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until 24.10. | #4398ARTatBerlin | Galerie feinart Berlin shows from 12. September 2024 the exhibition SATURNALIA by the artist Conor Walton.
The Saturnalia, according to tradition the most popular festival in ancient Rome, still stand for exuberance, abundance, the exercised pleasure in the whole realm of the sensual and the suspension of class boundaries (slaves were treated as equals). Named after the venue, the temple of the god Saturn, they were also a ritual in honour of this god of sowing and reaping and the father of the mythical Golden Age. Three reasons lead from here to the title SATURNALIA for an exhibition of paintings by Conor Walton, one of Ireland's leading contemporary painters of international renown: the allegorical fantasy, the realism of sensuality, the provocation of the absurd.
Conor Walton, Saturnalia, oil on canvas, 66 x 81cm, 2024 ©CWalton
Allegorical fantasy. Conor Walton studied art history alongside fine art with a Masters degree from the University of Essex and has an immense knowledge of the history of motifs and ideas. Following the figures and scenes of his often large-scale allegorical oil paintings, as in the title image of the exhibition "Allegory of Wisdom" (2023), and their references to mythological ideas reaching far into the history of art, each of them opens up a world rich in imagination and knowledge.
Conor Walton, Rex, oil on canvas, 116 x 154cm, 2013 ©CWalton
Realism of sensuality. Walton's "Bread & Butter Paintings" depict individual foodstuffs such as pieces of butter, grapes, pumpkins, loaves of bread and chocolate bars. The masterly realistic depiction of these still lifes tells of a love for these supposedly insignificant objects, their colours and sensuous forms. However, the painter does not romanticise the things, for he repeatedly also aesthetically stages the aluminium foil and plastic bags that clothe these things in the age of conservation and synthetics.
Conor Walton, Burning, oil on canvas, 112 x 143cm, 2024 ©CWalton
Provocation of the absurd. Since he had children, Walton has been integrating toys into his pictures: Batman, Superman, T-Rex, medieval knights, zoos of animals from a wide variety of regions, ladies in courtly garb and many more. Wherever they appear, an alien species seems to play its game with pictures familiar to us, ironising the world we call reality. When Walton places a toy dinosaur and a toy astronaut next to an Old Master composition of pear and grape in „Keeping Things in Perspective“ (2015), he allows the history of our planet to converge on a tabletop.
Conor Walton, The Scream, oil on canvas, 65 x 95cm, 2013 ©CWalton
About the artist
Born in Ireland in 1970 Conor Walton trained at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin and under Charles Cecil in Florence, Italy. He holds a Masters Degree in Art History and Theory (awarded with Distinction) from the University of Essex. He has lectured at the National Gallery of Ireland, University College Dublin, the Royal Hibernian Academy, Laguna College of Art and Design, the New Museum, Los Gatos, and been Artist in Residence at California Lutheran University. He has attended The Representational Art Conference (TRAC) both as demonstration artist and guest speaker. Among the solo exhibitions of Walton are museum shows for example at the National Portrait Gallery (London), MEAM (Barcelona), The National Gallery of Ireland, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, the American University Museum (Washington DC) and the WMOCA (Wisconsin). The painter has won numerous awards for his work including the Gino De Agrò International Award (2022), the Ismail Lulani International Award (2019), ModPortrait 2017, Arc Salon 2014/15 (Still Life), Portrait Ireland 2005 and the "Lorenzo il Magnifico" International Award (1999). Conor Walton lives and works in Wicklow, Ireland.
Vernissage: Thursday, 12. September 2024, 6 to 9 pm | 7 pm official welcome
Ausstellungsdaten: Donnerstag, 12 September bis Donnerstag, 24. Oktober 2024
Veranstaltungen
1. Public portrait sessions on the occasion of the BERLIN ART WEEK
Saturday, 14.09. noon to 7 pm
Conor Walton demonstrates public portrait-painting in the gallery and invites sitters for this event
2. Public portrait sessions
Sunday, 06.10. noon to 7 pm
Conor Walton demonstrates public portrait-painting in the gallery and invites sitters for this event
(every session 40min). Please contact the gallery if interested >> info@feinart-berlin.de
Finissage: Thursday, 24. October 2024, 6 to 9 pm
To the Gallery
Image caption: Conor Walton, Allegory of Wisdom, oil on canvas, 161 x 241cm, 2023 ©CWalton
Exhibition Conor Walton – Galerie feinart berlin | Zeitgenössische Kunst Berlin – Contemporary Art – Exhibitions Berlin Galleries | ART at Berlin
