Davy awards at Farmleigh
The
opening of Farmleigh’s Gallery is a sure sign for art lovers that
summer is once again upon us.
Opened in 2005, the Gallery supplements the substantial art collection
in Farmleigh House itself, which is drawn from the OPW Government Art
Collection, Guinness family artworks, and loans from other art institutions
including the National Gallery of Ireland. 
Originally functioning as the estate's cow sheds, the Gallery building
meets international curatorial and conservation standards in the form
of an exhibition space and now attracts significant exhibitions from
Ireland and beyond.
Currently showing at the Gallery is the Davy Portrait Awards exhibition,
the winning entries in this, the second year of the awards.
After an initial short listing from some 300 entries, the Awards jury,
comprising of Rosie Broadley, Associate Curator of Contemporary Collections
at the National Portrait Gallery in London and Brenda McParland, a renowned
International Curator and Arts Management Professional in Contemporary
Visual Arts, selected 28 finalists. It is the entries of these finalists
that comprise the exhibition, which opened at the Naughton Gallery in
Belfast in February before moving on to Farmleigh in May.
The winner of the £10,000 first prize is Belfast artist Ian Cumberland,
whose oil on board self-portrait is among the exhibits.
“It is a celebration of flaws using the marks and colour of the
paint to accurately portray the flesh and bring out all the imperfections
that everyone has,” says Ian. “From a distance the painting
is very realistic, but up close it’s quite uneven.” Ian
studied Fine and Applied Arts at University of Ulster and has exhibited
at numerous solo and group exhibitions across Ireland and the UK, including
Royal Ulster Academy exhibitions and the National Portrait Gallery,
London in 2009.
All
the portraits in the Davy Portrait Awards exhibition are available to
purchase and may be viewed in the Gallery during normal Farmleigh opening
hours Tuesday to Sunday until June 27th. Admission is free.
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