BELFAST-born artist Martin Mooney is launching his new solo exhibition at the Charles Gilmore Art Gallery in Belfast on Thursday November 14.
Colour and Light features a series of work inspired by Irish landscape, nature and the elements.
"It is the artist's job to capture these fleeting moments of beauty and power, and that's what I have tried to do in my new series," says Mooney.
Now living in Donegal, it's been almost 10 years since Mooney exhibited in his home town. However, he was determined to return in response to the increasing interest in his work and because Belfast was a formative influence in his early career.
"I've been working more expressively than previously and feel this is a significant turning point in my career," he says of the new exhibition, which will be opened by journalist and broadcaster Eamonn Mallie.
"I've discovered that a greater use of colour has led to a stronger sense of light in the paintings."
A student of London's prestigious Slade School of Fine Art, Mooney won the Richard Ford Award from the Royal Academy which allowed him to study at the Prado in Madrid. He then established a studio in Barcelona where he lived and worked for eight years before going on to travel the world, absorbing cultural reference points which inform his work.
"I am delighted to host Martin's latest solo exhibition and his 'comeback' to the north," says fine art dealer Charles Gilmore.
:: See Charlesgilmore.com for further details.
