REVIEW
Gerry Devlin: Remnants
Fenderesky Gallery
Belfast
OPENING in a week when social distancing has been recommended as a protection against the corona virus, Belfast-based artist Gerry Devlin exhibits a kind of clever artistic distancing.
His attractive show at the Fenderesky Gallery, which also functions as the 31 North Street cafe, is titled Remnants. The results, though, aren't worn or discarded but rather beautiful.
On the left you see a series of small works showing lovingly outlined fossils. There are shells, an ammonite, a fish shape, outlined like memories of things. And as in the larger oil paintings, they are all captured in oblongs within the semi-abstract paintings. In a way they're isolated. So the technique acts as the equivalent of the elbow bumps art lovers were doing at the private view in lieu of hugs or hand shakes.
Devlin, an art lecturer in the art college who worked in New York earlier in his career, says: "I'm interested in the iconography of the museum, in the way everyday objects and artefacts become carriers of history and culture. Something that was everyday can, because of its age, gain a significance beyond its original use."
Devlin uses the Greek and Latin names of things he's collected artistically.
"I didn't want to just number the images and the classical titles again refer to the museum."
The thalassio turns out to be a humble seashell, nicely evoked in a pastel shades.
Gerry Devlin's palette is known for its subtlety, sometimes almost washed out compared to brash contemporaries. In this new work, the colours have deepened somewhat. This isn't abstract art in its purest sense as the objects are recognisable, although they're reduced to essences so it is heading in that direction.
The artist adds: "These are paintings, not pictures, not entirely abstract as abstract art is purely about painting and self-referential."
The final image you see before leaving the premises, Weaponry, is a spectacular large painting. It's attractive and shows a spear head, in its way as visually appealing as the natural forms. There's maybe a bit of politics here, but it is gently done.
Running alongside this exhibition is a show of Clement McAleer's new work, The Window Frames series.
:: Remnants, continues until April 10 at the Fenderesky Gallery, 31 North Street, Belfast. See fendereskygallery.com
