Photography inspires painting

THE chairwoman of Wexford Festival Opera Dr. Mary Kelly will officially open a Green Acres art exhibition of the work of leading contemporary Irish artists on Saturday, October 19 at 3 p.m.

The featured artist in the gallery’s annual Festival exhibition is the highly-acclaimed sculptor John Behan who is 81 years old and has recently returned from New York after attending the installation of a major new commission.

Earlier this year, another piece titled ‘Leading in the Winner’ was unveiled to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Galway Races.

Works by the following artists are also included: Neisha Allen ARUA, Sandra Bell, Roger Bennett, Colm Brennan, Cheryl Brown, Ken Browne, Aidan Butler, Anne Butler, Michael Canning, Eamonn Carter, Eamonn Ceannt, Tom Climent, Eamon Colman, John Cronin, Gerry Davis, Orla de Brí, Maeve Doherty, Joe Dunne RHA, Felim Egan, Margaret Egan, James English RHA, Michael Foley, Martin Gale RHA, Cara Gordon, Stephanie Hess, Leo Higgins, Myra Jago, Stephen Lawlor, Bernadette Maden, T.J. Maher, Helen Merrigan Colfer, Elva Mulchrone, Sinead Ní Mhaonaigh ARHA, Shay O’Byrne, Mary O’Connor, Michael O’Dea PPRHA, Mary O’Donnell, Gwen O’Dowd, Liam O’Rourke, Padraig Parle, Elizabeth pectu, Ian Pollock, Martin Redmond, Robert Russell, anthony Scott, Neil Shawcross RHA, RUA, Anita Shelbourne RHA, John Noel Smith, Blaise Smith RHA, Fiona Smith, Donald TeskeyRHA, Stephen Vaughan, Conor Walton and Keith Wilson RUA. A RESPONSE in oil paintings by artist Alan Davis to the street photography of Andy Murray is the inspiration for an exhibition called ‘What Leads Us Here’ in Santos Coffee Shop at 20 Selskar Street, opening each day from 9.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. except Sundays.

The exhibition features eight oil paintings on recycled cardboard by Davis which were inspired by images taken by his photographer friend.

Dublin is the stage for all the shots depicted in the paintings in the show which includes a large collection of Murray’s photos from his book called ‘Andy Murray’s Big Book of Photos Vol 1’.

The photographs were printed by Murray himself, showing the quality and delivery of his original work, from the moment the shutter button is pressed to the final physical image.

Murray is a semi-professional photographer from Drogheda, County Louth. His work mainly captures the hustle and bustle of life in Dublin city from a non-intrusive perspective, and his ability to interact with his surroundings, gives him an original take on his characters, in fleeting moments, perfectly timed, that portray a multitude of emotions and narrative against a backdrop of the city.

His images provoke the viewer to take a second glance. He also loves to capture cityscapes during the night, which revel in reflections of still water in long exposures.

Davis is a 3rd year art student, studying for an honours degree in the Wexford CamPlums by Blaise Smith. Top: Tilt in porcelain by Anne Butler. pus of Carlow IT and has selected painting as his main study subject.

This is his third exhibition during Wexford Festival Opera with previous shows featuring photography.

‘Responding to Andy’s photos as collaborative work was an interesting development that exploded into an idea after a conversation which led to digitally editing Above: ‘What Am I Forgetting’ by artist Alan Davis; left: Song of Sorrow by photographer Andy Murray.

one of the photos to be included in this exhibition’, Alan explained.

‘The title idea for ‘What Leads Us Here?’ is something I had developed straight after my first exhibition. I played with the idea of editing street photography capturing people who look distracted as life whizzed past them while they go about their daily routines. The idea surfaced again after seeing Andy’s recent photographs, but this time, I decided to let the paint draw out and recapture the feelings of the photos and maybe in the conversion, explore the possibilities of creating new meanings’.