Art
Nature Studies in the Nick of Time exhibition opens at People’s Museum of Limerick
Nature Studies in the Nick of Time exhibition by Martin Finnin opens at People’s Museum of Limerick. Photo: Martin Finnin
Nature Studies in the Nick of Time by abstract painter Martin Finnin is on display at the People’s Museum of Limerick from October 16 to 26
Cork native, Martin Finnin, brings his exhibition ‘Nature Studies in the Nick of Time’ to the People’s Museum of Limerick, exploiting “the fleeting, fragile presence of nature in a rapidly changing world”.
Just back from a residency at Ballyfin House, Co. Laois, Martin Finnin returns to Limerick to exhibit work in Ireland for the first time in nearly twenty years.
Finnin, an abstract painter and artist based in Ireland, brings his latest collection of works characterised by a brazen use of colour and bold shapes set against a multi-layered landscape. Working on several canvases at once he builds paintings by adding and removing layers until the pieces resolve, a process that may take anything from several months to several years. Influenced by extensive travels including residencies in the US and Europe he is interested in the abstract essence of our visible environment
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Nature Studies in the Nick of Time, staged in the historic People’s Museum, brings together oil paintings, works on paper and sculpture. Tigers, flowers, mechanical pollen, wildfires, and abstracted forms merge with ease, exploring the fragility and power of nature in a rapidly changing world. In these works, Finnin creates contemporary studies that are a satirical nod to the tradition of natural history illustration, highlighting the beauty and resilience of nature as it changes before our eyes.
Posting about the exhibition on Instagram, Finnin said, “It’s been a whirlwind and a lot of fun to bring this pop-up show to life. The opening is tomorrow, Thursday 16th October at 6pm. Hope to see you there.
“Nature Studies in the Nick of Time, staged in the historic People’s Museum of Limerick, brings together oil paintings, works on paper, and sculpture. The works explore the fleeting, fragile presence of nature in a rapidly changing world.
“Tigers, flowers, snakes, shells, and abstracted forms emerge and dissolve with satirical ease, echoing both the tradition of natural history illustration and the impossibility of capturing beauty as it disappears before our eyes.”
Born in 1968, it is Martin Finnin’s proud boast that he has dropped out of no less than three art schools in Dublin, Limerick and Cork. He spent some time travelling before returning to Cork in the mid-1990’s to resume his career.
Although there can be no question of a direct influence, his work shares certain characteristics with that of Matt Lamb. Finnin’s early work was built up a relief effect, which were often 3 dimensional. Coral sand, zinc powder, powder paints, fur, quail eggs, toy soilders, even Monster Munches were all incorporated in Finnin’s work.
More recent works seem to follow the same combination of complex surfaces and simple figures, but his work has been simplified to good effect making it stronger and less diffuse.
Nature Studies in the Nick of Time will be on display at People’s Museum of Limerick from October 16 to 26.
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