GMIT Mayo campus hosts art exhibition on the theme of the historic campus

‘AURA’, an exhibition in the GMIT Mayo campus showcasing new works by four artists, will open on Wednesday, 23 November. The artists, Gabrielle Bishop, Katie J Delaney, Lindsey McConnell and Lorna Roberts, all took part in a six-week residency in the campus during the summer (2016), researching the historic building and its story. A preview reception at 12 noon will open the show, which will include the participating artists talking about their work on a guided tour of the show.

This is the third year of the successful Summer Residency programme on the GMIT Mayo Campus, and this year the exhibition focuses on the theme of ‘AURA’.  The theme was chosen because “the works reference time, reflection, residue and light, through exploring the building, its past history and how it functions today” explains one of the artists.

Gabrielle Bishop’s work used locally found materials which were reworked and rearranged: surfaces were folded to recreate the spaces under observation. Tracking the sun during the Summer Residency, the paintings register changing light conditions at specific locations in the GMIT and other institutional buildings in the area, with a suggestion of the buildings themselves being under surveillance.  

Katie Delaney’s work reflects the many types of people who have moved through the building over the years, from people who were incarcerated in the asylum  in the last century to today’s college  staff and students and how time has moved on but stood still in certain areas of the campus. Her small works are encased in glass as to reflect the light and seal them off from today, almost separate but not quite.

Lindsay McConnell, currently a student on the part-time BA in Contemporary Art Practices programme, has made an installation as well as several paintings. Her pieces “represent the things that we have to leave behind in life whether willingly or unwillingly, or some combination of the two.” she says.

Lorna Roberts work focuses on the mature sycamore trees on the GMIT Mayo Campus, seeing them as symbolic of new life and new gifts. This reflects themes of shadow and light, moving from the despair of the old psychiatric hospital to the hope of a third level institution providing opportunities for a new generation.

The exhibition opens on Wednesday 23 November and runs until 2 December. It is open daily from 11am to 4pm Monday to Friday, and 9am to 1pm on Saturdays. A map of the campus denoting where each art installation is situated is available for members of the public.

GMIT Mayo offers full-time programmes in Business, Humanities and Technology, Nursing, Health Sciences and Social Care, including a brand new History and Geography degree – see: http://www.gmit.ie/heritage/bachelor-arts-honours-history-and-geography .

The campus also offers a range of part-times courses: See; http://www.gmit.ie/lifelong-learning/lifelong-learning-mayo  for full details.