MOSSY NOLAN

Thursday 26th April

Doors Open at 7.30pm

Admission E8

Mossy Nolan is a singer & musician from Galway who plays a mix of original folk influenced string music &
songs as well as very unique arrangements of traditional material. His debut album features heartfelt well crafted
songs along with some rip-roaring odd shaped tunes. Mossy has been compared musically to Planxty, Andy Irvine
& Sean Tyrrell, and pocesses spectacular vocal ability. Having launched his self-titled debut album last month Mossy
is now gigging around Ireland as well as plans for a tour of Ireland and the UK this Summer. 

"I was at the album launch and the album made so much sense as I can visually link it to the live performance
of the songs. I highly recommend you going to see Mossy and his guitar accompanist Colm McGowan live as
well as to get this album"

***Peter Nagle_2UIBESTOW***

"The first lure that entices you when you listen to the album from Singer & Songwriter Mossy Nolan is the soft intensity
of his vocals. This man pours so much of himself into these songs it’s as if he were there in the room with you, no doubt
about it, Mossy can deliver a song"

***Tim Carroll_FolkWords***

Read a preview on the Nialler9 music blog: http://www.nialler9.com/13432-introducing-mossy-nolan-a-fresh-take-on-irish-trad/

Listen to tracks from Mossy Nolan's album here: http://mossynolanmusic.bandcamp.com/

PILGRIM ART TRAIL

Opening reception  Wednesday the 18th of April, 6-8pm.

Daily viewing - April 19th-22nd, 12-5pm. 

Pilgrim Art trail is a collective exhibition featuring a collection of prints which firstly document a climb of Croagh Patrick and later were taken for a walk and stamped along the Camino de Santiago. 

The Back Loft is close to St James’s Gate where pilgrims can still to this day get their first pilgrim stamp (the stamp is issued in the Guinness building) and also St James Church offer their own pilgrim stamp). Pilgrim stamps along the Camino can be collected in churches, cathedrals, hostels, bars, restaurants and anywhere else someone decides to set up a stamping point. 

The exhibited prints align the two pilgrim walks allegedly made by St Patrick and St James and distort space, time and duration as the two and a half hour climb of Croagh Patrick is placed equally beside a journey which spanned 32 days (as represented by the 32 pages of prints). The images of Croagh Patrick are on the left of each page and were made using a transfer printing technique from photographic images the artists took on our mountain climb. The prints on the right of the page are the pilgrim stamps from the Camino, each designed and distributed by the various establishments.

Pham Van Duc 'First Impression'

Pham Van Duc

‘First Impressions’

Exhibition

The Back Loft

27^th April 2012

Opening 6:30pm

Exhibition runs until Sunday 29^th April

Vietnamese painter and Lacquer ware artist Pham Van Duc has been studying and working in the field of fine art for over a decade. He holds a BA in Fine Art from the Fine Art University of Ho Chi Minh city. Pham Van Duc has exhibited extensively in Ho Chi Minh City; his last solo exhibition was held in the Fine Art Museum of Ho Chi Minh City in 2010 and he has sold works internationally. Duc worked as a full time lecturer of Fine Art at the Architectural University of Ho Chi Minh and as an Art teacher in The Christina Noble Children’s foundation, teaching art to street children of all ages, for over ten years.  He moved to Ireland in 2010 where he is currently a full time painter. This exhibition in The Back Loft is a launch of Duc’s art works in Ireland before his first solo exhibition in London in June 2012.

This exhibition, entitled ‘First Impressions’, is a reflection of Duc’s first time living in Ireland - an impression of his journey from East to West and how the stimulation of a new environment allowed for an exploration of new shapes, colour, light and texture. The artist’s visual consideration of his new home and the people he has met here are all explored on canvas. Duc captures completely alternate snapshots of his surroundings to a stunning effect.

For More Information on Pham Van Duc please see his website:

www.phamvanduc.com

You cancontactDuc through his representative Ciarna Hackett:

ciarnahackett@gmail.com

0852193778

The Back Loft 7-11 St. Augustine Street, Dublin 8

lacatedralstudios@yahoo.com

 

Artist’s statement:

‘’Since coming to Ireland I have found myself constantly stimulated by my new environment. I found myself overwhelmed by the beauty of Ireland, the landscape, the people and the culture. Ireland is full of visual triggers and I can’t help but be moved to express these on canvas. I did the same back in Vietnam – exploring the beauty of everyday life, but this time the whole visual concept has changed to adapt new colours, new lines and, especially, new feelings. I’ve spent almost two years here, feeling, observing and being inspired.

I find my mood affected by the seasons, something which is new to me, as Ho Chi Minh City experiences very few changes in weather and the light seldom changes throughout the year. Despite wanting to paint all of this, I lost my mother soon after I moved here and this stunted my ability to express myself as I was in mourning for a long time but one year on the spring has brought new life and new vision.

The vast and expressive landscape of Ireland, the old structures of the buildings and the winding alleys of Dublin has also altered my perceptions, and therefore my painting.

I’ve had the chance to live with an Irish family, as my wife is Irish, and I found it fascinating that the relationship I have with this family is similar to the relationship I have with my own family. I find people in Ireland very friendly and I have met some great characters who have inspired my work. This has allowed me a further insight into people and has also allowed me to explore my relationships with people through portraiture.

Although I have encountered many differences, ultimately I have discovered that human vulnerability and the beauty of nature is the same the world over and I hope that this is reflected in my paintings.’’

Pham Van Duc

April 2012