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The Irish Times – Images of the day – Thur 27th June 2019
FIRST PRIZE: Artist Orla Whelan (C) is seen with her piece ‘Chaos Bewitched’ after becoming the inaugural winner of The Merrion Plinth Award. Photograph: Naoise Culhane
THE MERRION PLINTH
Artist Orla Whelan is the inaugural winner of The Merrion Plinth Award, pictured here with her winning piece: ‘Chaos Bewitched,’ 2019, Oil, birch wood, glass.
Orla Whelan is the first winner of this new biennial contemporary art prize of €5,000 with the winning piece of art taking up residence in the hotel for the next two years.
The Merrion Plinth was created to celebrate the hotel’s 21 years in business, and through an open submission process for professional artists a shortlist of five artists were selected including Alva Gallagher, Jane Rainey, Lee Welch, Marcel Vidal and Orla Whelan. The judges included Lochlann Quinn, Chairman of the hotel, Patrick Murphy, Director of the RHA and Oonagh Young, Director of The Oonagh Young Gallery.
As dedicated supporters of visual art, The Merrion hotel aims to support contemporary artists by sponsoring this prize honouring outstanding talent. The Merrion Plinth will continue to run as an open submission competition every two years. The hotel is already home to an important private collection of 19th and 20th-century art, to which the hotel’s grand interiors offer the perfect backdrop.