Book Launch & Exhibition 2022

For one week only SO Fine Art Editions in association with Gandon Editions proudly presents the wonderful book Profile #29 – Stephen Lawlor alongside an exhibition of the artist’s work entitled In a Liminal Space.

Profile #29 – Stephen Lawlor is published as part of Gandon Editions’ PROFILES series on important Contemporary Irish Artists. This comprehensive publication contains Stephen Lawlor’s work from over four decades, including 130 colour illustrations and four texts within its 120 pages. An introduction by John Banville, an essay by John O’Sullivan, a Q&A with Oliver Sears and an afterword from Theo Dorgan provide great insight and thoughtfulness on the works and background of Stephen Lawlor. The colour reproductions are exceptionally sharp, and the development of Stephen’s work is seen in parallel in his paintings and prints. The book is on sale at the gallery for €25. A limited-edition copy in a slipcase of black linen is also available, it comes with a small etching by Stephen called Still, and is €150.

The corresponding exhibition, In a liminal Space, will showcase Stephen Lawlor’s work. His figurative images border on abstraction but there is always a strong connection with the history of European painting. His use of light and his focus on the past makes his work instantly recognisable. His recent paintings have been likened to a ‘Dutch Master on acid’ and can seem far removed from the delicate spectral Geisha or European Royalty in his etchings encased in the liquid black of their inky spaces.

Born in Dublin in 1958, Stephen Lawlor has exhibited and worked regularly in Ireland, Sweden, Belgium and China. From the mid 1980’s he focused on multi-plate etchings, beginning painting from 1990. Having worked from the landscape and the human figure, he always returns to exploring the lexicon of European painting, discovering the lesser obvious subjects and expanding upon them, being comfortable utilising forms in paint from long ago that inhabit our collective consciousness. Recently Lawlor has explored images from cinema with the same approach but in a new way, using a process of metabolising them and merging or layering them with forms from a different time and space. We are looking forward to showcasing this beautiful book alongside a capsule of the artists’ work.