Tender moments, tender flesh, tender touch, tender thoughts, tender heart, tender mind; try a little tenderness. 

A tender moment is encapsulated in an act of thoughtfulness; a cup of tea at the end of the day, a gift of flowers, a display of love. Tenderness is to give up one's time, attention, precious moments devoted to another. Tenderness is also pain, a moment of fragility, of weakness. It evokes skin which expands, shrinks, multiplies, and shivers to the touch. Skin which is a dying organism, for surely that is what we all are. A tender morsel of meat, deliciously melts in the mouth. 

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Exploring these themes in contrasting ways ‘Try a little Tenderness’ brings together the works of three artists whose practice is unified in the attempt to capture these fleeting moments. 

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Ingrid Berthon-Moine’s multidisciplinary work explores the human experience in all its humour, its beauty, fleshiness and rawness. Using simplified forms, Berthon-Moine hints at notions of sexuality, life and death, often with a playfulness which encourages the sensation of touch and tactileness. 

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Flora Bradwell’s practice revels in the generously grotesque. Spanning painting, soft sculpture, installation and performance, Bradwell takes the bodily form and mutates it into giant proportions. Colourful and comforting yet monstrously alien, questioning notions of home, care and our relationship with our own bodies.

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Damien Flood’s work spans painting and sculpture and are recognisably traditional but steeped in surprisingly modern principles. Tender moments are captured, fleeting as if a dream, yet tactile enough for recognition. The experience of a lived experience and the fleeting moments we cherish and cling to. 

All are welcome to join us to celebrate the opening of ‘Try a little…Tenderness’ on Saturday 4th February 5-8pm, kindly sponsored by Old Dairy Brewery.

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This exhibition is proudly sponsored by Culture Ireland.