Imaginationism: An Exhibition by Valerie Gannon

Valerie Gannon came to live in Pimlico, along with her parents, about 40 years ago. She loved The Liberties, the shops on Meath Street and Francis Street,, the daily chats with the shop keepers who she knew by their first names.

From childhood she displayed exceptional intellectual ability and a deep commitment to reading and drawing. She studied in Trinity College Dublin, and is fluent in French and Russian. Valerie has always loved literature, opera, religion, politics and current affairs, interests that consistently show up in her paintings. For many years she worked in an administrative role at St Patrick’s Mental Health Hospital, a job she loved. She attended the Wexford Opera Festival annually, often in formal dress, and read at mass weekly at Meath Street Church with great pride.

Valerie’s commitment of art and all it entailed always showed through to her real inner strength as a person. From her twenties and throughout Valerie’s life to the present day, Valerie has confronted challenge after challenge concerning her mental health and has overcome a lot of ups and downs, but she never gave up on her deep love of painting, drawing and of life.

Those close to her describe painting as the time she was most settled and most focused. She worked from a small bedroom studio in the Liberties and often painted while travelling. She would take spontaneous train journeys across Ireland with canvas and brushes in her bag, sometimes gifting finished paintings to drivers or people she met along the way. She travelled independently to Paris to paint, donating her work to charity shops. Her art was rarely made for sale. It was made to express, to process, and often to give away.

Valerie refers to her practice as “Imaginationism.” The paintings are bold, text-driven and visually immediate. They combine world events, local Liberties landmarks, religious and political imagery, opera, music, and personal fears, as in her many paintings of dogs. She often painted subjects that preoccupied or troubled her, transforming them into dense, layered compositions full of colour and commentary.

Rather than pursue formal exhibitions, her work lived in the everyday spaces of the Liberties: Jack Roche’s fruit and veg shop, Noel Fleming’s newsagents on Meath Street, and Oxfam on Francis Street, where she regularly donated paintings. Local shopkeepers quietly collected and preserved the work. In the late 2000s, her art was shown in Brent Pope’s Dublin gallery, one of the few formal exhibitions of her practice.

Curated by Paul Duane
From the collection of Noel Flemming

With special thanks to Valerie's Family

Exhibition Opening: Monday 4th May at 6pm
Exhibition continues: Tues-Sun 5th - 10th May 10am - 6pm

Location: 46/47 Meath Street, Dublin 8