Patrick Horan
Patrick Horan graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Fine Art, Painting from The National College Of Art And Design in 1998. After graduating from college he worked with The Rialto Community Drug Team, developing an art group for the clients there. As much as he helped the students to develop, he also obtained valuable experience in sacrificing the achievement of an end result for the sake of satisfaction and enjoyment of processes.
For two years Horan exhibited consistently with The Oisin Gallery. He has exhibited in group shows, including The R.H.A. Annual Exhibition where he was short-listed for The Hennessey Craig Scholarship. He has two solo shows in Dublin and it is his intention to extend this experience outside of the capital and abroad.
From its earliest point his painting has always portrayed the human figure. This recognition of another human being is, for Horan, linked with an acknowledgement of oneself as a person; thus an immediate empathy is established. This relationship becomes his starting point of dialogue with an artwork, and he engages with it when he derives meaning from the work. He contends that even abstract forms simulate a model for the physical gestures producing the marks or shapes that they represent. By relating to a figurative form in an artwork the viewer becomes the author, imposing their own values, without contradicting the historical context or outside influences that help to materialize the artwork. This is his basis for reading art and it becomes his starting point for making art.
