Robin and Chris are Portland-based painters who are working in contemporary art and in relationship to traditional Irish art.  Each approaches the idea differently — Chris Gray through meticulous realism and Robin Savage through modified cubism.  Both stress the linkages between the past and the contemporary.  Together, they remind viewers of the important intersections between the poetic and the political, in ways that mirror Irish punk music, with its mixture of folk and modern.  Robin is an associate professor in postcolonial art history, literature, and film, and is a lecturer at Rhode Island School of Design and MECA&D.  Chris Gray received his MFA and MA in Ethnomusicology from MECA&D and the University College Cork respectively. He is the lead artist for Dean Barger Studios in Westbrook.  Both are the curators of more than 14 shows for the Carrickahowley Gallery at the Maine Irish Heritage Center here in Portland, Maine. 

*For more on Carrickahowley and its origins and philosophy, visit:  https://maineirish.com/carrickahowley-gallery-at-mihc/