Sir, - The corrections column of June 5th carried a statement concerning my recent article on the visual arts exhibitions of L'Imaginaire Irlandais in Paris, and my remarks about the poor representation of artists connected with the Taylor Galleries in Dublin. In contradiction to this, it cited an exhibition by Charles Tyrrell, Mary Lohan and James O'Connor (all Taylor artists) at the Galerie Mediart.
This particular exhibition took place last March, and I was fully aware of it and received an invitation at the time, but it was over well before the main festival exhibitions were launched officially by the President late last month. So only in the most fringe sense could it be considered part of the "official" events.
The main group exhibitions scarcely featured a Taylor artist, and in general these were extremely thin on the ground. One eminent exception, Louis le Brocquy, has a show at the Galerie Maeght, but then he is a special case, since he lives part of the year in France and frequently exhibits there. Michael Mulcahy, who was included in a small group exhibition, is currently working in Paris.
I am not attempting to throw mud at the organisers or accusing them of any deliberate discrimination, merely commenting on what still seems to me a rather lopsided choice. I wish the entire festival well, and I think it has been an excellent initiative on the whole, but there is more to contemporary Irish art than what is currently on view in Paris. Yours, etc.,