Upcoming exhibition in Gallery X
Group Show in Gallery X
The Cock & Pussy Manifesto
Currently I am working on my solo exhibition which opens in early October. My exhibition will consist of about 10 or 11 very large pieces.
If you can't wait til October to see my work you get the opportunity to see a small piece I painted that is part of a group exhibition that is opening in Gallery X on the 31st of August. See details of the exhibition here. Curated by Gallery owner Giovanni Guisti who explains that the art show “is meant as an attack on the shame that society makes us feel about what he believes are our most important bits” it features artworks by numerous artists of the male and female form.
PIGSY working on an artwork - creating a custom frame
The above pic is of me at work on the piece that I will be exhibiting. I am fabricating a custom frame for the artwork. The piece is a a take on Polaroid photos of a nude Jean-Michel Basquiat with me as the subject matter, go figure!
Gallery X is on 65 South William Street and the exhibition titled “The Cock & Pussy Manifesto” runs from 31st of Aug to the 22nd of September.
Here’s a picture of the exhibition - you can see the PIGSY painting on the wall behind Gallery Owner Giovanni Guisti. This PIGSY is the male nude to the right of the photo.
Lanes of Dublin - filming PIGSY short film
Feeling inspired - painting in the back lanes of Dublin
I have a fascination for lanes. I misspent my youth down lanes, kicking footballs and playing with my friends along with drawing in chalk on lane walls.
Now as an adult and an architect I am interested in what gets built down lanes. Mews houses are a big part of the Dublin architectural landscape and I am fortunate to be currently working on a project which is exploring the feasibility of a mews house on a particular lane way site.
This Friday I went back to my childhood, with film maker Mike Andrews, and set up a chalkboard in a Rathmines lane and got working. Mike is a documentary maker so at this point all I will say is "Watch this space".........
Lane way painting
I was in the mood to paint and being outside in a lane was inspiring. I painted and Mike filmed. He was pleased with his results and I was very happy too!
EDIT 2018 - To view the PIGSY film, click here
Miro in Mallorca
Miro Museum in Mallorca
Recently I visited Mallorca staying on Calle Mayor in an AirBnB.
We stayed in a stand alone unit that I rented through AirBnB. A few doors down from our rental was the Fundacion Pilar i Joan Miro which encompasses Miro's two studios and an art museum.
Miro Studio, Mallorca
The whole Miro Museum complex was so amazing that we visited 3 times during our week's holiday. It has an extensive collectin of Miro art and you can also visit the studio Miro painted in which is on the site as this was the original location of his studio.
Here's a pic to whet your appetite! If you would like to see more pics, click here to read Enid's blog.
Where I buy my supplies....
Art Supplies in Dublin
In the past I have stretched my own canvas on to wooden frames. However, although cheaper than a ready stretched canvas, it is not one bit convenient. So currently I buy ready stretched canvas.
For canvas, I go to Evans on Capel Street.
My last expedition to Evans was on Saturday and I hired a GoCar van as the canvas I proposed buying would not fit in my Smart Car!!
Along with canvas, I buy oil sticks and brushes in Evans.
For other art supplies I visit Tiger and also sometimes hardware stores for domestic paint.
And finally I get my spray paint in All City Records where I have a browse at the vinyl when I visit which always makes for a fun trip that Enid likes to do with me.
Here's me on my most recent canvas buying expedition in the GoCar van.
Car Sharing - the perfect way to move art
Car Clubs - Car Sharing, what flexibility!
I signed up for GoCar the other day.
It's a car sharing website that gives you access to cars and vans at an hourly rate. There are many car bases local to me but it is the GoVans that I am most interested in. I regularly need access to a van for a short while to either buy canvas in Evans or to deliver paintings to new owners. GoCar seems like a perfect fit for my needs.
Currently it's only €10 to sign up for membership so it's a good time to sign up and give it a try out. Membership of Go Car gives you access to a variety of vehicles (including vans) along with insurance, fuel and also free parking in Dublin City Centre. It’s a good deal!
