Irish Furniture Designer takes New York by storm
9th November 2008
One of Ireland’s most promising young furniture designers Joseph Walsh is taking New York by storm.
Joseph Walsh from Riverstick in County Cork was invited to exhibit his wonderful bespoke designs in the prestigious American Irish Historical Society (AIHS) on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, and the show is proving such a hit that it has been extended by one month to the end of November.
‘Realisations’ is Walsh’s first major solo exhibition in New York and honours this self-taught artist’s remarkable achievements. The body of work on display represents the most significant collection of his work created over the last 10 years. So important is the show that Walsh was also invited to give a lecture at Harvard this week, speaking to a packed audience at the prestigious institution’s Graduate School of Design.
Joseph Walsh made his first serious impact in the US last year when he was selected by the Crafts Council of Ireland to exhibit at one of the world’s most presitigious art fairs, SOFA Chicago. During the fair ‘In Aer’, one of his spectacular large-scale tables, was selected as a major installation of the show. While there, Walsh created a stir by selling his olive ash rocking chaise ‘Suaimhneas’ to John H. Bryan, one of America’s most important collectors of contemporary craft. This chair is also in the collection of the National Museum of Ireland. Walsh will once more be travelling to Chicago with the Crafts Council of Ireland this weekend to take part in SOFA 2008.
‘Realisations’ in the AIHS, just across the street from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is attracting some very influential visitors and has received wonderful support from Ambassador Niall Burgess, Consul General of Ireland, Culture Ireland and Tourism Ireland
Speaking after visiting the exhibition, Úna Parsons, CEO of the Crafts Council of Ireland, congratulated Walsh on his wonderful achievement, saying it was an important step towards introducing contemporary Irish craft to a wider New York audience: “The Crafts Council of Ireland are very keen to strengthen the linkages Joseph has initiated and, along with Ambassador Burgess and the AIHS, we are already looking at supporting a showcase of Irish craft in New York.”
To download Press Release go to: http://www.ccoi.ie/press/index.php
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