The Madonna of the Future
Scientists are working on artificial wombs that will allow infants to develop entirely outside the human body. In the near future, not only will we not need to have sex to reproduce, we won’t need to be functionally male or female either. We’re facing a revolution in the role that sex plays in human identity.…
Coming Home: Paintings by Carey Clarke
My great friend and former teacher Carey Clarke invited me to write the introduction to his exhibition of paintings at the Glebe Gallery in County Donegal which opened on August 20th 2023. Here is what I wrote, with some pictures from the exhibition. ‘Coming Home’ is the title of this exhibition, Carey Clarke’s first in…
Highlights from the RHA Annual Exhibition 2023
The Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition is the largest exhibition of contemporary art in Ireland. It is also the longest running: this is its 193rd year and the RHA itself, founded in 1823, is celebrating its bicentenary. The RHA Annual is also the largest open submission exhibition in Ireland. This year 4675 works were submitted,…
Finishing ‘Allegory of Wisdom’ 2023
Some pictures take a long time to finish. This picture was first conceived over twenty years ago. My idea evolved through several smaller versions culminating in this canvas, which was started in 2014. I planned to include it in my San Francisco Exhibition, ‘The Enemies of Progress’, in 2015 but then discovered that, because of…
Siren
In mythology Sirens were female figures who lured sailors to their doom with their beautiful song. To some extent I see myself in this role as a painter, luring the viewer – not necessarily to his or her doom – with a visual ‘song’ as beautiful and heartfelt as I can make it. The pose…
Carmel O’Sullivan 1936 – 2023
I was saddened to hear of the passing of Carmel O’Sullivan who I painted on her retirement as Dean of Women Students, University College Dublin, back in 2002. She was a marvelous character with a lively intelligence and a singular sense of style. The jacket she chose to wear for her portrait caused me an…
Conversation with Joseph Bravo
This is a transcript of a Zoom conversation I had with American curator and art historian Joseph Bravo on September 5th 2020. We discussed the evolution of my work and the broader cultural scene. Joseph BravoLet me instead of making observations, first ask you some questions. For some time you’ve had an approach to narrative…
An exhibition of my figure paintings at Shorelines Arts Festival 2022
It was a great honour for me to have an exhibition of my figure paintings mounted at the Shorelines Arts Festival 2022. The festival (which has been running in Portumna since 2012) takes place every September, involving both local and internationally renowned artists in music, literature and visual culture. Portumna is a market town in…
A Portrait Marathon at Green Acres, Wexford
In July 2022, as part of Wexford’s ‘Art in the Open’ painting festival, I painted 28 portraits over three days. The event took place at Green Acres Gallery in Wexford Town. The portraits were painted in oils and took roughly half an hour. It’s certainly hard work painting so many portraits in such a short…
Interview with Irish artist Paul MacCormaic
A few weeks ago, I visited artist Paul MacCormaic’s exhibition, ICONS II at the Courthouse Art Centre in Tinahely and I talked to him about his work. Paul is a leading Irish representational painter whose portrait of Catherine Corless has recently been acquired by the National Gallery of Ireland. I hope you’ll take a little…