About the artist Joanne 'Betty' Conlon
I'm Joanne but most people call me Betty. I graduated from Limerick School of Art and Design in Fine Art printmaking.
I am a Dublin based visual artist working across various mediums, such as photography, drawing and printmaking in analogue and digital formats. I gravitate primarily towards photography as the foundation of my practice, which I often combine or transform into other mediums.
I photograph my surroundings regularly, documenting our ever changing environment. I'm concerned with establishing a visual preservation of places and people, especially in Dublin City, my adopted home of over 30 years. I strive to investigate and reflect on the possibilities and importance of communities through my interpretation of places. I'm motivated to bring a spotlight on and call attention to these empty, unused buildings with a previous history now sadly left to decline through lack of attention. By documenting them through photography and drawing, I am holding onto or creating new memories of the space.
My work often delves into the past. I use my photographs and work with found source material, which I have gathered over many years. Items such as photographs, slides, letters, postcards and visual books. Some are of a personal nature, images of friends and family comfortable with their surroundings. Others have an educational or promotional context. All are generally over 40 years old. I utilise imagery from this source material to tease new ideas, recontextualising them through drawing, printmaking and collage. Through these various processes, I bring these items back from obscurity and create new narratives and reimagined stories where real and fictional coexist.
I am a professional member of Visual Artists Ireland and my work hangs in private and public collections. I have been supported by the Arts Council through the Agility Award.
Exhibitions
2023 - Windmill Art Exhibition | Curated by Jeanette Lowe | Windmill studios
2023 - A Community of Hope: Artists for Dublin Simon Art Auction | Curated by John O’Donnell | Gormleys Fine Art/Adams.ie
2023 - Open Submission Group Show | Curated by Blaise Smith RHA | Dunamaise Gallery
2023 - Small Things Like These | Cork County Council Arts Office’s LHQ Gallery
2023 - Bounced Cheques - Solo exhibition | Curated by Mella Travers | The Darkroom
2023 - Halftone print fair | Curated by PhotoIreland | The Library Project
2023 - Commuovere | Curated by Amanda Jane Graham | Birr vintage week
2022/2023 - Person/Presence/Perception | Curated by OPW/NICS | The Burnavon, Dunamaise Arts Centre, Kilmallock Library, Armagh County Museum, Casino Marino
2022 - Celebrating Women’s Day | 10 women showcase handmade artist books and prints | Curated by Mella Travers | The Darkroom
2022 - Halftone print fair | Curated by PhotoIreland | The Library Project
2022 - An exhibition in the making | Curated by Mella Travers | The Darkroom | PhotoIreland Festival
2021 - Lost and found | Curated by Mella Travers | The Darkroom | PhotoIreland Festival
2021 - Halftone print fair | Curated by PhotoIreland | The Library Project
2020 - RUA Annual Exhibition
2019 - Halftone print fair | Curated by PhotoIreland | The Library Project
2019 - RUA Annual Exhibition
2017 - Halftone print fair | Curated by PhotoIreland | The Library Project
2017 - RUA Annual Exhibition
2017 - RHA Annual Exhibition
2016 - Halftone print fair | Curated by PhotoIreland | The Library Project
2015 - RUA Annual Exhibition
2015 - RHA Annual Exhibition
2014 - RUA Annual Exhibition
2014 - Pursuit of beauty - A visual representation of real women | Curated by Arts Shift | The Library Project
2013 - RUA Annual Exhibition
2013 - Birr Arts Festival
2013 - FORMAT International Photography Festival | Curated by Louise Clements | Derby UK
2012 - Civilising the Wilderness | Curated by Dr. Barbara Dawson and Brian Duggan | Visual
2012 - f/22 | Curated by Karol Liver | Mad Art Gallery | PhotoIreland Festival
Accomplishments
Market forces - My Bounced Cheques series in Irish Arts review Spring edition 2024
Residency at The Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annaghmakerrig
Awarded 2 year membership to the The DarkRoom
Publication by Askeaton Contemporary Arts - Scenes from the Analogue City, Joanne Betty Conlon & Kevin Barry
Photographs published in Winter Papers 3 arts anthology with accompanying essays by Kevin Barry in response to my images
My photograph was the inspiration behind the creation of an RTE Radio Drama on One - Digging For Fire where I discuss the photos origins. It sets the time and place of this story about Limerick and its music scene in the early 90s
Interview with Brand New Retro for Totally Dublin magazine
Artist talk at the Stoneybatter Arts Festival
Photographs published in The Irish Examiner
Office Reflections series selected for Square Magazine
Photograph selected for the cover of poetry pamphlet
Selected for a LensCulture account
Photograph published in Why Cant We? The story of The Cranberries by HotPress
Artist talk at the RUA
My bread and butter
I hope I can work as a full time artist in the future. In the meantime I have to pay the bills any way I can. Myself and my husband Micky run a design studio called Pixelated were we develop websites, videos and graphic design. I also work part-time for Mazars as a graphic designer and in all areas of digital media.