Opening Reception Thursday 12 January at 6pm

Intimate, casual, direct and personal, Alan Daly’s new drawings mark the final stage in a chronicle started in 2006. The project began from a desire to draw from observation using humble materials of charcoal and paper. Sitters for the portraits are recruited from acquaintances, friends and family members. The levels of intimacy and familiarity in the one-to-one encounter contribute to the process. Closeness and distance can be detected from the positioning and scale in pictorial space. Sittings are completed in one session lasting two hours. Direct contact with the subject is essential. The drawings survive as evidence of the encounter. White space dominates the surface giving small details and expressions an intense concentration. The viewer’s focus shifts over time as they discover the various marks that are embedded in the drawing, re-enacting the gaze of the artist. The drawings rely predominately on an intuitive response. Daly is interested in awkwardness and imperfection.

Alan Daly has just completed a residency at the RHA studios. He studied Fine Art Painting at D.I.T. and Art Education at N.C.A.D. He has previously held solo exhibitions at Draiocht Arts Centre, Talbot Gallery and the Belltable Arts Centre in Limerick. He has exhibited in group shows at the RHA, RUA, Boyle Arts Festival and Sligo Art Gallery. His work can be found in the O.P.W. and Fingal County Council Collections.