Talk: Is Conservation Really Necessary? with Butler Gallery Registrar Ann Chumbley and Artist Eamon Colman

Is Conservation Really Necessary?


What happens to an artwork after it leaves the artist’s studio? Should every work of art be made to last forever, or is impermanence part of the creative process?

Join Butler Gallery Registrar Ann Chumbley and artist Eamon Colman for a thought-provoking conversation exploring the relationship between artistic practice and conservation. Through a show-and-tell of his own work practices, Eamon will discuss how he creates his distinctive colours and materials, revealing the processes behind his paintings and asking whether preservation is something he considers while making.

Together, Ann and Eamon will explore fundamental questions about why artists create: for longevity, for the art market, or simply for the act of making itself?

This talk is part of this year’s Heritage Week programme, entitled ‘Heritage At Risk’ and marks the first part of a new project by Butler Gallery funded by The Heritage Council to conserve and ultimately display a number of early works from the gallery’s permanent collection. Ann will give insight into this ongoing project during the talk.

Kindly supported by The Heritage Council. Visit butlergallery.ie for more events later in the year regarding this conservation project.