Blast from the Past "Dad's Dublin"
“Dad’s Dublin” by Pigsy
Here's a painting of mine that I did a few years ago. It's called "Dad's Dublin" and the story behind it is that my Dad gave me the canvas. He had used it to start a painting of Dublin. I painted over his Dublin with my Dublin (you can see Liberty Hall to the right) and then gave it back to him as a gift.
The artwork is now hanging in my parent’s home - “Dad’s Dublin” in my Dad’s house.
3 Generational Exhibition
3 Generational Art Exhibition - Cabra Library
A few months ago my father asked me for a few pieces for an exhibition he was holding. He had made arrangements to exhibit in his local public library in Cabra and wanted to include my work, his work and also his grandchild's (my niece) work.
It was literally a 3 generational exhibition with work by a father, son and granddaughter.
I wrote up a small biography to my father's specifications and during the exhibition this was circulated with further information about the three of us.
The exhibition went well. There was no official launch but there were lots of great comments in the visitors book.
If you are interested in my niece's work you can click here to view her youtube channel.
The Kemp Gallery @ Gallery X
Kemp & Gallery X
The KEMP Gallery has announced it's return and relocation to 65 South William Street, Dublin 2, in a space that will be shared with their new host - GalleryX.
GalleryX is a new player in Dublin's gallery scene, specialising in figurative and surrealist art, "so the potential synergy attained by working out of the same premises was impossible to refuse" explained curator Kemp.
The KEMP Gallery @ GalleryX intends to continue showcasing urban/street art to the Irish public and looks forward to the continued love and support of their sponsors, art fans, family and friends.
MAY Exhibition - The KEMP Gallery @ GalleryX will be kicking off the new arrangement on May 11th with a new exhibition by the much heralded Shane Sutton (www.shanesutton.com).
2017 Schedule - A further 3 exhibitions are planned for the calendar year, including brand new work from curator KEMP in late September.
This is very much a WATCH THIS SPACE situation and I for one am very excited to what comes of this new collaboration.
Good Luck to The Kemp Gallery @ Gallery X!
Peggy Guggenheim Art Collection Venice Italy
A visit to Peggy Guggenheim’s Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, Venice
Day one of our Venice trip was for Architecture while day two was for art.
We had an early breakfast and made our way to Palazzo Venier dei Leoni where Peggy Guggenheim lived and is now a museum.
There was a large queue when we arrived at 9.30am, even though the museum doesn't open until 10am. When it did open, it took a long time to process tickets and we got in at about 10.20am. The entrance fee is €15 and we paid an additional €7 for an audio tour.
Peggy Guggenheim: Art Collector, Supporter and Patron of Living Artists
Peggy Guggenheim is one of the most famous supporters and art collectors of modern art. She brought so many young artists to the attention of the world and without her support who knows what the art world would look like today. Samuel Beckett had told Peggy that one must support artists and it is best to buy paintings from living artists. Guggenheim certainly took this on board with one of her most famous painters that she collected being Jackson Pollock.
Guggenheim’s private collection is stunning and includes works by all of the modern 20th century art masters like Picasso, Mondrian, Kandinsky, Ernst, Chagar, Kli, Miró, Pollock, Brown Cousy, Dali, Magritte and Bacon
My blog musings won't do the collection any justice (it really is something you must go and see yourself) so to that end I give you this Jackson Pollock picture that I photographed in the Peggy Guggenheim museum.
Not only is this an incredible permant exhibition of art, the setting is fairly sensational too. It’s my number one must-visit attraction while you are visiting Venice.
Tips for visiting Peggy Guggenheim’s Palazzo Venier dei Leoni in Venice
Arrive early before the ticket line builds up (if you haven’t bought tickets online)
Probably best to buy tickets online from the official Peggy Guggenheim website when making a plan to visit
Buy the audio guide
Note the closing times, and make sure you give yourself at the very least 90 mins to 2 hours + to see everything before the museum closes
Plan your visit: check out the website to see what temporary exhibitions are on view and make sure you go see these aswell as the permanent exhibitions
Some of the rooms can be very busy so leave the backpack in the hotel
Nasher Sculpture Gardens are the area around the museum - make sure you have time to visit them too.
