John Doherty: Tempus Fugit et Vita Brevis

Friday 3 November – Saturday 25 November 2023
John Doherty: Winter Call Out, acrylic on linen, 81 x 122cm | John Doherty: Tempus Fugit et Vita Brevis | Friday 3 November – Saturday 25 November 2023 | Taylor Galleries | Image: John Doherty: Winter Call Out, acrylic on linen, 81 x 122cm | view of a largely residential street in a rural Irish town; the road is wet from a recent downpour; an old, black Morris Minor is the only car in the street; the corner of the nearest building on the left has written vertically on it ‘THE IVY BAR’ and in the distance down the street there seems to be a Guinness sign on another possible pub; there are tall wooden poles on either side of the street, presumably for phone and electricity; the sky is a pale, cloudy grey

I am a realist painter.

In trying to describe my work I am reminded of the words used by Brian Fallon, former Irish Times art critic, to the effect that my paintings transcend simple realism and become a kind of ‘Intimisme’. Intimisme was an art movement around 1900 that involved the depiction of personal domestic scenes. I suppose my work depicting rural town scenes could fall under this heading.

In discussing the domestic scenes of Intimisme, the French critic Camille Mauclair describes them as being ‘the suggestion of what lies behind.’ I would certainly agree with this statement. Modern Realism answers all the visual problems but it is up to the viewer to ask why.

The inspiration for the current show comes from my childhood. My family would travel to Wicklow to visit Grandpa and other relatives, this was in the 50s and 60s when we also made regular epic trips to Kilkenny to visit Dad’s side of the family. The journeys were long; no motorways then! We visited many interesting towns and petrol stations on our way, particularly during the summer holidays when we travelled further afield to Wexford, Waterford and West Cork.

Subconsciously these journeys lodged in my mind and many years later when I would get letters from home (I was living in Australia at the time), filling me in on weddings, births and deaths etc. I could see quite clearly in my mind’s eye the rural world of my childhood. It wasn’t homesickness but a clear image of what I had left behind.
This exhibition captures some of that but also how we have moved on without destroying our rural vernacular architecture.

John Doherty, October 2023

Image: John Doherty: Winter Call Out, acrylic on linen, 81 x 122cm
Friday 3 November – Saturday 25 November 2023
Taylor Galleries
16 Kildare Street, Dublin 2
Telephone: +353 1 676 6055
taylorgalleries@gmail.com
www.taylorgalleries.ie
Opening hours / start times:
Monday 10:30 - 17:30
Tuesday 10:30 - 17:30
Wednesday 10:30 - 17:30
Thursday 10:30 - 17:30
Friday 10:30 - 17:30
Saturday 11:00 - 15:00
Admission / price: Free

 
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