Acclaimed artist George H Smyth who lives near the beach at Tyrella, will be exhibiting his retrospective works in the Down Arts Centre following the launch next Thursday evening on 3 September.
George, from Ardglass, has a very unique surrealist style which Michael Hughes, Director if the Irish Art Group commented on in 2000, saying: “Someone once said George’s paintings were like candyfloss laced with broken glass.”
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Man in the Moon: one of the large canvasses being exhibited in the Down Arts Centre by artist George H Smyth in September. [/caption]
He tends to avoid the main glitzy thoroughfares of the public art world and confines himself to a very focussed more private dedication to his art which continues to win him many admirers across the globe.
“Over the past eight years I’ve been working mainly on commissioned work. Basically I paint paintings and they end up hanging on someone’s wall. So this exhibition is about a retrospective look at what I have been painting and many of the works have been kindly lent to me for this exhibition for a month. That way ordinary people who are not collectors of art can come along and see the exhibition and enjoy what I have painted so far. They will be able to see the full breadth of my work,” said George.
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The Lost Man by George H Smyth.[/caption]
This will be his first major exhibition in fourteen years and the major themes of the sea, lighthouses, yachts and ships, gulls, blue skies, clocks and time, and beaches will be persistent motifs running through his work inspired by the sea. George addresses existential issues, looks at the core of our identity, and explores our place in the universe.
“I painted ‘The Lost Man’ in 2015 and it was not a commission. My paintings nevertheless get sold anyway. This one was quite challenging and I felt its power of being overwhelmed by existence. My themes do tend to be quite serious and heavy and thought provoking with lighter flashes too.”
Scottish painter Peter Howson has been a major influence is encouraging George through his years as he ploughs the furrow as an artist since graduating in art from the University of Ulster in 1994. But certainly his own father who was an accomplished artist encouraged George as a child to discover his hidden talent in art.
George H Smyth is certainly one of Ireland’s leading artists and this exhibition in the Down Arts Centre will certainly be one of the biggest this year. He has build up an excellent network of supporters and collectors far and wide, and there is no doubt that this young artist is only just starting to make a mark on the world of art. He has a long and productive road ahead, and will no doubt evolve in his own way in art as time moves on. Time is one of his key themes. It seems to create a dramatic tension in his paintings.
Michael Hughes said in 2000 in the forward to George’s exhibition then: “George’s acceptance by collector and critic alike represents a rare victory in Northern Ireland where commercial success and a critical acclaim make strange bedfellows. That he has accomplished this distiction whilst so young and with so little publicity is more impressive still.“
These words still ring true today. He is a rare talent, an artist that deserves this acclaim after his years so far of commitment and dedication to his art.
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