{"id":687827,"date":"2026-01-11T00:22:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T00:22:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/687827\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T00:22:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T00:22:24","slug":"10-shows-to-watch-out-for-from-phil-collins-to-hilma-af-klint-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/687827\/","title":{"rendered":"10 shows to watch out for, from Phil Collins to Hilma af Klint \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A nostalgic hue lingers over art programming for 2026. Maybe we\u2019re going so badly wrong that we\u2019re seeking a retreat to the past. Or perhaps curators realise there may be lessons to be learned there. <\/p>\n

If so, surely the lessons should include not killing vibrant grassroots organisations. At time of writing, both the Complex<\/a> and Ormond Art Studios<\/a>, in Dublin, are under threat<\/a>. <\/p>\n

On a more positive note, Pallas<\/a>, the artist-run city stalwart, celebrates its 30th anniversary with a full exhibition programme and a new community space. Staying in Dublin, the Horse<\/a> gallery, at Bethesda Place, is increasingly worth keeping on your radar, as is College Lane Gallery<\/a> in Howth.<\/p>\n

Sin\u00e9ad N\u00ed Mhaonaigh, who succeeded Abigail O\u2019Brien as president of the Royal Hibernian Academy<\/a> in 2025, shows at Kevin Kavanagh Gallery<\/a> from April 23rd to May 23rd. Other noteworthy shows in the commercial galleries are Leah Beggs, at Solomon<\/a>, from February 5th to 28th; Cristina Bunello, at Molesworth<\/a>, from June 4th to 30th; and Kathy Prendergast, at Kerlin<\/a>, from April 25th to June 6th. <\/p>\n

Isabel Nolan will be representing Ireland at the Venice Biennale<\/a> from May 9th to November 22nd, while, closer to home, Dublin Gallery Weekend<\/a> runs from November 5th to 8th.<\/p>\n

Here are 10 big shows around Ireland in 2026 that will reward a visit.<\/p>\n

The Lost Paintings: A Prelude to ReturnMac, Belfast, January 23rd to March 29th, themaclive.com<\/a><\/p>\n

In 1947 Maroun Tomb opened an exhibition in Haifa. It coincided with the United Nations\u2019 approval of partition in Palestine<\/a>. The artist went into exile in the ensuing war, and the 53 works in the exhibition were lost. This international touring exhibition invites artists from Palestine and its diaspora to each create their own interpretation of one of the lost paintings, based on the few remaining records. At once a showcase of contemporary art through a particular cultural lens, it is also a powerful elegy to loss in all its senses.<\/p>\n

Key Learnings from Cross-Market Synergetic AlignmentRoyal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, February 13th to April 19th, rhagallery.ie<\/a>\"EmilyEmily McGardle, Powdered Enthusiasm (2022), a five-colour screenprint on a wooden panel, edition of 9, at the RHA <\/p>\n

Surely a hot contender for the worst exhibition title since the Irish Museum of Modern Art<\/a>\u2019s \u2018.all hawaii eNtr\u00e9es\/luNar reGGae\u2019 20 years ago, Key Learnings from Cross-Market Synergetic Alignment nonetheless includes artists always worth a second, and third, look. Noel Hensey, Caroline McCarthy, Emily McGardle, Aideen Barry, Asha Murray, Liliane Puthod, Amy McNamara, David Timmons and Richard Collier explore commodity culture. Expect wry wit and the odd bit of unsettling skewering of advertising and domestic life, which may never look the same again. Caroline McCarthy also has a solo show at Green on Red<\/a>, from April 2nd to May 15th, featuring new painting, video and prints.<\/p>\n

Memory of a Free FestivalOrmston House, Limerick, April to June, ormstonhouse.com<\/a>, and touring\"BrianBrian Duggan explores nuclear power at Memories of a Free Festival, Ormston House, Limerick <\/p>\n

Those of a certain age will remember the heady days of the late 1970s, when annual anti-nuclear festivals were held at Carnsore Point<\/a>. The Co Wexford spot was to be home to Ireland\u2019s first nuclear power plant. In this show, Orla Barry, Brian Duggan, Alanna O\u2019Kelly and other artists explore nuclear power, activism, music and memory. Today the Carnsore Point site is home to a wind farm. It\u2019s fascinating to ponder, in these days of fossil-fuel-induced environmental catastrophe, not only that some also protest against wind turbines but also what our energy outlook might have been like if we\u2019d fired ahead with nuclear. The project kicks off with an all-day event at Project Arts Centre<\/a> in Dublin on March 21st, opening fully at Ormston House, and then touring to Wexford Arts Centre<\/a> and Uillinn<\/a>, in Skibbereen, in West Cork.<\/p>\n

Phil CollinsModel, Sligo, June 20th to August 22nd, themodel.ie<\/a>\"PhilPhil Collins, Ceremony (2018). Photograph: Joel Fildes\/Shady Lane Productions, Berlin <\/p>\n

The Model has a wealth on show in 2026, kicking off with Songs to the Siren on January 24th, inspired by the personas of Brian O\u2019Nolan\/Flann O\u2019Brien<\/a>. Look out for Kian Benson Bailes, Eleanor McCaughey, Patrick Hall and even a bit of Banksy<\/a>. So far, so eclectic, but September brings a deeper engagement, with Phil Collins, whose work has political urgency as well as profound emotional content. Includes a screening of They Shoot Horses, filmed in Ramallah, Palestine, in 2005; Collins re-created a dance marathon, echoing the elation, desperation, joy and exhaustion of the Depression Era novel and film They Shoot Horses, Don\u2019t They? In Ceremony (2018) the artist brought a Soviet-era statue of Friedrich Engels to Manchester, hosting a reconsideration of radical thought, revolution and equality for workers everywhere.<\/p>\n

