D U E T

O’Leary’s unconventional approach to painting, marked by the reconstruction of materials and exploration of spatial dynamics, finds resonance within Tyrrell’s structured compositions, where the grid serves as a foundation for intricate exploration. Through this juxtaposition, D U E T encapsulates the collaborative spirit of these two artists as they navigate the visual landscape together.

In D U E T, viewers are invited to witness the convergence of divergent artistic voices. O’Leary and Tyrrell’s artworks resonate with rhythm and depth, inviting audiences to immerse themselves in the symphonic interplay of visual storytelling.

Born in Trim, Co. Meath, Charles Tyrrell’s large-scale canvases feature in all major Irish collections. Since he graduated from the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, the grid has underpinned almost everything Tyrrell has accomplished as an artist. His work practice incorporates painting on canvas and aluminium as well as drawing and print.

Speaking about his grid paintings, Tyrrell said, “A grids existence is the result of a collection of independent events. They’re like maps of what it takes to organise – in terms of politics and society – all the twists and turns and compromises and accommodations that have to be made to pull everything together into some kind of unified whole. These are images over which I have little control. This idea is fundamental to my way of working. It suits my desire to allow the painting to have a certain autonomy. I don’t want to dominate the process, I want a partnership.”

Originally from Wexford, Helen O’Leary is an internationally renowned artist based in New Jersey and Leitrim. Although self-described as a painter, her artwork defies traditional structures. She constructs paintings that can stand by themselves, that have their own architecture. Her paintings hold a history of their past lives, created from pieces of previous paintings, wood and materials she stores in her studio.

Speaking about the upcoming exhibition, Helen O’Leary, said “The inventory and archaeology of memoir, place, histories, big and small, are embedded in my work. I knit with wood, bending the painting out of the ruin of its own making. Each piece is cobbled together from the detritus of earlier attempts. I build ‘history paintings’ that are created in the process of dismantling and redress. I think of my forms as the upholstery and bulge of middle age, blank places for new memory. Failure, paralysis, grief and ultimately self-determination are cyclical points on the wheel of my work.”