Oliver Sears Gallery

08/10/2026

“It was so quiet. You’d hardly meet anyone. You’d wonder, Where is everybody? But of course they’re elsewhere, doing something else.”

That absence of other people haunts the work, as the dense trees, foliage and undergrowth, rushing rivers and calmer clearings have an added idea of the uncanny. There are still some places, even in Ireland, where we humans are not entirely at home.

Castlemorris Woods, as explored in Donald Teskey’s pair of new exhibitions, running in Dublin and New York, both are drawn from the artist’s year at the Tony and Jane O’Malley Residency, quartered in the late Tony O’Malley’s childhood home in Callan, Co Kilkenny.

Based there for a year, between 2022 and 2023, Teskey began to explore the nearby woods, where he discovered hills and trails, native trees and the solitude he had come to require.”

Castlemorris Woods by Donald Teskey opens is currently on view at Oliver Sears Gallery Dublin. Visits are welcome by appointment. 33 Fitzwilliam Street Upper, D02 YV32. Please call (01) 6449459 or email: [email protected]


The exhibition is also showing at 92NY New York
92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10128
92NY exhibition Viewing Hours: https://www.92ny.org/culture-arts/school-of-the-arts/art-center/gallery-exhibits/current-exhibition

Our thanks to Culture Ireland for its support

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art/2026/09/27/irish-artist-donald-teskey-at-70-theres-a-lot-of-history-of-baggage-to-painting/

Donald Teskey couldn’t find a way to make his paintings say what he wanted them to. Then he spent time on residencies, both with other artists and alone

14/09/2026

A catalogue gives an exhibition a life beyond the walls of the gallery: it becomes a permanent record of the work, and an object that can continue to reach artists, collectors, curators and institutions long after the exhibition has closed.

Beyond the visual documentation of the exhibition, valuable contributions with introductions and essays, often written by notable poets, authors and art critics add a literary dimension to complete the exhibition experience.

The hard copy exhibition catalogue will not be replaced by digitisation; it’s here to stay.

The design of the Castlemorris Woods catalogue is by Oystercatchertf

Friends in the U.S. please join us for the New York opening of Castlemorris Woods by Donald Teskey.
📍92NY, 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10128
📆 Thursday 17 September, 6pm
🙏 RSVP essential:Register here: https://bit.ly/3Uwb9xv

Friends in Ireland, Castlemorris Woods is now open at Oliver Sears Gallery. The gallery is open by appointment. 33 Fitzwilliam Street Upper, Dublin D02 YV32. Call (01) 6449459 or email:[email protected]

With thanks to Culture Ireland for its support

02/09/2026

Philip Guston "I believe it was John Cage who once told me, ‘When you start working, everybody is in your studio—the past, your friends, enemies, the art world, and above all, your own ideas—all are there. But as you continue painting, they start leaving, one by one, and you are left completely alone. Then, if you’re lucky, even you leave.’

In 2022, Donald Teskey was the recipient of the Tony O’Malley Residency award, first set up in 2010 by Jane O'Malley, the wife of Tony O'Malley, the most important Irish abstract painter of his generation. The Residency, administered by the Royal Hibernian Academy School, is awarded on an annual basis to an artist who wishes to work primarily in the medium of paint.

Located in Callan, Co. Kilkenny, Teskey spent a year embedded in the surrounding ancient woodland of Castlemorris, an estate that was once a 12th century Norman demesne. For a number of years, Teskey had contemplated working in the forests, so the residency fell ideally onto his temporal radar. Working first en plein air, he then returned to the studio to scale up the works.

Castlemorris Woods by Donald Teskey opens at
Oliver Sears Gallery Dublin
Tuesday 8 September, 6pm
33 Fitzwilliam Street Upper
Dublin D02 YV32

And at 92NY New York
Thursday 17 September, 6pm
92nd Street Y
1395 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10128

RSVP absolutely essential to the New York exhibition:Register here: https://bit.ly/3Uwb9xv

Donald Teskey
92nd Street Y
With thanks to for their support

09/03/2026

Artist Talk at the RHA

Nature Held: Memory and Making

Sasha Sykes and Sean Kissane in conversation

📆 Wednesday 11th March
⏱️ 1pm - 2pm
📍Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) Ely Place, Dublin 2

Artist Sasha Sykes will be joined by Sean Kissane, IMMA Exhibitions Curator, to discuss Sasha’s current show Filial Love. Join us for an informal discussion in the exhibition space to learn about the meaning and making of Filial Love.

