David Fortune New Work

About

The Outside World is pleased to present the work of Irish artist David Fortune. David Fortune was born and grew up in Dublin in 1978. He graduated from Limerick School of Art with a BA in Fine Art, Painting in 2006. He has travelled extensively around the world including periods spent travelling, working and teaching in the United States, Europe and Asia In 2007 Fortune assisted at the Venice Biennale as an invigilator at the Irish Pavillion. Since leaving Art School Fortune has participated in numerous projects, including a solo show 'Three Cows and a Girl', at Thinkk Creative Gallery, Limerick 2007, as well as group exhibitions, including a forthcoming show ''Presence', at the Limerick City Gallery in 2008. David has also been instrumental with collaborative exhibitions in more informal artist run spaces such as the 'Arthouse Project' 2008, in which he and a group of artists transformed a residential space for their three day show. For his first solo London show at The Outside World, David Fortune is presenting an entirely new collection of paintings. In this series he cites as his inspiration the wild windswept landscape found on the west coast of Ireland. Fortune maps out its nature through the bold sweeping brush strokes of his paintings. Each painting is built up in layers, where he scrapes away at the landscape that he has created. He then works back into it repainting, re-scratching, remapping, until the image is as worked and changed as the changing landscape itself . Thus creating a highly complex work combining powerful colours with striking contrasting textures. He is seen to be sculpting the very surface of the painting itself . In these works Fortune broaches a vision of the beauty and brutality of the western Irish landscape, a vision that stirs at the very core of his work. David Fortune's unflinching use of colour acts as a jumping off point from which we hurtle headlong on a voyage through the oily seas and sweeping charcoal terrains as he renders his physical surroundings. We are presented with a map of his personal landscape and encouraged to find our own oh dearway. In doing so he allows us to witness the drama of the elements so potent in the landscape of his native country. Fortune uses a variety of media as seen in 'Cullaun' 2008, a bold red shamanisitic mask hewn from oil and charcoal, where the moon like discs stare out at the viewer with vacant yellow eyes, lanterns guiding our way through our own internal scape. He scales the sumptuous oil red mountain sunset of 'October' 2007, a vast crimson mound rising up against great pink sunburned shoulder sky. His, brush moves with a sense of hurry, urgent marks thrown down in a furious attempt to capture the light before it slips away over the horizon and into the sea. David Fortune has very recently made the move to London to pursue his career as an artist. The Outside World wishes him every success with this show and in the future. C.A.Halpin 2008 www.theoutsideworld.co.uk nearest tube liverpool st, old st.