In association with the Galway International Arts Festival 2026, Kennys are delighted to be presenting an exhibition celebrating the life and work of German artist Gertrude Degenhardt this July (Opening on July 11th). Gertrude’s distinctive graphic work combines precision of line with theatrical imagination, drawing on themes of music, performance and storytelling.

Degenhardt first came to Ireland in the late 1970s while researching illustrations for a German-language edition of O’Flaherty’s short stories set on the Aran Islands. That visit marked the beginning of a long relationship with Galway and the West of Ireland. In time she and her husband Martin established a second home near Spiddal, and for almost fifty years she lived and worked between Germany and Ireland, drawing deeply on the landscapes, people and cultural life of both places.

Her work is distinguished by a highly individual graphic language, combining precision of line with theatrical imagination and a keen sense of observation. Music is a recurring presence throughout her practice, particularly Irish traditional music, where movement, rhythm and gesture become central visual motifs. Her figures, often musicians, wanderers, performers or solitary travellers, inhabit a world that is at once humorous, unsettling and deeply humane. A sense of exaggeration, satire and the grotesque frequently underpins her imagery, placing her work within a broader European tradition of graphic storytelling.

Presented in the year following her death, the exhibition will offer an opportunity to encounter the work of an artist whose imagery occupies a distinctive place in the cultural life of the region.

Join us at The Kenny Gallery on Saturday, July 11th from 3pm to celebrate the official opening of Ómós. Admission is free, many of the artworks are for sale and all are welcome! You can register at the link below, or feel free to join us on the day!

Any queries can be sent to Dean at art@kennys.ie