Stephen McKenna

The Kerlin Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of new paintings by Stephen McKenna from September 17 until October 16, 2004.

For his new exhibition Stephen McKenna is presenting a thematically diverse selection of paintings that see a return to many of the key concerns of his work over the past 15 years including the still life and interiors and a continuation of his interest in sea and landscapes.

Most notably, many of these new works focus on the human figure and address the artist's ongoing concerns with Classical European and Irish mythology. McKenna offers a contemporary re-interpretation of such themes that, as always, avoid easy interpretation.

McKenna's painting oeuvre is rooted in the history of European painting but doesn't trade on pastiche. His handling of painting genres remain outside and free of the confines of their traditions and classifications. Each painting demands individual attention and consideration. Through McKenna's very particular subject matter and his highly individual handling of paint the real is always brought into question and the known is rendered unfamiliar

Stephen McKenna has had many solo exhibitions including major shows at the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford in 1983, Stadtische Kunstalle, Duesseldorf in 1986, the Irish Museum of Modern Art in 1993 and the Hans und Sophie Teuber-Arp Foundation, Bonn in 2000. Group exhibitions include Documenta 7 in 1982, Classical Spirit at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 'Falls the Shadow' at the Hayward Gallery, London in 1886 and 'Avant Garde of the 80's', Los Angeles County Museum of Modern Art in 1987. His work is represented in many international collections such as the Irish Museum of Modern Art, the Tate Gallery, London, Arts Council of Great Britain and Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels among others.

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Stephen McKenna