STAC Podcast

In this episode I chat to artist Stephen Brandes about his latest exhibition 'The Trotskys in Kilsheelan and Other Histories of Unreliable Origin', showing here at STAc until October 15th.
If you've not had a chance to visit, pop in and see it before it closes.
In the Winter of 1936, exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and his wife Natalya Sedova were taken from their house arrest at a farm outside Oslo in Norway and put on an oil tanker, destined for a new life in Mexico. In order to avoid the seasonally devastating storms attacking the Eastern Atlantic, the ship clandestinely docks in Cobh and the exiles are brought ashore. There begins a road trip that takes them to Kilsheelan and along the way to a very uncharacteristic obsession.
At this exhibition at South Tipperary Arts Centre, Brandes will present a series of recent paintings and drawings, as well as a newly commissioned video work, which collages Brandes’ own fabricated photographic images with vintage British Pathé news reels. What will be revealed is a little known moment in modern Irish history… and some of it is possibly true.
The work of Stephen Brandes is rooted in collage and is often imbued with a keen interest in modern history from the 1700’s Enlightenment to the present. Brandes interprets ‘collage’ loosely however, as an act of cutting and pasting together ideas as much as material, to produce paintings, video and drawings, as well as collage in the true sense of the art form. It could be said that even history is used as material for collage insofar that his research and observations are metaphorically cut up and reassembled to produce episodes of stories that wander sideways from established accuracy.
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Ed Devane is a sound artist and instrument designer based in Donegal. Beginning his creative career as an electronic music producer, his work has broadened over the years to include interactive installation, electronic instrument design, community projects and workshop facilitation relating to music and sound. Much of the inspiration behind his installation work is to use technology and instrument building to encourage creative encounters and collaborations between participants. Ed has recently produced installations for Science Gallery Dublin, The Ark, Galway City of Culture 2020, Big Bang! Festival and Science Foundation Ireland, and most recently here at STAC during the recentJunction Arts Festival.
His most recent work 'Presence' is now on display here in the gallery at STAC, and it consists of 3 interactive sound sculptures that respond to the movements of the viewer around the space.
In this episode, I caught up with Ed via Zoom to chat about what life is like for an artist making work in the wilds of West Donegal, his interest in making electronic music and how his work has developed over time to include programmable sound sculptures.
Presence continues at South Tipperary Arts Centre until August 20th, and the gallery is open from 10am to 5pm Monday to Saturday.
If you'd like to get in touch with the podcast, the email address is [email protected] .
You can visit our website www.southtippartscentre.ie to find our what's on, or to sign up to our monthly newsletter.
Thanks for listening!

INSIDE | OUT - Joe Caslin
Joe Caslin's latest temporary mural 'Come out to Play' has just been completed on the facade of the old museum/library on Parnell Street, Clonmel. In this episode I caught up with Joe to talk about his unique work and how his INSIDE | OUT mural represents a departure from his usually more serious subject matter.
Joe is an Irish street artist, art teacher and activist, best known for his beautifully rendered pencil drawings, which manifest as towering pieces of street art. His highly accessible work engages directly with the social issues of modern Ireland, on an unavoidable scale. Caslin confronts the subjects of suicide, drug addiction, economic marginalisation, marriage equality, stigma in mental health, direct provision, institutional power, inclusion, consent and most recently, the effects of the Covid19 pandemic on young people. The monochrome drawings Caslin creates hold a mirror up to the kind of society that we are, whilst asking us individually what kind of society we want to be a part of.
Visit: https://joecaslin.com to see more of Joe's work.
If you'd like to contact the podcast: [email protected]
INSIDE/OUT is a project led by South Tipperary Arts Centre (STAC), as part of Faoin Spéir- In the Open Clonmel funded by the Arts Council of Ireland and in partnership with Tipperary County Council. INSIDE/OUT proposes to make the town of Clonmel an outdoor gallery, including mural/street art and large scale 2D art installations on buildings and walls around the town.
Phase 2 of INSIDE/OUT sees an installation of works by 7 artists, based in or originally from Tipperary, selected through an Open Call. This phase sees the artists’ work presented on a large scale and installed at two locations around the town, Davis Rd. and Market St., bringing colour and life to the streets. A downloadable map is available:
https://www.southtippartscentre.ie/events/inside-out
Phase 3 of INSIDE/OUT saw artist Joe Caslin create a new temporary mural which is central to the exhibition and will also respond to the overarching theme of Faoin Spéir- In the Open Clonmel ; ‘Coming Out To Play’. This will be the commission as part of this project, the first being ‘Tread Softly’ by Canvaz which was installed last Autumn as Phase 1 of this project.

