Work Showing in Dublin

I have 2 small paintings in a group exhibition opening this week in Dublin. I'm delighted to be part of Island Life which opens at the Kevin Kavanagh Gallery on Thursday the 5th of July at 6pm. The exhibition is comprised of 12 painters, here are the exhibiting artists:

Sonia Shiel, Kathy Tynan, Marcel Vidal, Mark Swords, Salvatore of Lucan, Joe Scullion, Robert Armstrong, Julia Dubsky, Lesley-Ann O'Connell, Pat Byrne, Stephen Loughman, Cecilia Danell, William O’Neill and Stephanie Deady

Exhibition Invite

I'm delighted to be included in the line-up, the 2 paintings that I have in the exhibition are the last ones from the show back in February, I would have liked to have had newer pieces but what I have finished  was already submitted to something else which I'll be posting about a little later in the Summer.

The Love of the Darkness Hidden. One of the 2 paintings I have in Island Life

Featured on The Spark

I was delighted this week to have my work on The Spark. The Spark promotes Irish arts and culture and has a a lot on the site covering visual art such as painting, illustration, film and photography and they promote dance, music and poetry. They contacted me during the first week of the Pallas show and asked if I'd like to have some of my work on the site, there's a little about me and the work and 4 images of my work.

Here's a link to my page - https://thespark.ie/pat-byrne/

From Times of Old, Oil on Canvas, 2017, one of my paintings featured on The Spark

Residency in Abbeyleix

I'm a bit late with this post due to problems with my laptop getting old. I just finished up my second week of a 2 month residency at Abbeyleix Further Education Centre. I started on the 9th of January and the original plan was to play around with some animation for the first month and the second would be taken up with painting and drawing. But again due to technical issues with my laptop the animation is out the window and I'll be focusing on drawing and painting for the duration of the residency.

One Who Holds November Sacred, given the laptop trouble the past while I thought this painting made an appropriate image

This Monday (January 23rd) I'll be teaching the Level 5 students for their work experience module. I've had to draw up a project for them to work on for the next 2 weeks and it's based on Mythology and Folklore. The main two reasons for choosing this theme was that when I was asked to work with the students Jackie, Jock and Edel mentioned that it would be good to have a tie to my own practice and it's something that I'm familiar with. The other reason is that it's a broad theme and I'm going to give them some free reign over the myths they decide to use.

I did my PLC Course here in Abbeyleix before going to Galway to study at GMIT so I'm gone out of it 10 years and in a decade it all kind of went full circle.

Work in London Group Show

I have a painting in a group show in London this week. The exhibition is titled Myth & Lore and is taking place at a venue called Styx. It's a mixed arts venue that is situated in a warehouse and the exhibition is in collaboration with Esoteric Art. I think they have worked mostly with theatre groups including The Royal Court Theatre, The Soho Theatre and a lot more. There's more about Styx and the exhibition including exhibiting artists here - Myth & Lore. I think they're open about a year and this is their first annual visual art exhibition.


The painting below is the piece that I have in the exhibition. The show is up until the 12th of January.

To be About on November Eve, Oil on Canvas, 2015

Work in Fresh Paint Magazine Issue 15

I have 2 paintings featured in this months issue of Fresh Paint Magazine. I was delighted when I found out and i received my copy of the magazine two weeks ago. There's a good number of artists featured in the issue. The featured artists were selected by Jemma Hickman who launched the Bo-Lee Gallery in London. I have 2 pictures of my pages below, the first page has Beneath the Lonely Rath on it along with a short biography, the second page has A Solitary Mountain and Old Ruin and my artist statement.

                                                      

 

And here are detailed shots of the 2 paintings that were featured. They're both oil on canvas.

Within the Lonely Rath, 2016

 

A Solitary Mountain and Old Ruin, 2015

Work in Glasgow Group Show

The second exhibition of the New York - Glasgow exchange curated by Anna Bauer and Benjamin Lee Sperry is opening this weekend at Gallery Celine in Glasgow, Scotland. Opening reception is 3pm - 5pm and is titled Collective Memory (the past and future is ours). I'm not sure what's happening after Glasgow, I think there were talks of possibly bringing the show to Dublin and if it happens I'll post it here on the blog.

The pice I have in the show, To Catch a Certain Fortune, Ink on Paper, 2016

Installation Shots of Westport and Birr

I'm a bit late with these, the exhibition in Birr closed on August 5th and Westport closed on the 21st of August. Both shows went really well and the work received very positive feedback.

