My profile at 'The Upset' website

Earlier this year, my work was selected for inclusion in 'The Upset' arts event in Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim, an exciting arts event with an environmental theme that featured the work of over 70 artists from around the world.   Now the guys at 'The Upset' have set up a website to showcase and document the exhibition and  promote future 'Upset' events.  Check out my profile on the website here, Amy McGovern @ 'The Upset'

OPEN SEASON 2012 at the Dock, Carrick-on-Shannon

Two of my drawings are showing in Open Season at the Dock arts centre, Carrick-on-Shannon, opening tonight and running until Saturday 2nd of February, hope you can make it!

VIDEO: PrettyvacanT Dublin Presents 'Shoot the Tiger' Opening

A superb video of the installation and opening of 'Shoot the Tiger' in March 2012.  Check it out!

VIDEO: Opening of the Upset arts event

Great video of the opening of the Upset arts event that happened earlier this month, featuring the work of over 50 artists including me!

'The Upset' runs until this Friday July 6th

'The Upset', an arts event with an environmental theme, opened last Saturday with a host of events such as music, performances, lectures and demonstrations alongside the exhibition (see press release below).  The exhibition runs until this Friday July 6th, 5pm, featuring the work of around 50 artists, including three of my paintings, at Unit 2, Drumshanbo Business Park, Co. Leitrim.  Catch it if you can :)





Press Release:

"Upset `12

MAJOR `ART & THE ENVIRONMENT` EXHIBITION IN DRUMSHANBO
On Saturday, 30th June, in Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim, an art event will be taking place that started as a small acorn and has grown into a full tree. “The Upset” –our awareness and the freedom to express it- will be taking place in one of the empty units on the old Lairds site, behind the Food Hub, in Drumshanbo. This exhibition started as an expression of concern by some artists about the environment and has now grown to a major exhibition with over 50 artists, many well known, not just from Ireland, but from USA, Mexico, Hong Kong and the UK exhibiting. The exhibition will be open until Friday 6th July, but the opening day on Saturday 30th at 12pm (until 9.30pm) will be an exciting mix of art; music; readings; dance; film and workshops where through their different practices the artists involved can show their love and concern for the environment and its future.
Among the activities on the opening day there will be readings by artists from their poems and stories…… music performances by Lionadh Rua with vocals by Marcia Kenny, Del and Joanne Lawrie and Yasmic Chaudrey aka “Fuzzy Hell” and dance performances during the day by The Tahany academy of Irish Dancing. Short film and videos by other artists, 5 of them PhD graduates, will also be continuously showing on a screen. At 4pm there will be a 10min presentation followed by a workshop given by Mary Conroy. Her current project “ Wildroutes” encourages users of Limerick City to build their environment in a way which benefits all inhabitants. The workshop is on seedbomb making and anybody attending is asked to bring any seed and compost they have lying around. It is, as are all performances, a free event. At 5pm Belinda Loftus from will give an overview of her Ph.D research on climate change and the visual arts sector
With over 50 artists involved and at least twice as many works it is impossible to list them all. American pop surrealist artist Scott Musgrove has sent work from Seattle ”Lotus Louis”, one of his iconic fictitious animals. Winner of the `12 National Geographic kids Photography and many other awards, Eleanor Leonne Bennet is another contributor. Sculptor Jackie McKenna with 2 ceramic pieces,” Love Leitrim” & “Daisy Loves Leitrim” and a bronze Curlew. Sarah Stevens will be showing pieces from her acclaimed “Derelict Nations” project featuring the Abbey Manor Hotel in Dromahair; Maria Noonan Mcdermott with two of her evocative oil paintings; Calligrapher Shay Cunningham; Freda Young; Sandra Vernon; Kathy O`Leary, the list goes on and the work is varied in content and media. Each piece will have an artists statement outlining their thoughts behind their work and a bit about themselves.
. “The Upset” is taking place at the instigation of Harriet Tahany, a local artist who graduated from Sligo IT with a first In Fine Art and completed her Masters Degree in Belfast in 2009 after winning the RDS Taylor Art Award. She will be documenting this exhibition for a further exhibition to take place in Dublin in October. She would like to thank all the people who have worked hard to bring this important exhibition about, business owners and friends alike. Entrance to this event is, naturally, free of charge. All the artists have contributed to cover the costs of Insurance, posters etc.
The Exhibition times are Sat 30th June, 12-9.30pm; Sunday – Fri 6th July 12-5pm (from Sun-Fri the films and videos will be shown all day), further information on participating artists and performances can be obtained fromhttp://www.facebook.com/events/382365395136909/ or email the_upset_leitrim@hotmail.com 
Since news of the content of this exhibition has spread, ie Sunday Times, many students have requested to study and document the show. This really helps highlight the importance of this exhibition, not just for artists and students but anyone who is concerned or interested in their environment.

