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On 23rd April, the 12th annual SCOOP Foundation Art Auction kicks off the largest online Contemporary Art Auction in Irish history.

The SCOOP Foundation, which stands for ‘Supporting Children Out Of Poverty’, was set up in 2009 by Irish brothers Andy and Calvin Sweeney. 

The Sweeney brothers have a background in the music scene; with experience gigging and promoting, as well as DJing, they merged these skills together to tackle the world’s problems their own way. Currently operating in the Middle East and at home here in Ireland, SCOOP believes in supporting and educating the next generation, especially young people at home and abroad who are suffering through no fault of their own.

We’ve seen SCOOP grow their organisation to support a wide range of projects – from school buildings, to remote education programmes for young displaced kids in the Middle East and for young people living in Direct Provision Centres here in Ireland – through their unique, inventive fundraising events using contemporary arts and music.

This includes the continuous success with their SCOOP Art Auctions, which have now become the backbone of their annual fundraising endeavours.

The flagship event has come a long way since the first one kicked off in May 2009 with approximately 60 – 70 artworks and raised €16,000.

In May 2020’s Art Auction, they raised an incredible €88,600, doubling their expected income! And this is thanks to the digital acceleration we’ve seen in the last year. When lockdown was announced and all cultural events were cancelled, SCOOP had to ‘pivot’ their fundraising campaigns, just like every other charity. And the pivoting of the Auction event worked wonderfully in their favour as moving the event online vastly increased their reach.

This years art auction, SCOOP have 250+ artists on board, with 350+ artworks up for auction over 4 days. They will also be dividing the final hammer price 50/50 with the artists.

They believe this will not only support artists during these difficult times AND raise the funds they need to continue their work, but they believe it has led to a slightly more unique, and more exciting, selection of artworks being included.

Raising funds for vulnerable young people at home & abroad

This year’s Art Auction is raising funds to support the implementation of SCOOP Ed, an accumulation of programmes aimed to support young Internally Displaced People (IDP’s) living in camps in Iraq and refugees living in Direct Provision Centres in Ireland, with their educational, creative and psycho-social development.

2021 Art Auction Key Dates & Times

So, be sure to join SCOOP and hundreds of supporters on the 23rd, 24th, 25th & 26th April, and check out the timetable for each day by clicking here! This will be epic.

The event will be streamed live from the Copper House Gallery in Dublin, whereby SCOOP founders Andy & Calvin will be hosting. To place bids on this year’s artworks, you must create an account and register as a bidder via Invaluable – this only takes a couple of minutes.

You can broadcast the Art Auction live from Invaluable.com either on your desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile.

To learn more about what SCOOP Foundation do, head over to their website: www.scoopfoundation.org

Social media handle: @scoopfoundation

Current Exhibitions

Mar 30 2024 - May 31 2025

An Túr Gloine: Artists and the Collective

National Gallery of Ireland

Jun 14 2024 - Mar 17 2025

Take A Breath

Irish Museum of Modern Art

Aug 06 2024 - Dec 31 2024

Capturing Community: Celebrating Creativity, Connecting Cultures

National Museum of Ireland - Decorative Arts & History

No event found!

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Project Sheela is founded by two Dublin-based artists. On International Women’s Day, they will be placing seven of their sculptures at notable sites in Dublin to promote women’s rights and celebrate female sexuality in Ireland.

Following the positive feedback from their project last year, Project Sheela is back for the second time to celebrate International Women’s Day 2021.

Project Sheela aims to acknowledge the dark history of women’s rights in Ireland, reflect on the achievements, and look to the future of what still needs to be done for women. 

The two anonymous artists have previously paid tribute to significant sites in Dublin, related to historic and current issues of women’s rights, with their ‘Sheela na gig’ sculptures. Previously, their sculptures have been located at the Magdelene Laundries, where women were imprisoned and abused, and by Kilmainham Goal to commemorate the fearless women of the 1916 rising.

What is a Sheela na gig?

‘Sheela na gig’ is a mysterious carving of a female figure displaying an exaggerated vulva. They are found throughout Europe, but mostly in Ireland, Great Britain, France, and Spain. The original purpose of the sculpture is widely debated but in modern times, the Sheela is seen to represent female empowerment.

Since beginning their project, they have attracted much attention on Instagram from people that love Sheela, and the artists’s endeavors to highlight women’s rights. With the support they were given online, they have used this to channel into fundraising opportunities for women charities including Saoirse’s Women Refuge and Dublin Rape Crisis Centre.

Each of their Sheela sculpture is hand-crafted ceramics, making each individual piece unique. They are fired three times with glass and decorated with gold lustre added to the vulvas.

Sheela sculptures placed in seven locations 

Project Sheela will place their Sheela sculptures in seven locations in Dublin. For seven days, starting on Monday, the 8th of March, the artists will reveal a new location each day via Instagram. Describing their street art project as an “unofficial socially distant scavenger hunt”, they hope that their followers find the art and discover the stories behind why the Sheelas have been put in those locations.

