Our favourite art shows over the past 12 months include Mainie Jellett and Evie Hone at the National Gallery, Kunstkammer, in Waterford, and Lisa Fingleton, in Tralee
Irish Times 20th December 2026
Thanks to the Irish Times for naming The Square Tomato as one of the top ten exhibitions of the year. Thank you also to the thousands of people who came to see the show and to the team at Siamsa Tire for hosting the exhibition.
Lisa Fingleton: The Square Tomato Siamsa Tíre, Tralee, Co Kerry, February-March Referencing “advances” in bioengineering aimed at making fruit and veg easier to pack, the artist, grower and writer Lisa Fingleton jumped into a series of serious meditations on how much we’re screwing up the natural world in the name of progress. What made this show a standout was the wit with which Fingleton leavened her messaging, and the breadth of her sources. Her filmed interview with the Indian physicist and environmentalist Vandana Shiva also provided a sliver of hope. Other highlight works in this vein included Bernadette Kiely’s No Promised Land painting at the RHA Annual, and John Conneely and Conor Maloney’s Funeral for Ashes at the Festival Print-works Gallery for Galway International Arts Festival (although four times was probably plenty for David Mach, who again made the main Galway festival installation, exuberant and eye catching – Gemma Tipton, Irish Times
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