Treasures Remembered

The image above and the one below are from Custom House Studios in Westport, I didn't get a chance to take photos on the opening night so I ran down the following morning to get a few photos quickly before going home.

My work was installed on 3 walls. The fourth wall is almost completely glass and as the front of the gallery opens out onto the seafront there is great, unobstructed  natural light in the space. The ground floor is a gallery divided in two and the door in the image at the top leads into the adjoining space where Barabara Trawinski was exhibiting. 

To Catch a Certain Fortune

For this show I decided to work on a series of drawings, I'd been planning to work on them for last years festival but with the MFA finishing up I was just too busy painting, I finally got them done for this year. I need to document them at some stage and I'll have them uploaded to the website and here on the blog.

I was back down in The Vaults this year. There were a good group of us exhibiting solo shows throughout the space and there was brilliant amount of work with artists show, painting, illustration, animation and video game character design.

The lighting was a little bit of a challenge simply because I used a single bulb and while it was bright enough a day or two after installation there was a fault with the sockets down along the tunnel wall but Ian Keaveny who was exhibiting in the tunnel on the other side told me that I could plug the light into a socket in his space. 

I'm hoping to expand on the overall number of drawings in this body of work at some stage but for now I'm back painting. I have a new set of paintings on the go. I'm hoping to organize a solo show for the 4 quarter of 2017 but at present the next solo exhibition that I have planned is at Birr Arts Centre for 2018. The provisional date is April.

Out of Divilment, Graphite on Fabriano, 2016

2 Shows Opening Next Week

This post is more of an update than anything else concerning titles and opening times.

Thursday July 28th, Westport
The first exhibition is a 2 person show titled Treasures Remebered, showing work by Barbara Trawinski and myself at Custom House Studios and Gallery in Westport, Co. Mayo. This opens at 7:30pm on July 28th and Breda Burns will be a guest speaker on opening night. The show runs until August 21st. I haven't any links for a website to Barbara's work but you will be able to find photographs of the exhibition here at Custom House Studios and Gallery Facebook and further information at Custom House Studios and Gallery

Within the Lonely Rath, Oil on Canvas, 2016

Friday July 29th, Birr

The second exhibition is a new solo show of work and will be part of Birr Arts Festival in County Offaly. The title of this show is To Catch a Certain Fortune and consists of a series of drawings that I have been working on for the past few months. These new works focus on the same folklore theme as my paintings. This show will be in one of the underground tunnels at The Maltings(The Vaults). The launch of the festival is at 6:30pm in Birr Technology Centre.

For more information: Birr Vintage Week and Arts Festival

And here is the Festival Programme

(No Title Yet), Graphite on Paper, 2016

2 New Exhibitions in July

Custom House Studios, Westport, Mayo. Opening July 28th

I have 2 new shows next month. the first is in Westport, Mayo and it's a joint exhibition between Barbara Trawinski and myself at Custom House Studios. I applied back in 2013 to be part of the exhibition programme and I received confirmation during my first year of the MFA. Originally the show was scheduled for September this year but was brought forward to July 28th and it will run until August 21st. I'll be exhibiting some of the current paintings from Beneath the Dock Leaf.

The New Baal Fires, 2015

There isn't a title as yet but I'll post an update nearer to the opening on the time.

Birr Arts Festival, Birr, Offaly. Opens July 29th

The second exhibition, as far as I know is a solo exhibition in Birr Arts Festival. Francis Kawala who is the organiser of the festival contacted me last weekend about possibly taking part. I had work in it a few years ago and it's a great festival and because a lot of the spaces are vacant buildings it can throw up a few challenges especially the first year I had work in it because there were several of us showing in the vaults underground.

Here's a link to the post from the first year I was in it - Installation Shots of Birr Arts Festival

The work that I'll be showing in Birr will be drawings because the Westport exhibition overlaps and my paintings will be up there. I can't post any images of the drawings because I only started last week and haven't any documentation but I'll probably have an installation post on the blog shortly after the opening. With Westport opening July 28th and Birr, July 29th I'm going to have to juggle installation days in both places.

Solo Show in 2018

I received confirmation last week that my submission to Birr Theatre and Arts Centre, County Offaly was successful. I applied for a solo exhibition and as a rough estimate I've been offered a space for mid April 2018. At the minute I'm working on a new body of paintings still based on folklore and similar to Beneath the Dock Leaf, depending on how the work is going it could be these new works that will be in that show.

