A Measured Quietude: Contemporary Irish Drawings

A Measured Quietude presented contemporary works by Irish artists compelled by intimate explorations of drawing. Bringing together works by nine artists from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, the exhibition drew its title from the William Butler Yeats poem "To Ireland in the Coming Time," and was presented alongside a companion exhibition at the Grey Gallery at New York University. Nearly all of the artists included in the exhibition were presenting their drawings in the United States for the first time. The exhibition was accompanied by an illustrated brochure with an essay by Caoimhín Mac Giolla Léith, professor in the Department of Modern Irish and Director of Film Studies at University College, Dublin.

The exhibition drew connections between the works on view, including lyrical drawings by Fionnuala Ní Chiosáin, diptychs by Fergus Martin, and a wall drawing by John Kindness. One such artist, Colin Darke, reflected upon the history of resistance within Northern Ireland, composing a grid of cigarette papers inscribed with miniature text, contrasted with bold lettering that read "You Are Now Entering Free Derry." In this piece, Darke traced the history of the Troubles and the 1969 self-declared autonomous zone in Derry, Northern Ireland.