AMKE TIEM: DAVID BEGLEY

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1 AMKE TIEM: DAVID BEGLEY

2 AMKE TIEM: Paintings by David Begley Olivier Cornet Gallery October November The Wooden Building, Exchange St Upper, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 / Tel Opening times Tues - Sat 11am - 6pm. Late Thurs till 8pm, Sun 12-5pm And by appointment. Monday closed. Other works by David Begley are available to view on request All works David Begley Acknowledgements: David would like to thank the following for their time and support Dr Margarita Cappock, Olivier Cornet, Robert Hayes, Jeremy Hill, Dr Brenda Moore-McCann, Eliane Polek and Hanneke van Ryswyk. < Cover image: First of the last four songs, oil on board, 72 x 96cm

3 David Begley and the Poetics of Potential Dr Brenda Moore-McCann To name a thing is to suppress three-quarters of the poemʼs enjoyment, which consists in the pleasure of gradually guessing; to suggest it, that is the dream. (Stéphane Mallarmé) Painting since antiquity has had a topsy-turvy history. Relegated to a secondary place after sculpture and architecture because it could not be measured, it was not until the development of Renaissance perspective that it gained stature as a medium for art. The invention of photography in the late 19th century however displaced the primary position it had achieved as a depicter of the natural world and propelled it in the direction of abstraction, emotion and ideas. This realignment continued, so that by the mid -20th century, painting was one of many genres of art alongside contemporary sculpture, installation, performance, photography, film and video. Nevertheless with its long distinguished history, painting still retains its appeal to the senses and the imagination. This is largely due to that history, but also to artists like Begley, who have continued to explore its potential. Maktub, oil on board, 40 x 60cm

4 In Begleyʼs art we are immediately thrust into multiple worlds of the real and the imaginary rendered through a palette of shimmering blues, yellows or gold bathed in intense light to more sombre browns, greens and blacks. These are paintings full of atmosphere and intrigue with vague outlines of dwellings, rocks, caves, ships, and sometimes allusive figures. The swirling washes of paint often make it difficult to distinguish foreground from background so that space too is blurred and mysterious. Indeed it is this very ambiguity that makes us pause and in so doing we begin to see more of the textures and assured use of paint that creates flickering unstable images. Yet at the same time they are unmistakably Begleyʼs. Whether in a large or small format they magisterially convey the instability of life itself but also hint at something beyond. The recent body of work in the exhibition Amke Tiem (an anagram for ʻMake Timeʼ?) addresses among other things, the current uneasy state of this country in terms of time, myth, fate and metamorphosis. Wheel of Fortune shown in 4 X 4 at the Olivier Cornet Gallery in June 2012 as well as Lost in finds in this current show are examples. While this exhibition marks a shift of emphasis in terms of formal values Begleyʼs signature sense of mystery and enquiry remain. Given the above theme, the tone of the show is sombre rendered in dark browns and blacks but the greatest shift is the central place given to the human form. Yet these forms, typically, as in First of the Last Four Songs, are ambiguous. Similarly, in Maktub (Arabic word for it is written ) the stoney form above the open book seems to metamorphose into some kind of anthropomorphic being. The incongruous juxtaposition of the two forms appears to imply that even when fate has a determining role, there is always the possibility of change. The large Sisyphus on the other hand, seems to suggest that the current state of this country is one of an endeavour that is endless and futile; where hubris leaves nothing worth reflecting in the large mirror and shadowy forces lurk in the background. Yet given the overall theme of the exhibition, Begleyʼs vision is not without optimism, believing that nothing in life is ever static as all things including our...thoughts, circumstances, beliefs, aspiration, our relationships are in a constant state of change (Artist statement, June 2012). Sisyphus, oil on board, 92 x 92cm

