art
Limerick Artist launches exhibition inspired by the African landscape
Limerick artist Tomás O’Maoldomhnaigh has just launched his 27th solo exhibition, inspired by the African landscape.
Limerick Artist launches exhibition inspired by the African landscape
Limerick artist Tomás O’Maoldomhnaigh has launched his 27th solo exhibition, inspired by his recent trip to Southern Africa, called ‘Under African Skies’. The exhibition will run from Friday, November 29 until Friday, December 6 in Istabraq Hall on Merchants Quay.
In 2018, Tomás was lucky enough to explore Southern Africa namely some of the national parks of Namibia, Botswana and Zambia with a quick visit to Johannesburg South Africa.
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The artist has been working on the collection for over a year and will be his 27th solo exhibition.
Tomás said, “I have always been interested in wildlife and it has been on my buckets list to experience the much larger animals of Southern Africa. To this end, I jumped at the opportunity in 2018 to explore the safari parks in and deserts of Zambia. Botswana and Namibia. To see this magnificent continent for myself. Nothing can be so thrilling as wandering out in the bush on foot with only a camera in hand. My working method is to take lots and lots of photos besides, making some small sketches in situ, which I brought back to the studio, I there created this exhibition. It’s taken over 12 months to put this exhibition together”.
He safaried in a number of these countries. This exhibition is a celebration of the nature and landscape of these marvelous wild places. Africa possesses beauty like no other land. There is a range of habitats and geographic locations from the swamps of the Okavango to the Namib desert.
Tomás’s working method is to take lots and lots of photos besides, making some small sketches in situe, which he brought back to the studio where he created this exhibition.
His subjects range from landscapes to large predators such as lions and crocs. The large prey animals such as Zebras, Wildebeest, Oryx, Buffalo, etc. Birds such as the African Fish Eagle, Egyptian geese, Jesus bird, and the Egret.
With this exhibition, he hopes to inspire people so they might connect with nature. That they might strive to conserve and protect it so that the next generation may have a deeper relationship with the natural world.
Though Tomás does not describe himself as a wildlife painter he is a committed conservationist. This evocative collection in oils, acrylic, and watercolor reflect the artist’s deep admiration for the natural world.
He celebrates the awesome wonders of nature but there is also a dark side to his art. Such as his interpretation of the last Northern White Rhino who effectively became extinct in 2019 due to the corruption of man. The last male died in 2019 and there are only two elderly females left alive.
His paintings can be found on the walls of many of the Irelands top companies such as Aughinish Alumina, Pfizer, Wyeth, SmithKline Beecham, Roche, Organon, BectonDickson and many more.
‘With this exhibition, I would hope to inspire people so they might connect with nature. That they might strive to conserve and protect it so that the next generation may have a deeper relationship with the natural world. I would not normally describe myself as a wildlife painter however I am a conservationist. This is an evocative collection in oils, acrylic, and watercolor I hope to reflect my deep admiration for the natural world,” he added.
For more information about the artist, click here.
For more stories about Limerick artists, click here.
