New Paintings - Michael Canning

An edited version of this review appeared in the Sunday Times Culture magazine on the 9 August 2015.

Catherine Hammond continues to fly the flag for top quality contemporary Irish art in scenic Glengarrif. Her latest offering is a striking exhibition of new work by the Limerick artist Michael Canning. The show is dominated by two giant pieces Selva Oscura I and Selva Oscura II - dramatic depictions of a dark wood through which an ethereal light glows. These virtuoso works, over ten feet tall, were created on paper using acrylic, charcoal, soot, ash and pencil. They must have tested the artist's technical and logistical abilities. Elsewhere Canning continues his detailed renditions of the flora of his native county. Don't be distracted by his titles (Night in Attica etc.), these exotic looking plants are all to be found in his local hedgerows. Not that Canning's concerns are scientific. His wild flowers, set like sculptures against an evening sky, evince a mood and display an artistry beyond the merely botanical. There's a profound poignancy at their heart - a sense of beauty and of its transitory nature. Night is approaching over the darkening flatlands of County Limerick, birds wheel above, restlessly. These works when contemplated give us pause from the rattle and hum of our pragmatic, preposterous world. In the inner gallery a group show contains fine pieces by Hughie O'Donoghue, Stephen Lawlor, Donal Teskey, and Bill Crozier amongst others.

Catherine Hammond Gallery

Glengarrif

Mon-Sun 11am-6pm

tel: 027 63812

 

 

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Maeve McCarthy at the Catherine Hammond Gallery

An edited version of this piece (with a different image) appeared in the Sunday Times Culture magazine on the 5 October 2014.

Maeve McCarthy is a highly accomplished artist who rarely puts a foot wrong. Although some would argue that her appearance on Sky's Portrait Artist of the Year in 2013 was a false move, it's to her credit that she made no attempt to conceal how disgruntled she was at her untimely elimination from the contest.

Although she's probably associated in the public's mind with portraiture, thanks to that show and to her rather bland portrait of Maeve Binchy in the National Gallery, there's far more to her work. The move from her Dublin home to the Dingle Peninsula has resulted in a series of fine atmospheric paintings depicting rural scenes. They are mostly set at dusk or later which gives them a melancholy feel. Some such as At the Crossroads (with its spectral statue of the Virgin Mary), Abandoned House, and House on the Hill (see image) are downright spooky. The latter depicts a house with one window lit - a frail beacon in the primal darkness. It's tempting to look for metaphor here, lost in the night we long for the sanctuary of our childhood homes.

Catherine Hammond Gallery

Glengarrif

Mon-Sun 11am-6pm

tel: 027 63812

 

John P. O'Sullivan

 

 

Posted with Blogsy