On the Edge and In-Between | James Hayes at the Blasket Centre

Event Details

Oil painting exhibition reflecting Hayes’ six months living and working as a Great Blasket Island caretaker. Bringing his longstanding exploration of self and surroundings to this unique setting, he captures the world he encountered, its modern cast of characters, and its contemporary way of life. The paintings examine the dynamic relationship between past and present, exploring the inherent nature of ‘islandness’ and the distinctly liminal sense of place. His re-presentations of the island are painted with honesty and sincerity. Suspending some of the persistent preconceptions about islands, he challenges and re-contextualises them, creating a more nuanced picture.

James Hayes is a visual artist from county Kerry. He primarily operates as an oil-painter, but is also an accomplished muralist, illustrator and a qualified architect. His artistic practice is centred around a personal and phenomenological exploration of the complex relationship that exists between self and surroundings. His work has been characterised as a unique blended form of contemporary engagement with both the genre of ‘landscape’ painting and an intimate narrative painting tradition; eschewing hierarchy and category in favour of equal focus on both landscapes and figures. He is a self-styled painter of the space between people_and_place.