Artists tackle modern-ills in Student of the Year exhibition at Cork gallery

ADVERTISING culture and global warming’s effect on coral are the themes of the exhibition by the joint winners of the 2022 Student of the Year Award at the Lavit Gallery in Wandesford Quay, Cork city.

Helen Cantwell and Bernie Hennessy are the graduates of MTU Crawford College of Art & Design who share the award, sponsored by Roberts Nathan Accountants.

In addition to an exhibition at the Lavit Gallery (until February 18), both artists received €500 each.

Glounthane native, Helen, a fine art graduate exploring advertising, crowd manipulation, and the impact on the psyches of a generation raised online of social media streams, has emulated the aesthetics of these spheres in her exhibition. She uses materials such as acrylic and steel in her colourful pieces.

One of the pieces carries the message ‘Trust the algorithms’.

Helen is concerned about how we can be manipulated online.

“There are people being kind of immortalised online. They’re able to incite violence and get children to spend their money.

“There is just so much one person can do online with millions of followers.”

She cites the influencer and businessman, Andrew Tate, accused of misogyny, “who is looked up to by young boys.”

Another of Helen’s exhibits uses Elon Musk’s Tesla symbol above which a dirty plume of smoke is erupting.

“That is referencing the greenhouse gases we’re using through fossils fuels and our over-use of cars. Even though Elon Musk has environmentally friendly cars, they’re extremely expensive.”

The bases of Helen’s pieces of art on show at the Lavit Gallery are Perspex covid screens that she acquired second hand.

“I used them as a kind of a commercial symbol, seeing as so much of my theme is to do with commercialism online. The print is printed on perforated window vinyl which shops use to advertise on their windows. I had them printed out professionally and I attached them to the Perspex with a lot of water, using a squeegee.”

Helen’s striking work references both traditional advertising and the online advertising forum. While she is currently working towards an exhibition for the Backwater Artists’ group, looking at how “language and persuasion oppress the queer community,” Helen says that her preoccupation with advertising culture will most likely always appear in her work.

“It really interests me how a small group of people can influence masses of people.”

Helen attended St Mary’s Secondary School in Midleton. Art was her favourite subject.

“It was my quiet hour, not stressful. I really wanted to pursue it. My parents have been very supportive.”

Bernie Hennessy studied art at the Crawford College of Art & Design as a mature student. This mother-of-four daughters and grandmother-of-three, believes in embarking on a second career if you have a passion for it.

Having worked as a pharmacist in Tipperary, she sold her business two years ago and is now concentrating on art.

Bernie always attended art classes as a hobby, and says she was fortunate to study textiles with tutor Pamela Hardesty at the Crawford.

“I did that for two years, travelling to Cork from Templemore. Then I realised I could hop onto the full-time degree course in contemporary applied art. I was able to skip one and a half years because of doing the textile course. I really wanted to do glass, textiles and porcelain. So I got into second year.”

When Bernie was studying for her Leaving Certificate and looking ahead to a career, she says that “in those years, you had to do something you could make a living from. 

"I always loved science and have no regrets about doing pharmacy. I quite enjoyed it. But I always loved art.”

At the Lavit, Bernie’s pieces are organic forms made from porcelain paper clay and Marino Fleece. The theme is climate change; more specifically, coral bleaching.

“I visited the coral reef with my daughter who lives in Australia. Coral is actually classified an animal. It can live up to 5,000 years. It’s physically strong and transparent. It is inhabited by algae. The algae carry out photosynthesis. In doing so, it provides food for the coral while the coral provides protection for the algae. The algae is really bright and colourful and it shines through the transparent coral which gives it its colour. With climate change, coral is under stress. It expels the algae and in doing so, loses its food source and its colour. That’s known as coral bleaching. The coral in Australia is actually turning white.”

Coral bleaching is “a visual indicator of climate change”.

“I use porcelain paper clay to represent the coral and the Marino Fleece represents the colourful algae. But some of my pieces have gaps to show that they have lost their colour.”

Bernie believes she is the only artist in Ireland working with porcelain paper clay and Marino Fleece.

She has tapped into something that proves her resourcefulness and imagination while finally practicing art full-time.

There is an artist talk and exhibition tour on Thursday 16 February at 1pm.