Eamon O'Kane Irish, b. 1974

Biography

In my paintings based on modernist architecture I am interested in exploring the fantasy of a perfect space, together with a realization that the fantasies about where you want to live, what you want to do, are just fantasies. Reality exists in the processes that attempt to make them happen. The Modernist in architecture and design was an interesting period in that respect in that so many people attempted to achieve different types of utopias and quite often failed nobly in the process. I often use colour to heighten certain emotional states in the paintings and to, in turn, point to seasonal changes and time passing. In my paintings I am interested in setting a stage for something to happen.

 

Eamon O’Kane (born 1974, Belfast, Northern Ireland) explores the ideological tropes and visual forms of modernist architecture in his paintings and immersive sculptural installations. He received his B.A. in the History of Art and Fine Art at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, Ireland in 1996 and went on to earn his M.F.A. at the University of Ulster, Belfast in 1998 and later an additional M.F.A. in Design Technology at Parsons School of Design, New York in 2001. O’Kane has exhibited internationally, and recent solo exhibitions include The Model Arts Centre, Sligo, Ireland (2022); Galerie DGV, Svendborg, Denmark (2022); Galerie Andres Thalmann, Zuirch, Switzerland (2020); Josef Filipp Galerie, Leipzig, Germany (2019); Crawford Municipal Gallery, Cork, Ireland (2019); Funen Art Museum, Odense, Denmark (2019); and Gregory Lind Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA (2019). He is preparing for solo exhibitions with Galleri Christoffer Egelund, Copenhagen, Denmark (2023) and Ballina Arts Centre, Ireland (2024). His work is held in the public collections of Burda Museum, Baden Baden, Germany; Lentos Art Museum, Linz, Austria; Museum of Fine Arts, Brest, France; META/Facebook, Dublin and The Arts Council Collection, Ireland. Recently he has been awarded Norwegian Arts Council Grant (2020) and the EV+A Biennial Award (2005) and previously a Fulbright Award, Pollock Krasner Foundation Award, and Taylor Art Award. His monographs include Hybrids (Academy of Art and Design, Norway, 2013); Eamon O’Kane: And Time Begins Again (University of Bergen, 2009); and Case Histories (ArtSway and Rugby Art Museum, UK, 2009). He currently lives and works in Odense, Denmark and is Professor of Painting at The Art Academy, University of Bergen, Norway.

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Exhibitions