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Paul McCloskey
Born 1963
Lives and works in Wexford, Ireland
www.paulmccloskey.ie

Paul McCloskey’s most recent paintings, The Omega (awakenings 3d), builds on his previous series ‘Awakenings (The Alpha)’
and ‘Awakenings Reloaded’. This is the third in the trilogy of the awakenings theme. They consist of 15 cubes, a number of
which are wall mounted and some of which are suspended at varying heights from the ceiling, allowing the viewer a full
360 degree view of the works.

The work is inspired by the landscape that we perceive as everyday and perhaps ordinary; the places we merely glance
at, not allowing ourselves to become lost in their breathtaking creation and beauty. Despite this, the landscape is primarily
a catalyst in expressing divinity and is therefore secondary to that expression.

The varied and stunning Irish landscape, coupled with the unsettled weather and therefore often fl eeting and mottled
light, inspires McCloskey greatly. Often a view will change or an area will be illuminated by a simple break in the clouds,
highlighting as if a shimmering treasure or jewel, a corner of a fi eld, the side of some rocky cliff or the dynamic sweeping
curves of a valley reminding us that we are an integral part of and connected to a whole. Effectively, this encourages us to
see and, most importantly, feel its beauty and spirit and therefore reconnect to this vital part of us.
A recent review by J.E. Raddatz for EXHIBEO MAGAZINE “My initial response to Paul’s work was a single monosyllabic
utterance: ‘Whoa.’ Not exactly T.S Elliot, but the feeling was there, I assure you. Paul’s aesthetic sensibilities are such that
the work immediately pleases the eye. He understands the visceral power of color and contrast. The bright, atmospheric
blue bounces off the deep indigo and Prussian blue shadow area in such a way that it really makes those reds, greens and
yellows crackle with energy. There’s also a compelling tactile quality due to the thick impasto application of paint in the
“hot” zone. While all of that is very nice, what really pulls me into this otherworldly, oddly distended primordial landscape
is the epic tension in the mid-tone color zone separating the deep shadows from the sublime blue highlight. I’m utterly
mesmerized by the explosion of light pushing back the darkness. I can feel the pulse of it. It’s as if I’m in the vacuum of space,
observing the creation of the universe. At the same time, I can sense a temporal point of departure in this piece, in that
despite the abstraction, I am still looking at a landscape.
This two tiered ontological point of view fl ings the door wide open to a theological discussion that Paul McCloskey very
much wants to engage the viewer in. There are actually three points of view – three ways of seeing the Awakening series
to which this piece belongs: temporally, from a human point of view, cosmologically, where we get to imagine what God’s
point of view might be, and fi nally, we can allow ourselves to view McCloskey’s piece from a place where these two points
of view are fully integrated”
PAUL McCLOSKEY was born in Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan and is now living and working in Gorey Co. Wexford. Paul attended the
National College of Art and Design (N.C.A.D) Dublin from 1981 and graduated in 1986. Paul also attended De Montfort University UK and
was awarded a Masters Degree in Fine art painting (MFA) in 2010. Paul is a professional member of ‘visual artists Ireland’. He has exhibited
extensively both nationally and internationally throughout the UK, London, Venice and New York and he has received many awards for his
work, which can be seen in numerous collections.

Right: THE OMEGA ‘My eyes hurt as if never used’, 2014, Oil on Board.
h: 30cm w: 30cm d: 30cm, Artist’s Collection.
Top right: THE OMEGA ‘At last my thoughts lay silent’, 2013, Oil on Board.
h: 30cm w: 30cm d: 30cm, Artist’s Collection.

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