Mulcahy takes himself to church with new show
Michael Mulcahy, one of Ireland’s leading expressionist painters, has an exhibition of new work in St. Iberius Church on Wexford’s Main Street during the Opera Festival.
The Cork-born artist who was educated at Crawford Municipal School of Art and the National College of Art and Design has had many successful exhibitions at home and abroad during the course of a 45-year career.
Mulcahy has won many awards and was asked to illustrate two books of poetry for President Michael D. Higgins who said on national television: ‘Michael Mulcahy is one of our very best artists. Some of his paintings are among my favourites’.
He was made a member of Aosdána, the highest honour given to Irish artists.
Time spent in Papua New Guinea, India, Korea and Australia over the years have strongly influenced his work which often portrays indigenous people and natural environments.
During a long stay at a monastery in South Korea, the chief Buddhist monk-artist there gave him the name ‘Do-gong’ which means ‘empty island, clear sky’.
The Irish Times art critic Brian Fallon described Mulcahy’s painting as being of ‘international standard’.
Fallon said he is ‘one of the select few Irish artists who could walk into any major exhibition centre in the world, and be at home there’.
Mulcahy’s first public exhibition was in 1981 and by 1994, he had two major national exhibitions at the Hugh Lane Gallery and the Taylor Gallery in Dublin titled ‘Do-Gong’ series.
In addition to further national exhibitions, he exhibited in New York, London, Paris, Brussels and the Museum of Modern Art in Seoul.
He represented Ireland in the Sydney Biennale.
Some of his more recent exhibitions were in a group show ‘Art on Paper’ in New York; ‘Art Knows No Frontiers’ in Berlin and a solo show at Atelier Clot in Paris. He is due to exhibit in Frankfurt, Germany in March 2020.
The artist said he is grateful to Reverend Arthur Minion and everyone involved in St. Iberius Church for allowing him to exhibit his paintings in the sacred space during the Opera Festival.