In this episode we take to the the streets of Clonmel to showcase the 7 local artists whose work is currently brightening up the streets of our lovely town!
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INSIDE/OUT is a project led by South Tipperary Arts Centre (STAC), as part of Faoin Spéir- In the Open Clonmel funded by the Arts Council of Ireland and in partnership with Tipperary County Council. INSIDE/OUT proposes to make the town of Clonmel an outdoor gallery, including mural/street art and large scale 2D art installations on buildings and walls around the town.
This installation of works by 7 artists, based in or originally from Tipperary, was selected through an Open Call and represents Phase 2 of INSIDE/OUT. This phase sees the artists’ work presented on a large scale and installed at two locations around the town, Davis Rd. and Market St., bringing colour and life to the streets. A downloadable map is available.
Phase 3 of INSIDE/OUT will see artist Joe Caslin create a new temporary mural in the coming weeks which will be central to the exhibition and will also respond to the overarching theme of Faoin Spéir- In the Open Clonmel ; ‘Coming Out To Play’. This will be thecommission as part of this project, the first being ‘Tread Softly’ by Canvazwhich was installed last Autumn as Phase 1 of this project.
Joe Caslin is an Irish street artist, art teacher and activist. Best known for his beautifully rendered pencil drawings, which manifest as towering pieces of street art. His highly accessible work engages directly with the social issues of modern Ireland, on an unavoidable scale. Caslin confronts the subjects of suicide, drug addiction, economic marginalisation, marriage equality, stigma in mental health, direct provision, institutional power, inclusion, consent and most recently, the effects of the Covid19 pandemic on young people. The monochrome drawings Caslin creates hold a mirror up to the kind of society that we are, whilst asking us individually what kind of society we want to be a part of.
Inside | Out - Open Call SelectedArtists
Maurice Caplice is an artist that works in Painting, Sculpture and Sound, working in Clonmel, Callan and Dublin. Caplice also works as an artist facilitator currently working for D.A.V Community group, Dublin and K.C.A.T art collective Callan. He has exhibited throughout Ireland and abroad in countries such as Spain,Norway, England, Cyprus and Slovenia.
Marine Kearney is a French/Irish artist based in Clonmel, Ireland. Marine started in representative work, and with her experience moved to a more contemporary place. She is a graduate in advanced life drawing from the Crawford College of Fine Art. She mixes media to express herself and her Urban/Rural background.
Emma Maher is an Irish artist originally from Thurles living in Edinburgh, Scotland. She studied Printmaking & Contemporary Practice at Limerick School of Art & Design graduating in 2014. As an avid watercolour artist and illustrator. For the Inside | Out project, Emma's piece incorporates both floral watercolours and human hands expressing intimacy, connection and a sense of belonging. Emma launched her small art business in April 2021, and has featured in a number of creative art magazines across the UK in the last 12 months.
Nocht Studio was founded in Clonmel in 2018. Philip Ryan is a visual artist from Tipperary, currently residing in Waterford, Ireland. He founded Nocht, as a collaborative art practice with Martin McGloin in 2018. He graduated from the Dublin School of Architecture with first class honours in 2013 and has worked in the architecture and design industry in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand before focusing entirely on Nocht in late 2021. Martin McGloin is a Designer and Visual Artist from Sligo, Ireland. He founded Nocht as a collaborative art practice with Philip Ryan in 2018. He graduated from the Dublin School of Architecture in 2013 and has worked in the art and design industry in Ireland, the Netherlands and Germany.
Laura O’Mahony is from Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. She is passionate about art and design and likes to create art that brightens the world around her. She has recently returned to creating art after finding her love for drawing and creating again.
PressPlay Repeat (PPR) is a pseudonym favoured by Clonmel native Paul Sheehan. Starting out as a DJ, he progressed into live visuals for companies such as Reebok, HSBC and Hed Kandi Records. The place where image and sound intersect bring him great joy and he hopes that Hide And Seek, his exploration of play through the ages, shall conjure up some fond memories of your very own.
Wojciech Ryzinski is a Polish photographer based in Co. Tipperary.
He was a student at the Eddie Adams Workshop 2015 and the VII Masterclass 2016/2017. He finds his inspiration in everyday life, trying to see beyond the obvious. His work is inspired by classical documentary photography. It is never posed or pre-arranged in any way.
For further info visit southtippartscentre.ie
To contact the podcast email [email protected]
Thanks for listening!