Written by Sandra Vernon."

My work at the PrettyvacanT exhibition "Shoot the Tiger"

Earlier this year 3 of my drawings were selected for inclusion in "Shoot the Tiger", an exhibition presented by Prettyvacant, a group who repurpose vacant Dublin properties as temporary exhibition spaces.  Check out their projects at http://www.prettyvacantdublin.com/

Installation View 

Installation View

Untitled, 2011, Watercolour on Paper, (21 x 19.5cm)

Untitled, 2011, Watercolour on Paper, (21 x 19.5cm)

Untitled, 2011, Watercolour on Paper, (21 x 19.5cm)

PrettyvacanT presents 'Shoot the Tiger', 15th March - 31st March

If you're around Dublin over the next few weeks, be sure to check out 'Shoot the Tiger', a group exhibition featuring 3 of my drawings from the Mangan's Series. Press release below...

"PrettyvacanT Dublin presents ‘Shoot the Tiger’, a group exhibition showcasing artwork created since 2008 under the new constraints of an economically damaged nation. 

'Shoot the Tiger' artists are: Aoife Flynn | Declan Greaney | Amy McGovern | Eilis Murphy | Noel Noblett | La Cosa Preziosa | Blaithin Quinn

The work represents an emotional and artistic response to a post-Crash Ireland and features artists working to make their voice heard in an ever- uncertain economic reality. The art represents concepts of decline, collapse and failure, but also of optimism and hope.

The exhibition will take place in one of the many newly-constructed yet vacant retail units filling our streets and towns, creating a new urban landscape. PrettyvacanT Dublin was invited by Dublin City Council Arts Office to enliven one of its empty units through a pilot scheme designating the space for cultural use.

'Shoot the Tiger' continues at Unit 3, James Joyce Street until 31st March.

Open Tuesday - Saturday, 12 - 5pm (Closed St Patrick's Day)"

'Strange Days' at Ballina Arts Centre, April 2012

A few months ago I was selected for inclusion in a 3 person exhibition at Ballina Arts Centre, Ballina, Co. Mayo.  The resulting exhibition 'Strange Days' will open on Thursday 5th April at 8pm and will continue until 28th April.  Check out the press release below, hope you can make it!




Strange Days: Michelle Considine, Amy McGovern and Margo McNulty.
Official Opening Thursday 5th April, 8pm

Strange Days is a curated exhibition featuring the work of three artists – Michelle Considine, Amy McGovern and Margo McNulty. The exhibition takes, as its starting point, a sensibility which shared by the three artists. While each has a distinctive style, there is a tone and an atmosphere in their work which suggests a haunting presence.

The ultimate effect is one of an ‘uncanniness’ – the development of a mysterious dimension located somewhere between consciousness and memory. This effect will both challenge and unnerve the viewer, instilling a feeling of discomfort, which is in turn, at odds with the sublime aesthetic beauty of the works.

This dichotomy adds to the overall mystery of the combined works and places it firmly in a modernist and post-modernist tradition which dates back to the early days of Dada and the Surrealists – a tradition which has endured abstraction and often works best with figurative work.
Admission free. All welcome. Runs until 28th April.