Claire Curneen included in ‘A Deeper Understanding : Responding to (Verrocchio’s) Tobias and the Angel’ from the National Gallery Collection

We are thrilled at Claire Curneen’s inclusion alongside Verrocchio, Rembrandt and Claud Lorain in ‘A Deeper Understanding : Responding to Tobias and the Angel’ at Oriel Davies Gallery.

Every year, the National Gallery partners with organisations and audiences across the UK to ensure that everyone in Britain can engage with their national collection. Oriel Davies Gallery’s latest 'Masterpiece Tour' loan from the National Gallery in London is 'Tobias and the Angel' from the Workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio which was painted as an altarpiece around 1470-75 and forms the centre point of the exhibition.

The story of 'Tobias and the Angel' is explored directly in ‘A Deeper Understanding : Responding to Tobias and the Angel’ through contemporary works shown alongside three historic works on loan for the exhibition. These historical representational images from Verrocchio (1470), Rembrandt (1641) and Claude Lorrain (1774) all show aspects of the story. As the angel departs in Rembrandt's print you see his feet as he disappears through the window, this has a direct connection with Claire Curneen's suspended figure one of her works exhibited in the show. Curneen’s work responds to the narrative of Christian, and more specifically, Catholic tradition. "The Angels represent a grand presence. They are messengers, bringers of news, good or bad. They serve as a reminder of our mortality with a comforting presence. Terracotta is warm and has associations with the ground. It is ordinary and commonplace and therefore imparts a sense of belonging. This contrasts with the use of gold which carries meaning of high value and status. This work explores the idea of the importance of the ordinary existing alongside with the extraordinary’".

The exhibition continues until 5 March 2023 at Oriel Davies Gallery, Powys, Wales.

For more information on the exhibition click here

For more information on Claire Curneen click here