Martin Gale

Fenton Gallery

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Fenton Art Gallery: Martin Gale

Martin Gale: 13th June – 5th July

It has been observed that Martin Gale has in many ways redefined landscape painting in Ireland. The new paintings, which can be seen at the Fenton Gallery from June 13th, reflect Peter Fallon’s observation that; ‘the work faces up to the complexity of man’s habitation of open spaces and his mark on the natural world.’

Another of Fallon’s observations: ‘Martin Gale’s work is distinguished by its attention to apparently unprepossesing parts’ (RHA catalogue 2004) is also very evident. A huge bull rests resplendent in a field in front of what appears to be a chemical power plant or factory. In ‘Party” the entire foreground focus is a hosepipe and tap stuck onto a piece of timber in a boggy field. In the middle distance a child in a party hat accompanied by family members considers his approach to a scarcely visable bungalow.

The hedges are more manicured and the lawn/field more tended in ‘Hill People’ where we can see in the distance children with their pony.

Rural leisure is a common theme in these paintings. Rural situations with ordinary everyday activities remind us in some ways of Flemish and Dutch 17th century genre painting because of the realism and the glorification of the everyday subject matter. The mysterious isolation of his figures, even when they are in pairs, reminds one of American artists like Hopper and Wyeth.

Martin Gale was born in England in 1949 but has lived in Ireland since he was a child. He graduated from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin in 1973 and has since exhibited widely throughout Ireland and abroad. Gale has had numerous solo exhibitions including a major retrospective at the RHA, Dublin in 2004 which also travelled to the Ulster Museum, Belfast. He lives in Co. Kildare and is a member of the RHA and Aosdána.

Party
oil on canvas,
107 x 122cm.

SOLD

Fenton Gallery : Contemporary Irish Art Gallery, Cork, Ireland

Homepage | Available Irish Artwork | Publications - 'Representing Art in Ireland' | Previous Exhibitions | Contact Information