Something of the Night paintings
and a sculptural installation by
Mary Noonan and Peter Burns
From 2 November – 29 November 2012
Official opening 2 November at 8 pm
Peter Burns makes paintings and objects in a variety of
materials. The paintings have sculptural elements and the objects are strongly
linked to the practice of painting.
Peter says about his work:
‘I have a very tactile and experimental approach to my work. In the paintings
chunks of old dried oil paint are often attached to the canvas while in other
areas paint is scraped off to reveal underlying layers. The objects are made
using ephemeral materials such as wax combined with found objects. They are
painted, small in scale and often fragile. In the paintings people are shown in
relation to nature and the universe. Small figures and animals exist and roam
in painted worlds. I make sculptures of heads defined by their individual
personalities. Other objects play with scale and have elements of landscape.
The inspiration for these works originates in my interest in literature, art
history, myth and allegory amongst other things’.
His work has been described
as rhizomatic, suggesting an organic practice, growing through a gradual
accumulation of marks and taking myriad forms, producing works without a
definite beginning or end.
Mary Noonan employs a variety of working methods, though most of
her work is drawing based. The body of work she shows in the Courthouse Gallery
comes from research into Irish folklore and superstition relating to
“fairy-faith”, particularly from the late nineteenth and early twentieth
century. The materials and processes she uses such as tearing and cutting the
paper become a metaphor for psychological aspects of uncovered narrative. The
work is informed by the uncanny and, explores varied
themes
including myth, allegory
and storytelling. It forms a continuous dialogue referencing not
only past work but also memory, place and mortality. November
traditionally seen as the month of the dead provides the backdrop for the work
shown in this exhibition.
