C104: see

Rose Finn-Kelcey, Bureau de change, 1987 - 2003, loose change, false wooden floor, viewing platform, security guard, spotlights, surveillance camera and monitor; collection Irish Museum of Modern Art, on loan from the Weltkunst Foundation

See

A look at some events not to miss, compiled by Marianne O'Kane

Bureau de Change by British artist Rose Finn-Kelcey is currently on display at IMMA. A peculiar conversation piece, Kelcey's installation is an update of her earlier work by the same name, adapted to relate to Ireland and its changing economy. The central focus of the work is a painstaking reproduction of Van Gogh's Sunflowers using Irish coinage. The image is composed of 12,400 euro and punt coins. The record sale of Van Gogh's infamous painting in 1987 was the catalyst for the creation of this piece. Surrounding the image are the remaining elements of the installation - a closed-circuit TV system directed at the sunflowers, a security guard seated alongside and a viewing platform, accessed with steps by the viewer to llow for the ideal perspective of the work. This installation is intended to highlight the hyper-commodification of art in contemporary times and visually cannot fail to impress. It will remain on view until 31 August

image by Portuguese community, Dungannon; from My Space; courtesy WheelWorks

For most of June, Hughie O'Donoghue is exhibiting Baia at the Rubicon Gallery, Dublin. The artist has established an international reputation and is concurrently showing at the Imperial War Museum, London. These exhibitions coincide with a major Merrell publication on the artist's current practice, entitled Hughie O'Donoghue: Painting, Memory, Myth. According to the artist, the title of the Rubicon exhibition, Baia, "refers to the ancient Roman resort on the Bay of Naples of which Horace said...'Nothing compares with the lovely bay of Baia.' Some old photos of the shore taken in 1944/5 are the starting point for a series of pictures of bathers. These pictures try to convey a sense of celebration, the relief and optimism at the end of the war and a certain sense of hedonism that was always associated with this place." The exhibition continues until 28 June.

Wheelworks is a Development Youth Arts Programme that devises and hosts a diverse range of creative projects to involve young people from previously marginalized rural and urban communities across Northern Ireland. Their recent project, My Space, is showing at NICEM, Shaftsbury Square, Belfast from 16 to 23 June.

My Space is a unique photography project which has explored the potential of collaboration and creative partnership through teaming six cultural minority communities of NI young people, aged sixteen to twenty-five, with six professional artists. The artist/group teams are Andy Berndt and the Portuguese Community, Dungannon; Ursula Burke and the Al Nur Asian Association, Craigavon; Deirdre McKenna, Clive Murphy and the Belfast Travellers Support Group; Colin McGookin and NICEM Asylum Seekers/Refugee Group, Belfast; Seán McKernan and Philippine Nurses at Dundonald Hospital; Peter Richards and the Mandarin Speakers Association, Belfast.

Above left: Margaret Corcoran: Splitscreen, digital print; above right: Anthony Haughey: Resolution, video still; from MA Fine Art Show; both images courtesy the artists

Working in conjunction with the team of artists, the young participants from each cultural minority group explored the theme of 'Family and Home', reflecting personal experience while challenging popular stereotypical assumptions of cultural representation and discrimination. The range of photographic approaches reflects the cultural medley of traditions and backgrounds explored. Techniques include installation work, large-scale pinhole prints, black-and-white social-documentary images and digital prints on watercolour paper.

Kotsushika Hokusai: Kajikazawa in Kai Province ( a cormant fisherman at work0, from the series Thirty-six views of mount fuji, mid-1830s, japanese woodblock print; The trustees of the Chester Beatty library, Dublin

From 14 to 21 June, the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery in Dublin is hosting the MA Fine Art Show, featuring graduates of the MA course at the National College of Art and Design. By now a firm feature of the gallery programme, this exhibition demonstrates the Hugh Lane's commitment to platforming the work of important emerging artists. Twelve participants are featured and the diversity of media reflects the span of contemporary art, with practices including painting, photography, sculpture, printmaking and video.

The Boyle Arts Festival, one of our annual highlights and best-attended arts events, takes place from 24 July to 3 August. Historic King House is the venue this year, showcasing the work of fifty emerging and established artists. Established names include Basil Blackshaw, John Shinnors, Imogen Stuart, Barbara Warren and Felim Egan. As regards emerging talent, there will be a number of participants including Helen Gaynor, Anthony Scott, Judy Hamilton, Mark Joyce and Cormac O'Leary. This is a major exhibition of contemporary art and an important opportunity for collectors.

