The Molesworth is delighted to present a solo exhibition of new work by Brian Harte, his first in Ireland since establishing himself internationally with gallery representation in Japan, the US and Germany.
Known for large-scale canvases that hover between abstraction and figuration, Harte creates deconstructed interior settings that hold traces of his own domestic life. Household items, such as table lamps, chairs, or framed pictures crystallise and dissolve in each work alongside the occasional indiscernible figure, offering clues for a narrative either yet to unfold, still ripe with possibility, or for one already played out, leaving the viewer with an after-image to contemplate and decipher.
The title of the show refers to a journey or transition from the intimacy of shelter to the outside world, to begin from the harbour. ‘This body of paintings begins at home,’ the artist says. ‘For the past several years I have used my family and the domestic setting as a central theme in my work. The images I created were mostly based on the architecture of the home and the players and dramas that inhabit these spaces, the objects, wall colours, furniture etc. This is still a vehicle and a starting point for the paintings I’m making today. There is, however, a movement towards more ambiguous spaces, towards landscapes and the outer world. This duel pictorial aspect is something I have embraced in this body of work, to use this tension in tackling more universal concerns.’
Brian Harte graduated in 2002 with a first-class honours degree from the Crawford College of Art, Cork. He is represented by the MAKI Gallery in Tokyo, GNYP Gallery in Berlin and the Simchowitz Gallery, Los Angeles. His work is in the collections of the Arts Council of Ireland, the Crawford Gallery, the OKETA Collection, Japan, and Kunstmuseum, Wolfsburg, Germany.
The artist will also have a solo show at the Butler Gallery, Kilkenny, in November, 2025.