The Result of Solitude, Oil on Canvas, 36cm x 25cm, 2015

Tales from the Forest Issue 1

I have work featured in the first issue of Tales From the Forest. Its a new online magazine and it's going to be published quarterly. The theme of issue 1 is Twisted Tales and Torn Mythologies and it has a work by artists and writers. The link to the website is here - Tales From the Forest and the link to my page is here - my page.

The piece that was selected for the magazine is Half in the World of Form (below)

'Beneath the Dock Leaf' Video Documentation

I ran through the exhibition during the week and did a little video documentation of the show in The Dunamaise Arts Centre. I meant to do it for the previous showing of Beneath the Dock Leaf  but I forgot to charge my camera battery and I think it's probably more fitting that I captured this one because for the moment it's the last planned solo exhibition of Beneath the Dock Leaf. I'm planning a new project and will start working on that in the next couple of weeks and while it will be the same style and focus on the same themes it will be running under a new working title.

As for Beneath the Dock Leaf, the works in that body will be going out into group shows the first of which is in March at The Presentation Arts Centre in Enniscorthy, County Wexford. The exhibition is curated by artist John Busher.

'Beneath the Dock Leaf' by Pat Byrne from Pat Byrne on Vimeo.

Installation Shots at Dunamaise Arts Centre

Beneath the Dock Leaf opened on the 14th of January at The Dunamaise Arts Centre in Portlaoise. There was a great crowd at the opening and I got some very positive feedback,  there has also been a good footfall through the gallery since the launch night. I have a few images of the show in this post, none from opening night but just the installation itself.

With the work being so figurative I was really keen to avoid having exact spacing between each work. I had some of them grouped slightly more for this purpose and interaction rather than for any real narrative. 

The Dunamaise is a great space, It;s an open white cube with a skylight that runs the length of the gallery and along with the natural light there are also spotlights too.

There is 2 new paintings in the exhibition since the work was on display at The Hyde Bridge Gallery in Sligo, they're the one just to the left of the door above and the one beside it. The piece beside the door is titled Upon the Lonely Rath and the one beside it is called Slouching. Slouching was originally intended for the Sligo exhibition but it wasn't ready.

Out of the 15 paintings 6 of the paintings were completed during my time on the MFA at The National College of Art and Design, the other 9 are all new. The 3 above were from the MFA and the one below is new and actually was installed while still wet. Upon the Lonely Rath is my first completed painting of 2016.

The build up was really good and the staff at The Dunamaise were great. All I had to do was get the work to the gallery. Michelle de Forge, who is the Centre Director, Nick who is Installation Technician, Laura is Box Office Manager and Lorraine is Head of PR took care of absolutely everything, installation, promotion, invites, they had everything cover and it was a complete pleasure to work with them, they were brilliant.

I was in yesterday just recording some footage of the show and Michelle asked would I be available during the week to talk with the students of Abbeyleix FEC so I went in today (February 10th) to talk about the work and what I've been up to since I finished Abbeyleix almost 10 years ago. I got to catch up with Jackie Carter who is head of the art department and was one of my tutors when I was in the PLC course. I also got to meet Sharon Murphy who is working with the students as part of their work experience and was running a workshop in the space on documenting artwork. I still find it a little bit terrifying talking in front of a group but I think it went fairly well and it was quite laid back.

I'll be updating my website soon with documentation of the new work and any other little adjustments that are needed. As far as studio work goes, I'm currently working on a commission and after that's completed I'll be starting a new body of work based on the same theme and in a similar style to what I'm doing but I'm hoping to push it on a little bit and also introduce new characters.

On the 20th of February I'll be one of 10 artists speaking at a symposium called Get a Real Job. The symposium is organised by Abbeyleix Further Education Centre Art Department in conjunction with The Dunamaise Arts Centre.

Beneath the Dock Leaf runs until the 27th of February.

Exhibition in Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise

Back in early December I met with Michelle de Forge, director of Dunamaise Arts Centre and Nick who is the centre's technician. We confirmed dates for installation, exhibition opening and possible dates for a talk. I'll be in the gallery to install work on the 11th, 12th and 13th of January with the opening taking place on the 14th at 7pm. The show will run I think for about 6 weeks and for the 27th of February, towards the end of the exhibition, Abbeyleix Further Education Centre are organizing a symposium. Several of us who have previously studied there will be talking about our experience since leaving. I finished in 2005 before moving to Galway so it's just about 10 years.

