Gorry Gallery • DublinGorry Gallery • Dublin

Comhghall Casey

© GORRY GALLERY LTD.

7. Green Bottle

Front cover:9. Red Pepper

Back cover:30. Red Apple

COMHGHALL CASEY

RECENT PAINTINGS

Gorry Gallery • Dublin

19th – 27th September, 2002

1. Small Tomato

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INTRODUCTION

Comhghall Casey’s work is deceptive. It appears to give itself up easily, and to hide little, yet thisapparent obviousness seems to be used to conceal subtleties and variations as much as to reveal them.

Between each painting there is a similarity of subject, structure and treatment. The majority of them are stilllife, usually of objects that are deliberately ordinary. The picture plane is divided horizontally, and the objectis placed at a point on the horizon this forms, creating a sense of space as the planes of the picture areestablished.

The repetition of this ‘formula’ changes the relationship of the viewer to each work; we are given somethingfamiliar almost as a deception, a hint that we should look beyond it. The height of the horizon varies betweeneach painting, while remaining a constant presence, in the same way as William Scott used this line in mostof his earlier still life paintings. There is no clue in Casey’s paintings as to how we should read it. Perhapsas the edge of a table as it meets the wall, as a suggestion of landscape, as a compositional device. Thesepaintings are empty of any narrative. The emphasis is on the reality of the objects, their physical presenceand their recognisability.

Mostly, Casey works on a small scale. This adds to the intent focus of each picture, preventing therelationship between the different elements of the painting becoming diffused. Again, like William Scott orGiorgio Morandi, there is an emphasis of placement. Short, controlled and very integrated brushstrokes areapplied with an apparent detachment, and the obsessive examining gaze of the artist seems to dismantle andreconstruct each object, as if it were a scientific dissection. Within what appear to be flat areas of colour eitherside of the horizon line, there are gradual and barely perceptible changes and alterations. These enhance theplacing of the object in space, not just in its modelling, but also in the suggestion of air and texture withinthe picture space. These areas of colour vary greatly between each work, while they remain predominantlycool.

Each exhibition of Casey’s includes a self-portrait. Recently one was included in the BP Portrait Awardexhibition in London. They are not dissimilar from his still life paintings; indeed he seems to present himselfalmost as reduced to the mundanity of the everyday objects he selects. The composition and the placing ofthe head are fairly consistent. They only vary in the shirt Casey wears. The artist’s face is centrally placedand meets our gaze and there is usually some evidence of looser and rougher brushwork than in the still lifepaintings, and a slight use of impasto. These paintings are undramatic and evenly lit, and seem to shy awayfrom anything that is going to provide a clue to the artist, his life or his state of mind. And as with the stilllife, we might find we look harder because of this.

Most great still life painting in history invests objects with a significance that transcends their actual nature,but Comhghall Casey seems to have quite different concerns. His insistence is on a very clear andstraightforward interpretation and presentation of the object itself, undistracted by context or associations. Inan Irish context, the apparent simplicity of these pictures seems to align them with artists such as EdwardMaguire or Charles Brady, but at heart they are quite different. These are quiet, intriguing, confident and verymeditative paintings. For such an accomplished painter, Comhghall Casey does not force his skill upon us,and allows the presence of the painting and its subject matter to dominate.

Dickon Hall

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12. Strawberries

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Comhghall Casey

Comhghall Casey was born on the 28th of May, 1976 in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal. In 1979, he moved to Omagh in Co.Tyrone, where he lived until moving to Belfast in 1994 to study for a Certificate in Foundation Art and Design at theUniversity of Ulster. In 1998 he graduated with a BA Hons. in Fine Arts, specialising in painting. After two years inBelfast he moved to Dublin and has since been living and working there.

Group Exhibitions1996 ‘Young Contemporary Artists’, Ross’s Court, Belfast.

Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast.Christmas Exhibition, Cavehill Gallery, Belfast.

1997 Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast.Christmas Exhibition, Cavehill Gallery, Belfast.

1998 ‘Set’, Catalyst Arts, Belfast.Íontas Small Works Exhibition, Sligo Art Gallery, Sligo.Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast.Christmas Exhibition, Cavehill Gallery, Belfast.

