DUBLIN.- The Arts Council announced that it has added 11 new works to its Collection which will be seen by audiences across the country, the state agency responsible for developing the arts said today.

The artists whose work is added to the Collection are Michelle Browne, Genieve Figgis, Joy Gerrard, Dragana Jurisic, Barbara Knezevic, Sarah Pierce, Eva Rothschild and Michael John Whelan.

These art works will be added to the almost 1,100 works of modern and contemporary Irish art in the Collection and mark the latest additions to the Council’s long history of purchasing excellent and ambitious works of art that reflects the practise of artists working in Ireland today.

Comprising works across painting, sculpture, photography, video and multimedia installations the new purchases are drawn from across the spectrum of contemporary visual arts practice and will be accessible to public audiences throughout the country as part of the Arts Council Collection’s ongoing programme of exhibitions, loans and projects.

Announcing the purchases Sheila Pratschke, Chair of the Arts Council: ‘’The Arts Council is delighted to add these 11 important works to its Collection and to continue its tradition of purchasing excellent contemporary art for people to enjoy across Ireland. Over the past 60 years the Arts Council Collection has grown to almost 1100 works and these new acquisitions are significant additions to this rich history.

These acquisitions meet the Arts Councils key priorities of supporting artists and public engagement with the arts set out in its 10 year strategy Making Great Art Work: Leading the Development of the Arts.’’

These new works will be formally acquisitioned into the Collection and will be made accessible to the public through display in venues throughout Ireland and via the dedicated Arts Council Collection website.

Over the coming years, the Arts Council Collection will continue to grow further expanding its programme of exhibitions, loans and partnerships aimed at facilitating the public across the country to experience and engage with the works first hand.

List of works acquired:

• Michelle Browne, Mná na hÉirean, 2016

• Genieve Figgis, The Lover crowned (after Fragonard), 2018

• Joy Gerrard, Protest Crowd, Chicago USA, Trump Rally 1, (2016), 2017, Protest Crowd, Chicago, USA, Trump Rally 2,(2016), 2017

• Dragana Jurisic, 100 Muses, 2015

• Barbara Knezevic, Exquisite tempo sector, 2017

• Sarah Pierce, Intelligence of the Measured Hand, 2014

• Eva Rothschild, Trophy 2014

• Michael John Whelan, Darkness had no need (1), 2017, Darkness had no need (2), 2017, Darkness had no need (3), 2017