A Solitary Mountain or Old Ruin, 2015

I'm running with the title of Beneath the Dock Leaf  for this show too as it's mostly the same works from that body of work but I think this is the last show that will be under that title. After this exhibition I will be starting a new project, it will be focused on the same theme and style but I hope to push it on slightly, introduce new characters, which means building new props and possibly scale up the work.

To be About on November Eve, 2015

New Residency in Iceland

I've been accepted onto a new residency in Iceland for November 2016. I'll be working at Here Creative Centre in Stodvarfjordur. I'm looking forward to going back and after doing a 3 month residency during the summer in 2012 I decided to apply for a winter residency this time around. It's also on the Eastern side of Iceland. It's just for a month but I'm hoping to possibly have a small exhibition at some stage before I come home.





I'm hoping to use this opportunity to incorporate Icelandic folklore into my work but I'm not going to concern myself too much with tying it in immediately with my current practice, I'll wait and see what happens and play a little bit.

New Studio in Dublin

I have just moved into a new studio in Dublin. I signed up for a membership with A4 Sounds a few weeks ago and got a studio last week. I'm delighted to be back based in Dublin but with the residency in August and the exhibition last month I didn't want to break up my work time with moving. I found working on my own over the summer tough after being part of a busy atmosphere at Emmett House so I'm happy to be part of a group environment again.

There's a good number of multidisciplinary artists based in the building and there's always a lot of activity around. I'm hoping to be back painting this week but with a few small jobs to get done I'll just be working on a piece that I started about three weeks ago. It was originally intended to go into Beneath the Dock Leaf but I wasn't happy with it and restarted it the week after the exhibition opening.

No title yet but this is the newest painting so far.

I'll have a profile page on the A4 Sounds website soon so once that's up I'll post a link.

Q & A with Patience Brewster

I was contacted during the week by Marietta Gregg who is Marketing Director at Patience Brewster and I was asked if I would take part in a Q & A. It's part of the Patience Brewster Artist Appreciation Month project and they will be posting links on their social media to the blog posts that they receive. I was delighted to take part, the 5 questions and answers follow.

(1) As a child, do you recall a significant moment when you felt truly affected or inspired by any particular artwork or artist?

I don’t think so, growing up in a rural area in Ireland I didn’t have easy access to art galleries and I lived a fair distance from Dublin and so I was 18 when I first visited an art gallery. There was a show titled Northern Nocturnes in the National Gallery of Ireland in 2005. This exhibition consisted of paintings by Dutch and Flemish artists and I remember being completely captivated with some of the Rembrandt paintings on display, I had never seen them in real life or outside of books before that. As a child I spent a lot of time drawing and I remember winning a trophy in a local art competition when I was 5. Drawing was just something that I always enjoyed doing and it went from there.

(2)As an artist, what do you hope to convey with your work?

At the moment the focus of my work is superstition and folklore. My goal with this current body of work is to portray Irish folk figures, such as leprechauns, pucas and, at some point the banshee, in a more realistic fashion. I’ve painting them as figures in more contemporary attire, such as hoodies and tracksuits instead of the traditional tuxedo and bowler hat. I’m not trying to redesign these spirits but rather reinterpret them without the element of parody and cliché.

The fact that nobody really believes in them anymore was also something that interested me. They are effectively unemployed and due to this they appear to have very little going on in their lives, the leprechaun is no longer needed to mend shoes and the banshee is not needed as a warning of death. They have all been replaced with rationality which I think is a pity.

 Leaves, Oil on Canvas, 55cm x 35cm, Pat Byrne, 2015

The New Baal Fires, Oil on Canvas, 57cm x 40cm, Pat Byrne, 2015

(3)What memorable responses have you had to your work?

I received really positive feedback in June this year towards the current paintings. It was the first time they had been installed for display and it was my MFA Graduate exhibition at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin. My work almost sold out, I only brought home one painting out of the installed body of work which I was really surprised at because before that show I only sold 2 pieces. Also during this show 8 of us had our work reviewed by artist and art critic James Merrigan. That was great and one of the most memorable responses that I have had towards my work because in the paint department we all would have been following James’ website Billion Journal.

