Conamara UnConstrained, a solo exhibition of new work by local artist Geraldine Folan will open this Friday night, July 25, in Oughterard Courthouse. The fourth and final event of the 2025 Oughterard Summer Arts Programme, it will be officially launched by former Galway City Arts Officer, James Harrold, at 7pm.

Born in Salthill and now living in Oughterard, Geraldine has been painting and exhibiting since 1998. She graduated from of GMIT (now ATU) with a degree in Fine Art and has been an active member of the local arts collective uachtarARTS since moving to the area. Geraldine was part of the group that participated in Conamara: Influenced by Harry Clarke for last year’s Clifden Arts Festival.

Her work has been exhibited in Ireland as well as in Germany and in London, and it’s held in public and private collections – including in the Department of Culture, Communication and Sport, and the University of Galway.

Geraldine’s previous solo exhibition, A Year on the Prom, was shown at the Connacht Tribune Printworks Gallery in 2016 and was widely acclaimed.

Throughout her career, she has explored the interplay between memory, place and the wild beauty of the Western landscape and she continues that exploration in Conamara UnConstrained, her new body of work that was inspired by the elemental power and wildness of Conamara. She works in oils, acrylics and mixed media, and her paintings move between abstract and semi-abstract as she responds in a visceral, textural and emotionally charged way to her surroundings.

“I am not painting what the landscape looks like, but what it feels like to stand within it,” Geraldine explains. “This is not polite landscape painting. For me, Conamara demanded a wildness of method – a bold, unrestrained approach that mirrors the untamed nature of the place itself.”

The exhibition will run from this Friday until Bank Holiday Monday, August 4, in the Oughterard Courthouse Gallery. The space is open Monday to Saturday 10am-5pm and Sundays and Bank Holiday Monday 12pm-5pm. Admission is free and all are welcome.