Limerick artists’ work to be showcased at Electric Picnic’s ‘hurricane’ art display

THE WEATHER won’t be the only hurricane Electric Picnic (EP) goers will witness this weekend, as Limerick artist and curator praises the festival’s art display as “more of a hurricane than a meditation”.

Artist Clare Hartigan will be once again returning as a curator for Electric Picnic’s iconic art trail on the exhibition’s tenth anniversary, with Limerick artists’ work to be among those displayed this year.

Clare, a Castleconnell-based artist and curator, has invited five new artists to showcase their work in The Place of the Picnic Art (POPA).

“POPA began in 2015 as an experiment and ended up as a kind of retreat that is more of a hurricane than a meditation,” Clare explained.

The name POPA is a throw back to Electric Picnic’s founder John Reynolds, who also founded The POD (The  Place of Dance) nightclub.

Artists from all walks of creativity are invited each year to take part and form the visual band that creates the POPA Walls in the main arena exhibition for EP.

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“The artists this year are all from diverse art forms,” Clare said. “As such, this year’s exhibition will be about diversity, equality and inclusion within the art forms that can be considered for a project like this and the validation of creativity as being creativity no matter how you choose to express it, as an artist, within your chosen practice.”

This year’s artists to be added to the collection and to have their EP debut are Jo Geaney, Tom Collins, Aaron Ryan, Mark Heng and Ken Coleman.

Originally from Boston but now based in Limerick, Mark Heng’s specialty is caricatures and live painting, while fellow Limerick-based artist Tom Collins creates handpainted signs.

Jo Geaney is a Nenagh-based artist and graduate of Limerick School of Art & Design (LSAD), Aaron Ryan is a painter, published illustrator, animator and stone engraver, and Ken Coleman is a mixed media artist combining fine art training with photography, traditional sculpture, 3D modelling, digital painting and emerging technologies. 

She added: “Each artist brings their own unique set of skills to the table and the sharing of skills and discussion that happens around the creation of their individual paintings, is as much a part of their performance as the actual finished piece.

“The energy is always palpable and exudes from the massive 8ft x 12ft  paintings on its 100ft wall. The extended collection of now over 50 art pieces is rolled out from storage each year and exhibited throughout the site. It is truly an impressive sight full of memories and poignancy and a valued part of Electric Picnic’s magical art trail.”

Electric Picnic is taking place in Stradbally, Co Laois this weekend, from Friday, August 29 to Sunday, August 31.