Illustrator and designer Craig Carry was commissioned by Crash Ensemble during 2022 to create a visual response capturing the essence of Crash Ensemble and interpreting the concert programme for Crash’s 25th birthday events. The exhibition includes works responding to Donnacha Dennehy’s Grá agus Bás, Barry O’Halpin’s Wingform and Liza Lim’s Extinction Events and Dawn Chorus
alongside work representing the ensemble itself.
Supported by an Arts Council commissions award.
Craig Carry is a Cork-based graphic designer and printmaker. A full-time member of Cork Printmakers with a background in design, Craig’s printmaking work has included limited edition screen-printed concert posters for both Irish-based musicians (Gilla Band, Glen Hansard, HousePlants, Lisa O’Neill, Brigid Mae Power, The Gloaming, Villagers) and international musicians (A Hawk And A Hacksaw, Amiina, Courtney Barnett, Spencer Krug, Willy Mason, This Is The Kit, Xylouris White).
The screen-printed work is often produced with the use of recurring motifs through visual puns in limited colour palettes, while a combination of digital and hand-crafted artwork forms the basis of the stencil separations and resultant imagery. Often, the message is subtlety incorporated into a piece, drawn upon and inspired by the source material: music.
In 2012, Craig set up the music website Fractured Air (2012—2020) which featured regular contributions from an array of artists, including: Calexico, Colleen, Warren Ellis, Nils Frahm, Hauschka and Cillian Murphy. The website has also been featured at various platforms in the past including: the award winning Paris-based music website La Blogothèque; Galway International Arts Festival and IMMA Rising, Dublin.
Working across design and illustration, Craig has produced work for various clients including: independent record labels Ergodos, Memphis Industries and Sonic Cathedral; American roots music magazine No Depression; Berlin-based music collective Stargaze; Cork’s Sounds From A Safe Harbour and Cork-based production company Sparsile, the latter comprising a collaborative project with Irish writer Sara Baume.
