‘Time and Space’ oil paintings and watercolours by Cliona Fox and Philip Brennan

August 24 – September 20

Meet the artists on Friday 24 August at 4 pm :

Cliona and Philip talk about the inspiration for their current work.

All are welcome

Official opening of the exhibition is at 5 pm

Philip Brennan is a landscape artist and has published two books on the wildlife of Co Clare. Cliona Fox’s work is inspired by the current state of the Irish Fishing Industry.

Within the world of Philip Brennan’s obsession with his native County Clare comes a wide variety of interpretation of themes as diverse as singing, storms, history, geology, seasonality and wildlife in watercolour, ink and acrylic. His background as a naturalist is obvious in this exhibition as all the work come from constant observation of his surroundings. Brennan’s paintings show a plethora of ideas and themes, shape and colour.

Cliona Fox’s images in the exhibition at the Courthouse Gallery have a definite maritime correlation and on first glance would seem to deal solely with the narrative of a fishing industry.  An alternative analysis however demands a wider reading when it consigns an interpretation to the demise of the ‘Celtic Tiger economy’.

By illustrating them Cliona is endeavouring to understand better our coastline communities and the ensuing fishing industry along with its challenges to sustain and adapt.   And in doing so she is attempting to enhance their profile while encouraging a closer scrutiny of the impact global forces have on us all.

Cliona doesn’t focus on idealising the scenes and as such the images often include degrees of decay and abandonment. Much attention is paid to surface quality and texture where she creates canvases of relief and ambiguity. Some wonderful passages of loose brushwork and expressive mark-making combined with a varied palette and elements of carefully constructed details make these works worth serious contemplation.

Cliona Fox is primarily a painter and although working and living in Dublin she regularly undertakes residencies in various parts of the Country in order to seek inspiration. Among them has been the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig, The Custom House Studios, Mayo and The Cill Rialaig Retreat, Co. Kerry.  Since leaving college (NCAD) she has had many solo and group exhibitions.