Prepare to be wowed!
Peggy Guggenheim Museum Location & contact details:
Palazzo Venier dei Leoni
Dorsoduro 701
I-30123 Venice
tel: +39 041 2405 411
e-mail: info@guggenheim-venice.it
Architectural Tour of Venice
To see more of my Venice travels, click my previous blog to read about the Venice Architectural tour that I did where I visited the works of Architect Carlo Scarpa
HGTV Extreme Homes of the World: Ireland Edition
When HGTV Extreme Homes of The World Visited my house
Back in 2013, a film crew visited my house to film it for an episode of HGTV's Extreme Homes.
It was an interesting weekend with a hardworking crew of 3 who worked from dawn ‘til dusk filming myself and the house. The crew were very friendly and professional and my wife and I really enjoyed the whole process and were very happy with the finished product - it was great to see our house on film in the polished format of HGTV as an episode of Extreme Homes of the World.
Filming Process - HGTV Extreme Homes of the World
Each shot was done a few times. At first the room as a whole would be filmed and then close up shots were done whereby I would highlight and discuss particular details. For example in the shot below to the left I am firstly talking about the deck area as a whole but I also mentioned the detail of the shuttered concrete marked with boards. The they filmed me close up pointing out the shuttering in detail. Presumably then when it came to the editing stage they would piece it all together.
Can you spot what it underneath the deck in the pic below?!
Plywood Cladding in the PIGSY Art Studio
Here’s another example of me being filmed talking about a space which is my studio which is clad in plywood. After the room as a whole was filmed with me talking, they then went on to do a close up of the plywood cladding.
Creating art on film
These are shots of me "painting". I had an empty cup and paintbrush and had to act like I was painting while they were filming. That was fun! It was a lot of big movements and brush strokes.
Staging Scenes in the Hot Tub
The hot tub in our house is sunken and set under the deck with a lid that I designed that is opened using a pulley system. The crew wanted a scene of the hot tub and they asked us to feature and to be filmed chatting in the hot tub. We waited until the sun went down and Enid and I hopped in to the hot tub and we were then filmed talking to each other and enjoying a drink I didn’t get a picture on the day of the exact set up at the hot tub, but we staged the area in the exact way that you can see in the photo below. This was for a photo shoot for a feature in The Sunday Independent (My Favourite Room by Mary O’Sullivan). Filming in the hot tub was done quickly but just before we got out, the producer asked us to do a little acting where we clinked our glasses together and then took a sip of our cocktails. When we saw ourselves on the broadcast TV show you can see us smiling as we do this as we thought it was a little bit cheesy but a bit of fun at the same time. And it made for good TV!
Two cameras
There were two camera men which helped get through the filming promptly. While I was being filmed and interviewed downstairs, the other camera man was filming upstairs in the bedrooms and other rooms that didn’t need me in those scenes.
Architect by profession, artist by birth
The Architectural life of artist PIGSY
As an architect, one of my most enjoyable projects was when I designed my own house. This labour of love brought a derelict house back from ruins to a home fit for modern living.
To read about the renovation and see pictures of the house currently, click here here to read an article that was published on The Journal.
This is the Studio at the very top of the house - look at the amazing light that floods in!
Enid’s Blog
If you would like to see the state of the house when I acquired it, you can click in to my wife's blog here
Enid documented most of the build which you can read all about if you go to the oldest posts and start reading from there. There are some incredible pictures on her blog and you can also see how bad the house was and what a big project it was in order to restore it to its former glory!
A pint of plain is your only man - Guinness is good for you!
Painting a pint of Guinness: a bar challenge for PIGSY
A few years ago, myself and a friend were having a bar room chat about art. My friend said he didn't think what I paint is art. Of course I disagreed!
My friend then plonked his pint of Guinness on the bar and said that if I could paint his pint he would believe that what I do is art.
I love a challenge - so I took a picture of the pint and got to work.
Here are some pictures of the progress I made.
