Raffle of rare Crozier book to aid special exhibiton at Arts Centre

Fergus O’Mahony of the Warren Gallery in Castletownshend which hosted an exhibition to honour the memory of artist William Crozier last Friday night, with Katharine Crouan (the artist’s wife), Séan Kissane (curator, IMMA) who opened the exhibition and Eoin McGonigal (chairman IMMA)

BY JACKIE KEOGH

THE raffle of a rare book about the life and work of William Crozier will raise funds for a special exhibition at the West Cork Arts Centre.

Approximately half of the 50 limited tickets were sold at the launch of a William Crozier tribute exhibition at The Warren Gallery in Castletownshend at the weekend.

‘The launch on Friday night was very well attended because people were eager to get another glimpse of the mesmerising and colourful work of William Crozier,’ said Fergus O’Mahony, the owner of The Warren and Mary Ann’s restaurant and bar, which was the venue for a special tribute dinner on Saturday night.

Katharine Crouan, the wife of the late William Crozier, one of the best-known artists in West Cork, attended the launch of the exhibition, which will run until April 10th next, and she paid tribute to Fergus O’Mahony for his support of Bill’s work and his generous donation of the rare book. Fergus explained to The Southern Star that the book is one of 120 books that were produced in 2007, and it is just one of 20 hand-signed by the artist.

‘I decided to put the book up for raffle with the intention of raising €1,000, which will be used to stage a second Crozier exhibition at the West Cork Arts Centre in 2017, and we will be organising further fundraising events in the coming year to support this event.

‘In fact, it will complement another major Crozier exhibition scheduled to take place at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in August 2017. The Dublin exhibition will show the early work of William Crozier, but the later work will be showcased in Skibbereen.’