Free admission: no booking required

https://rhagallery.ie/events/public-events/nature-held-memory-and-making/

Sasha Sykes is an Irish artist whose work investigates, manipulates and celebrates the material language of the natural world. Her sculptures, artworks and design pieces are composed from plants, flowers, algae and fungi that she collects from the local landscape. Her intensely beautiful handmade objects interrogate concepts of usefulness and play and explore how the human desire for both discipline and the fantastic meets and interacts with the wild genius of nature at the liminal boundary.

Sasha’s unique work primarily uses resins and acrylics to capture and re-present the world that grows around. Her architectural background infuses her work with a sense of rigour and informs her precise approach to form and composition, examining the concepts of history, place and relationships in a 21st century context.

Sasha’s work was most recently shown in the Kunsthammer exhibition at Lismore Castle, and Salon at the Armory in New York. She is the winner of the Golden Fleece Award 2025. She works from a sheep wool studio at the foothills of the Wicklow mountains.

Sasha’s work is in many public collections including The National Museum of Ireland, The Office of Public Works, The Department of Foreign Affairs, The Department of Culture Communications & Sport, and numerous global collections including The Bank of America, Afiaa, Porsche Collection, and The Weinzierl Collection.

22/12/2025

Next stop, Los Angeles.
With thanks to Culture Ireland.

07/11/2025

The Gloss Magazine’s Artistic License features David Eager Maher in conversation with Penny McCormick. A thoughtful exchange on art, community, wonder, curiosity, and of course, Dublin Gallery Weekend.

Our warmest thanks to Penny for her constant and generous support of artists and the contemporary galleries that champion them.

The Wicklow-based artist draws inspiration from the mythology of the so-called New World for his vibrant hyper-detailed landscape paintings

05/11/2025

The Dublin Gallery Weekend website is a treasure trove offering a discerning guide to the city’s most compelling curated experiences - from exhibitions and talks to private views and special events. Explore the breadth of Dublin’s vibrant cultural landscape this weekend at www.dublingaleryweekend.ie

At Oliver Sears Gallery, we are pleased to present:

Exhibition Opening: EMPIRE by David Eager Maher
🗓️ Friday 7th Nov, 6pm
📍 Oliver Sears Gallery, 33 Fitzwilliam St Upper, D02TF82

In Conversation: David Eager Maher and Mary Cremin, IMMA Head of Programming
🗓️ Sunday 9th November, 11.00 am
📍 Irish Architectural Archive, 45 Merrion Sq East, D02 VY60

Booking for the conversation is essential, contact us at [email protected]

04/11/2025

As part of Dublin Gallery Weekend we are pleased to present:
IN CONVERSATION: David Eager Maher & Mary Cremin, IMMA Head of Programming.

🗓️ Sunday 9th November, 11.00 am
📍 Irish Architectural Archive, 45 Merrion Sq East, D02 VY60

Please join us for this informal discussion which will cover David’s life, work and practice, including 'Empire', his new exhibition which opens on Friday 7th Nov 6pm at Oliver Sears Gallery.

Booking for talk is essential and places are filling up! email: [email protected]

Mary Cremin is a curator, writer and art historian. She is the Head Of Programming at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. She was the Director, Void Gallery, Derry from 2017-2023, where she commissioned the Turner Prize winning film The Long Note by artist Helen Cammock. She was the Commissioner and Curator of the Irish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, 2019 with artist Eva Rothschild.

David Eager Maher is an Irish artist whose practice explores the boundaries between memory, history, and imagined space through a distinctive approach to painting and drawing. His layered, poetic works engage with ideas of landscape, beauty, and transformation, reinterpreting classical motifs within contemporary visual culture.

DGW2025 is presented by the Contemporary Art Gallery Association (CAGA) & produced by So Simpatico.

See www.dublingalleryweekend.ie for further information on the many events, openings & talks across the city.

29/10/2025

Please join us for the opening of 'Empire' by David Eager Maher Friday 7th November 6pm as part of Dublin Gallery Weekend.

The work draws visual and conceptual influence from the mythology of the so-called “New World” - the 19th-century vision of the American frontier as an open, boundless, and bountiful landscape.

📍Oliver Sears Gallery, 33 Fitzwilliam Street Upper, Dublin D02TF82

See www.dublingalleryweekend.ie for further information on the many events, openings and talks across the city.
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30/09/2025

Fantastic weekend at the Curated Craft Fair, Heritage House, Daylesford.

Expertly curated by writer and gallerist Helen Chislett and founder Carole Bamford, who have brought the dedication, skill and philosophy of making to life.

And what a setting to show works by Liam Flynn Woodturning Studio, Joe Hogan and Sasha Sykes as well as the privilege of curated conversations with Helen and the remarkable makers showing at the fair.