Leanne McDonaghSirius, Cobh, Co Cork, June 20th to September 12th, siriusartscentre.ie<\/a>\"LeanneLeanne McDonagh at
\nSirius, Co Cork <\/p>\n

Exploring Ireland through the eyes and lives of her fellow Traveller community<\/a>, Leanne McDonagh captures memory, experience and tradition with a frame of reference that avoids the more usual exaggerated or distorted views. There are echoes of the paintings of Diana Copperwhite (themselves showing at Kevin Kavanagh<\/a> from February 12th to March 14th) in her layered photographs, where colour and shape cloud hints of representation, like time, emotion and story coming between us and our knowledge of things we once knew to be true. The exhibition tours to Uillinn in Skibbereen in June, and Limerick City Gallery<\/a> in late 2026, followed by Wexford Arts Centre in 2027. Look out too for S\u00e9amus Nolan working with the Clonmel Traveller community from September 4th to October 30th at South Tipperary Arts Centre<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tony & Jane O\u2019Malley: A CelebrationButler Gallery, Kilkenny, August 8th to November 31st, butlergallery.ie<\/a>\"TonyTony O’Malley, Lazy Beds (1985), Butler Gallery Collection <\/p>\n

One of the joys of Tony O\u2019Malley<\/a>\u2019s work lies in the way landscape veers towards abstraction. There are hints of fields, hedges, rivers, beaches and oceans, but you may quickly find your mind gliding into those meditating places that are the happy result of unanchoring from recognisable things. O\u2019Malley, who was born in Kilkenny, met the Canadian painter Jane Harris<\/a> in St Ives, in Cornwall, and the pair travelled widely before returning to Callan, where today the couple\u2019s studio is run as an artist\u2019s residency<\/a> by the RHA. Jane\u2019s work is more anchored in the real, but it still contains worlds in which to lose oneself. Tony O\u2019Malley died in 2003, and Jane in 2023. This exhibition celebrates Jane\u2019s bequest of both artists\u2019 estates to the Butler Gallery.<\/p>\n

Niamh O\u2019Malley: Pure GoldVisual, Carlow, September, visualcarlow.ie<\/a>\"ResearchResearch images for Niamh O\u2019Malley: Pure Gold at Visual, Carlow <\/p>\n

Niamh O\u2019Malley\u2019s deft curation of the RDS Visual Art Awards<\/a> (at the RHA until January 26th) showed what a clear and sensitive eye she has. See it at work in her own practice as she reimagines \u201cgold glass\u201d salvaged from the Irish Life Centre. Originally opened in 1977, the Dublin modernist landmark, which was designed by Andrew Devane of RKD Architects<\/a>, is undergoing renovation. Putting its gold-hued glass to reuse as a series of standard lamps, O\u2019Malley will be playing with light and shadow, history and transformation, and almost certainly creating moments of unnerving beauty.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0RDS Visual Art Awards 2025: A showcase for 10 impressive new creative voicesOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Technologies of Peace 1990s-2026 Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, September 4th, 2026, to May 11th, 2027, imma.ie<\/a><\/p>\n

Cast in the same vein as the excellent Self Determination<\/a> exhibition from 2023, which explored the emergence of new democracies following the first World War, Technologies gets into art and peace. Including countries whose recent histories parallel Ireland\u2019s own peace process, the show looks at the way art heals, promotes free expression, helps with reconciliation and facilitates a shared sense of community. According to Imma, \u201cpeace itself is underconceptualised\u201d. A look at the news these days tells us that there is, seriously, no time like the present.<\/p>\n

Hilma af Klint: Artist and VisionaryNational Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, October 15th, 2026, to February 7th, 2027, nationalgallery.ie<\/a>\"HilmaHilma af Klint, Altarpiece, No 1 (1915).
\nImage: Courtesy of The Hilma af Klint Foundation <\/p>\n

Some juicy shows are coming up at the National Gallery of Ireland<\/a>, including a dive into the visionary works of William Blake (opening April 16th), but when it comes to visionary artists Hilma af Klint<\/a> takes the cake. The Swedish painter was ignored for years, not helped by her request for her works to be kept hidden after her death (she thought the world wasn\u2019t ready yet) or by her claim that the images came to her via spirit guides. A tantalisingly small showing in the Douglas Hyde Gallery in Dublin in 2004 hinted at her genius; inclusion in the Venice Biennale of 2013 brought her to global attention, recasting her as a pioneer of modern abstraction \u2013 predating the likes of Malevich and Kandinsky. Aren\u2019t \u201cspirit guides\u201d just inspiration by another name? They didn\u2019t do WB Yeats any harm.<\/p>\n

Edith KarlsonDouglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, November 6th, 2026, to February 14th, 2027 (TBC), thedouglashyde.ie<\/a>\"EdithEdith Karlson, Hora Lupi: Installation at Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Penetienti, Estonian Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale, 2024. Photo: Anu Vahtra\/Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art <\/p>\n

\u201cI just create what I feel. I just do what I do, and using animals is a way I want to express something about humans [\u2026] and those weird and unfortunate things that people do,\u201d says the Estonian artist Edith Karlson, who has a significant international reputation. With new works and some signature pieces in this show, expect a menagerie of humans, animals and some creatures that are a bit of both. From monumental to minute, and veering from comedy to tragedy, with grand gestures, gentle pathos and more than a few follies exposed, you could say it\u2019s life laid bare. We are also promised the possibility of a spot of redemption, however slim it may be. This will be Karlson\u2019s first institutional solo show in Ireland.<\/p>\n