5 After almost twenty years of commitment to a serious painting practice it is time to try and place Begleyʼs poetic imagery in an art historical context. His work, to this observer, most closely relates to the ideas and ideals of the late 19th century Symbolists. Their emphasis on a heightening of imaginative perception to engage the emotions, intellect and unconscious mind of the viewer, their insistence on suggestion rather than an explicit approach, and the creation of a mood are all ideals found in Begleyʼs art. Like them he is opposed to mere description of the natural world preferring to convey the mystery of that world and our role in it instead. The Symbolists also sought freedom from the imaginative constraints of linear time. The title of Begleyʼs exhibition would seem to echo this as well as the Symbolist embrace of chance to create multiple meanings and interpretations: the title came from a misspelling by the artist when typing notes on Pursuing and trusting the ʻfortunate accidentʼ as part of the painting process. It is the open-ended nature of Begleyʼs art that gives it a suggestive power while providing an imaginative space for each viewer to engage with works that seduce the eye and delight the mind. These are paintings that take time to make and need time to contemplate. This is an artist who has something to say, expresses it with conviction and an impressive command of technique. His achievement is the ability to do so in a time-honoured medium but at the same time to extend the poetic possibilities of painting in ways that are relevant to the contemporary world. Dr Brenda Moore-McCann is an art historian, critic and lecturer at Trinity College Dublin. She is the author of the book Brian OʼDoherty/Patrick Ireland: Between Categories (2009). She is a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA). El sueño, oil on board, 39 x 59cm

6 First of the finds, oil on canvas, 20 x 20cm First of the last four songs, oil on board, 72 x 96cm

7 From the cost to the find, oil on wood, 61 x 61cm Chronus, oil on wood, 61 x 61cm

8 Lost in finds, [detail] oil on board, 30 x 50cm Lost in finds, oil on board, 30 x 50cm

9 When we stole the sea, oil on canvas, 20 x 20cm The large glass, oil on linen, 25 x 31cm

10 DAVID BEGLEY born Dublin 1972 Momentum, oil on board, 61 x 99cm EDUCATION Colegsirgar, Wales National College of Art and Design, Ireland SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2012 Amke Tiem:, Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin 2008 Above & Below, Cherrylane Fine Arts, Wicklow 2007 Waypoints, Cross Gallery, Dublin Twelve Songs, The Norman Gallery, Wexford 2005 Looking For Lotus, Newtownbarry House, Wexford 2004 Athos & Oriel, The Norman Gallery, Wexford Limbo & The Three Legged Race, Cross Gallery, Dublin 2003 The Three Legged Race, The Queens Hall, Wales Limbo, Spectrum, Wexford 2001 Precious - Precious, Waterfront Gallery, Wexford 2000 Slowscars Building, Wexford Arts Centre Slumbertone, Courthouse Arts Centre, Wicklow Chameleon, Cross Gallery, Dublin 1999 The Last Supper, Tosca, Dublin 1996 David & Goliath, Ormond Multi Media, Dublin SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2012 Eigse Arts Festival, Visual, Carlow also 2006, 2001 Cherrylane Fine Arts, Wicklow [Also 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007] 4 x 4, Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin Convergence, Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin 2011 The Norman Gallery, Wexford also 2010, 2009, AAF Paris, Espace Champerret, Paris Boyle Arts Festival Two person show With Robert Ryan, The Norman Gallery 2008 Contemporary Irish Art, Orlando [Cherrylane Fine Arts] 2007 Kilkenny Arts Festival [Jonathan Swift Gallery] Creation To Faith, St Teresaʼs Church, Dublin 2006 Annual RHA Exhibition, RHA Dublin [Also 2005, 2004, 2001] Birr Arts Festival, Offaly [Invited artist] Hunt Museum, Limerick 2005 Cross Gallery, Dublin [also 2001] 2005 Portrait Ireland, Newtownbarry House Gallery 2004 Full Circle, Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin Dubliners, hopewire, Co Wexford 2002 Wales Drawing Biennale, Wrexham and Aberystwyth Arts Centres Art Of The Possible, RHA Dublin 2001 Irish Arts Showcase, Carmarthen, Wales AWARDS / COMMISSIONS 2012 Tyrone Gutherie Bursary, Wexford County Council 2011 Cill Rialaig Artists Retreat, Residency 2004 Visual Arts Bursary, Wexford County Council 2002 Arts Council Joint Commission Award: [The Resurrection: Church of The Most Holy Trinity, Bunclody] 2000 Literature Bursary, Wexford County Council PUBLIC COLLECTIONS AXA Insurance, Ireland Contemporary Irish Art Society Environmental Protection Agency Ireland Irish National Teachers Organisation The Norman Gallery Office of Public Works Wexford County Council Wexford Vocational College

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