I have been around the city this weekend because of an event called "Dublin Gallery weekend", in which as the name says many galleries are open to the public. I have been to several museums but sometimes you do not really feel welcomed in a small gallery unless you are sure you want to invest a few bob in something. I had decided that this weekend was an excellent opportunity to explore the arty bits of Dublin 1 and 2 like a viewer and as an admirer as I love many types of art.
I have been to about 10 galleries and most of them are not very big in size nor offer a very wide selection of items. Most of those businesses have a nice website featuring past, recent and future exhibitions and I guess I was expecting to see so much more but in reality there is more info in their website than in the place itself where you can find one main exhibition and not much to browse around; in this aspect I prefer museums for sure.
I bumped into this tiny gallery as it was not in the program but I was glad to stop by. When you are walking along Grafton Street there is a small alley called Johnson's court in the right side which usually has a lovely old lady playing her harp and if you keep on going straight like if you were going to the Powerscourt Centre, you will end up seeing a small turn to the left where Balla Bán is located.
The place is indeed extremely tiny (being classified as a boutique gallery) and is clearly more business oriented selling several paintings, drawings and caricatures appealing to a more general public as many of the items in display are quite funny. Also prices are more affordable and everyone can get something to put on their "white walls", hence the Irish name for the business which I think has great variety, location and no opulence but is quite trendy. read more