Lennon work inspired by water
The CEO of Wexford Arts Centre Elizabeth Whyte officially opened a Festival exhibition of paintings at Westgate Design by the leading contemporary artist Paddy Lennon who lives in Kilrane.
The title of the exhibition is Uisce and the works are inspired by the artist’s love of water.
‘Water and the wetness of bogland have attracted me throughout my career as an artist. I have lived all my life alongside water’, he said.
‘Its myriad qualities have always had a resonance within my painted work. I am creating visual language that will communicate the thoughts, feelings and emotions that water suggests to me.’
The exhibition has a balance of smaller watercolours and ink works alongside much larger oil paintings with the images ‘striving to be serene, reflective and soothing in much the same way as water resonates with our innate attraction to it.’.
Elizabeth Whyte said the dark brown hues of sloblands, purple swirls of rock pools and cerulean blue of oceans are beautifully captured in Paddy’s fluid brush strokes of watercolours, oils and acrylic artworks.
‘The works are also inspired by the many places Paddy has lived and worked including Kilrane, Connemara, Spain, China and Dubai’, she said, adding that the titles reveal the artist’s interest in the Irish language which he chose for the many layers of meanings in translations.
In contrast to the abstract paintings, there is a selection of equine prints in the smaller area of the cafe which Elizabeth said shows Paddy’s expert ability as a gentle giant to get up close and capture the grace and beauty of these beautiful creatres in well-structured charcoal works.
She encouraged everyone to dip their toes into ‘these wonderful pools of work’ over the coming weeks.
The Westgate exhibition which will be in situ for the Opera Festival and beyond, follows a recent successful showing by the artist at Clifden Arts Festival.