John Shinnors: Urban still life, oil on canvas, 61 x 61 cm; courtesy Boyle Arts Festival; from Boyle Arts Festival

On 25 JuneThe Art of Hokusai, Masters of Japanese Woodblock Printing opens at the Chester Beatty Library. Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1848) was the greatest of all the Japanese painters of the Popular School. His career spanned seventy years and his subjects include landscapes, flowers, contemporary women, and animals. On his deathbed he said, "If Heaven had lent me but five years more, I should have become a great painter." Although Japanese critics do not consider Hokusai to be first rank, Europeans rate him as among the greatest artists of the world. He was the first Japanese artist to influence the West in the late nineteenth century with his Views of Mount Fuji, Great Wave and waterfalls. This exhibition presents a significant range of the artist's talent as printmaker and features seventy-five of Hokusai's finest prints and illustrated books, which were acquired by Sir Alfred Chester Beatty in the fifties. The show is accompanied by a magnificent and diverse lecture programme with related workshops. A major highlight of the summer, the exhibition continues until 30 September and should not be overlooked.

Gerard Dillon: Island People, c 1950, oil on board, 58.4 x 67.8 cm; from Outsider Irish Art;	Nigel Rolfe: From Darkness to Annihilation, 2003, video still; both images courtesy Crawford Municipal Art Gallery

At the Crawford Municipal Art Gallery, Nigel Rolfe, Professor of Fine Art at the Royal College of Art and renowned performance artist, is exhibiting an extensive multimedia installation with video and sound, from 9 July to 23 August. The exhibition is entitled From Darkness to Annihilation, and it treats recent global events as its subject matter, specifically responding to "the aggressive actions of politicians and leaders who talk peace but wage war." This is a development and extension of works made by the artist for his video retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris.

Allan Hughes: working images from the project If I told you, I'd have to kill you; courtesy the artist

Running concurrently at the gallery is an exhibition curated by Alannah Hopkin, entitled Irish Outsider Art, which features the critic's personal selection of artists who she feels communicate "an independent vision in twentieth century Irish art." Gerard Dillon and Tony O'Malley will be among the artists featured.

Norman Stevenson: Chichi boy and Dominoes; courtesy Clotworthy Arts Centre

Allan Hughes of Flax Art Studios, Belfast, is having his first solo exhibition at the Context Gallery, Derry from 1 to 23 August. The work on display was produced by the artist on a NIFCA residency that he was awarded in 2002. Hughes has participated in a number of important group exhibitions, including ev+a, Appropriation at the Ormeau Baths Gallery, and Stardust at the Context Gallery in 2000. This solo exhibition is curated by Belfast-based Mary McIntyre, who has shown extensively in Northern Ireland and Europe. The Context Gallery have been facilitating artist/curator collaborations for four years now, to enable dynamic presentation of contemporary art.

At the Clotworthy Arts Centre, Co. Antrim, Norman Stevenson will be delivering a solo exhibition entitled In the Company of Strangers. This is a selection of environmental portrait photography executed by the artist while travelling throughout Asia, Cuba, Mexico and Guatemala during 2001. The series captures candid shots of indigenous people in their everyday environment. It proffers a cultural insight and flavour of diversity. The exhibition runs from 5 to 29 August.

In 2003, the renowned open-submission competition, Iontas, continues after a year out. It was replaced last year by an exhibition of current work by Iontas Award Winners in the period 1990 - 1995. This year sees a return to familiar format. Organised by Sligo Art Gallery, the Fourteenth National Small Works Exhibition will show at the gallery from 29 August to 26 September. This year's adjudicator is Richard Torchia, Director, Arcadia University Art Gallery. Former exhibitors in Iontas include Kate Byrne, Gavin Weston, Mark Joyce, Irene Hegarty, Mary McIntyre and Tim Goulding. Iontas 2003 promises to be a diverse selection of the very best in Irish contemporary practise.

Left to right: images by previous Iontas participants: Jackie Cooney: Land shift 1; Gavin Weston: Horse box; Ann Mulrooney: Listening; Andrew Folan: Tremolo; courtesy Sligo Art Gallery

Forthcoming at the Butler Gallery, Kilkenny, is a solo exhibition by Ursula von Rydingsvard, to coincide with the Kilkenny Arts Festival. The exhibition runs from 9 August until 12 October. This is an abstract-sculpture exhibition based on geometry that challenges the use of traditional materials. She mixes traditional approaches of building and carving with aspects of modern technology, such as power tools, to develop forms further. She has been impressed by a range of art movements from Abstract Expressionism to Minimalism, and this diversity of influence is evident in the work. This is an important exhibition at the Butler Gallery, designed to illustrate the artist's productive decades of sculptural endeavour.

Left: Ursula von Rydingsvard: Vera's Collar II, 1999-2002, cedar, 157.5 x 274.5 x 10 cm

Ursula von Rydingsvard: Lace Medallion, 2002, cedar, 260.5 x 237.5 x 23 cm; both images courtesy Butler Gallery