Contemporary Irish Art, Millrace Gallery Dublin, mainly oil painting on canvas or board.expressionism, figurative, abstract, colour as a language, brush strokes convey sense of urgency, without bring to bear too much of the learned. (art critic)
Experiencing Gerard Mc Gourty’s studio and home is like entering a world within the world, that of a human beings mind. Huge ceilings, stained glass, hardly any furniture except baroque-style pieces created by the artist, splashes of colour on the walls, gold powder sprinkled on the floor, a woman sculpted in bronze hiding in the place and then, everywhere, paintings.
First, I’m struck by a dancing cruelty of red -”Le Moulin Rouge”,I exclaim! “Do you think so ? says Gerard. Well, for sure I think so! For me as a French lady, there is absolutely no doubt, it is the Moulin Rouge!
For Gerard it’s different, it’s not a place, it's a story
originating in red. A troubled red becoming figures, like Riverdance dancers and then, the theatre appears. Outside, Paris and finally the mill, over there, Le Moulin Rouge. I ask, ”How did the Riverdance dancers become French ?” “I don’t know”, says Gerard “the painting did!”
Gerard never plans, he has a fascination for colours and through them come memories; notably childhood memories, light and sounds of West Fermanagh and of the surrounding counties of Leitrim and Donegal - Gerard fell in love with this particular blue on a trip to Italy, so he painted a sky enhancing the beloved colour. But underneath, in the field, appeared dark characters of his past,Diggers!
“So”, I say while I’m taken by a cubic scene where I feel more than I recognise - cities of Italy, south of France mixed with shapes of Dublin, “you don’t control anything! But when do you know that the painting is finished? ”I feel good” he replies, “the painting looks fluid and free, the painting is not chained!” “And then”, I ask, “what so do you feel about your painting, do you like it?” “Well”, he says “yes”! Even though, I’m sometimes a little disappointed, almost like a relationship - you know - you give so much that sometimes you expect more in return!”
It’s this disappointment that can lead to further additions and, more than that to a complete superimposing. So perhaps beneath the Moulin Rouge or the Diggers lies an ancient love, a previous painting that had to die.
Expressionist? Modernist? Contemporary Art? Perhaps, New Celtic Expressionism? None of the experts are really sure of how to categorise Gerard’s work but they are unanimous in recognising its strength.
Gerard Mc Gourty’s paintings are widely collected in Europe and the USA, two over - intellectualised places where ultimately it’s through the senses that we need to feel the world.( additional text soon)
Charlotte De Brabander