Nano Reid ADAMANTINE1
5th October 2021 – 22nd January 2022
Most people in the Drogheda area will have seen one or two of Nano Reid’s paintings but the chance to see sixty of them in one place is an opportunity not to be missed.
Nano Reid was without doubt Drogheda’s most accomplished artist of the twentieth century and Highlanes Gallery is marking the 40th anniversary of her death with a special exhibition exploring her life, work and legacy.
The exhibition is called ‘Adamantine’ which apparently means unbreakable or unyielding, something bold and powerful and the combined effect of the 60 works in this show certainly fits that bill.
‘Adamantine’ could also be used to describe Reid herself and how she was strong enough to forge her way through an artistic landscape dominated by men to become one of the most exciting and original artists of her generation, with an evocative style completely her own.
Do yourself a favour and visit the Highlanes between now and January 22 because it is a great thrill to see the excellent work of “one of our own” on show.
Born Anne Margaret Reid on 1 March 1900, Nano was the eldest of four children of publican Thomas Reid and his wife Anne (née Downey) whose family home was above their pub in James Street which was demolished to make way for the dual carriageway.
Nano attended school at the Siena Convent, where her talent for painting was nurtured.
On leaving school she enrolled to train as a nurse but left after just a couple of months and started her studies at the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin where she met artist Harry Clarke, who was to become famous for his exquisite stained glass windows and also a lifelong friend and artistic influence for Nano.
Reid is one of the most original and important artists of her generation and for this exhibition The Highlanes has borrowed works, from major public collections such as the National Gallery of Ireland, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Crawford Art Gallery, the Arts Council of Ireland, National Museums, NI, as well as the Drogheda Municipal Art Collection and many private collections across Ireland.
Through the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, the Gallery has received two grants under the Regional Museums Exhibition scheme to activate research and commission new texts across a broad range of perspectives and disciplines, including art history, community history, and creative writing, and by writers including Nathan O’Donnell, Roisin Kennedy, Kathryn Milligan, Niamh Campbell, and Brendan Matthews.
Themes explored will include gender in art, then and now; history and mythology in both urban and rural environments (specifically her beloved Boyne Valley and Drogheda); and ethnicity and belonging (Reid had a deep engagement with, and interest in, Ireland’s Traveller community).
To mark the exhibition, two significant gifts will be presented to the Highlanes Collection: the first is the artist’s own personal Paint Box, complete with brushes and paints, gifted by the artist, Roger O’Reilly; the second is Rath Bran Mhór, a painting not seen in public since it appeared in the prestigious ‘Twelve Irish Painters’ Exhibition in New York almost 60 years ago. This has been gifted by David Britton and Karen Reihill.