Walking in the Way is a series of performances by Pauline Cummins and Frances Mezzetti, begun in 2009, where the artists appear as men and represents a decade long collaboration between the artists. It is a timely showcase of contemporary thinking on gender issues and challenges the perceptions of what is culturally viewed as normal public realm negotiations from a gendered stance.
Women throughout their lives experience vulnerability in public space, have a sense of not belonging, with the implication of impropriety or deviant sexuality for walking alone on a street – a fact once again all too close to the bone with recent tragic events. What began, a decade ago as a project that informed the artists’ themselves about the different ways in which men and women occupy space, has grown into an exploration of different cultural assumptions about the right of ownership of the spaces of our daily lives, whether in Northern or Southern Ireland, England, Scotland, Spain or Turkey.
The show will also launch a new publication, Walking in the Way: Performing Masculinity, edited by Catherine Marshal and including essays by Dr Áine Phillips, Dr Kate Antosik Parsons and Nieves Correa.
Further Exhibition info:
https://www.southtippartscentre.ie/events/walking-in-the-way-a-retrospective-pauline-cummins-frances-mezzetti
For more on the artists work:
https://www.paulinecummins.com
https://www.francesmezzetti.com
https://www.walkingintheway.net
If you would like to contact the podcast, the email address is [email protected]

This new body of work from John Kennedy, comes as the result of his Artist in Residence award with STAC and supported by Tipperary Arts Office. His work is primarily concerned with isolation, abandonment, and remoteness, while exploring the physical properties of paint and other less traditional materials. Edgelands focuses on expanses of land that exist in the margins. Rough and ready in the functionalism of their edifices, they are unappreciated by the average landscape lover. There is a silence and distance in the paintings, just outside of range of overhearing what is going on, evoking a feeling of being outside looking in.
John Kennedy lives and works in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. He has a BA in Fine Art from the Crawford College of Art and Design, Cork and he has recently completed the Turps Correspondence Course in Painting through Turps School in London.
If you'd like to get in touch with the podcast, the email address is [email protected]

We were thrilled to be help Clonmel Theatre Guild to spread the festive cheer with their Christmas 2020 Radio Play, Dickens’ classic Christmas tale of redemption- ‘A Christmas Carol’ - It was originally broadcast on Pure Radio Tipperary and Tipperary Mid West Radio last Christmas, and you can hear this timeless Christmas classic again right here!
Directed by Catherine McVicker.

