Second Nature | Emmet Kierans at The Bomb Factory Art Foundation
‘Second Nature’ | Emmet Kierans at The Bomb Factory Art Foundation, London
Preview 14th July 6 – 9pm
‘Second Nature’ is an exhibition of new paintings by Irish artist Emmet Kierans spanning figurative and still lives, that focuses on the internal narrative that accompanies everyday experience.
The German term ‘kopfkino’, which translates as ‘head-cinema’, is a useful shorthand to describe the psychological space Kierans’ work inhabits. Where imagination shapes everyday experience and dreams, desires and motivations take seed. From still life paintings of objects and moments bestowed with narrative significance to archetypal characters that embody particular ideals his paintings are interested in examining the framework and underbelly of this inner reality.
Certain themes and motifs that exist in the popular imagination are drawn upon, from fairy tales to film and advertising, as the building blocks of this imagined world. By digging beneath the surface of these familiar tropes, the work has the ability to be both easily relatable and unsettling. The viewer is invited to engage with the work by providing their own narrative context and in doing so, must enter the psychological space the paintings evoke.
Emmet Kierans (b. 1981) currently lives and works in London. He studied painting at the Limerick School of Art and Design, where he graduated with first class honours in 2002. In 2007 he graduated from The Glasgow School of Art with an MFA. He now has a studio at The Bomb Factory Art Foundation. His work is in the public collections of The Arts Council of Ireland, The Office of Public Works (Ireland) and Trinity College, Dublin.