about noel

Noel Connor
Selected Publications / Exhibitions / Residencies
1979 In the Egyptian Gardens, a poem-print collaboration with Tom Paulin (Issued by Sunderland Press)
1979 Gravities – a book of drawings to poems of Seamus Heaney (Charlotte Press, Newcastle-upon-Tyne)
Assemblages and Drawings – Spectro Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
1980 Five Artists – Arts Council Gallery, Belfast.
Books for the Eighties – Sunderland Arts Centre.
1981 Book of Juniper – a more extensive collaboration with Tom Paulin (Bloodaxe Books)
1982 Wall – a collection of poems and drawings edited and contributed to by Noel Connor (L.Y.C. Gallery and Press, Cumbria) with associated exhibition and readings.
Drawing from Poetry – Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast.
Drawing from Poetry – The National Poetry Centre Gallery, London
1983 Talitha cumi – a collection of poems and drawings edited and contributed to by Noel Connor (Bloodaxe Books)
1986 Green Meets Grey – The Potteries Museum and Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent.
1987 Selected Artist – First Annual Open Exhibition, The Potteries Museum and Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent.
1988 Relic – The Collective Gallery, Edinburgh Festival.
1989 Pictured Books – Lancaster Literature Festival.
1990 The Game of Love and Death – poems by John Heath-Stubbs, illustrated by Noel Connor, (Enitharmon Press).
1991 Selected Works – The National Poetry Library, South Bank Centre, London.
1992 Confounded Language – a collaboration with nine Irish poets, including Seamus Heaney, Michael Longley and Paul Muldoon, (Bloodaxe Books)
1993 Sheltering Places – a collaboration with the poet Gerald Dawe. Exhibited at the Linen Hall Library, Belfast, and as Invited Artist at the Cuirt Literature Festival, Galway.
Common Ground – Irish Artists Working in Britain, The Crescent Arts Centre, Scarborough.
1994 Wall of Words – Artists and Poets Working Together – Brighton Festival.
1995 Initials – an exhibition of painting and prints, The Kenny Gallery, Galway.
1996 Words Revealed, a collaboration with the poet Maura Dooley commissioned by the Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham and the Irish Crafts Council.
Four Green Fields and a Postcard Home – an exhibition of contemporary Irish Art – The Royal Dublin Show.
1997 Beyond Photography – The Photo-Arte Gallery, London
1998 Drawn to Words – an exhibition at the Portico Gallery, Manchester.
Poetry Instants – poem-print ‘scratchcard’ collaborations with twelve British and Irish poets. Exhibited at The National Poetry Society, London and The Portico Gallery, Manchester.
Poetry Instants – an event organised for the Manchester Irish Festival and Manchester Central Library, enabling readers to produce and exhibit their own poetry instant scratchcards in collaboration with the poet Roger Garfitt.
2000 You are here – eight site-specific poems written and displayed to match existing information stands, during residency at Jodrell Bank Science Centre and Arboretum.
2002 Text Messages – An exploration of the written word in fine art and craft, Rufford Craft Centre, Nottinghamshire.
2002/3 Punctuated Epiphanies – a set of prints based on selected pages from Ulysses by James Joyce, displayed for ‘Bloomsday’ at the Context Gallery, Derry.
2004/5 Inkwells – on-line publication/exhibition for the Potteries Museum and Gallery.
2004 Birdsongs – Site-specific work commissioned for the Hebden Bridge Sculpture Trail.
2005 Waterwords – ‘Invited Artist’ at the Hebden Bridge Sculpture Trail.
2006 The Painted Pot – Newport Museum and Gallery, Wales.
2007/8 Reclaiming the Names – a site-specific work commissioned for the new La Salle College, Belfast.
2009 Pump Poems’ – an installation at a Lake District petrol station for the FRED Festival of Arts, Cumbria.
2010 Companion Stones – a collaboration with artist Adam Walkden to produce a companion piece to be placed alongside a three hundred year old ‘guide stoop’ on Beeley Moor, Derbyshire.
2011/12 Poets meet Painters – writing inspired by art works, published by the Mill Cove Gallery, County Cork.
2012 Streetscene (Listening to a Painting…) – a poetry sound piece for the Grassington Festival Art Trail inspired by the Leeds Art Gallery’s Picture Lending Collection.
Tidetrove – poetry and photography derived from the Atlantic coastline of Donegal for the exhibition Gold, Silver and Bronze at the Shire Hall Gallery, Staffordshire.
2012/13 Discovery and Loss – Poems to accompany the paintings of Paul Stangroom:
Exhibited at the Biscuit Factory, Newcastle-upon-Tyne / The Watchtower Gallery, Berwick-upon-Tweed.
2013 Wordfall – a collaboration with the textile artist, Donna Rumble-Smith, based on a poem especially written for her work at the Talking Textiles Exhibition, the Shire Hall Gallery, Staffordshire.
Alchemies – (Paradise Mill – a re-imagined space) – a photographic study, at Jordangate House for the Barnaby Festival, Macclesfield.
In the Pause of Passing – Paintings of the North Pennines by Paul Stangroom, with poems by Noel Connor. (Whin Sill Press, Northumberland).
2014 Return to Birdoswald – an exhibition of drawings, photography and poetry at Birdoswald Roman Fort, Hadrian’s Wall, Cumbria.
Wirksworth Words – a photography/poetry sound piece, collaborating with the photographer Lee Hughes, for the Wirksworth Festival, Derbyshire.
2015 Three Counties Photographic Exhibition – selected images from the Ballinreavy series. Keele University.
The Painted Angel – shortlisted for the Corinium Poetry Prize and displayed at the museum’s Hare Gallery, Cirencester.
ForM Sculpture Exhibition – a selection from the Birdsong series of poetry plaques sited in the Bangor Castle Walled Garden.
2016 The Bilko Rosary and The Quiet Man: an interrogation – New Poems and Photoworks, The Verbal Arts Centre, Derry.
Coast – A selection of new photographs and poems especially produced for this group show at the Shire Hall Gallery, Staffordshire.
Insiders and Outsiders – Artlink Members Show, Fort Duncree, Donegal.
2017 Convergence – a collaborative exhibition with the photographer David Gepp, The Verbal Arts Centre, Derry.
The Canterbury Festival – shortlisted for Canterbury Festival, Poet of the Year.
2018 Wounded Words – a site specific installation of photoworks and new poetry in response to his research into the archives of the poet John Clare, The Dovecot at the John Clare Cottage Museum, Cambridgeshire.
Aurivo Poetry Prize – Awarded the North West Words Poetry Prize (Donegal).
2019 The Bovedy Illuminations – two complementary exhibitions, including a specially created short film, to mark the 50thanniversary of the Bovedy Meteorite, The Armagh Planetarium and The Market Place Theatre and Arts Centre.
The Bovedy Illuminations – a showing of the film alongside readings and discussion with the poet Gerald Dawe at the Seamus Heaney HomePlace, Bellaghy, Co. Derry.
2019/20 Termon: A Place of Sanctuary – a short film projected into the vaulted ceiling of Coventry Cathedral on New Year’s Eve, part of an event with a live audience organised by Open Projections.
2020 Drawn from Borders – An artist led group exhibition exploring the concept and reality of borders, specifically the border created 100 years ago by the partition of Ireland. In partnership with the Nerve Centre and Tower Museum Derry, and Artlink, Donegal. As a result of the Coronaviris crisis lockdown the exhibition was presented in a virtual environment at the Saldanha Gallery, Fort Dunree.
A First Victim – a section of The Bovedy Illuminations film shortlisted for the Ó Bhéal International Poetry-Film Competition, Cork Festival.