Green On Red Gallery is pleased to host the third solo exhibition of new paintings by Patrick Hall. Entitled, Stone, the exhibition consists of approximately three large-scale works, eight smaller canvases and a number of works on paper. Hall last exhibited to great acclaim at the Butler Gallery, Kilkenny and at the Green On Red Gallery in 2002.
As Hall has observed about his working methods, he will often, almost incidentally note a subject, and then gradually return to it over a period of years. This latest body of work evolved from a drawing he made two years ago of a particular stone. Out of such a simple subject Hall has created an enigmatic and powerful body of work which seamlessly weaves biblical references, still-life motifs, and depictions of vast celestial landscapes with a rigorous exploration of painterly abstraction. The resulting work, with its muted palette, extremes of scale and haunting imagery, both perplexes and seduces. Hall¹s work has defied easy categorisation and by extension, easy assimilation, because it straddles two planes of visual engagement. On the one hand, these are contemplative, spiritual paintings and the viewer engages with the works much as a Renaissance audience might have contemplated a votive or altar painting. Equally, these works are a highly personal and contemporary exploration of memory and experience and of how memory is informed by meaning and, ironically, forgetfulness.
A major work in the exhibition is End of the Inferno (for W.M.). With its deep indigo night blue sky and sea of sparkling stars that float across its celestial expanse, one immediately draws parallels to Vincent Van Gogh¹s work, Starry Night (1889). In Hall¹s painting, the sky is painted as a brilliant and vast cosmos, but unlike Van Gogh¹s village which is nestled at the bottom of the canvas, Hall has depicted two miniature white angels hovering in the night sky holding a tablet on which writing is partially discernable. Is this intended as a heavenly warning or a message of hope and redemption? It all depends on the viewer¹s perspective in relation to meaning and identity.
In another large-scale work, Stone Held in A Sheet by Angels, Hall¹s painting first confronts the viewer with its bold brushwork and intense palettes of ochre and rust. Its immediate and visceral impact is as an abstract form that is until one begins to focus on the imagery as a whole. Then, the viewer might notice the slight stick figures of the angels in either corner of the canvas as they strain to hold onto the corners of the sheet which carry the weight of the stone. That weight is palpable and uncomfortable. It is an anxiety-provoking, intimate and beautiful painting and is representative of Hall¹s work at its most formidable and arresting best.
The next exhibition at the Green On Red Gallery is a group exhibition of new sculpture, painting and installation, entitled The Space Between. Should you require further information please contact Jerome O Drisceoil, Molly Sullivan or Georgina Jackson at Green on Red Gallery 26-28 Lombard Street East Dublin 2 T: 671 3414/ 671 3448 F: 01 672 7117 E: info@greenonredgallery.com W: greenonredgallery.com
If you require jpegs or further information, please do not hesitate to contact the GalleryGreen On Red Gallery is pleased to host the third solo exhibition of new paintings by Patrick Hall. Entitled, Stone, the exhibition consists of approximately three large-scale works, eight smaller canvases and a number of works on paper. Hall last exhibited to great acclaim at the Butler Gallery, Kilkenny and at the Green On Red Gallery in 2002.
As Hall has observed about his working methods, he will often, almost incidentally note a subject, and then gradually return to it over a period of years. This latest body of work evolved from a drawing he made two years ago of a particular stone. Out of such a simple subject Hall has created an enigmatic and powerful body of work which seamlessly weaves biblical references, still-life motifs, and depictions of vast celestial landscapes with a rigorous exploration of painterly abstraction. The resulting work, with its muted palette, extremes of scale and haunting imagery, both perplexes and seduces. Hall¹s work has defied easy categorisation and by extension, easy assimilation, because it straddles two planes of visual engagement. On the one hand, these are contemplative, spiritual paintings and the viewer engages with the works much as a Renaissance audience might have contemplated a votive or altar painting. Equally, these works are a highly personal and contemporary exploration of memory and experience and of how memory is informed by meaning and, ironically, forgetfulness.
A major work in the exhibition is End of the Inferno (for W.M.). With its deep indigo night blue sky and sea of sparkling stars that float across its celestial expanse, one immediately draws parallels to Vincent Van Gogh¹s work, Starry Night (1889). In Hall¹s painting, the sky is painted as a brilliant and vast cosmos, but unlike Van Gogh¹s village which is nestled at the bottom of the canvas, Hall has depicted two miniature white angels hovering in the night sky holding a tablet on which writing is partially discernable. Is this intended as a heavenly warning or a message of hope and redemption? It all depends on the viewer¹s perspective in relation to meaning and identity.
In another large-scale work, Stone Held in A Sheet by Angels, Hall¹s painting first confronts the viewer with its bold brushwork and intense palettes of ochre and rust. Its immediate and visceral impact is as an abstract form that is until one begins to focus on the imagery as a whole. Then, the viewer might notice the slight stick figures of the angels in either corner of the canvas as they strain to hold onto the corners of the sheet which carry the weight of the stone. That weight is palpable and uncomfortable. It is an anxiety-provoking, intimate and beautiful painting and is representative of Hall¹s work at its most formidable and arresting best.
The next exhibition at the Green On Red Gallery is a group exhibition of new sculpture, painting and installation, entitled The Space Between. Should you require further information please contact Jerome O Drisceoil, Molly Sullivan or Georgina Jackson at Green on Red Gallery 26-28 Lombard Street East Dublin 2 T: 671 3414/ 671 3448 F: 01 672 7117 E: info@greenonredgallery.com W: greenonredgallery.com
If you require jpegs or further information, please do not hesitate to contact the Gallery