The Royal Art Lodge began in Winnipeg in 1996, made up of a number of artists who had attended the University of Manitoba together. The Royal Art Lodge now consists of just three artists, and Marcel Dzama's recent re-location to New York means that Michael Dumontier and Neil farber are the only two members based in Winnipeg. For their show at the Douglas Hyde Gallery, 80 paintings will be exhibited, plus a number of solo works by each artist. While the group has always had a tendency to touch on themes of death and sinister things, these seem particulary prevalent in this body of work. The Royal Art Lodge members seem to be slowly dispersing, their collective shelter and solace dismantling; death and trauma may be themes which resonate more strongly within their group now, as their numbers decline and their future seems uncertain. Perhaps this will be one of The Royal Art Lodge's last ever shows; it is difficult to say for sure. And, in the end, it doesn't really matter; everything changes as time progresses.

The pressures, contraints and knowledge that naturally come with adulthood often mae it difficult to achieve genuinely child-ike, agenda-free art. And it is partly this honesty and unpretentiousness, which are so engagingly combined with an edge of instinctive insight that make the work of The Royal Art Lodge so refreshingly charming and enjoyable. Neither these qualities, nor the future, can be consciously pre-determined.

- Ali Davey

The Douglas Hyde Gallery would like to thank the Canadian Embassy in Dublin for their generosity and support.

The exhibition was documented in a catalogue, with a text by Ali Davey. This book is now sold out.