Hugh Mccarthy

Name; Hugh McCarthy.
E-Mail;
CURRENTLY ON STUDIO RESIDENCY AT;
Arteleku, Kristobaldegi 14, Liola
E -20014, San Sebastian.

In numerous group shows over the past few years Hugh McCarthy has made a name for himself as a playful organic abstractionist, creating paintings of a dense and sociable kind. All elements are injected with a biomorphic sensibility that undergoes endless variations. These are hybrid species that invade each canvas in teeming hoards. Colourful blobs radiate from every available space defying the laws of gravity, as hard edged shapes melt and droop animating the painting with constant movement. A life and energy that is akin to watching an aquarium both afford the visual fascination of an independent world following its own rules.

We are not surprised to find appropriated images from artists such as Lari Pittman, Rachel Feinstein and Philip Allen dotted around several canvases adding high art references to his repertoire of adolescent souvenirs from comic books and simple shapes from 80s style video games. A free-fall through art history and popular culture he seems to enjoy the challenge of juggling formal concerns with a jesting curiosity.

Hughs work is serious in ...

1998 Diploma in Fine Art, Sligo R.T.C. Sligo town, Ireland.
2000 Degree in fine art (painting), National College of art, Thomas St, Dublin, Ireland.
2002 Master in Fine Art, St Martins College of Art, Charing Cross Road, London, U.K..
2005 Master Class in screen-printing, Arteleku, Kristobaldegi 14, San Sebastin, Spain.

1997"Onward and Upward", Sligo Arts Festival, Sligo town, Ireland.
(Solo)"ceedy-rom",E.B.S., Wine Street, Sligo Ireland
1998"Diploma Show", The Model Arts Centre, Sligo town, Ireland.
(Solo)"Hugh McCarthy", The Castle Gallery, Castle street, Sligo, Ireland.
1999"Ceedy-rom", Sligo Arts Festival, Sligo, Ireland.
2000"2000 Degrees", Civic Offices, Wood quay, Dublin 1, Ireland.
"Iontas Small works Exhibition", the Yeats Gallery, Sligo, Limerick and Belfast, Ireland.
"hidden", National College of Art and Design, Dublin 2, Ireland.
"Degree Show", The National College of Art and Design,- Royal Hibernian Academy Gallery, Ely Place, Dublin, Ireland.
2001"Annual Show", Royal Hibernian Academy Gallery, Ely Place, Dublin 2, Ireland.
"POST", Bingo Hall Gallery, Brooklyn, New York.
(Solo)" Petrie Paintings", South Dublin County Council, Tallaght ; Dublin 24, Ireland. Read more