Football

Ruairi Mooney excited ahead of first solo art exhibition

Ruairi Mooney's painting of the iconic Luke Kelly
Ruairi Mooney's painting of the iconic Luke Kelly Ruairi Mooney's painting of the iconic Luke Kelly

DERRY and Eoghan Rua, Coleraine ace Ruairi Mooney is to run his first solo exhibition and sale of work at Portstewart Golf Club on August 5-6.

The debut exhibition will showcase paintings inspired by the beauty of the artist’s home town. After the success of his ‘100 Days of Art’ campaign in 2021, which raised £1,000 for mental health charity AwareNI, Mooney is thrilled to share his latest portfolio of work.

There will be a large variety of work on display, from contemporary landscape pieces to highly detailed portraits. Studies of the north coast, Derry and the Mournes feature in this new collection, as well as portraits of some of our most iconic figures in sports and music.

A selection of his limited edition prints will be on display and will be available for sale.

“I am excited to exhibit this collection of paintings which I’ve been working on since January,” said Mooney.

“It will be great to meet people for a chat and share my work which I’m really proud of.”

In an interview with The Irish News last year, Mooney explained how the pandemic-enforced lockdowns had led him to properly rediscover a passion for art that began as a child reading comics and drawing cartoons.

“I always had notions of spending more time doing art because although it was something I wanted to do, I just never seemed to set time aside for it,” he said, “but when lockdown landed on us, what else was I going to spend those hours doing?”

Admission to the exhibition is free and everyone is welcome. Opening times are Friday, August 5 and Saturday, August 6 from 11am-8pm. Readers wishing to attend the private invitation-only preview on the evening of Thursday, August 4 should contact Ruairi Mooney directly.

For more information, visit @artbymooney on Facebook and Instagram or call 07565 096332.