www.solomonfineart.ie

OPENING HOURS
Tuesday – Friday: 10.00 – 17.30
Saturday: 11.00 – 16.00
Sunday – Monday: CLOSED

*The gallery may be visited outside of usual hours by prior appointment

An Exhibition of paintings by

Ailbhe Barrett, Colin Crotty, Tom Climent,
Rian Coughlan, Tommy Feehan, Holly Walsh,
Joseph Heffernan, John Noel Kenneally

19th October – 19th December

Mayfield Arts Centre, Newbury House,
Old Youghal Road, Mayfield, Cork, Ireland

See  Mayfield Arts Centre  for more information

Jean Bardon, Tom Climent, Rudolf Heltzel, Annette Hennessy, Brian McMahon, Jane O’ Malley, Michael Quane, John Shinnors and Walter Verling

16th May – 10th June

The Lavit Gallery, 5 Father Matthew Street, Cork. | 021 4277749 | thelavitgallery@eircom.net | http://www.lavitgallery.com

Solomon Fine Art |  Easter Group Show

Gallery & Invited Artists

31 March – 19 April 2017

Solomon Fine Art | Balfe Street | Dublin 2 | info@solomonfineart.ie |  www.solomonfineart.ie

Quadrants | Custom House Gallery & Studios

A solo exhibition of new paintings

26th January – 19th of February

Custom House Gallery & Studios | The Quay, Westport, Co.Mayo | +353 (0)98 28735 | customhouse@eircom.net

Custom House Gallery & Studios

VUE Contemporary Art Fair | Solomon Fine Art | RHA Gallery

Friday 4th November  – Sunday 6th November

RHA Galleries, Ely Place, Dublin 2

See  VUE Art Fair   for more information

IADA Antiques Fair | Solomon Fine Art | RDS Dublin 4

23rd – 25th September

See  Solomon Fine Art  for more information

GLOW | Catherine Hammond Gallery

Tom Climent, Eamon Colman, William Crozier, Neal Greig, Eilis O’Connell, Peter Martin, James McCreary, Michael Ray, Conor Walton

September 9 – October 29

Autumn Opening Hours:
Tuesday to Friday 12 – 5, Saturday 11 – 4

Catherine Hammond Gallery   61 Bridge Street, Skibbereen, Co.Cork

SHUFFLE | Herrick Gallery

1st July – 4th September

Herrick Gallery  |  93 Piccadilly, London W1J 7NQ |  gallery@herrick.gallery  | Herrick Gallery

Tuesday – Saturday 11am – 6pm
on Mondays we are only open by appointment.
Nearest Stations: Green Park or Hyde Park Corner

The Retrieval of the Beautiful | The Painting Center | New York

Curated by Alyce Gottesman, Bill Hochhausen and Jack McWhorter

June 21st – July 16th 2016

The Painting Center | 547 West 27th Street, Suite 500, New York, NY, 10001

See   The Painting Center   for more information

ART WORKS & HORTON PRIZE

Carlow’s 37th Annual Open Exhibition and Horton Art Prize

10-19 June |  VISUAL and St.Patrick’s College Carlow

This year ART WORKS has been selected by Annie Fletcher, Senior Curator, Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven & Claire Feeley, Producer Barbican, London.

For more information visit   Carlow Arts Festival

Paintings at Liss Ard Estate

I’ll be showing a new collection of paintings at Liss Ard Estate from the 1st of March to the 1st of July. Mostly works on paper, they’ll be displayed in the new Gallery Room there.

Liss Ard Estate is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 9am to 5 pm, and most weekends. It is closed some weekends for private functions so it’s best to check in advance if travelling then.

Liss Ard Estate | Castletownshend Road, Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland.
Tel: +353 (0)28 40 000    Email: reservations@lissard.com    Website: www.lissardestate.com

In its Reflection | Tom Climent | Solomon Fine Art

A solo exhibition of new paintings

7th April – 30th April

Solomon Fine Art | Balfe Street, Dublin 2 ( Next to The Westbury Hotel ) | + 353(0)86 8142380 | info@solomonfineart.ie

See  Solomon Fine Art  for more information

Irish Wave 2016

Birth of a Nation | Struggle | Identity

NING SPACE, Emerging Arts Research Center & Sanwei Art Center

Exhibition Dates 12 March – 9 April 2016

As part of the annual Irish Festival in China, Irish Wave 2016 will take place in Beijing and Shanghai during March 2016.