“People will take away some really powerful messages. What we love about the project is that some locations will celebrate individual women or achievements, others highlight issues we need to work on today and others recognise and commemorate tragedies of the past […]”

On what their followers will learn from this, the two artists said: “People will take away some really powerful messages. What we love about the project is that some locations will celebrate individual women or achievements, others highlight issues we need to work on today and others recognise and commemorate tragedies of the past, some of which have wounds that are still very much open. We hope that the project helps move us towards some healing in acknowledging that pain.” 

This art project references the past, present, and future of women’s rights, and encourages art-lovers to get outside. Not everyone will be able to participate due to travel restrictions but nevertheless, we look forward to seeing Sheela’s followers eagerly hunt down their sculptures around the county. 

Latest Exhibitions

Mar 30 2024 - May 31 2025

An Túr Gloine: Artists and the Collective

National Gallery of Ireland

Jun 14 2024 - Mar 17 2025

Take A Breath

Irish Museum of Modern Art

Aug 06 2024 - Dec 31 2024

Capturing Community: Celebrating Creativity, Connecting Cultures

National Museum of Ireland - Decorative Arts & History

No event found!

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There’s nothing that pleases us more than a brand-new gallery opening up in Dublin. Good news is always welcome these days, and that’s just what’s offered with an exciting new announcement from Gormley’s Fine Art.

With their recent announcement of their brand-new space – Gormley’s Contemporary – we spoke with James Gormley, Director of Gormley’s, to talk more about this new project!

Located just minutes away from Grafton Street, Gormley’s Fine Art represents a wealth of contemporary painters and sculptors, including many established Irish artists. There’s Patrick O’Reilly, the artist behind the iconic giant teddy bears, and Sandra Bell, whose elegant figures are installed as public art in several Dublin parks, as well as many more.

However, there’s another side to Gormley’s: their commitment to international blue-chip art.  To add to their impressive selection, they also exhibit sculptural work from Salvador Dalí, authentic Banksy prints, and creations from other huge figures in contemporary art.

James Gormley, Director of the gallery, tells us that the Gormley’s Contemporary will be a new, second gallery specializing in International blue chip and contemporary art. “The new gallery space will showcase works by Warhol, Banksy, Keith Haring, Robert Indiana, Salvador Dalí, Francis Bacon, Harland Miller, Damien Hirst, Julian Opie plus many other leading international artists on a permanent basis.”

James also shared his long-term goals for this exciting new space, hoping to establish Gormley’s Contemporary as a “well-regarded International gallery that attends the world’s major art fairs while bringing the best modern and contemporary art to Ireland.”

It’s a noble endeavor for a commercial gallery. Blue chip art is notoriously expensive to insure. The National Gallery of Ireland occasionally exhibits retrospectives of this calibre, and IMMA borrows the occasional Hirst or Kusama, but these are treats rather than regularities.

James and his team are confident that they can continue to provide quality art of this standard for Dublin audiences, specifying that their “biggest challenge is sourcing quality works at a fair price.” They see the role of blue-chip art as an essential part of growing Dublin’s art scene. “Dublin is now a truly international city, has a strong tourism industry (which I’m sure will return in 2022), and has most of the world’s leading tech companies based here. There’s no reason why Ireland/ Dublin shouldn’t be hosting major exhibitions and retrospectives from leading artists.”

We hugely commend the ambition of him and his team to improve and advance the Dublin art scene. We also see this as an amazing opportunity to enhance the global visibility of Irish artists. While Gormley’s already represents many contemporary Irish artists, how do they deal with international interest in their clients?

James said: “We deal with international clients in the same way we deal with our Irish clients- ensuring we sell quality artworks that offer good value. International collectors can see the quality of the Irish artists we represent and artists like Patrick O’Reilly, Peter Monaghan, Ian Pollock, Gordon Harris, and Stephen Johnston have a strong International following with around 40% of their works going to International collectors.” 

“Once you have built the initial relationship and gained their trust, clients have no problem buying works without physically seeing them. Selling the works of blue-chip artists does also allow us to connect with a different type of collector who in turn buy works from our Irish artists which is a huge benefit.” he added.

Aside from having accumulated an excellent international client base, James also mentions that the gallery’s online presence helps enable them to connect and sell to international buyers. They invested in an online presence, and it’s been a major part of their business strategy. This has been crucial for staying in business during the unprecedented strain of the pandemic.

And while we are relieved to hear of a new space opening up in Dublin, as sadly a few galleries have had to shutter their doors in the last year. We couldn’t help think whether the ongoing crisis influenced Gormley’s decision-making around the future.

