New group exhibition officially opens at Luan Gallery

Divergent Lines is the title of the new group exhibition which was officially opened in Athlone's Luan Gallery on Saturday last, April 25.

The exhibition showcases the work of artists Kiera O’Toole, Felicity Clear, Mary Ruth Walsh, Michael Wann, Lelia Henry, and Brian Fay, with the gallery stating that it explores "the potential of drawing across a diverse range of artistic practices and mediums".

Curated by Aoife Banks, the exhibition is supported by Arts Council funding.

It went on display in the gallery on Wednesday last, April 22, with the official opening event with guest speaker Sarah Searson taking place at 3pm on Saturday.

Among the works in the exhibition is Where We Are Matters by Kiera O’Toole, which the gallery said is a "site-specific, mixed media drawing" that emerged from the artist's "sustained engagement with the town centre of Athlone".

Coosan-based artist Lelia Henry's work in the exhibition involves a large-scale charcoal drawing and mixed media installation which explores the life that once existed on the islands of Lough Ree.

"Island life was tough, yet many remained on the islands farming and fishing until the 1970s. By then, rural electrification and modernity had erased much of what had made island living distinct, and what was once a way of life disappeared," explained the gallery in its description of the Divergent Lines exhibition.

"What remains is a layered and fading legacy of habitation, self-sufficiency, and a deep relationship to the land and the water that surrounded them. Traces of those lives still sit on the landscape of the islands, and it is these traces Lelia explores in this work."

Another drawing series in the exhibition, Wind Rose: Athlone by Felicity Clear, was, the gallery said, informed by wind flow directions over time in January and March of 2026 in Athlone.

The Divergent Lines exhibition will remain on display until June 21. Admission to the gallery is free.