This year, a series of contemporary art exhibitions and events will focus on the themes of nationhood and cultural identity as part of Irish Wave’s mission to promote multicultural artistic exchanges.

Irish artists Niamh Cunningham and Fion Gunn have worked on Irish Wave Projects since 2010 and are interested in presenting exhibitions which are atypical of East-West discussions. This year they have expanded the selection of artists to include those not only from Ireland and Northern Ireland but also China, Taiwan, UK, USA and Australia.

See  Irish Wave  for more information

My painting Harborage was selected as the cover image for the February issue of Fresh Paint Magazine. My work is featured inside along with 40 other artists.

Visit  Fresh Paint Magazine  to view the issue

Spectrum | Herrick Gallery | London | United Kingdom

2 – 27 February 2016

See  Herrick Gallery  for more information

NN | Open Exhibition 2015

11 December–28 February 2015

NN, Number Nine Guildhall Road, Northampton, NN1 1DP, United Kingdom

Artists: Adrian Bayes, Anna Katarzyna Domejko, Arabel Rosillo De Blas, Barnaby Lewer and Tristan Deratz, Elvis Dread, Brendan O’Neill, Charlie Billingham, Chloe Feldman Emison, David Theobold, Dawn Giles, Emma Brack, Faye Spencer, Grant Petrey, Ikran Abdille, Jade Hanley, James Paddock, Janet Milner, Jessica Harby, Jodie Wingham, Jonathan McCree, Joshua Uvieghara, Kennis Chan, Kevin McCully, Melissa Campbell, Nikkita Morgan, Priya Baxter, Ramona Zoladek, Ryan Brown, Sarah Hill, Silvia Lerin, Steve Ruiz, Susan Phillips, Tom Climent, Tyrone Williams, Valentina Casalini
Selected by: Ruth Claxton, Mathew Shaul

See  NN  for more information

Winter Open 2015 | Rua Red

28th November – 24th December

Rua Red, South Dublin Arts Centre, Dublin 24

See  Rua Red  for more information

Small Works | Lavit Gallery

October 27th – November 14th

Lavit Gallery, 5 Fr.Matthew Street, Cork

See  Lavit Gallery  for more information

Tom Climent | Sheenagh Geoghegan | Marianne Keating | Keo Design | Wexford Opera Festival

An exhibition featuring Tom Climent, Sheenagh Geoghegan & Marianne Keating as part of the Wexford Opera Festival curated by Helena Tobin.

23rd October – 7th November

keo design at Custom House Quay, Wexford.

See  keo design  for more information

Tom Climent | Season Map | The Gallery Room @ Liss Ard Estate

May 1st – September 27th 2015

Liss Ard Estate | Castletownsend road, Skibbereen, Co.Cork, Ireland | Tel: +353 28 40 000

Directions | From Cork, follow the N71 to West Cork and Skibbereen. At Skibbereen follow the one way system to the Regal Roundabout with LIDL Retail Shop roundabout. Follow signs to Castletownsend, R596. The entrance for Liss Ard Country Estate is less than a 1 Kilometre on the right-hand-side.

See  Liss Ard Estate  for more information

Unfolding B | Doswell Gallery

8th August – 7th September

Doswell Gallery, Rosscarbery, Co.Cork

See Doswell Gallery for more information

Art Beyond Category | Palazzo dell Annuziata | Matera | Italy

International Group Exhibition | September 2015

Curators Choice | The Hunt Museum | Tom Climent

June 2015

The Hunt Museum, Rutland Street, Limerick

See  The Hunt Museum  for more information

Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition 2014

Ulster Museum, Botanic Gardens, Belfast, Northern Ireland

October 17th – January 4th

See  RUA  for more information

Tom Climent | A Place Found | Sternview Gallery

A solo exhibition of new paintings

September 10th – November 15th

Entrance through Nash 19, 19 Princes Street, Cork

Mullan Gallery Summer Exhibition

Opens the 14th of June and runs for the Summer

See  Mullan Gallery  for further information

Feburary 2014 Winner | Tom Climent

Working Art Grant Recipient

See  Working Artist Org.  for more information

Tom Climent | Vessels

The Luan Gallery

Grace Road, Athlone, Co.Westmeath

22th March to 27th April

For more information see Luan Gallery

Artist Choice | The Lavit Gallery

April 16th to May 6th

For more information see The Lavit Gallery

J.Cacciola Gallery, 537 W 23rd Street New York, NY 10011

Trí | Tom Climent, Marty Kelly, Suzy O’Mullane

3 October – 2 November 2013

See  J.Cacciola Gallery  &  BlueLeaf Gallery  for more information

Art Toronto 2013

J Cacciola Gallery | Tom Climent, Jane LaFarge Hamill, James Lahey, Tom Lieber, Marty Kelly & Suzy O’Mullane

