OPW: Office of Public Works
Oifig na nOibreacha Poiblí
11-06-2012 Escapes: Paintings by Kate Nolan. An exhibition at the Pearse Museum, St. Enda’s Park, Rathfarnham.
Friday 8th June 2012
PRESS RELEASE
Escapes: Paintings by Kate Nolan
An exhibition at the Pearse Museum, St. Enda’s Park, Rathfarnham.
15 June to 26 August 2012
Kate Nolan's work is based on the strong connection she has with the rural Irish landscape. Growing up on a farm on the Kildare-Offaly border, she was allowed the freedom to roam and explore the beauty and wildness of the surrounding farms, woodlands and bogs.
Kate now lives in Rathfarnham at the edge of Dublin city, but she has been able to re-establish her connection with landscape through her regular visits to St. Enda's Park which is just on her doorstep. The leader of the 1916 Rising, Patrick Pearse, ran his experimental Irish language school in St. Enda’s from 1910 to 1916. It is now a National Historic park, managed and maintained by the Office of Public Works, and provides the backdrop to the Pearse Museum. Although it is located in the city, parts of it are isolated, wild and beautiful - not unlike the landscape Kate grew up in. It is a place where she experiences a deep sense of calm and oneness with nature. The ever changing light over the Dublin Mountains is a constant source of beauty and inspiration. The stillness that is found in St. Enda's make it a rural retreat in an urban setting. It offers Kate a sense of escape, while at the same time it is a return to many of the sights, sounds and smells of her childhood. It is, in a sense, a coming home.
Kate Nolan's work reflects her fascination with vibrant colours and the ever-changing aspects of the Irish weather. The varieties of light and shade create a continuously evolving visual vocabulary. Texture and form are achieved through the use of palette knives and a thick application of oil paint, which is then scraped, scratched, scored and drawn across the canvas to build up a deeply layered and textured surface. While some of her paintings are grounded in specific locations and are in a representational style, others are memory based and lend themselves more to abstraction.
The proceeds of this exhibition are being donated by the artist to The Capuchin Day Centre for Homeless People on Church Street in Dublin.
- The museum is open from 9.30am to 5.30 (closed Tuesdays). The exhibition runs until 26 August and admission is free.
- For further information contact Brian Crowley on 01-493 4208/ brian.crowley@opw.ie. High quality images available on request.