Becoming a success in Manhattan is the most satisfying success of all, as Cork furniture designer Joseph Walsh is currently discovering.
Walsh was invited to exhibit his bespoke designs in the American Irish Historical Society (AIHS) on Fifth Avenue, and the show has been so successful that it has been extended by a month to the end of November. The exhibition, Realisations, is the self-taught artist's first major solo exhibition in New York, and represents the most significant collection of his work created over the past decade. Last year, Walsh made a splash when he sold his distinctive olive ash rocking chaise Suaimhneas (left) to John H Bryan, one of the most important collectors of contemporary craft in the US. Walsh's work, with its characteristic undulating curves and organic, motion-like forms, had marked him out as one of Ireland's most promising designers, as much a sculptor of wood as a furniture-maker. Now, with the acclaim of Manhattan secured, his reputation looks like it will extend far beyond these shores.