See J Cacciola Gallery and Artsy for more information

Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition 2013

See Royal Ulster Academy for more information

Engage Arts Festival

26th – 29 September 2013

Aideen Barry | Katherine Boucher Beug | Tom Climent | Dorothy Cross

Doswell Gallery Summer Exhibition

15th June – 10th of July

See Doswell Gallery for more information

The Catherine Hammond Gallery

Celebration

May 4th – June 19th 2013

See Catherine Hammond Gallery for more information

Tom Climent Final State

BlueLeaf Gallery, Whitaker Court, Whitaker Square,off Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin 2(Courtyard access beside no 28 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay or behind the Maldron Hotel on Cardiff Lane)

November 16th – December 13th 2012

Opening Hours: Tues – Fri 11am – 6pm / Sat by appointment

See BlueLeaf Gallery  for more information or

Facebook/Tom Climent Studio

BlueLeaf Gallery will exhibit works by Suzy O’Mullane, Marty Kelly, Claudia
Alvarez, Bethany Krull and Tom Climent at Art Toronto, Canada’s premiere art
fair.

The three-day fair will showcase exhibits by more than a hundred leading
and emerging galleries from 23 countries, with over 20,000 collectors, curators,
and art enthusiasts expected to attend over the course of the weekend.

See Art Toronto 2012 for more information

Hamilton Gallery 2012

Tom Climent/Bettina Seitz

Tom Climent’s paintings focus on the creation of space, investigating the boundaries between abstraction and representation, using spatial structures to make this quality solid and physical.  These exist in a field of tension between the artistic vision of abstraction and the physical world of representation.  A recipient of the Tony O’Malley and Victor Treacey award, his work is found in numerous public and private collection throughout Ireland and abroad.

See  Hamilton Gallery  for more information

Art Wynwood  Claudia Alvarez, Tom Climent, Marty Kelly, Bethany Krull, Rick Newton, Suzy O’Mullane Leonard Sexton 16 Feb 2012 – 20 Feb 2012 3101 NE 1st Avenue, Miami

See Art Wynwood  for more information

The Tap Root | A new collection of work | 2011

When I started out on this new phase of work initially it was the notion of a ‘house’ that interested me, the house as nucleus, the origin of architecture and of constructed space, the “original shell” that Bachelard speaks of.

This idea of a shell was one I wanted to investigate more; simple structural shapes and objects that could function as dwellings. These started to become symbolic for me in that I saw these structures as a kind of hut, a spatial place; physically located as the studio and mentally as the center from which my work comes.

This structure marks out a boundary between creativity and life, offering protection. The space it contains  is “the tap-root of the function of inhabitating.  It is the simplest of human plants, the one that needs no ramifications in order to exist. Indeed, it is so simple that it no longer belongs to our memories – which at times are too full of imagery – but to legend; it is a center of legend. When we are lost in darkness and see a distant glimmer of light, who does not dream of a thatched cottage or, to go more deeply still into legend, of a hermit’s hut.”1

Tom Climent’s newer work operates in both painting and sculpture, focusing on the creation of space, investigating the boundaries between abstraction and representation as a means of conveying this.Exploring the dematerialised qualities that one does not actually see in reality, and using spatial structures as a vehicle to make this quality solid and physical.

These spatial structures become a metaphor for duality, enabling us to visually explore an outer as well as an inner spatial world. This exploration exists in a field of tension between two poles of visualisation, namely the artistic vision of abstraction and the physical world of representation.  This  new body of work is much more physically  present  than his previous ones and yet conversely  it  conveys an aspect of reality which is less physically present. They  contain the memories of the past,  what used to exist, what could exist and what does exist.

1 Bachelard, Gaston: The Poetics of Space, Beacon Press,Boston,p31

Catalogue available

See 2011 for more examples from this  new series

BlueLeaf Gallery Presents New Work Art Miami 2011

Dublin’s BlueLeaf Gallery is proud to present powerful new works from five of its artists at Art Miami: Tom Lieber, Tom Climent, Claudia Alvarez, Marty Kelly and Suzy O’Mullane. They are renowned for their unflinching, issue-based works, in a variety of media.
Tom Lieber’s gestural new works are informed by counterbalances between man and nature and reflect his holistic approach to painting.
Tom Climent’s paintings and installations feature house-like structures that represent shelter and the shifting notion of home
Claudia Alvarez is a Mexican-American artist whose ceramic child figures relate to history and childhood memories
Marty Kelly’s painted heads are sweet and wistful, while alluding to the human cost of conflict
Suzy O’Mullane’s figurative works contain mark-making that is both powerful and restrained; her images range from contemplative innocence to direct examination.

