General News / September 22, 2020

Irish artist spotlight: Neil Dunne

General News / September 22, 2020

Irish artist spotlight: Neil Dunne

The artist launches new exhibition ‘OUTLIER’ this Saturday, taking influence from the inner city Dublin landscape he grew up in.

Neil Dunne is an artist from the Liberties who uses the medium of printmaking and painting. This Saturday he will launch ‘OUTLIER’, an exhibition in the Powerscourt Town House Centre.

‘OUTLIER’ is an abstract painting exhibition that has been influenced by Dublin’s urban landscape. He has taken features from the buildings as well as the socio-cultural heritage of the city.

Neil Dunne was raised and was educated in Dublin 8- from primary school to his Masters in NCAD, the area been an important influence in his art.

“I had that intrinsic connection to the area and it ended up become a focal point throughout my work.”

037A1016He began making art from an early age, when he was 10 years old his Dad began to get heavily involved in Dublin’s art scene. Creativity was always encouraged at home.

Near the end of secondary school, Neil gained a huge interest in art when his friends began doing graffiti and street art. After doing a one-year portfolio course, he began his undergrad in NCAD. He then received a scholarship to do a Master of Fine Arts in the college and has since lectured in the print department and taught silkscreen classes.

Neil said that  ‘OUTLIER’ was a continuation of his Masters dissertation, he has been working on it for almost 2 years. Neil was inspired by Dublin’s urban spaces to create the upcoming exhibition. He has studied the motifs and patterns of the city’s buildings.

“In some ways, I think there might be a tribal element, this intimacy to a physical place, that sort of links us all together. It’s an interesting aspect to research and for me, it brought out some very positive reactions and creative pursuits”, he said.

SMOKING

Neil Dunne has been inspired by many contemporary artists such as Ida Ekblad and Conor Harrington as well as other Irish artists like Aches, Du Jingze and Geniveve Figgis. He noted the “healthy creative competition” within the Dublin art scene and the importance of arts and creativity during the current pandemic.

“I think now more than ever there’s an importance for creatives to keep going- it takes peoples’ mind off all the bad stuff in the world, even if it’s just for an evening I think we all deserve that respite.”


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OUTLIER launches on the 26.09.20. • Its a strange time for all us Dubs, if you’re stuck for something to do next weekend pop into @sofinearteditions and have a look at my new series of works. It runs for a month. • All works are launching online tomorrow and a pre-sale print release will be sent out to everyone on my mailing list during the week. Still time to jump on board at www.neildunne.art • #artist #slkscreen #print #printmaking #colour #form #art #arte #artoftheday #paint #abstractart #abstractpainting #sculpturey #kunst #painting #contemporaryart #contemporarypaint #artistsoninstagram #abstract #printmaking #silkscreen #serigraphy #irishprintmakers #drawing #graffiti #urban

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‘OUTLIER’ will run from September 26 to October 27 in the Powerscourt Centre on Southwilliam Street. Find out more about the exhibition here.

Photos: Rubio Alvarez