Vietnam
"Well, it's not exactly what you'd expect to come across when you walk out of your mobile home", says Brian Stockwell of the Gregory Gallery, College St, Castlegregory.
Scenes of people with buffalo, flowers, markets, village houses, rice fields, rivers, huts, boats with eyes painted on them for good luck. These are depicted in colours of startling oriental vibrancy - oranges, yellows, blues, reds, lime greens. Beautifully rendered realistic still lives emerge from chocolate brown backgrounds.
So what are these glimpses of South East Asia doing in Castle?
They are all original works by local artists from central Vietnam and will be on exhibition from 15th July. Brian bought the pieces during a visit to the beautiful 16th century seaport town of Hoi An earlier this year. Hoi An, now a cultural heritage site under the auspices of UNESCO, is home to galleries, restaurants, cafes and a bustling community of artists.
"Many of the artists would originally have been fishermen," says Brian, "but when they saw that they could make money from painting they left the boats and took up the brush."
Brian is a retired logistician who set up emergency operations in war zones throughout the world. Now an art collector he bought his terraced house in 1996 and opened the gallery in 1999, which operates in the summer months.
Brian has many works by varied artists in his collection. He is a fan of local artist John Fitzgerald, in particular, whom he considers both gifted and underrated. "John's work has been sold all over the world. When I have enough of it I will exhibit it."
Last summer Brian brought over Mr Hoang Dang, one of Vietnam's foremost artists and also political cartoonist for the major Vietnamese national newspaper. Dang spent four weeks in Castlegregory and every piece in his exhibition (about 40) was sold.
This year Brian is bringing over a Mr Ngoc Minh, who will have an exhibition on 11th August. "Minh's art was very much affected by the Vietnam War", Brian says. "Like Dang, Minh will come with about 25 pieces of Vietnamese art but for the 3 weeks prior to the exhibition he will paint local scenes from West Kerry."
No doubt they will sell like hot cakes. Brian is already planning a winter trip to Ghana in West Africa so we can look forward to an exhibition of original African work next year.
Scenes of people with buffalo, flowers, markets, village houses, rice fields, rivers, huts, boats with eyes painted on them for good luck. These are depicted in colours of startling oriental vibrancy - oranges, yellows, blues, reds, lime greens. Beautifully rendered realistic still lives emerge from chocolate brown backgrounds.
So what are these glimpses of South East Asia doing in Castle?
They are all original works by local artists from central Vietnam and will be on exhibition from 15th July. Brian bought the pieces during a visit to the beautiful 16th century seaport town of Hoi An earlier this year. Hoi An, now a cultural heritage site under the auspices of UNESCO, is home to galleries, restaurants, cafes and a bustling community of artists.
"Many of the artists would originally have been fishermen," says Brian, "but when they saw that they could make money from painting they left the boats and took up the brush."
Brian is a retired logistician who set up emergency operations in war zones throughout the world. Now an art collector he bought his terraced house in 1996 and opened the gallery in 1999, which operates in the summer months.
Brian has many works by varied artists in his collection. He is a fan of local artist John Fitzgerald, in particular, whom he considers both gifted and underrated. "John's work has been sold all over the world. When I have enough of it I will exhibit it."
Last summer Brian brought over Mr Hoang Dang, one of Vietnam's foremost artists and also political cartoonist for the major Vietnamese national newspaper. Dang spent four weeks in Castlegregory and every piece in his exhibition (about 40) was sold.
This year Brian is bringing over a Mr Ngoc Minh, who will have an exhibition on 11th August. "Minh's art was very much affected by the Vietnam War", Brian says. "Like Dang, Minh will come with about 25 pieces of Vietnamese art but for the 3 weeks prior to the exhibition he will paint local scenes from West Kerry."
No doubt they will sell like hot cakes. Brian is already planning a winter trip to Ghana in West Africa so we can look forward to an exhibition of original African work next year.
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