The Honeycomb Project was another project I was involved with in 2011. It was a collaborative light installation that 5 of us worked on for The Electric Picnic music festival and we got a lot of positive feedback. That was the first time that someone might have been talking about a piece of work and I was able to say I was one of the artists who worked on it.  

The Honeycomb Project, MDF, Plastic Bottles and LED Lights, Laura Byrne, Pat Byrne, Karen Hendy, Helena Malone and Vera McEvoy, 2011

(4)What is your dream project?

I don’t think that I have ever really thought about what would be my dream project. I think at the moment my dream project would be to exhibit alongside some of my friends that I have met along the way. During my undergraduate studies at Galway – Mayo Institute of Technology and postgraduate studies at the National College of Art and Design I’ve been really lucky to meet some really great people and to become friends with them. As for my own work, I would like to work towards a show outside Ireland at some point and continue working in a similar way to what I’m doing now and I think another Icelandic residency would be good too, I have applied for one recently and I’m waiting to hear back so hopefully it’ll be good news.

The Result of Solitude, Oil on Canvas, 36cm x 25cm, Pat Byrne, 2015

(5)What artists, of any medium, do you admire? (Famous or not!)

Kevin Cosgrove, Kehinde Wiley and Jeremy Geddes are three figurative painters that I really admire. Even though my work is nothing like Fiona Rae’s I have always really liked her paintings too and how she speaks about them. Niamh O Malley and Ailbhe Bí Bhriain are 2 more Irish artists whose work I like. Painting features in Niamh’s work alongside video and installation and although Ailbhe works with video I think there’s a very strong painterly quality about her work.     

Links

Patience Brewster Website

Patience Brewster Facebook

Patience Brewster Twitter

Some of the New Work

I have some of the new paintings documented and uploaded on this post. I haven't uploaded them to my website yet though, there's more of a glare on some of them than I thought originally so I'm going to re-shoot a few of them.

Some of the newer pieces were much more still life based work and focus more on trinkets that are sometimes associated with the figures of folklore. They also served as a way to introduce new figures to the work at a later stage.

Some of the paintings proved more difficult than others to photograph, I won't need to document all of them again but there are 3 of the 5 pieces shown here that I'll re-take. The bottom painting, To Sing or Whistle, is gone into the Laois County Collection.

A Silver Shilling or Golden Ashes, Oil on Canvas, 20cm x 17cm, 2015

Merely on a Spree, Oil on Canvas, 26cm x 18cm, 2015

Possessor of Great Riches, Oil on Canvas, 34cm x 28cm, 2015

Red, Oil on Canvas, 17cm x 16cm, 2015

To Sing or Whistle, Oil on Canvas, 56cm x 41cm, 2015

'Beneath the Dock Leaf' Installation Shots

Beneath the Dock Leaf finished yesterday. I was very happy with the feedback on the work, this was the first exhibition of the work since I finished the MFA in June and it was the first solo show since Excursion last October. There was also more paintings on show than during my MFA show, in the old Frawley's building I installed 9 pieces but at The Hyde Bridge Gallery I hung 14 works. There were several new paintings that I worked on over the summer but a big difference with these newer paintings was that I have been working in a space on my own so there wasn't anyone to ask for feedback and had to trust my own judgement. I was told too that there was a big attendance at the exhibition for Culture Night.

I really enjoyed working in The Hyde Bridge Gallery. It's a really great gallery consisting of 2 rooms and a corridor space. The 2 rooms contain a fireplace each. This prompted me to work on 2 pieces specifically for this exhibition and while I had both on display only was installed to interact with a fireplace. There's one wall in the first room that is almost entirely made up of a window and in the second room are 2 windows situated right in the corner providing both rooms with strong natural light. Between the windows, fireplaces and the fact that the gallery is made up of 3 spaces provided an interesting challenge during installation, making me consider which paintings were going together in which rooms and also how one room would lead into the next while trying to avoid very literal narratives.

Fairy and Folktales of Ireland by W.B Yeats served as a source of research for my work and as The Hyde Bridge Gallery is part of The Yeats Society Building in Sligo it was a fitting venue given the theme of my current work.

I meant to get a video of the exhibition but my camera wasn't charged, I'll do it for the next show. I was contact by The Dunamaise Arts Centre in Portlaoise on the 4th of September about the possibility of exhibiting Beneath the Dock Leaf there sometime in 2016 so I'll be speaking with them soon about that.

I'll be posting documentation of the individual works over the next few weeks on my website and adding new pieces to the body of work.