Published on: Friday, 22 January 2016

Glass Society of Ireland (GSoI)
6 – 29 January 2016
CIT Wandesford Quay Gallery, Clarke’s Bridge, Cork
Gallery opening times: 10am - 6pm Wednesday to Saturday

SOLAS: An exhibition of Irish Glass, by the Glass Society of Ireland, is a significant touring exhibition which will showcase the immense talent of glass makers in Ireland. The exhibition runs from October 2015 to January 2016 and has previously traveled to three venues nationwide including: NCAD Gallery, Dublin 14th – 19th October 2015; The Hunt Museum, Limerick: 22nd – 9th November 2015; Greyfriars Municipal Art Gallery, Waterford: 20th- 29th November 2015; and now CIT Wandesford Quay Gallery, Cork: 6 – 29 January 2016

For SOLAS: An Exhibition of Irish Glass, GSoI members who submitted work were asked to consider the theme of light and design. As 2015 is the Year of Irish Design and also designated the United Nations International Year of Light; with light being a core element of glass design, it seems appropriate to address both propositions simultaneously within the SOLAS exhibition. The exhibition pieces were selected by two jurors: Dr. Audrey Whitty, Keeper of the Art and Industrial Division at the National Museum of Ireland (former curator of European and Asian Glass, Corning Museum of Glass NY) and Susanne Jøker Johnsen, project director of European Glass and Ceramic Context at The Royal Danish Academy, School of Design Bornholm.

A broad range of high quality work by twenty-four artists has been selected for exhibition. Well-known artists such as Róisín de Buitléar, Peadar Lamb and Andrea Spencer will be on display alongside emerging talent such as Sadhbh Moulds and Emma Bourke. It is significant for Irish glass makers to showcase their work in the context of the GSoI where they are part of a larger community. As a community of designers and makers, they can become more visible, gain confidence, and demonstrate the potential for the future of this alluring material. Light and glass have long been intertwined, reflections and refraction, luminous colours, dramatic shadows and spectacular prisms; glass offers the designer a rich set of implements even beyond the physicality of the medium itself.

Alison Lowry