The Nightingale
John Cronin
2 x 4 ft
2002

The Nightingale will be Cronin¹s seventh solo show at Green On Red Gallery and marks the artist¹s continuing concern with exploring painting in the age of artificial intelligence. The exhibition consists of oil on aluminium paintings measuring from 2 x 4 ft up to 6 x 4 ft. Cronin employs his characteristic dragging and scoring of paint and an extremely rich palette of colours and patterns. There are also new works in oil on paper coinciding with this exhibition.

Cronin¹s work reflects his interpretations of how visual understanding and appreciation are continually being upgraded as technological advancements evolve. Previous exhibitions, MHz (megahertz) and Taint, alluded to the obvious function of painting that is the transmission and reception of ideas, and evoked a sense of progress through a misguided association with speed.

With The Nightingale, Cronin introduces an element of Romanticism into the equation: recalling the nineteenth century celebration of the natural world in reaction to industrialisation and the Age of Enlightenment, while transposing this to the twenty-first century. These new works are to be seen as a championing of human emotion. While Cronin still uses aluminium as the Œcanvas¹ for his paintings, many are more complex in composition than previous work, with shifting under-painting obscured by fluid swaths of over-painting. The intensity and range of colour reflect the gamut of human emotions. What better to title the show than -The Nightingale?

nightingale n. a migratory songbird of the thrush family with brownish plumage. The male is known for its melodious song, especially noticeable during the breeding season. [13thC. Alteration of Old English nihtegala, from a prehistoric Germanic compound meaning Night-singer¹, from the ancestors of English night and yell.] Ode to a Nightingale, a poem (1819) John Keats. The poet recounts how on hearing the joyful song of the nightingale he is filled with an intense joy that provides an escape from his woes. But, as he considers the fact that the birds song has been an inspiration throughout history, the sound fades and he is suddenly returned to reality.

For further information on John Cronin, please contact Jerome O Drisceoil, Molly Sullivan or Georgina Jackson at Green on Red Gallery.

The next exhibition at the Green On Red will be new work by Alice Maher opening 18 April and running through 17 May.