1999 ‘Fresh’, Engine Room Gallery, Belfast.Hunting Art Prizes, Royal College of Art, London.Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, RHA Gallagher Gallery, Dublin.Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast.

2000 Hunting Art Prizes, Royal Collage of Art, London.‘Arts Sans Frontiers’, Gallerie des Expositions, L’Hay les Roses, Paris.‘New Images from North Mayo’, Ballinglen Arts Centre, Ballycastle, County Mayo.Victor Treacy Awards, Butler Gallery, Kilkenny.

2001 Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, RHA Gallagher Gallery, Dublin.Íontas Small Works Exhibition, Sligo Art Gallery, Sligo.Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast.

2002 Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, RHA Gallagher Gallery, Dublin.BP National Portrait Awards, National Portrait Gallery, London.‘Artists from Ulster’, King House, Boyle.Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast.

Solo Exhibitions1999 Murneen Gallery, Antrim Town.

Omagh Arts Festival, The Gallery, Omagh.The Emer Gallery, Belfast.

2001 The Emer Gallery, Belfast.

Awards1996 Anderson Auctioneers and Valuers Prize, Best Self-Portrait, Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition 1996.

1999 Young Artist of the Year + Regional Prize (Belfast), Hunting Art Prizes, Royal College of Art, London.Association of Art Historians Thesis Prize 1999.Anderson Auctioneers and Valuers Prize, Best Self-Portrait, Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhbition 1999.

Residencies1999 Fellowship, Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Ballycastle, County Mayo.

Commissions1998 Series of drawings for the Ulster-American Folk Park, Omagh.

CollectionsUlster Museum.DOE collection.Ballinglen Arts Foundation Archive.Private Collections.

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11. Self Portrait

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29. Cooking Pot

28. Cabbage

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27. Six Tomatoes

25. Three Mushrooms

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13. Yellow Pepper

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32. Cactus

17. Turnip

Catalogue

Measurement in inches, height precedes width. All paintings oil on linen, signed.

1. Small Tomato31/4 x 33/4Illustrated title page

2. Turnip16 x 16

3. Green Apple41/2 x 4

4. Towards Downpatrick Head, Mayo6 x 51/2Illustrated page 14

5. Rooftops16 x 18

6. Large Aubergine22 x 24Illustrated page 12

7. Green Bottle81/2 x 41/2Illustrated inside front cover

8. Broccoli (I)10 x 10Illustrated page 13

9. Red Pepper16 x 12Illustrated front cover

10. Three Limes16 x 14Illustrated page 12

11. Self Portrait20 x 16Illustrated page 7

12. Strawberries16 x 14Illustrated page 5

13. Yellow Pepper16 x 12Illustrated page 10

14. Trees, Phoenix Park12 x 12

15. Sand Dunes20 x 17Illustrated page 15

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10. Three Limes

6. Large Aubergine

16. Watermelon18 x 16

17. Turnip14 x 12Illustrated page 11

18. Foot (I)12 x 10Illustrated page 13

19. Open Hand12 x 10

20. Foot (II)12 x 10

21. Chimneystacks12 x 8

22. Landscape, Mayo51/2 x 4

23. Mango12 x 10

24. Red Staplegun12 x 14Illustrated page 14

25. Three Mushrooms11 x 20Illustrated page 9

26. Red Apple33/4 x 23/4

27. Six Tomatoes16 x 16Illustrated page 9

28. Cabbage20 x 20Illustrated page 8

29. Cooking Pot16 x 19Illustrated page 8

30. Red Apple61/2 x 41/4Illustrated back cover

31. Lime41/2 x 31/2

32. Cactus11 x 10Illustrated page 11

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18. Foot (I)

8. Broccoli (I)

33. Large Aubergine24 x 22

34. Broccoli (II)10 x 10

35. Plum53/4 x 4

36. Three Mangoes16 x 20

37. Four Berries16 x 20

38. Daffodil (I)12 x 8

39. Daffodil (II)12 x 8

40. Daffodil (III)12 x 8

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24. Red Staplegun

4. Towards Downpatrick Head, Mayo

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We are grateful to Dickon Hall for his introduction to this catalogue. Thanks also to Michael Olohanfor photography: We are indebted to Michael Flanagan of the Emer Gallery Belfast, for making thework of Comhghall Casey known to this gallery as he did previously in the case of Noel Murphy.

15. Sand Dunes

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