Backwater Artists Group

12/06/2026

The series begins on Thursday, 18 June with artist Brian Harte in conversation with Elaine Coakley. sively for our members exploring different aspects of professional artistic practice and career development.

Taking place throughout the year, the series will invite established artists to reflect on their career and share insights into navigating the professional art world — from gallery representation and art fairs to exhibiting internationally and managing the business side of artistic practice.

The series begins on Thursday 18 June with artist Brian Harte in conversation with Elaine Coakley.

A former member of Backwater Artists Group, Brian Harte was awarded the Ciarán Langford Memorial Bursary in 2002 and held a studio onsite for six months early in his career. Returning to Backwater for this conversation, Harte will reflect on the development of his practice over the past two decades, discussing the evolution of his work and his experience working with galleries and institutions internationally.

Brian Harte (b. 1978) lives and works in Ireland and is known for his large-scale paintings focusing on themes of his family’s domestic setting and the architecture of their home. His work utilises imagery from this arena to produce paintings that depict a visual network that is both private and universal.
Harte is represented by Tatjana Pieters Gallery, MAKI Gallery and Simchowitz Gallery. Recent solo exhibitions include For Smart Living at Butler Gallery, f.i.o.p.n. at Tatjana Pieters Gallery, Afterimage at Simchowitz Gallery and Return of the Hawthorne at MAKI Gallery. His work has recently been acquired by the Butler Gallery, the OKETA Collection, the Arts Council of Ireland and Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg for their permanent collections.

Members can sign up via our website (link in bio)

11/06/2026

Sneak peek...

Finishing touches are being made on SOFTctrl, a new solo exhibition by Billie Adele opening tonight at Backwater Artists Group.

Developed through the Backwater Artists Group Ciarán Langford Memorial Bursary, awarded in 2025, SOFTctrl brings together a series of striking oil paintings that explore femininity, performance, beauty, and control through grotesque and hyperfeminine figures. Drawing on horror, sci-fi, and occult imagery, Adele's work creates unsettling and compelling worlds that challenge fixed ideas of identity and selfhood.

Join us for the opening reception:

Thursday 11 June | 6pm
Studio 12, Backwater Artists Group, Wandesford Quay, Cork
Free event | All welcome

The exhibition continues until 17 July 2026.

10/06/2026

Last weekend saw another fantastic workshop as part of our skill-sharing series - Frame Making with Elize De Beer. Our members had the opportunity to learn how to create wooden frames using the framing-making tool at Backwater Artist Group. They gained hands-on experience in the construction of the frame, glass installation and creating a float mount for a paper-based artwork.

This is one of the many peer learning and skill-sharing opportunities available to all our members as part of our wider development programme.

Want to learn more about how to become a member?
Visit our website (link in bio)

05/06/2026

Announcing the Winners of Backwater Artists Group Bursary Awards 2026!

Ciarán Langford Memorial Bursary - Louise Clarke

Backwater Moving Image Bursary - Sarah Murphy

Backwater Artists Network Membership - Eilis Kennedy, Rebecca Quinn Sweeney, Tara Fitzgearld, Claire Murphy, Ella O'Sullivan, Harrison Connolly

Backwater Artists Group has supported emerging artists since 1990 through a dedicated Bursary Programme developed in partnership with MTU Crawford College of Art & Design. Each year we provide studio access, mentorship and exhibition opportunities to graduating artists. To date, over 130 artists have benefited from these awards.

Congratulations to all the winners. We look forward to welcoming you to Backwater Artists Group and supporting you in the next chapter of your careers!

04/06/2026

04/06/2026

Exhibitions opening this month featuring backwater Artists Group Members.

Follow the artists to find out more



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04/06/2026

Backwater Artists Group Members' Exhibitions running in June across Ireland and internationally.

1. Ciara Rodgers
Paper Facades make Tender Follies
Pallas Projects/Studios, Dublin
5 - 20 June

2. Ailbhe Ní Bhriain
BUT I | WORLD | I SEE | YOU*
9TH TRIENNIAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY HAMBURG 2026
Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg
5 June - 4 Oct

3. Sinéad Ní Chionaola
within / without
Fota House, Cork
8 - 21 June

4. Deirdre O'Mahony
Soil and Friends
PLATO Gallery Contemporary Art, Ostrava, Czech Republic
until 30 September
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Politics at the Kitchentable
Wilhelm Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany
until 23 October

5. Seán Hanrahan
Royal Hibernian Academy 196th Annual Exhibition
Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
until 9 August

6. Fiona Kelly
In Land: Living Roots Awaken
Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda
until 9 August
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Royal Hibernian Academy 196th Annual Exhibition
Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
until 9 August
+
Selected Work from the UCC Art Collection
Glucksman Gallery, Cork
until 1 November

02/06/2026

With just around the corner, Backwater studio member Ciara Rodgers is preparing to launch Soft City Circuits, a new site-responsive installation and participatory walking project that will unfold across Cork City from 13–19 June 2026.

Developed through the support of the Jane Anne Rothwell Award, Soft City Circuits introduces playful, soft sculptural interventions into the urban landscape, inviting audiences to encounter familiar streets in unexpected ways. Through guided walks and temporary installations, the project creates moments of pause, reflection and discovery, encouraging a renewed engagement with the city and its everyday spaces.

Ciara's multidisciplinary practice spans drawing, installation, performance and photography, exploring the relationship between body, architecture and our physical and psychological experience of place. The project draws directly from years of walking-based research carried out around Cork City, including her daily journeys to and from her studio at Backwater Artists Group.

Speaking about the project, Ciara notes:

"For a number of years my research for artmaking has involved gathering documentation and inspiration from the city streets on my walks to and from my studio at Backwater Artists Group. It is a pleasure to now have the opportunity to bring elements of the studio out onto the same streets, developed with the support of the Jane Anne Rothwell Award."

Alongside Soft City Circuits, Ciara will open her solo exhibition Paper Facades make Tender Follies at Pallas Projects on 4 June. The exhibition continues her research into the relationship between body and building, bringing together sculpture, photography and installation to explore care, shelter and the rhythms of urban life.

Congratulations to on these recent achievements!

Make sure to check out her work and .projects.studios

02/06/2026

Coming soon to Studio 12.

Billie Adele | SOFTctrl
11 June – 17 July 2026

Developed through the Backwater Artists Group Ciarán Langford Memorial Bursary, SOFTctrl is a new solo exhibition of oil paintings by Billie Adele exploring femininity, performance, beauty, and control through grotesque, hyperfeminine figures and unsettling symbolic forms.

Billie Adele is a visual artist whose practice explores the wildness and contradictions of identity and embodiment through large-scale figurative paintings and sculptural installations. Billie was awarded a studio at Backwater Artists Group through the Ciarán Langford Memorial Bursary. She completed her BA in Fine Art at MTU Crawford College of Art and Design in 2025.

Opening Reception
Thursday 11 June | 6pm
Free event | All welcome

02/06/2026

June at Backwater Artists Group

A busy month of talks, workshops, skill-sharing workshops and a brand new exhibition opening at Studio 12.

Explore what’s coming up and find booking details via our website (link in bio).