ireland has undergone an unprecedented process of change. The country has developed from an inward-looking society into a modern, competitive, diverse and wealthy nation.

In particular the cultural landscape of the country has undergone significant changes.
Increased funding for the arts and the emergence of photography degree programmes have created a new generation of critically informed photography graduates. The emerging Irish photographic talent is playing a key role in the investigation of contemporary issues within Irish culture.

The works selected here reflect a diversity of concerns as Ireland struggles to make sense of itself: the new generation of young ‘post-conflict’ northern Irish Diaspora: the effects of the ‘Celtic Tiger’ boom on the landscape; suburbanisation of the rural landscape; the hedonistic night life of the capital city. The images selected reflect a brief account of these insiders’ views.

The 12 artists are: Kim Cunningham, Tadhg Devlin, Kevin Fox, Ben Geoghegan, Angel
Gonzalez, Louise Maher, Eoin O’Conaill, Mandy O’Neill, Fred O’Reilly, Anna Rackard, Darlene Shannon, Ruby Wallis.

Ireland [an insider’s view] is curated by Darragh Shanahan for the Gallery of Photography, Dublin.

This project is supported by Culture Ireland - promoting the arts abroad.

(this text is taken from the Photography Gallery of Ireland Website)

2008-12-20T08:31:00.000-08:00

A SALON > JUNE 20TH-22ND 2008
Ben took part in 'A Salon' hosted by Jennie Guy in Studio Six, Temple Bar Galleries.

Artists taking part; Mark Clare, Padraic E. Moore, J.P. Donleavy, Jesssamyn Fiore, Jessica Foley, Russell Hart, Sarah Hurl, Mit Jai-Inn, Susan MacWillian, Adam McEwen, Vanessa Marsh, Kitty Rogers, Laurie Schneider, Susan Thompson.

For further info. www. twovoicesmeet.com/salon

2008-08-16T05:24:00.000-07:00

Other Mens Flowers @ The Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin.
Ben showed work as part of 'Other Mens Flowers'. Curated by Michael Dempsey the exhibition is a contemporary response to HUGH LANE 100 years. A celebration of the original collection including The 39 Continental Pictures.

This show also includes the work of William Walcot, Jeff Wall, Michael Farrell, Martin Kippenburger, Brain Fay, Leon Kossoff, Francis Bacon, Patrick Hall, Frank Auerbach and Patrick Graham.

26 June to 5 October 2008

2008-06-08T04:41:00.000-07:00

2008-02-05T02:30:00.000-08:00

AON ÁIT ANSEO/ANYWHERE HERE; work that can be made anywhere as long as it's here! Andrew Duggan invited Sarah Browne, Ben Geoghegan and Katie Holten whose practice reflect 'interlocalism' to this inaugural gathering in Dingle/An Daingean, October 29th- November 2nd, 2007 to discuss, debate and test their practice. Run in collaboration with Visual Artists Ireland and supported by Kerry County Council.

www.visualartists.ie/dingle.

2008-02-05T01:46:00.000-08:00

Text by Dr. Gavin Murphy

Galway Arts Centre
6th September 2006

Reasons to be Cheerful …

One: ‘A little drop of claret – anything that rocks’

126 arose from Austin Ivers and Ben Geoghegan’s gripes about the visual art scene in Galway. 126 is the means by which they have addressed these gripes. Initially, it has been an art gallery created in their living room. The policy was to exhibit contemporary art by established artists who have not had the opportunity to show in Galway.

As a venture created by artists for artists to contribute as they wished, it is not surprising that all of the artists agreed to submit work when approached. 126 thereby created a space between the commercial art market and the public funded art sector in that it allowed artists to make and show work for the sheer pleasure of making and showing work. In other words, there was nothing to lose and not necessarily anything to gain in terms of grander recognition and sales. There was, however, an opportunity for people to gather around such art. 126’s infancy can be characterised as a journey for all involved - one fuelled on trust, generosity and a good dose of humour to boot.

Two: ‘Good Golly Miss Molly and boats’

126 is now an exhibition in the Galway Arts Centre. All that have shown in Laurel Park have been invited to submit work under a new, grander banner of 126. Many artists have chosen to preview new work. In this sense, 126 represents an ongoing commitment by its curators to build a platform for contemporary art practices. The exhibition also marks a recognition of the importance of such a commitment by those in control of local public funds for the arts. But more significant is that 126 presents a curious cross section of contemporary art practice in the west of Ireland, if not Ireland itself. No such survey has yet been attempted. This begs the question of what themes and concerns characterize such practices. Does a knowing irony and gentle cynicism towards the art world inform work on show? Can a delight in the quirks and accidents of a working process be found here? Is there evidence of a rich engagement with visual phenomena as a means to clarify our social relations revealed in the resulting work? Indeed, what can this show tell us of visual art practice today? It was never the intention of the curators to answer such questions. Merely to generate a curiosity is enough. And to do so while maintaining the convivial atmosphere of earlier 126 shows is to their credit. The accompanying boat trip on the Corrib Princess continues the established tradition of marking exhibition launches with button badges, fridge magnets and obsolete cds.