Of course, this was only a starting point and the finished product was a lot less literal when I put additional art work on the canvas around the pint of Guinness.
My next art piece about childhood friends.....
Childhood Friendships always stay true
Inspiration for PIGSY Art
The starting point for my process generally comes from something like an image, a line of a poem, a concept that intrigues me or maybe a conversation I've had that has sparked something in my mind.
My next piece will take inspiration from the below image which is a photograph of myself and my two childhood friends taken over 35 years ago.
Childhood Gang
We were a gang of 3 and we called ourselves "MBC" which was made up the first letter of each of our names.
That's me to the right with the green hat and the chubby cheeks.
The picture of the three of us somehow reminds me of this Warhol print of Elvis Presley. I think it might be because of our stance (which was a break dancing pose!). What do you think - can you see it too?
Finished PIGSY Piece (Edit 8/3.17):
Here's the finished art piece. It's titled "No Space for Nostalgia" (it was the centre piece in my second solo exhibition and the painting went on to sell on the first night of the show and is now in private collection)
Pigsy-Kemp Collaboration
Art Collaboration
PIGSY plus Kemp
Recently I collaborated with artist Kemp on a special piece. Kemp is a stencil artist so perhaps our creation is better described as a collision rather than a collaboration!!
Kemp's element is the stencil painting in the centre of the work. I glued his piece to an MDF board and then proceeded to paint on the board while drawing inspiration from Kemp’s painting "Salome with the head of John the Baptist".
The finished work is a fantastic juxtaposition of our two unique styles.
A unique Valentine's Gift for art lovers - a limited edition artwork print by Pigsy
Art! A unique Valentines gift for Art Lovers
St. Valentine's Day is nearly upon us. Pigsy artworks are available as limited edition prints, if you are looking for an alternative to the standard gift of a heart shaped box of chocolates.
If your true love is an art lover you can't go wrong with a Pigsyprints which are printed on Hannemuhle Fine Art Paper Mounted on Dibond with a bespoke Lime Washed Tray Frame custom designed by Pigsy and handcrafted in Ireland.
Contact me for further information about prints and original Pigsy works and add an art work that you LOVE to your collection!
Original art - framed paper studies
Or if you are looking for an original artwork, you can buy a framed paper study - see here to look at the full selection that is now available directly from me in my Dublin art studio
Art to whet the appetite! Big Art, perfect for a restaurant space......
Large Scale Art: “I Find You Fascinating” by PIGSY
Many of my pieces are large and perfect for hanging in a restaurant.
"I Find You Fascinating" is 2000mm x 1870mm. It was created using mixed media on canvas and it would be striking in any dining room.
Contact Ronan Campbell in Designyard Gallery for further information about this art work.
Do You Love Me?
Do I Love Me?
Do I Need To Salve My Ego To Create?
Do You Feel The Same Way I Do?
Where I paint - an artist's home studio!
PIGSY Art Studios….
Terenure Art Studio
Currently I work in two locations. The first being a studio in Terenure, Dublin. It's up a steep staircase above a pub and it's got great light. Once I bring a coffee and a sandwich I can easily while the time away painting in this spot.
Ranelagh Home Art Studio
However, my favourite place to paint is in the studio in my house which is once again located at the top of the building. I’ve been painting here since we did the rebuild in 2011. To get to the studio I walk up a glass cantilevered staircase to the top of my house where I enter a plywood clad room with a glass roof. Talk about great light!!
It’s been here that I’ve probably entered my most creative and prolific phase as a full time artist.
PIGSY's “I Find You Fascinating” Solo Art Exhibition
“I Find You Fascinating” by PIGSY, presented by The Kemp Gallery, Dublin
Curated by Steve Kemp, "I Find You Fascinating", the PIGSY solo Art Exhibition opened on Thursday, October 6th 2016 at The Kemp Gallery in Dublin, Ireland.
Featuring ten original artworks including "Attention All" and "Fascinating", the response was extremely positive with most of the paintings selling on opening night.
The opening of your first solo exhibition is one off moment that will never be repeated and as experiences go it was fairly awesome!