James said this project was always part of Gormley’s long-term plans. He also mentions that the crisis confirmed the importance of a more diversified offering, strong online sales, and an international client base. “The main thing the crisis has reaffirmed is the importance of working to your core values and building long term relationships with both artists and customers. Our artists and customers have supported us through the crisis and for that we are very grateful. “In relation to more established and blue-chip artists what the crisis has once again shown is the stability of the art market. While a lot of international markets have taken a hit, the higher-end art market has performed well. More people are investing in blue-chip art and many of our clients have seen strong returns.”

So, with this exciting venture, we were curious about what the Gormley’s team envision for Dublin’s art scene. Alongside the promising commitments regarding international artists, this gallery will continue to develop and support Irish talent.

“On a local level, I would like to see a lot more collaboration between artists and galleries to share ideas, put on exciting exhibitions, and give artists a bigger platform to showcase their work. This in turn will benefit everyone. Dublin also has a lot of great street artists, it would be great if they were supported more, even championed. Overall going to galleries & exhibitions should be a normal, everyday thing to do so we need to encourage people from all walks of life to visit galleries and feel comfortable asking questions to understand and learn about art, we have always encouraged this at Gormleys. You don’t need to be an art buyer, to be an art lover!”

Gormley’s Contemporary represents a hopeful step not just for the business, but for the bigger picture of the Irish arts. We cannot wait to see it. Dublin has a vibrant art scene, but James Gormley believes it has the potential to become even greater. Such a hopeful outlook is uplifting, and we hope both Gormley’s Fine Art and Gormley’s Contemporary continue to benefit and advance the art and exhibitions of our nation.

Gormley’s Contemporary will be situated above Gormley’s Fine Art gallery on 27 Frederick St. Dublin 2. Visit www.gormleyscontemporary.com and www.gormleys.ie for more information.

For everything art-related in Dublin, stay up to date with Dublin Art Life by signing up for our monthly e-newsletter.

Latest Exhibitions

Mar 30 2024 - May 31 2025

An Túr Gloine: Artists and the Collective

National Gallery of Ireland

Jun 14 2024 - Mar 17 2025

Take A Breath

Irish Museum of Modern Art

Aug 06 2024 - Dec 31 2024

Capturing Community: Celebrating Creativity, Connecting Cultures

National Museum of Ireland - Decorative Arts & History

No event found!

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Sculpture Dublin is an exciting new initiative from Dublin City Council. Its mission statement is to foster ‘public engagement with sculpture – old, new and yet to be imagined.’

The initiative aims to unveil our Sculptures history in today’s society.  They provide public engagement programmes to evoke discussions on sculpture and public art and consider how it enhances our city. This involves six new commissions across Dublin in the next year!

Why is this important?

Sculptures enrich our city with character and context. The more you consider the role of sculptures on the streets of Dublin, the clearer their value becomes. They symbolize both our rich history and changing artistic sensibilities.

Sabina Mac Mahon, Production Assistant of Sculpture Dublin, believes its importance lies to a variety people for a variety of reasons. “For Dubliners, it’s an opportunity to engage in a celebration of the city’s sculptural heritage and to take ownership of it, t look more closely at the familiar sculptures that populate the city and discover new favourites.” she says.

“Sculpture Dublin is particularly important for artists. Six contemporary artists will have the opportunity to create significant new artworks that will challenge their individual practices and contribute another layer of meaning to the story of the city. Sculpture Dublin’s commissions are a vote of confidence in art and artists at a time when creative communities are facing extreme challenges. In a time of instability and uncertainty, it trusts in their unique abilities to realise singular artistic visions that hold the potential to speak to the people of the city of their various pasts, presents and futures for generations to come.” she continues.

Our statues also celebrate grand moments and occasions, as well as quieter milestones. While the monumental sculpture of The Spire embodies Dublin’s modernized place in the 21^st century (or perhaps the oversized folly of the Celtic Tiger), smaller moments of history are marked in every town. Ranelagh Gardens Park, for example, has a humble sculpture celebrating Ireland’s first hot-air balloon ride, in 1785.

Sculpture Dublin is an exciting initiative for our county. With “Five of the six Sculpture Dublin commissions”, this will bring sculptures to areas of Dublin that have few public artworks. “[…]communities will have aspects of their everyday environments enhanced by ambitious new sculptures that respond directly to these places and the people that belong to them.” Sabina says.

This new website is a worthwhile resource of learning more, discovering new artworks, and getting active towards the public art of Dublin.

It has the locations of present artworks, deep-dives on the history associated with particular ones, and lots of fascinating material relating to the past, present, and futures of sculptural artworks in our city.

Go on their website to read more about what they do: www.sculpturedublin.ie

Let us know if you have any thoughts or new discoveries with the sculptures of Dublin!

Latest Exhibitions

Mar 30 2024 - May 31 2025

An Túr Gloine: Artists and the Collective

National Gallery of Ireland

Jun 14 2024 - Mar 17 2025

Take A Breath

Irish Museum of Modern Art

Aug 06 2024 - Dec 31 2024

Capturing Community: Celebrating Creativity, Connecting Cultures

National Museum of Ireland - Decorative Arts & History

No event found!