The Art of Superstition

Ale Mercado - Born Under a Bad Sign

(While I wasn't going to blog about past events, I figure this is now worth blogging out;)

The Art of Superstition is an illustration exhibition currently on show at The Copper House Gallery. It was to end on Hallowe'en, but due to its popularity, its time has been extended to the 20th of November. Friends, you have time.

I can give this show my personal recommendation, it was an interesting and engaging exhibition. As is the case with most illustration, each artist's style varies wildly from one another, making each new piece strikingly different and entertaining. There's honestly something here for everyone when it comes to your taste in art, be it beautiful digital paintings (of tiger penis soup) or a more traditional painted style (about hookers' shoes).

As you can tell, the concepts many artists chose to focus on for their "superstition" are also widely diverse and incredibly entertaining. While some artists have chosen to do the same superstition (magpies being a popular choice), many more have chosen differently. In this exhibition, artists were not restricted when it comes to choosing a superstition, however. While traditional superstitions were perfectly acceptable, their brief defined a superstition as;

1. a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like.

2. a system or collection of such beliefs.

3. a custom or act based on such a belief.

4. irrational fear of what is unknown or mysterious, especially in connection with religion.

5. any blindly accepted belief or notion.

So we even have both myth and legend and religion considered as superstitions in this show. I love it.

Niall McCormack - Vatican Voodoo Brand

Fintan Taite - The Sirens

The illustrators in this exhibition mainly come from Illustrators Ireland, but there are a few guest artists and new and upcoming illustrators too. The space is large, there's plenty of breathing room for all forty pieces, and the exhibition is unfettered, continuing on upstairs. The building is clean and modern, with open rooms, well worth a look.

If you are in Dublin, or will be in Dublin before the 20th of November, I encourage you to drop in to The Copper House Gallery (Synge street). If you can't make it, then why not have a look at some of the pieces on their site here?

There are print available of each piece from the gallery itself (it doubles as a print shop (fire))