We are grateful to Culture Ireland for their generous support.

See  Art Miami  for more information

Art Toronto Tom Climent Suzy O’Mullane Marty Kelly Claudia Alvarez 28 Oct 2011 – Oct 2011 Supported by Culture Ireland

Blueleaf Gallery is proud to represent exciting and current works from Claudia Alvarez, Tom Climent, Marty Kelly and Suzy O’Mullane at Art Toronto 2011. The four artists exhibiting with us at Art Toronto are renowned for their unflinching issue-based works, in a variety of media.
Suzy O’Mullane’s figurative works stem from issues of personal significance. Her mark-making is both powerful and restrained; her images range from contemplative innocence to direct examination.
Tom Climent also works in 2D and 3D, where his house-like structures represent shelter and the shifting notion of home.
Marty Kelly’s painted heads are sensitive and wistful, and yet are a statement about the human cost of conflict.
Claudia Alvarez is a Mexican-American artist, who’s ceramic and watercolour installations relate to history and childhood memories.
We are grateful to Culture Ireland for their generous support.

See  Art Toronto  for more information

New Paintings  Tom Climent, Aidan Crotty & Stephen Lawlor

May 10th – 28th 2011

An exhibition of New Paintings by Tom Climent, Aidan Crotty and Stephen Lawlor will open at the Lavit Gallery on Tuesday  May 10^th.

Tom Climent’s most recent works are more architectural than previous ones.  A lighter use of paint and an interest in mood is evident in this new series. He is interested in the idea of a shell, a simple structure and uses the following quote from  the philosopher Bachelard to remind us of our feelings towards these places – “When we are lost in darkness and see a distant glimmer of light, who does not dream of a thatched cottage or, to go more deeply still into legend, of a hermit’s hut.” Cork artist Tom Climent graduated from Crawford College of Art and Design in 1995. Recent solo exhibitions have included the South Tipperary Arts Centre, The Hunt Museum, Limerick, The Fenton Gallery, Cork and Kevin Kavanagh Gallery Dublin.

See  The Lavit Gallery  for more information

BlueLeaf Gallery : Tom Climent  at Art Palm Beach  January 2011

A fixture of South Florida’s contemporary art scene for 13 years, Art Palm
Beach has become one of the most influential contemporary art fairs on
Florida’s Gold Coast.  In 2011, Art Palm Beach will again gather 75 of
the world’s most prestigious galleries, representing approximately 1,200 of the
most innovative artists from across the globe.

See Art Palm Beach for more information

BlueLeaf Gallery at Art Chicago: Marty Kelly, Tom Climent, Oisín Byrne and Sean Hillen

30 April – 3 May 2010
BlueLeaf Gallery is pleased to announce its participation at Art Chicago 30 April-3 May 2010 exhibiting works by Marty Kelly, Tom Climent, Oisín Byrne and Sean Hillen. These Irish artists recently participated in a major international exhibition of work by Irish and New York artists presented by BlueLeaf  in Dublin.

Tom Climent’s recent paintings explore properties of built forms in the context of light and colour with the intent of introducing a “sacred space embodied in the landscape.” Irish writer Deirdre Purcell describes Climent’s work as having “evolved from the more abstract end of landscape depiction towards a mystical worldscape containing recognizable architectural shapes, spires, churches and towers, seen to be almost floating as though detached from the bonds of earth”. Climent explores these elements in grand-scale works as well as in small compositional formats. Born in 1970 in Cork city, Climent abandoned engineering studies to devote himself to art full-time. He studied at the Crawford College of Art and Design, Cork and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Victor Treacy Award in 1996, as well as the Tony O’Malley Award. His work has been widely exhibited in several leading Irish galleries. Tom Climent is based in Cork and shares his time working in his studio in Spain.

We are grateful to Culture Ireland for their generous support.

