Sean Fingleton

Temple Bar Gallery + Studios presents a new Atrium exhibition by studio artist Sean Fingleton.

Sean Fingleton is well known for his expressive landscape paintings of rural Ireland. His vigorous use of mark-making and vivid colour palette, frequently painted or drawn en plein air, projects a sensory connection to nature. Fingleton grapples with the magnificence of the rolling countryside, the tempestuous sea, brooding mountains looming against the horizon, and calmer pastoral scenes where the buzzing of insects in long grass and rustling of leaves can almost be perceived. Fingleton represents the outer world as well as an inner vision that channels an intense emotional relationship to nature and landscape.

During the summer and autumn of 2019, Fingleton completed several sketchbooks of oil pastel drawings from which this exhibition draws. These works were made on site throughout Ireland, including Clonmany in Fingleton’s homeland of Donegal, the loughs of Cavan, Island Bridge on the outskirts of Dublin’s city, and the Burren. In addition, a recent diptych of Glencolmcille is also included, which conveys the drama of the Donegal landscape with cinematic magnitude.

Sean Fingleton was elected as a member of Aosdána in 2006. His work is included in major collections including Arts Council of Ireland, Irish Museum of Modern Art, European Parliament in Strasbourg, and Office of Public Works. His recent exhibitions include: The Sean Fingleton Collection – Work on Loan, Letterkenny Institute of Technology, 2019; RHA Annual Exhibition, 2019; Summer Exhibition, Taylor Galleries, 2018; Facing West, Boyle Arts Festival, 2017; Finders and Keepers, Municipal Gallery dlr Lexicon, 2015; Winter Exhibition, Taylor Galleries, 2015. Sean Fingleton is a founder member of Temple Bar Gallery + Studios.

The Temple Bar Gallery + Studios Atrium connects the public gallery to the individual artists’ private working spaces. Current TBG+S studio artists are invited to use the Atrium to test experimental work or exhibit ideas and artworks in progress.