To get us in the mood for Hallowe'en, if you missed the broadcast of 'The Woman' by Presentation Clonmel TY Class of 2021 on Pure Radio Tipperary, you can listen back here!
The Woman - an Original Radio Play, written, performed, and produced by the TY students of the Presentation Secondary School in Clonmel.
The story centres around Lucy, who has been having terrible dreams of a mysterious woman. Her friends think she's crazy... but is she? Sit back and take a journey into the nightmare world of 'The Woman'
This project was facilitated by Catherine McVicker and Eimear King, with the support of #SouthTipperaryArtsCentre and was funded by the #CreativeIrelandProgramme, whom we thank for their assistance in the project. Well done to the students and teachers who worked so hard in producing this piece of work.
The Woman
Written by Abbie Burke, Kori Barnes, Aedin McCormack, Aoife Askins
Narrator: Emily
Lucy: Caitlin
Roisin: Ada
Mia: Molly
Kate: Aoibinn
Pat: Caoimhe
Principal/Opening Commentator: Annmary
Teacher: Cameo role: Ms Murphy
Suitable for Over 14s

Water Witching is an exhibition of new work by artist Shelagh Honan. Her lens-based narrative features photography, sculpture, video, sound and installation, all of which pivot around an audio video called Aistear.
The film touches on themes of mortality, transcendence, infinity and the abyss. Its co-ordinates are those of modernist poetic cinema, with long takes which are sometimes fixed in slow motion. The central figure moves through a series of landscapes and appears in a state of co-temporal elision, existing within her own frame of time and communing with nature through a dream-like sequence.
Water Witching is open 10-5pm Monday to Saturday
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Shelagh Honan
Biography
Shelagh Honan
Shelagh Honan is a visual artist working in Ireland. She works predominantly with experimental film, photography, projection, sculpture and installation.
Her practice concerns the development of new strategies to present narrative through video, sound and projective environments. Her’s is a contemplative video practice that encompasses the minimalist, observational art of slow cinema, a genre of film-making that emphasizes long takes with little or no narrative.These films establish an evocative register that connects the viewer with the saliences of a memorialised past and a memorialised landscape.
She is a full time lecturer in Photography Film Video in Limerick School of Art and Design.
Recent exhibitions include the wom@rts series, opening in Maribor, Slovenia, Vilnius (Lithuania), Santiago de Compostela (Spain) and Rijeka (Croatia), Angoulême (France) and Limerick (Ireland).
In 2019 she was awarded Culture Ireland funding to exhibit and attend in this series of international exhibitions. In 2018 she took part in a residency program in Avilés in Spain and she was invited to exhibit her installation Passage of Sound In Feile Na Bealtaine festival in Dingle. ‘Passage of Sound’ was also selected for Blow Up international Film festival in Chicago, and several other film festivals in Ireland.

This episode focuses on what's on in Clonmel this year for Halloween -
Colin Everitt of West Gate Creative shares what's planned around town for this years Halloween Celebrations:All events are free. Booking Required..see Eventbrite for more information.
Brought to you by Clonmel Borough District
Spook Trail: 25th-31st October- Join the trail and find the clues.
Drive in Movie: 31st October- Kids Halloween Movies and Uproar video screening- Marys Street Carpark 1-7pm
Live Music: Westgate Carpark 8pm
Green Screen Photobooth: Marys Street Carpark 1-7pm.
Facebook: @Halloween in Clonmel
Riain Cash, who plays Quasimodo in the forthcoming community production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame at Kickham Barracks (as part of the In The Open| Faoin Speir project) tells me all about this ambitious project, funded by the Arts Council and directed by Jack O'Riordan... I even get a musical preview !
The Woman - An original Radio play, written, performed and produced by the TY students at Presentation Secondary School in conjunction with South Tipp Arts Centre, Writer/Director Catherine McVicker and Creative Ireland, will be aired next Monday 25th October at 7pm on Tipperary's Pure Radio. I spoke to some of the girls about how they enjoyed working on this project with us, and we share a clip from the play to creep you out!
Happy Halloween!!!