Conor Walton

I see myself as essentially a figurative painter in the European tradition, attempting to maintain my craft at the highest level, using painting to explore issues of truth, meaning and value. All my paintings are attempted answers to the three questions in the title of Gauguin's famous painting: "˜What are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going?'

My art is founded upon a study of nature because for me nature is the basis of all life, all beauty, all our wealth. The human image is central to my work because I believe we need images of ourselves to gain self-understanding; to comprehend our relationships with each other and with nature.

Cennino Cennini said 600 years ago that painting "˜calls for imagination, and skill of hand, in order to discover things not seen, hiding themselves under the shadow of natural objects ... presenting to plain sight what does not actually exist'. I am still essentially committed to painting as Cennino defined it. But whereas painters in Cennini's day could paint a Crucifixion or a Madonna and find in this image the highest embodiment of meaning, value and purpose for their society, our society lacks images that articulate common beliefs, common values and meanings.

My response to th...

1993 BA (Joint Honours Degree in the History of Art and Fine Art), NCAD, Dublin
1995 MA in Art History and Theory, University of Essex, UK (awarded with distinction)
1995-6 Studied painting and old-master techniques in Florence, Italy, with Charles H. Cecil

2013 Elements, Beaux Arts Bath, UK

2012 Allegories of Painting, Dunamaise Arts Centre, Ireland

2012 Allegories of Painting, Galleri PAN, Oslo, Norway

2011 Allegories of Painting, Galleri Nexus, Denmark

2010 New Paintings, Beaux Arts Bath, UK

2009 Landscape and Still Life, Jorgensen Fine Art, Ireland

2006 Philosophical Paintings, Jorgensen Fine Art, Ireland

2003 New Work, Jorgensen Fine Art, Ireland

2003 Shelter Portraits, Jorgensen Fine Art, Ireland

1999 Conor Walton, Jorgensen Fine Art, Ireland

His eleventh solo exhibition will take place at the Peppercanister Gallery, Dublin, in November 2013.

Selected Group Exhibitions

2013 Janus, Peppercanister Gallery, Dublin

2012 Christmas Exhibition, Peppercanister Gallery, Dublin.
CK Contemporary at the Miami Art Fair, Miami Beach, USA.
Wexford Opera Festival Exhibition, Greenacres Gallery, Wexford (also 2009)
Travelling Exhibition, Galleri PAN, Geilo & Stavanger, Norway.
Group Exhibition, Windsor Fine Art, New Orleans, USA.
Dublin Biennial, Point Village, Dublin.
Group Exhibition, CK Contemporary, San Francisco, USA.
Apokalips, Grattacielo Pirelli, Milan, Italy.
Postcards from a Small Island, Beaux Arts Bath, Avon, UK.
12 X 4, Gormleys, Belf...