A RETROSPECTIVE exhibition representing 40 years of paintings by renowned Limerick artist Brian MacMahon will open at the Sailor’s Home on O’Curry Street this Friday, May 30.
Titled ‘Real Hallucinations’, the exhibit will run until June 20 and offers Limerick audiences a unique opportunity to experience four decades of MacMahon’s work.
Born in 1955, Brian studied at Limerick School of Art from 1973 to 1977, unbeknown to his parents that he had dropped out of school and wasn’t going to study architecture. After moving to Dublin in 1979, the Limerick man quickly developed a reputation as a portrait painter which led to a number of exhibition opportunities and solo shows.
Brian moved back to Limerick in 1998. He has a studio in Limerick, lives near the city and takes every opportunity to explore new vistas around the country.
His paintings represents colour on a large scale and he mixes light and mood with bold convincing colours in his landscapes, portraits and interiors. Colour predominates his work and the subject emerges from the painting, shocking in its accuracy. The viewer is led to look closely to examine the thick surfaces and the perfect strokes and component elements, and then to step back to absorb the whole painting, its atmosphere and mood.
Brian’s retrospective exhibition will take place in ‘the Sailor’s Home’, a beautiful early Victorian building overlooking the Shannon and Limerick Docks. Following decades of fund raising the Sailor’s Home was completed in 1859 for the sum of £960. In recent years, it has fallen into disrepair and has been saved by the Shannon Foynes Port Company who have kindly allowed MacMahon to host his exhibition there.
‘Real Hallucinations’ will run at the Sailor’s House on O’Curry Street from May 30 to June 20.
