Bundoran Seafront Public Art Trail

In 1999 Bundoran Town Council commissioned four artists - Locky Morris, Grace Weir, Brendan Mc Gloin and Walker & Walker - to develop sculptural pieces in response to the town’s coastal shorefront and sea cliff.

Grace Weir’s 1000 Silver Limpets are cast in chrome-plated stainless steel. They are affixed to a wall located at the Bundoran car park close to the sea-front, forming a straight line approximately 50m long.

Locky Morris’ Dry is a witty series of 6 bronze rolled-up beach towels, placed permanently at seemingly random spots along the shorefront, including one on a bench in one of the shelters, and another being placed out in a sea cave that can only be accessed when the tide is far out.

Brendan Mc Gloin’s Carraige na Nean (Rock of the birds)’ is a monolith sculpture made from limestone, sandstone, lead, and granite. It is two metres tall with a three metre arch, and is located on Bundoran’s coastal promenade.

Identical twins, Walker & Walker made a large scale, enameled bronze Double Daisy and which is located on the seafront in Bundoran. The sculpture is 60 x 60 x 150 cm in size and comprises two over-sized daisies, cast in bronze and painted, which interlock in the manner of a daisy chain.

The public artworks are mentioned in Cristín Leach, The Sunday Times: Culture, 27 February 2011, p.13.

http://www.abigailobrien.com/wp-content/themes/abigailobrien/abigail.pdf

Grace Weir studied at the National College of Art and Design from 1980-84 and also at Trinity College Dublin, where she won an award for her Masters graduation project in 1997. She co-represented Ireland at the 49th International Venice Biennale in 2001. She has exhibited widely both nationally and internationally. She has received several public art commissions from organisations including the OPW, Temple Bar Properties and the Nordic Institute of Contemporary Art (NIFCA) in Helsinki, Finland. She has been awarded several Arts Council of Ireland Awards, including a Projects Award in 2005.

Locky Morris was born in Derry in 1960, where he continues to live and work. He studied in Belfast and Manchester. His work has been exhibited widely including Directions Out at the Douglas Hyde Gallery in Dublin 1987, the British Art Show touring Britain in 1990, New North 1990 and Strongholds 1991, both at the Tate Gallery in Liverpool, Kunst Europa in Germany in 1991, the XLV Biennale Venezia 1992, L'Imaginaire Irelandais in Paris 1996, The Puffin Room in New York in 1998, the Ellipse Arts Centre in Washington in 2000. Throughout his career, his engagement with Derry City and its changing character has shaped his work, often showing in community centres and the street.

Brendan McGloin began to form his career with stone shortly after finishing a four-year diploma in Graphic Design at Letterkenny Institute of Technology in 1992. He worked in architectural masonry in Bristol, and began an apprenticeship in the art of drywall building and Stone building in 1993. In 1996 Brendan left Ireland and travelled to Australia and New Zeland where he worked with the Australian Borad of Works in Sydney.  Here he worked on restoration projects including St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney Museum, and the Land and Titles building. Returning to Ireland at the start of the Celtic Tiger Brendan found his work in much demand and thus started his move into large-scale Public Art.  Brendan’s work can be seen throughout Donegal and even as far afield as Portland Oregon USA, where Ireland’s recent president Mrs Mary McAleese unveiled a 14ft Highcross on the 12thDecember 2008.

Joe Walker and Pat Walker are twin brothers who first began collaborating as Walker and Walker in 1989. They co-represented Ireland at the 51st International Venice Biennale in 2005 with their film installation Nightfall. Group shows include Super 8 at Christopher Grimes Gallery in LA; Northern Lights at Galleria Civica di Modena, Italy, and The dissolution of time and space at Kunstverein Ludwigsburg, Germany. Solo shows include Sheppard Fine Arts Gallery, Reno, USA; Floating IP in Manchester UK and the RHA Gallery in Dublin. They have received several Arts Council of Ireland Awards and are represented in several public and private art collections. Their film Mount Analogue Revisited was listed by Fergus Daly in Senses of Cinema world poll as one of the best films of 2010.