Opening Saturday 9 September 2023. 7-9 pm
Crosscurrents is a collaboration featuring abstract paintings and prints by U.S. artists. This exhibition reflects the remarkable contrasts and natural phenomena of the area around Ballycastle that Jeff and Amy observed while artists in residence at Ballinglen over a period of five years. Metier and Hirst explore the junction of land and water, the overlapping layers of geological elements, geometry and patterns in the dynamic and captivating environment of northern County Mayo.
Amy Metier’s paintings and prints allude to the restless space between abstraction and figuration. They are metaphorical interpretations of the passing of time and beauty in the natural and unnatural world, composed with the rhythmic language of gesture and marks, intuitive color and light. Metier is a painter based in the United States. Metier’s abstract paintings are in the Denver Art Museum and Kirkland Museum in Denver, the Ballinglen Museum of Art in Ireland, and private collections throughout the United States and Europe. She has been awarded artist residencies at Vermont Studio Center in the US, the American Academy in Rome, the Ballinglen Foundation in Ireland, the La Napoule Foundation and the Alfred Klotts residency in France. Metier will have her 15th solo exhibition at the William Havu Gallery in Denver, Colorado in the spring of 2024.
Jeffrey Hirst has exhibited his work throughout the United States and Europe since 1987. He has his MFA from Louisiana State University and BFA from the University of Minnesota. His work has been showcased at national and international venues including the Minneapolis Institute of Art; McLean Projects for the Arts, VA; McKinney Contemporary, Dallas, and Bienal do Douro, Portugal. Hirst is a recipient of the numerous grants and was awarded a fellowship at the Ballinglen Arts Foundation in Ireland where he has gone on four residencies. Hirst is represented by Addington Gallery in Chicago and Brandt-Roberts Galleries in Columbus, OH and his work is in numerous public and private collections in The U.S., Portugal, Italy and Ireland. In 2021, Hirst co-founded Catalyst Art Lab and teaches encaustic and printmaking workshops across the U.S. Canada, Mexico and Ireland.
