The Olivier Cornet Gallery is delighted to present Recollections, an exhibition of new works by gallery artist John Fitzsimons. This is the artist’s third solo exhibition with the gallery after Pyramid in 2012, and Conversion in 2011.

This show was initially staged at The Octagonal Room, City Assembly House (home to the Irish Georgian Society), 58 South William Street, Dublin 2. It ran there till October 13.

‘With this new body of work Fitzsimons’ practice has developed both thematically and technically. The artist has painted his typically abstracted planar landscapes or dreamscapes, though a new atmospheric quality has been rendered with layers of thinly mixed paint and washes to create an impression of inhabitable depth.

Work from his previous exhibition – Pyramid (2012) – featured colour and movement that was bold and confident, expressing a new confidence within himself. This new body of work sees a change in mood from confident to contemplative. The break-up of the artist’s home inspired this series of paintings. This manifests in the small triangular motif which inhabits the landscape of many of the paintings. The triangular shapes evoke notions of primitive domiciles such as tepees and yurts. The decision of the artist to paint specifically primitive domestic structures was to impress the fundamental and universal need for a home.

The components of the paintings represent problems but also resolve them; this duality, or indeed ambiguity, is present throughout the work. Solitary mountains represent loneliness but on the other hand provide shelter. Long shards loom as a threat but also lead the eye to a clear sky, a safe place. The atmospheric quality –the newest addition to Fitzsimons’ practice- expresses uncertainty but also provides protection in its obscurity. This hazy quality and soft colouring are rendered to evoke the quality of old 80s Polaroid. This has the bitter sweet effect of conjuring up old memories, though through a now redundant medium.

The result is an introverted suite of work that is calm and contemplative.’

Harry Hutchinson, September 2014