James Hanley
Open studio
From April to July, James Hanley will be the artist in residence in the Centre Culturel Irlandais. A figurative painter with a keen interest in portraiture, James is currently Secretary of the Royal Hibernian Academy. His two most recent exhibitions Souvenir and Moving Statues dealt in different ways with the experience of travel, of history and of perception. He is interested in what historical set- pieces can mean long after the event they were designed to commemorate has been forgotten, and the potential to tell some entirely different story with their physical fabric.
His time in Paris will see a natural continuation of these themes, documenting its statues and incorporating them into his ongoing drawing work, as well as providing fertile material for new Souvenirs. James' work is represented in many major public and private collections and his commissioned portraits include those of President Mary McAleese, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and comedienne Maureen Potter. He completed a large triptych for the Abbey Theatre to celebrate its centenary in 2004.
