CONOR
WALTON (b. 1970) says that, through his paintings and drawings, he
seeks answers to the questions posed in the title of Paul Gauguin’s
1897 masterwork: “Where do we come from? What are we? Where
are we going?” This is heady stuff, made palpable in Walton’s
hands.
Born in Dublin, he grew up drawing, and earned a B.A. in fine art
and art history from the National College of Art there. He went on
to take an M.A. in art history and theory from the University of Essex
in England, where study of past styles and iconography ultimately
informed his own artistry. In the mid- 1990s, Walton spent a year
in the Florence atelier of Charles Cecil, an American who has sustained
the techniques and worldview of the Old Masters. For the past two
decades, Walton has been painting full-time in Ireland, and now lives
south of Dublin. In his quest to “explore issues of truth, meaning,
and value,” Walton applies techniques from the past to contemporary
concerns, arriving at allegories that subtly re-activate mythic characters,
books, animals, and symbols. When it comes to figures, Walton can
think big: he recently produced a 48 x 96-inch “superhistory
painting” titled An Ape’s Limbs Compared to Man’s
that overlays the iconography of science and progress upon the traditions
of Christianity and classical humanism.
As live models are expensive and Walton paints slowly, he has also
found a way to enliven the potentially dreary genre of still life:
some scenes of fruits or toys may initially appear straightforward,
yet closer inspection reveals that everything has been selected strategically
for both intellectual impact and formal appeal.
Walton starts with an idea, then makes studies with a model or arrangement,
building up his oils on linen with impasto and a superb
mastery of light and shade. “Illusionism still has great artistic
potential,” he believes, “because reality is something
we find difficult
and threatening. I’ve heard it said that people can avoid facing
reality, but they can’t avoid the consequences of not facing
reality. I think
my work is very much bound up with these issues, with naturalism at
one remove, with fantasy and disillusionment. In our culture ... affluence
and industrialization have become weapons in a general war against
reality, against nature. But nature’s still going to win....
We are not, nor were we ever, in control of our own destiny.”
CONOR WALTON (b. 1970), Phaethon, 2015, oil on linen,
36 x 36 in., private collection
This
skeptical view of human progress is deftly conveyed in Phaethon, which
shows one of Walton’s sons hoisting a fish from the sea as a
rocket launches in the distance. The title alludes to the son of the
Greek sun god, Helios, who insisted on steering his father’s
chariot. Unable to control its horses, the boy (whose name means “Shining
One”) imperiled
the well-being of the entire earth, so Zeus was compelled to slay
him with a thunderbolt. Walton’s painting suggests we all be
very careful what we wish for, and we certainly agree.
Walton is represented by CK Contemporary (San Francisco), and he will
participate in a group show at Gormleys Fine Art (Dublin) June 9-30.
(from
'Three to Watch',
Fine Art Connoisseur, May-June 2016,
http://fineartconnoisseur.com)