Three: ‘Perhaps next year or maybe even never, in which case …’

126 will continue to develop the original idea to provide a platform for contemporary visual art in Galway. It is the intention of 126 to set up an independent gallery space in the city with the backing of Galway City Council. The aim is to continue to profile emerging and established artists in Ireland but also to create international exchanges where comparable artists from abroad have an opportunity to show in Galway (and vice versa). Curatorial responsibility and control over longer term objectives of 126 are to be developed along democratic principles. In this sense, 126 can be compared to other non-profit, artist-led organisations such as Catalyst Arts in Belfast or the Transmission Gallery in Glasgow. Such a comparison can be extended in that 126 seeks to provide a platform for recent graduates to contribute to the cultural life of the city. Indeed, the grander aim now must be to redefine the cultural profile of the visual arts in Galway. The challenge is to do so whilst retaining the energy and enthusiasm that brought 126 into being in the first place. One senses that its success will hinge on this.

Above an installation view of Ben Geoghegan's "Conamara Reconstructed"

2008-01-07T01:54:00.000-08:00

FUSED 06 - Obscured by Architecture
Curated by Michael Dempsey

The following text is from 'A look behind the canvas' by Aidan Dunne published in The Irish Times on July 26, 2006.

"As part of 'Obscured by Architecture' in Tallaght, Ben Geoghegan's series of photographs, 'Galway Art Collection of Painting' (verso), is arranged along one wall of the building's public concourse. A row of pictures, you might think at first glance, and of course you would be right. But they are also the opposite of pictures. Geoghegan has ingeniously taken paintings from the Galway City collection and photographed their backs."

"Geoghegan's photographs offer an insight into the history of civic, public property. Paintings, once out of the artist's studio, accumulate evidence of their progress, chronicles of ownership, interms of labels, stamps and various other marks and documentation affixed to their backs. This documentation can include letters relating to provenance, and press cuttings. What is perhaps surprising is the backs of the paintings make such interesting images. Geoghegan has printed each life-size, to match the real thing. He imparts a real sence of a painting as an object out there in the world, rather than being "a picture" in some abstract way."

This text is taken from a review of 'Obscured by Architecture' by Aidan Dunne in The Ticket July 29th, 2006

"Photographic artist Ben Geoghegan looks at paintings in public galleries. By observing the backs rather than the fronts of the pictures he traces their histories of ownership and their routes to institutional display."

2007-12-20T08:05:00.001-08:00

ROYAL HIBERNIAN ACADEMY
Bens work was selected for the RHA's one hundred and seventy-fifth anniversary exhibition in 2005

2007-12-20T07:02:00.000-08:00

Ben Geoghegan's monumental photograph Reconstructed, of a degraded Connemara landscape, towered over the proceedings, and established from the outset that this was not the Galway arts scene as one would have known it. His image undercut much of the melodrama and sentimentality which can be found in the myriad landscapes produced ad nauseam with the tourist market in mind, and in the smaller photographs he exhibited in a separate show -scape in GAC - he used an almost abstract compositional format with images of intermediary zones of the Galway area shot with a detached urban sensibility.

This text is taken from a review written for Circa by Katherine Waugh called "Tulca 2005, Galway city, October - November 2005".
Please see www.recirca.com/reviews/2006/tulca/t.shtml for the complete review.

Installation view of 'Connemara Reconstructed' shown as part of Interim. Curated by artists Ben Roosevelt and Emma
Houlihan

'-scape' solo show at Galway Arts Center, Top Gallery.

Reviewed by Aidan Dunne Wednesday, November 16th, 2005

'Ben Geoghegan's '-scape', as with his contribution to 'Interim' are fine photographic works which, by their structure and subject matter, question our habitual respones to landscape, prompting us to look beyond standard pictoral formulus.'

2007-12-20T06:59:00.001-08:00

2007-12-18T09:15:00.000-08:00

Ben Geoghegan's 'Billboard Seris' was published in Portfolio, issue number 32, of The Catalogue of Contemporary Photograpy in Britain, December 2000.

2007-12-17T04:52:00.000-08:00

Glasgow School of Art. Ben completed a BA Hons degree in Fine Art at Glasgow School of Art in 2000. The images above represent a selection from a photographic seris titled ‘Billboards 2000’, made for his degree show, exhibited in the Macintosh School of Art building, please see below. There is nine prints in the complete seris. Made in an edition of five. Each C-type print is 20 x 24 inches.

Taught by photographic luminaries Thomas Joshua Cooper, Vaughan Judge, David Bellingham and Martha. Ben won an award from Cargill Trustees for his final exhibition.