Critical Analysis - artist Ken O'Neill by critic Timothy Warrington

CHIANCIANO ART MUSEUM

Critical Analysis Artist: Ken O’Neill Art Critic: Timothy Warrington

ECAC

European Confederation of Art Critics

Critical Analysis Artist: Ken O’Neill Art Critic: Timothy Warrington

The Museum The Museum of Art of Chianciano hosts a series of collections ranging from Neolithic and Asiatic to Contemporary art. There are approximately a thousand works on display.

Visitors are able to view paintings and sculptures by artists such as Tom Nash, Salvador Dali, Sir Henry Moore, Frances Turner, Mario Schifano, Damien Hirst, Brian Willsher and Albert Louden, drawings by the likes of Magritte, Guttuso and Munch; historical works from Royal Collections and original etchings by masters such as Dürer and Rembrandt.

The museum is known for organising annual international events, including the Chianciano International Art Award and the Biennale of Chianciano.

Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) “Joachim and the Angel” Original woodcut, circa 1504

Sir Henry Moore (1898-1986) “Head” Bronze Sculpture

ECAC

European Confederation of Art Critics

The Critic Timothy Warrington was born in Birmingham in 1944 and is a critical writer and curator based in London.

Warrington’s career has taken him all around the world in the search for art to exhibit in London. He was part of the organisation that hosted the largest and most important exposition of Bulgarian art ever curated outside Bulgaria, showing 300 artists. The exhibition was hosted in collaboration with the Bulgarian Embassy in London and was inaugurated by the Bulgarian Ambassador Mr Stancoff.

The Slovenian Printmakers Exhibition was another reminder of the wonderful talent that Timothy brought to London, artists that are recognised and respected all around the world. “Italian Views” at the Lord Leighton Museum, curated by Timothy, was also a great success and a spotlight into contemporary Italian Art from institutions such as the Academy of Fine Art in Florence, Academy of Fiorino in Florence and The Academy of Fine Art in Rome.

Warrington has curated numerous books and writes opinions and exhibition critiques in the UK and the USA. Notably, he was responsible for the main publication related to Brian Willsher’s Bronzes, an artist who taught at the Tate and was praised by Sir Henry Moore as an artistic genius.

Timothy’s critical writing is very sophisticated - he has the power to translate the artist’s thoughts to the viewer with extreme clarity and competence.

He was a member of the jury of Chianciano International Art Award alongside people like Gerard Bruneau who started his career wih Andy Warhol.

Arrested by Ken O’Neill

The Artist Born in Waterford, Ireland in 1967, Ken O’Neill is an artist who has cherished painting for the past 20 years. Prior to his current artistic career, he was a successful professional footballer. Injury forced Ken to abandon sport so he was left with the his other great passion, art.

Following his heart, he decided to pursue his dream and dedicate his entire life to painting. In fact, viewing ‘Taking of Christ’ by Caravaggio in the National Gallery in Dublin, when it was first exhibited, was a significant influence on his art and life, and it has fuelled his thirst for creativity ever since. In 2003, O’Neill met Irish painter Louis Le Brocquy, whose advice and guidance allowed him to break free from conceptual confines and fully explore, discover and develop a personal painting style.

A commission to paint 10 casino-style paintings led O’Neill to his current narrative of work, in which series of interconnected paintings tell a story for the viewer to interpret.

O’Neill aims for the supreme and fundamental freedom of making his ideas heard and in the past several years he demonstrated this in a fascinating series of paintings. Each series tells a story and is usually composed of ten pieces; each one accompanied by a different idea. This creative process allows O’Neill to work on multiple images at the same time and fully express his creative spirit. The first series was entitled “Wise Guys”, in which all the scenes are interlinked with a juxtaposition between good and evil. A subsequent, thought provoking series is called “Solipsism” in which the artist analyses the difficulty that people encounter when trying to achieve a complete state of contentment.

In 1990, O’Neill made his debut exhibition at a gallery in Waterford, garnering much support and interest from the local community and it was a significant stepping stone in his career. Since then he has had solo exhibitions in Waterford galleries such as Aoife’s Gallery, The Jones Gallery, and Art Studio; O’Neill has shown in numerous Dublin and Cork galleries in the past 15 years.

Venturing beyond Ireland, O’Neill has exhibited in London’s Brick Lane Gallery as well as in New York. Institutions have also shown interest in his work, which is present in several public collections such as the Gandon Museum, Dublin.

The Good Guys by Ken O’Neill

The Critique Ken O’Neill’s artistic journey has always been in continuous evolution and his art conveys the presence of a creative mind with the gift of direction. A talented contemporary artist albeit with more conceptual ties to a renaissance artist than many of his peers and a communicator of stories reminiscent of the unmistakable protagonists in our art history who exalted the written word for centuries.

O’Neill’s painting is indeed a refreshing reminder of what art is and what art ought to be as we are eloquently re-introduced to the notion that art must speak and have a voice. In his compositions we are energised and rejuvenated by the unequivocal power to project imagination and to capture emotion in its purest form. O’Neill’s medium of choice is oil on canvas and the style can be defined as Pop Art. The artist uses precise and delicate brushwork combined with a gentle colour pallette to entice and attract the viewer. The simplicity of the graceful lines and forms within the composition create a sense of intrigue that provokes the spectator into reacting with curiosity and urgency although faced with a seemingly peaceful artwork. The result is a conceptual paradox where mind and heart are inexplicably in unison, seeking truth from an unexpectedly powerful artwork that simultaneously calls for attention but radiates more questions than conclusions. It soon becomes clear that the creator of such a wonderful manifestation of a profound mind is also gifted with clear creative vision and the artistic talent to to execute it.

In the ‘Wise Guys’ series, the storyboard format that O’Neill favours is utilised. The series presents scenes of a criminal underworld that is based in the Nevada desert. A leitmotif of this series is the group of suited men with wind-blown ties captured in compositions where the use of light is paramount and skillfully used to “set the scene”.

In painting, O’Neill tends to simplify the backgrounds, reducing them to flat expanses of muted colours to perfectly create a self-contained atmosphere allowing the foreground elements to take control as the living elements of the artwork. The interconnection of the paintings within a series indicates a plot, however, like its characters, the story remains cryptic. The paintings present a variety of compositions and at times can be compared and contrasted with Scottish artist Jack Vettriano in how they are equally able to provoke thought.

On deeper investigation into O’Neills art, the crowded people and dimly lit scenes in the series ‘Casino Nights’ elegantly transform a two dimensional canvas into a window through the mood of romance and excitement of a grand casino. The style of painting is rather different compared to his other lines of work, but it seems to carry the same air of mystery and drama. His portrait paintings ‘Morning Coffee’ and ‘A Quiet Moment’ are also artworks of interest that depict seated ladies enjoying some coffee and reading respectively. These two artworks demonstrate O’Neill’s talent in the use of excellent chiaroscuro. The sun rays are alive, timeless and enchanting, warm and passionate in the momentary silence immortalised in the sensual compositions.

Ken O’Neill is a rare artist who shows no fear in investigating the human mind and feelings; a journey in which the artist is able to express himself, albeit retaining intellectual integrity, in his desire to stimulate the spectator to form ideas and imagine.

Timothy Warrington European Confederation of Art Critics

Gossip Girls by Ken O’Neill

Morning Coffee by Ken O’Neill

Minding Mona by Ken O’Neill

Race To The Border by Ken O’Neill

Gagliardi Art & Partners www.gagliardi.co.uk