Artist Elaine Hoey has curated and designed a new exhibition for the 2023 RDS Visual Art Awards, where she guides 15 emerging artists as they showcase their work at IMMA, Dublin - enjoy a selection of work from this year's shortlisted artists above, and find out more about this year's winners here.
Hoey herself won two big prizes at the 2016 RDS Visual Art Awards including the coveted RDS Taylor Art Award, given to the most promising emerging visual artist in that year. This year she mentors 15 artists debuting their work to the world and guiding them into their professional careers; she introduces the class of 2023 below.
Emerging art does not conform: it thrives in the space between definitions. To experience it is to embrace the discomfort of the unfamiliar and find beauty in the unexpected. It challenges traditional modes of perception, provides a catalyst for cultural reflection, and is a celebration of experimentation and diversity. Emerging art is a postmodern montage, a cacophony of voices and styles that converge and collide. It shatters hierarchies, and invites us to piece together fragments of meaning in a world of ever-shifting perspectives. We will find that seeing is not just about looking; it is about feeling, thinking, and experiencing. Each encounter reveals a new experience and new way of interpreting the world. Emerging artists play a crucial role in shaping the future of art. They are, in a sense, pioneers, explorers, and provocateurs—challenging established norms, reimagining artistic paradigms and fostering the spirit of continuous reinvention that shapes our contemporary art landscape.
The essence of emerging art lies at the heart of the RDS Visual Arts Awards Exhibition. This year, fifteen recently graduated artists, fresh out of their Fine Art degree programs, harness their unique voices and engage in a dialogue that bridges the historical with the cutting-edge, and the established with the experimental. The fifteen artists hail from various backgrounds, cultures, and experiences, and their diversity not only enriches contemporary art, but fosters inclusivity and encourages a broader range of narratives to be told.
Jinny Ly and Christopher Mc Mullan
As we delve into the exhibition, we encounter not only traditional art forms, but also the dynamic interplay of textiles, sound, video, expanded sculpture and print, photography, interactive installations, and immersive experiences—forms that urge us to engage, to question and explore. The themes examined by these artists mirror the complexities of our contemporary world, addressing critical issues relating to social and political spheres, the environment, and identity. These artists craft narratives that challenge our perceptions of meaning, form, and materiality, interweaving the personal and the universal. As we move through the exhibition, some of the works ask us to consider and reflect on the representation and transformation of our personal and collective identities, as well as the diversity shaping and redefining contemporary Ireland.
Saoirse McGarry, Ajao Babatunde Lawal and Taim Haimet
Other artists address the delicate balance between human progress and ecological preservation, urging us to consider the consequences on our environment and the impact of climate change. The interactive installations that punctuate this exhibition challenge the passive role of the viewer, inviting active participation in the artistic process. We find ourselves immersed in a multisensory experience that disrupts conventional modes of perception. Scent, sound and touch coalesce to craft environments that are as cerebral as they are visceral.
The RDS Visual Arts Awards Exhibition offers an amazing platform for emerging artists, and provides them with not only the opportunity to showcase their work this year in a prominent institution such as the Irish Museum of Modern Art, but also to gain national exposure and establish connections that can profoundly shape their careers. As we navigate this exhibition we are immersed in the vibrant energy of emerging art in Ireland now. It is a space where tradition, diversity, and innovation intertwine, and where the artistic discourse is both rooted in history and propelled by the dynamism of the contemporary. These emerging artists are not just the future of contemporary art: they are the driving force that propels it forward, ensuring that it remains a vital and transformative cultural force for generations to come.
and Cian Handschuh
Many thanks to IMMA for generously hosting this year's RDS Visual Arts Awards exhibition and providing steadfast support and guidance. Special thanks to Annie Fletcher, Rachael Gilbourne, Ciara Magee, Jason Murphy, Sophie Byrne, Chris Jones, and the entire IMMA team. The RDS Visual Arts Awards exhibition holds significant importance in the promotion and encouragement of emerging art in Ireland. It's been an honor and a privilege to curate and collaborate with the RDS Arts Programme team led by Karen Philips and Mollie Mollumby, and of course these fifteen incredible artists to bring this show to fruition.
The 2023 RDS Visual Arts Awards are at at IMMA, Dublin until March 3, 2024 - find out more here.
