Paddy Lennon
Paddy Lennon was born in Inchicore, Ireland in 1955. In 1980 he received a Diploma in Fine Art from the City & Guilds Art School in London. He has lived in Dublin, London, Connemara, Mexico, Spain and now resides in Wexford. His works are in Private and Corporate Collections worldwide.Exhibition History
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
| 2005 | The Kenny Gallery, Galway |
| 2002 | The Kenny Gallery, Galway |
| 2001 | Old Market Arts Centre, Dungarvan, Co. Wexford |
| 2001 | The Bridge Gallery, Dublin |
| 2000 | The Bourn Vincent Gallery, Limerick University |
| 2000 | Abstract Studios, Wexford |
| 2000 | Charleville Castle, Tullamore, Co. Offaly |
| 1999 | The Dye House Gallery, Dye House Lane, Waterford |
| 1996 | 'Arte Espacio 1996', Galleria Espacio. Jerez, Spain |
| 1995 | Portico Gallery, Hong Kong |
| 1994 | Sala de Exposisiones, Museo de Grabado, Marbella, Spain |
| 1994 | Hilton, Hong Kong |
| 1993 | Kowloon Club, Hong Kong |
| 1993 | Hong Kong Pacific Club, Hong Kong |
| 1993 | Pantheon Gallery, Dawson Street, Dublin |
| 1993 | The Geoghan Gallery, Bridgemills, Galway |
| 1992 | The Geoghean Gallery, Galway |
| 1991 | Westshore Gallery, Oughterard, Co. Galway |
| 1991 | Kenny's Art Gallery, Galway |
| 1990 | Irish Arts Centre, New York |
Selected Group Exhibitions:
| 2001 | 'The Art of Hurling' at The Kenny Gallery, Galway |
| 2001 | Camarthen Irish Showcase, Wales |
| 2000 | The Wexford Opera Festival, V.E.C. Wexford |
| 2000 | The Marlborough Gallery, Dublin 1 |
| 2000 | The Hallward Gallery, Merrion Square, Dublin |
| 2000 | Abstract Studios, Wexford |
| 2000 | The Bridge Gallery, Dublin |
| 1999 | The Vanguard, Macroom, Co. Cork |
| 1999 | Yello, Kinsale, Co. Cork |
| 1999 | The Dye House, Waterford |
| 1999 | The Hallward Gallery, Merrion Square, Dublin |
| 1999 | St. Patrick's Festival, Westgate Heritage Centre, Wexford |
| 1998 | Quantum Contemporary Art, Whiteleys, Bayswater, London |
| 1998 | Harrods Picture Gallery, Harrods, Knightsbridge, London |
| 1997 | Kenny's Art Gallery, Galway |
| 1997 | Powerscourt Townhouse, Dublin 2 |
| 1997 | Kilcock Art Gallery, Kilcock, Co. Kildare |
| 1996 | 'Certamin de pintura de Albacete', Albacete, Spain |
| 1996 | 'Exposision de Arte sobre la Cultura Andalu', Jerez de la Frontera, Spain |
| 1995 | 'Arte Espacio 1995', Palacio de Congresos y Exposiciones de Jerez, Spain |
| 1995 | 'Certamin de Dibujo de Antonio Rincon' Cartama, Spain |
| 1993 | Geoghegan's Gallery, Bridgemills Galway |
| 1993 | Furama Gallery, Hong Kong |
| 1993 | 'Art For Bosnia', Pantheon Gallery, Dublin |
| 1992 | Kenny's Art Gallery, Galway. Irish Musicians by Irish Artists. |
| 1992 | The Clifden Arts Festival, Clifden, Co. Galway. |
| 1992 | Browns Gallery, Dawson Street, Dublin 2 |
| 1992 | Arnotts Portrait Exhibition |
| 1992 | The Pantheon Gallery, Dawson Street, Dublin 2 |
Artist's Statement
"When I paint, what interests me in the work is its underlying abstraction. This is what generates its quality, its life and its innate truth. If the work can arouse sensations, thoughts, ideas and feelings, and stimulate the viewer then for me it successful."
Paddy Lennon
March 2001
"Colour hadn't been a very important part of my work, light certainly, but colour was very much the cousin to form.
It was while in Mexico that I first discovered the lesson of the sun, the lesson of Cezanne, that form is at its maximum when colour is at its maximum.
Through a balance of colour, the light of the sun can be transcribed into painting. Matching its brightness is impossible, but we can make our eyes receive a similar stimulation through the vividness of hue, if not exact, at least an intense illumination.
The visual exuberance of the landscape, the richness and the rhythm of life, are essential to my art. What I seek in painting is a sensation of rest, of peace, of awe."
Paddy Lennon
April 1999
We have two visions: one exterior, the other interior -
One the vision of the eye,
The other the vision of the mind or imagination.
Stendhal
Working on a two dimensional surface, a painter explores a subject by mixing and applying paint, creating a visual language which is distinctly his/her own. Through this image, he communicates those thoughts, feelings and emotions which he has used in producing a visual experience.
Paddy Lennon demonstrates the many qualities needed to convey the reality of what he sees and feels when painting landscapes. In some of his most powerful pieces, the landscape is kept to a minimum and is merely suggested by glimpses of field and rock and sky. These paintings conjure up reminiscences of great romantic art such as Turner's sublime sunsets and Casper David Friedrich's haunting Arctic wildernesses.
Though sharing an interest in the emphasis of the paint surface with many of the American Expressionist school, Lennon's work clearly has European roots. His mountain landscapes recall the patch-work appearance of Cezanne's studies of Mont St Victoire in Provence. But Lennon's colour range is much broader and his paint work, often applied with a palette knife, is done in a more fractured, emphatically slab-like way.
Paddy Lennon's work is an art of balance, of purity and serenity. It is devoid of trouble - an art which is soothing and restful, yet full of wonder.
Aidan Gaffney
Art Administrator