BY JOHN FITZGERALD
Abstract Art, far from having its origins in the 19th century, dates back more than 60,000 years. Research shows that Ancient Man, despite his presumed backwardness in so many other respects, made impressive art.
Much of it involved symbols and patterns not far removed from those that we see in modern works by topnotch arty folk…though these of course tend to have letters after their names and academic credentials that our forbears would have found more baffling and mysterious than the cave art.
Paul Bokslag, the multi-award winning Dutch-born Callan based artist would have decorated many a cave had he walked the earth back then. Paul is known in Callan for his longstanding association with the KCAT centre at Mill Lane and the guidance and inspiration he has provided to many budding artists.
A visual artist and graphic designer, he uses any medium he finds necessary or expedient to produce his art…paint, a ball of twine, rolls of tape….anything that adds to the overall desired effect And his application of a knife to create art has been likened, in jest, to the way a skilled surgeon wields a scalpel.
His present exhibition at the Butler Gallery includes a gigantic mural, titled Parallels, that covers an entire wall…a visually stunning collage of interacting colour and lines that have an almost living vibrancy.
It beguiles the eye, stirs the heart, and may perhaps connect with something deep within the human psyche…perhaps the same part of us that reacted to those abstract works of antiquity.
Also on display at the gallery is a paper installation fashioned by Paul that stands suspended like a frozen “aport” from the Spirit World, with its diaphanous shimmering form and inmate delicacy.
It reminded me of what people see, or believe they see, in transcendent visions of the world beyond. Or it might remind you of a giant snowflake, which may be apt because Paul got the idea for his extra-large paper cuts after helping children make little paper snowflakes in an art class. He points out too that paper-cuts are intrinsic to cultures worldwide.
Even if you don’t normally bother with abstract art, Paul Bokslag’s work is worth a look. It has a broad aesthetic appeal and you’ll likely be enchanted.
Callan man Paddy Cunningham has a different approach to art, opting for offbeat portraits of celebrities and well-known figures from sport, politics and the international scene. He has drawn or painted hundreds of people who are household names, including (see picture) the new pope.
Leo XIV had no sooner been announced as the new leader of the Catholic Church when Paddy had his pad laid out and his materials ready.
As the Pontiff performed his blessing from the balcony overlooking St Peter’s Square, Paddy moved quickly to capture his likeness and, as with all his portraits he sought to transfer unto paper the essence of his subject…the inner self rather than simply a superficial likeness of the outer form. In his art Paddy gazes into the soul.
He was a keen photographer for years before switching to drawing and painting, and his photographic expertise has proved an aid to his art. He feels it helps him to focus in the same way that the camera did when he visited all the local heritage sites in the past or snapped key social events in the community.
Paddy had a recent exhibition at Callan library and expects to mount another display of his work in the coming months.
Another Callan-based artist, one who works with words rather than paint, has plenty to write about, having visited a war zone and returned safely to the Town on the King’s River.
Having written many songs and composed hundreds of poems dealing with his own life experience, the wonders of nature, a range of philosophical issues, and comedic episodes from Irish culture, Peter Brabazon has more recently penned a short but exquisite and gripping account of a life experience that struck him as worthy of more than a verse or two.
Last year, he opted to attend a relative’s wedding. Not an uncommon decision, except that this particular happy event was to happen in Ukraine. As thousands of Ukrainians moved west to avoid the brutal Russian invasion, Peter travelled east.
In a riveting booklet, titled Peter Brabazon in Ukraine he recounts the journey across Europe, the tension-racked checkpoint stand-offs, and the feel of a county at war. Though the wedding was to take place in a town in Western Ukraine, far from the front line, Peter was cautioned that the whole country was within enemy range.
He writes “Soon after midday, while lying on my bed writing my journal and reading Dracula, a loud female voice came through the intercom on the ceiling into my room saying something I didn’t understand. A few seconds later I did. The air-raid siren blared throughout the city. The bomb shelter was underneath the theatre, beside our hotel…”
Peter’s account is vivid and evocative…sometimes chilling, but also brimming with his usual optimism, wry humour, and humanity.
Thankfully, he returned safely from Ukraine. Back in Callan, he continues to compose poetry and attend the weekly musical sessions in Hourigan’s.
