JUSTIN LIAM OBRIEN

Joining us on the project in October 2021, Justin Liam O’Brien described his time with us as a “germination of his practice” and an exploration of London. Delving into London’s art galleries and museums, O’Brien particularly enjoyed his time spent at the National Gallery, where he found himself enraptured with one of Michelangelo’s unfinished paintings Manchester Madonna (about 1494). The artist’s fascination with the painting lies with the two angels in the back right. Forming the basis for his work Study (Manchester Madonna), 2021 the artist is interested in the reverence with which the figures have been painted, commenting that they seem to be the most important part of the painting to Michelangelo despite its unfinished state. O’Brien’s study is of these two figures, reading together almost in an embrace, their eyes not quite focused on the paper but beyond it. The study carries the soft intimacy of O’Brien’s earlier works such as his Damned by the Rainbow, 2020 series, coupled with different oil painting techniques he experimented with during his time on the residency.

Similar to some of our past residents, the space has influenced works produced on the project. For O’Brien the garden appears to be a key point of reference within the space, producing two small coloured-pencil studies of the plant life. The influence of both the space and of the culture O’Brien experienced during his stay in London culminates in his largest piece, One for Sorrow, Two for Joy (2021). Named after the old wives’ tale of the same name the piece depicts the project garden with a single magpie perched on the roof of a distant building. The two figures in frame, eyes cast away from the viewer are wrought with a sorrow that hangs over the back-most figure. The painting brings together O’Brien’s fascination with the masters of the National Gallery and his own style in the rounded forms of the plants, distorted space and heightened emotion of the subjects.

Selected solo and small group exhibitions include; Dreams, Monya Rowe Gallery, Solo, New York, NY 2021; Hotter Than Summer, Three person, Galerie LJ, Paris, FR 2021; Me, Myself & I, Monya Rowe Gallery, Three person, New York, NY 2021; When Acting As A Wave, Richard Heller Gallery, Solo, Santa Monica, CA 2021; Damned by the Rainbow, Solo, GNYP Gallery, Berlin, GER 2020; Losing in the Form of Darkness, Monya Rowe Gallery, Solo, New York, NY 2020; Dreamboat, Three person, Kate Mothes/yngspc, Real Tinsel, Milwaukee, WI 2019; Rose-tinted, Two person, Monya Rowe Gallery, New York, NY 2019.

Group Exhibitions Include; My Sweet Doppelganger, Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, 2021; Equal Affections, Curated by Edwin Oostmeijer, Grimm Gallery, Amsterdam, NL, 2021; Horses?, Chart Gallery, New York, NY, 2021; The Bedroom Show, Monya Rowe Gallery, New York, NY, 2021; Me, Myself and I, Monya Rowe Gallery, New York, NY, 2021; Mytho/Logos, Galerie LJ, Paris, FR, 2021; Black & White vs. Color, Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, 2020; No Time Like The Present, Public Gallery, London, ENG, 2020; amongst others.