Temporary Exhibitions 2008/2009

21st January 2008 – 22nd February 2008

3rd March 2008 – 10th May 2008

An Post’s Reward Notice Collection
This exhibition presents a small selection of Reward notices drawn from An Post’s archive collection. With so much of the Post Office’s administrative record destroyed during the troubles of the last century, these notices are a rare survivor of the pre-1916 General Post Office. Cast aside for many years, these Reward notices came to light again a few years ago and, though creased and dirty, their importance as an original historical source was appreciated. These Reward notices offer an insight not only into the functioning of the nineteenth century Irish Post Office, but also into aspects of local history throughout the country. Their style and format covers the transformation of the Post Office from what was fundamentally an eighteenth century office to a great Victorian institution whose administrative importance was unrivalled.

22nd May – 15th August 2008

This exhibition will feature the artwork of prominent artists Gráinne Dowling, Mary Canty and Margaret Kallen.

Gráinne Dowling attended the National College of Art, Dublin (now NCAD) where she studied painting and drawing and Folkeswang Schule fur Gestaltung, Germany, where she studied printmaking at a post graduate. Gráinne’s work has featured in many collections including The Haverty Trust, The Labour Party and the Office of Public Works. She has shown extensively in many exhibitions. Gráinne teaches printmaking at the National Print Museum and occasionally drawing at the National Gallery of Ireland. She is a member of the Black Church Print Studio. Dowling’s work is inspired particularly by the Irish landscape and her other particular interest is portrait drawing.

Mary Canty was born in Co. Limerick and now lives and works in Dublin. She is a member of the Visual Arts Centre and the Visual Artists Ireland. A graduate of the National College of Art and Design, Dublin (now NCAD), Mary has shown extensively since 1989. She also shows regularly in the R.H.A. Annual Exhibition, and other juried shows around Ireland. Mary is drawn to paint the Irish landscape not only by the natural beauty of its elements - form, colour, space - but equally by her response to a felt presence in the land itself. Canty's work features iconographic images of fields and hedges, ridges and rocks, streams and ponds, as well as the remains of ancient peoples.

Margaret Kallen attended the National College of Art, Dublin (now NCAD) in the 1960s where she studied painting and drawing. She has recently returned to the world of art and has completed a number of courses in printmaking over the past number of years. Margaret exhibited at the very successful Platework exhibition at the National Print Museum in 2006 where her work focussed on the creation of very delicate floral and still life images. Kallen’s particular interest is drawing and her recent work is a reflection of this interest.

4th September – 28th November 2008

This exhibition entitled ‘The Abbey in Motion’ will introduce you to a selection of Abbey Theatre posters which were recently donated to the National Print Museum and items of ephemera such as press cuttings and programmes on loan from various individuals and organisations relating to the plays and actors featured in the posters. All the posters were printed silkscreen and date from the 1970s & 1980s. The posters are a feast for the eye, showing the unique technique that designer Brendan Foreman used in their creation. The posters are large and colourful and show the range of plays such as Translations by Brian Friel, The Plough and the Stars by Sean O’Casey, The Giglie Concert by Tom Murphy and Da by Hugh Leonard. These plays such as Friel's The Faith Healer (1979), Murphy's The Gigli Concert (1983) and Leonard's Da (1973) and A Life (1980) helped raise the Abbey Theatre's international profile through their successful runs in London and on Broadway.

4th December 2008 – 27th February 2009

This exhibition will feature of 80 original etchings, collographs, photogravure, woodcuts, and drypoint prints in conjunction with the Funen Graphic Workshop in Odense (the town of Hans Christian Andersen). The exhibition will build on an important link between Denmark and Ireland created by artist and printmaker Susanne Thea who exhibited her impressive Paraphrases of the Bayeux Tapestry at the National Print Museum in 2007. Up to 30 Danish artists, all members of the Funen Graphic workshop, will participate in the exhibition which is supported generously by the Embassy of Denmark in Ireland.

3rd April 2009 – 29th May 2009

Opening on 2nd April 2009, 'In Search of Light and Space is a temporary exhibition of selected work from two Dublin based artists and members of the Black Church Print Studio, Joan Gleeson and Mary Frazer.

The artists describe their pieces as an investigation into a variety of forms of light and movement. The ethereal quality of light filled imagery is investigated in the work. Natural objects and forms take on a new aspect, a transparent quality in the context of light penetration. This interplay allows the imagination to link in with earth bound imagery set in a particular context, while allowing for the endless expansion of its luminescence into infinity.

5th June 2009 – 31st July 2009

This exhibition will showcase a history of this 200 year old union.

In addition to the exhibition, there will be practical demonstrations of the ancient typesetting and printing presses, given by retired typesetters and printers.

The demonstrations will take place over the following four weekends:

6th June 2009 – 7th June 2009
13th June 2009 – 14th June 2009
4th July 2009 – 5th July 2009
18th July 2009 – 19th July 2009

12:00 noon - 5:00 pm each day