Brendan Cleere, a native of Bennettsbridge presents his first exhibition, Life West, Mixed Media Art, in the Brazco Coffee Academy in Oranmore, Galway. The launch took place on Friday, 6th June and family, friends and work colleagues gathered to support him. The paintings will hang in Brazco for the month of June.
The exhibition was opened by Eleanor Brennan, Artist and tutor, Paintbox and she was most impressed with the work of her former student. Brendan began painting in 2008 with Eleanor and went to weekly classes for 10 or so years. It was a brilliant learning experience reigniting a love of art which began in primary school. In the early years he tended to give finished paintings away but did sell a few from time to time.
This is his first exhibition. The first few paintings are pretty traditional ones completed a few years ago. Some watercolours appear in a few of the paintings. A visit to Italy was a great experience and he did some experimental work using weird washes, encaustic materials often working en plein air in the lovely mediterranean sunshine. In the past few years Brendan has become a lot more loose in his work, is more open to possibility, and one can see the evolution from, “Painstakingly replicates cool photos in oils” to a more fun, non-representational style.
His inspiration is natural beauty, walking through the mountains of the Burren and Connemara, the trees by the bridge in his hometown, Bennettsbridge and travelling to see new places in the world.
Artist’s statement:
“Through mixed media, Brendan employs his awareness of space, line and shape to create loose, often solitary landscapes filled with light, texture, and atmospheric moody washes. He is unafraid to let the flow of the journey be the primary focus of the work. In his process, he is comfortable with the rough (sandpaper and scraping) and the smooth (water and sponge).”