Wildly Different Things: New York and Dublin 25 Feb 2010 – 20 Mar 2010 The Observatory, 7 Sir John Rogersons Quay

‘Wildly Different Things: New York and Dublin’ invites audiences to arrive at their own conclusions: Is shared information giving rise to global homogenization among artists’ work? Or, are artists absorbing shared information to present new perspectives and to create different means of expression—individually or collectively as geographic regions—that stands apart from art produced elsewhere?
The exhibition will present work by artists working in diverse strands to include painting, sculpture, installation, photography, performance, video and film.

See BlueLeaf Gallery for more information

Art London: Tom Climent Shane Blount Susan Block Margaret O’Brien 7 Oct 2010 – 11 Oct 2010 Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London

Tom Climent lives in Cork, Ireland and shares his time painting from a studio in
Cork and in Spain.  His ongoing investigations into the portrayal of light and its effect on natural and
built space ultimately led him to his current body of work.

Climent completed his studies at the Crawford College of Art and Design in Cork
in 1995. Since that time, he has been the recipient of numerous awards including
the prestigious Victor Treacy Award and the Tony O’Malley Award. His work has
received wide media attention and has been written about extensively. Climent’s
work is exhibited internationally, in North America, the UK and in Ireland. His
paintings are held in numerous private, public and corporate collections.

Ashlar | A new collection of work | 2009

A Place of Refuge, a Beacon of Light

Tom Climent’s work has been steadily evolving over the years, its constants being his devotion to the process of painting, and his use of deeply saturated colour and intricately worked surfaces. His new show features architectural forms, which hover between background and foreground, emerging from turbulent areas of atmospheric colour and texture that suggest heightened natural phenomena (sunrise, sunset, mist and storm), or some unreal landscape of the imagination. The buildings are fixed points, beacons of light.

The buildings, whether single shapes or in clusters, contain a calm focal point within the layers of colour and haze, whether it is the light reflected from a steeple, from the gable ends of a cottage, or the beam of a lighthouse. The precision and idiosyncrasy of the buildings’ design, their clear outline and realistic perspective, the way that shadows fall from one part of the building on to another, contrast with the more intuitive painting of the dramatically layered, non-figurative context in which the building is placed. The Italianate basilica in Pavillion seems to hover in a blur of colour, as if seen from a fast-moving train. Others, like the lighthouses in Oculus and Pico and the cottage in House of Departure are concealed behind a veil of mist or, as in Mihrab, viewed hauntingly through a patina of age. The hypnotic quality of the artist’s fusion of real and abstract recalls T.S. Eliot’s lines: human kind/Cannot bear very much reality.

Conventional distinctions between background and foreground are confounded, as the architectural shapes loom up and recede before our eyes. The walls and roofs of buildings become planes, deeply textured blocks of colour.  A fruitful tension is created between the closely observed buildings, and the strangeness of the colours around them, a new variation on the play between abstract and representational that has always characterised Climent’s work. The buildings prompt memories of real places, the colours evoke alternately Ireland and the Mediterranean, recalling the artist’s part-Spanish background. As always, the artist leaves it to the viewers to bring their own interpretation to the painting, to go in and explore the painting, or simply to enjoy the rich juxtaposition of colour, form and texture. Either way, the experience is immensely stimulating and satisfying

Alannah Hopkin

Catalogue available

See 2009 for more examples from this series

Representing Art in Ireland 

The Fenton Gallery

For full text see Bibliography

Dust : Paintings by Tom Climent 2009

Tom Climent’s exhibition, Dust, features a group of paintings done over a 12 month period. They are more architectural in structure than previous works, a large portion of them feature churches, however they still contain the same breath of colour and paint handling, while they still have an abstract sensibility, they mark a new development in his work. They range in size from 8 x 6 foot to 1 foot square. Previous exhibitions include Between Chance and Rhyme at the Hunt Museum, Hansels House at the Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, New Paintings at the Fenton Gallery, Pure at the Temple Bar Gallery and Studios. Awards include the Tony O’Malley award and the Victor Treacey award, his work is in the collections of UCC, The Office of Public Works, CIT, AIB bank, NCB Stockbrokers and numerous private collections in Ireland, Spain, UK, and USA.

See  Garter Lane Arts Centre  for more information

The Hunt Museum

Tom Climent Between Chance and Rhyme

A solo exhibition of new paintings

Between Chance and Rhyme | A new collection of work | 2008

The practice of painting changes in response to contemporary trends, however there are painters who reflect contemporary moods while retaining the qualities of traditional painters. Tom Climent is a painter who is skilled with the use of both paint and brushes.  Tom’s early work was mainly large canvases – seemingly influenced by Baroque painters and while the work is not entirely figurative it suggests figurative themes.

