God Help Us
God Help Us!
Open invitation to submit work for an exhibition by artists from or living in County Mayo at Claremorris Gallery. Selectors include Patrick T Murphy, Director RHA and Catherine Marshall, former head of collections for IMMA.
Co-curated and programmed by Rosemarie Noone Director of Claremorris Gallery in collaboration with Gaynor Seville, Public Art Co-ordinator with Mayo County Council Arts Office
Claremorris Gallery is dedicated to an ambitious programme of work by contemporary artists at varying levels of their careers. The gallery is founded on being an innovative showcase for the ongoing presentation and promotion of strong visceral and visionary contemporary art. Director Rosemarie Noone worked in arts organisations in Chicago, San Francisco and New York before returning to Ireland in 2007 to open the gallery in her native town.
This will be the gallery’s first time collaborating with Gaynor Seville, who via the management of Mayo County Council Arts Office’ public art programme has been instrumental in developing the visual arts in Mayo and providing opportunities for emerging and established artists through a dynamic range of permanent and temporary commissions.
Specific Theme/Focus of the exhibition:
The Phrase ‘God Help Us!’ historically followed any mention of ‘Mayo’, referencing the county’s bleak past, mass exodus, or sentence at being sent there, and more recently associated with the GAA ‘curse’ over the Mayo team. When a Mayo person is introduced to another person from Ireland or of Irish extraction in any corner of the world the phrase, “God help us” often follows the introduction like a litany or a responsorial psalm.
The original use of the phrase arose in times of dire poverty centuries ago when the bleakest parts of Connaught were “known to not have wood enough to hang a man, water enough to drown him, nor earth enough to bury him”. It has been appropriated in recent years in reference to Mayo’s ongoing failure to win the All-Ireland Football Final. The modern legend goes that a curse of the Mayo team dates from 1951 when the winning Mayo team passed through Foxford and neglected to pay proper respect to a funeral. A local priest is alleged to have decreed that Mayo would not win another Final until all players on that team are dead.
Nothing to do with County Mayo is ever as simple as it may seem. This exhibition seeks to explore the aspects of the Mayo psyche which are unique; and to probe at the history and culture of a county which down through the centuries has lost more people to immigration than any other. We are interested in varied contemporary interpretations of this history, as well as in reimagining the less explored or darker underside of Mayo history and folklore. If we scratch away at the surface of this wild and beautiful county what can be found?
Mayo artists, from or living in the county, are invited to submit new and/or existing works via an open submission process. There is NO submission fee. Works will be selected by the curators and selectors according to their suitability and fit with other selected works and space constraints.
Offer to artists:
Inclusion in a high profile exhibition of artworks by Mayo artists
All PR and marketing, including launch event and related invites/hospitality
A social and networking event for Mayo artists, curators, buyers and general public
Opportunity to sell work at a venue that attracts serious buyers
An additional event including talks from guest speakers and Q&A style event, engaging with the work and the theme outlined, will be arranged to accompany the exhibition.
Submissions to include:
Work can be 2D or 3D, temporary installation, video or performance.
Work can be proposed for the gallery space and/or sculpture court yard, see images of the space below.
Maximum of TWO submissions per artist, drop off at Claremorris Gallery 16th, 17th or 18th September between 1-6pm (Help with collection and return of artworks may be arranged, please email).
Alternatively Email image of proposed artwork with size, medium, date of work and price if appropriate to with subject title God Help Us!
Deadline for submissions 18th September 2015
Launch Friday 23rd October
Exhibition runs until 21st November
Due to the size of venue and the specific theme outlined it will be impossible to include all works submitted. Our aim is to curate an exhibition that responds to the theme, highlights the huge variety of contemporary visual artists in or from Mayo and the scale of their ambition and creativity.
Images of Claremorris Gallery:
Images showing front gallery space
Images showing rear gallery space
Image showing sculpture court