An exhibition of works from the Irish Museum of Modern Art Collection at South Tipperary Arts Centre, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, is part of a collaborative exhibition between the Arts Centre and IMMA’s National Programme. ‘Storytellers from the IMMA Collection’ combines artworks by Irish and international artists in a wide variety of media and includes an etching by Pablo Picasso, sculpture by Janet Mullarney and screenprints by Robert Ballagh.

The Portugese-born artist Paula Rego draws on the tradition of children’s storybook illustration in the etching ‘Little Miss Muffet’. This work was made in response to a request from Rego’s grandchild, who did not seem at all distressed by the enlarged spider and adult face of Miss Muffet. The etching also has Freudian connections, as Freud believed that the mother was often perceived by a child as a spider, capturing it in her limbs and encroaching on its life.

Tipperary-born artist Alice Maher, who represented Ireland at the São Paulo Biennale in 1994, works within the realms of nature and culture, subversion and transformation, mythology and memory. Using materials such as bees, berries and hair, she builds up a strong relationship with their histories and cultural associations in the creation of surreal works that appear like enchanted objects from a medieval folk tale.

‘Scraping the Surface’ by John Kindness was part of a series made in New York using ‘treasures’ found in the city. Kindness is interested in the debris of human life and in this work he uses a New York taxi cab door, which he came across lying abandoned in the street, to create an etching which is deliberately reminiscent of classical Greek attic vases.

A series of workshops and gallery talks will be held alongside the exhibition as part of the ‘Branching Out’ project. ‘Branching Out’ is a programme designed by the Irish Museum of Modern Art and National Irish Bank to be national, inclusive and participative, bringing the visual arts to the community and providing opportunities for the community to get involved.

‘Storytellers from the IMMA Collection’ continues until 28 February 2003 at the South Tipperary Arts Centre, Nelson Street, Clonmel, Co Tipperary.