Though we may rarely realize it, the Bible has had a more profound effect on human existence than any other text. Our ideas of good and evil, of the afterlife and damnation spring from between its covers; to this day, its far reaching power remains.  Scottish artist and Turner Prize nominee David Mach has been so inspired by the King James Bible that his latest work Precious Light undertakes to explore the themes and legacies of what is the most influential book, ever.

Visually stunning: David Mach’s Precious Light

An exhibition that has taken over three years to complete, Precious Light is a visually arresting work utilizing collage, sculpture and words to profound effect. Housed in the ABSOLUT Festival Gallery (a venue the size of a football field, folks and designed especially for the festival going from a warehouse to a world class gallery in a matter of weeks) Precious Light was transported by 40 articulated trucks and is Mach’s largest exhibition to date.

Speaking about the ABSOLUT Festival Gallery, the biggest temporary structure of the festival, Artistic Director Paul Fahy says, ‘…the ABSOLUT Festival Gallery is going to look amazing again this year! We have a great new design for the gallery and the build is progressing really well and is the most ambitious gallery project of the Festival’s history. Artwork from around the world has begun to arrive in Galway. The gallery will be home to five extraordinary exhibitions from David Mach, Marina Abramovic with Charles Atlas, Brain Maguire, Joe Comerford and Lynne O’Loughlin with Pete Ray.’

Artistic Director Paul Fahy and David Mach take a break during the transformation of the ABSOLUT Gallery space.

The ABSOLUT Festival Gallery is a fantastic space and experience. It was one of the jewels in the crown of last year’s festival – a common refrain around Galway at the time was, ‘aww – can we not keep it?’ – and this year’s is guaranteed to be even more impressive. Full details on this amazing space and all of this year’s visual art exhibitions are available from http://www.galwayartsfestival.com/