The works included in this selection reflect subtle changes in Tom’s work – there is increased intimacy which can be seen in the smaller works.  Coupled with intimacy is an emerging lyrical quality. This poetic quality begins with the inspiration behind the work. The sensitive application of colours the resulting textures and associated use of light and dark also contribute to this newly expressed lyricism.  However, it should not be assumed that the older dramatic qualities have been abandoned. Tom continues to explore dramatic themes however his means of distillation and expressing his response on canvas is now more measured, refined and responsive. This marks this selection as another phase in the evolution of Tom’s work.

The spirit thread evident in all Tom’s work is the desire to speak the language of painting – a voice that speaks with paint, colour and canvas. Like Rilke’s Lacemaker it can be understood as

‘…an urgency within herself, a joy,

and out of it this object had to grow

substantial, insubstantial as our destiny;

beauty as perfect as if made to show

a time had come to smile – a time to fly? ‘

Tom Climent is one of Ireland’s most distinguished younger painters, his paintings are an expression of his own being, they are not a response to trends or changing fashion. The works included in this selection stand alone and mark another phase of the artist’s evolution.

Virginia Teehan

Director Hunt Museum

Exhibited in a major exhibtion in The Hunt Museum

Catalogue available

See 2006-2008 for more examples from this series

Kevin Kavanagh Gallery 2007

Tom Climent Hansels House

Kevin Kavanagh is pleased to present Hansels House an exhibition of four large paintings by Tom Climent

Fenton Gallery 2006

Tom Climent/Paddy McCann

Tom Climent’s new paintings are tremendously exciting and accomplished. Working again on a large dramatic scale, some of the scenes hint again at the figurative presences so strong in his earlier work. He can conjure a sense of interior space or urban landscape within an aesthetic which is abstract and dramatic. He paints successfully at both large and small scales, colour clearly plays an important role.

See  2006-2008  for more examples from this series

Deacde | A retrospective catalogue published 2006

Introduction by  Brian Fallon. Essay by Vera Ryan

See Bibliography for texts

Travelogue

Fenton Gallery 2004

Tom Climent/Sarah Walker

Tom Climent who has previously drawn influences from Spansh art historical references, has spent several months living in Spain over the last few years. Usually known as a studio painter of large format works, last year saw Climent working outdoors, painting from the roof of his house in Spain which resulted in him choosing to work with a dramatically smaller  scale. He feels that painting outdoors also had the effect of lightening his palette. Any suggestion of a figurative presence is absent in this new series. Climents paintings have a colour confidence and freedom of dramatic expression which has always marked him out as one of the most talented younger generation Irish painters.

Fenton Gallery 2003

Tom Climent New Paintings 

A solo exhibition of new paintings

Tom Climent is known for the large scale of his paintings, his bold use of paint and brooding, dramatic colour. In 1995 his degree exhibition caused huge excitement at the Crawford College in Cork, with almost all of his paintings selling out to established collectors and public venues. His career has continued in the ascendant since then, and even more so as his work matures. This current exhibition has been eagerly awaited as it will be his first solo exhibition in over two years. His work has had a connection with Christian, Baroque and Renaissance imagery and while this is present in some of the new work, much of it seems to explore the removal of formalized figurative elements while still retaining a sense of interaction, drama or narrative. The Carravagesque shadow and imagery has subtly adapted to a more modernist sense of structure. It is a pleasure to watch this virtuoso artist further explore art’s more recent legacy of painting for painting’s sake. His sense of composition is always ambitious and the dramatic reds, blacks and yellows create strong elements in these paintings. A commanding talent further unfolds in this especially interesting show.

See  2000-2005  for more examples from this series

Black Supper(After Caravaggio)

I just got an old painting from 1995 rephotographed. It’s something I hope to do more of throughout the year. Vera Ryan wrote about this phase of my work for Decade, a retrospective catalogue published in 2006:

These paintings from 1995 to 2000 were energetic and exciting, revealing a richly sensuous pictoral sensibility. Figures seldom seem to be still and had an extraordinary dramatic immediacy, almost sharing their physical space with the viewers. It was as if the Baroque was being reinvented. Many of the paintings were in response to 17th century paintings. Tom saw Rembrandt in Amsterdam in 1991. It was this trip that made him creatively aware of the history of painting. When he won the Tony O’Malley Award, he was able to travel in Italy for a few months in 1998. He does not get drawn into psychological interpretations of paintings. ‘Every time I stood before a painting I liked I imagined the painter standing there painting it.’

For full text see Bibliography