Artist Statement
Painting for me is not about the description of the visible world; it is a means of conveying the inner landscape of the artist’s heart and mind. Images of nature have remained a potent source of inspiration for artists down to the present day.
I have become fascinated by Chinese paintings from different centuries and their artistic expression has been deeply imprinted with images of the natural world. Viewing Chinese landscape paintings, it is clear that depictions of nature are seldom mere representations of the external world. Rather, they are expressions of the mind and heart of the individual artists. In a similar way in my work, I try to connect with the idea of the human being and the landscape it inhabits.
In this way, I try to explore the psychological and spiritual places in the landscape around me. My work describes not the actual world, but rather an interior realm; they are the product of my imagination and an intuitive merging of numerous sources, including photographs and memories of photographs, fleeting moments, feelings, and moods. I find myself wanting to paint about the human inside nature, or nature as seen by the human mind.
These are transitional places that sit between land and sea, connections much like those moments between dream and reality, life and death. In this way, my style moves between abstraction and representation. To achieve this, I mine countless sources to create composites of places, stitching together fresh, complex, psychological landscapes.
Painting is an alchemical process in a way. It is the magical process of transforming or combining elements into something new. At the beginning of a painting, I might have an idea of what I’m going to paint, but most of the time this is abandoned and replaced with a new idea. Sometimes this can happen many times on the one canvas. I might scrape it off or paint over it. This creates a new surface which for me is as important as the image. Adding to this I make choices of color, form, and gesture, I set abstraction against representation, line against wash, dry against dripping brushwork and texture against smooth. Through these different techniques, landscapes often emerge ghost like from their surroundings.
I hope my paintings will awaken the imagination of the public to remind them of the beauty of the landscape and their surroundings, with the ongoing threat of climate change worldwide which is a constant. Through this, I aspire that my work will give viewers the chance to tap into their spiritual sides, and I hope my paintings would act as springboards for contemplation that ask us to consider our own hidden worlds.
Biography
Dublin-born in 1983, Kildare-based artist Derek Fitzpatrick graduated from the Dublin Institute of Technology with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art in 2006. He is represented by The Duke Street Gallery and Trinity Gallery in Dublin, and Barbara Stanley Contemporary Irish Art, London, UK. He recently had two solo shows with the Duke Street Gallery in 2020 and 2022. He was also represented by the Glasthule Gallery in Dublin 2017-2018.
Fitzpatrick has exhibited on various occasions in solo and group shows, including the Royal Ulster Academy, Villa Tittoni (Milan), Hallward Gallery, Glasthule Gallery, Chimera Gallery and various art centres and galleries around Ireland. His work features in public collections including that of OPW, Ardstone Capital, Unicorn Restaurant and Cavan Arts Centre as well as numerous private collections in Ireland, UK, Europe, Thailand and USA.
Education
- 2006
- Graduated with B.F.A at the Dublin Institute of Technology
Solo Exhibitions
- 2022
- From the Heart to the Hand, Duke Street Gallery, Dublin
- 2020
- At the Edge of the Shadow, Duke Street Gallery, Dublin.
- 2014
- Memory and Desire, Ards Art Centre, Newtonards, United Kingdom.
- 2013
- Silver Mirrors, Moxie Studios, Dublin.
- 2011
- Paintings, Cockleshell Gallery, Wexford.
- 2010
- Within the Realm of Feelings, Signal Arts Centre, Bray, Wicklow.
- 2009
- New Paintings, Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny.
- 2008
- Landscapes, Signal Arts Centre, Bray, Wicklow.
- 2008
- Paintings, Ivy House, Drumcondra, Dublin.
- 2007
- New Paintings, Cavan Arts Centre, Cavan.
- 2007
- New Paintings, Carlinn Gallery, Carlingford.
Group Exhibitions
- 2019-
- Group shows, Duke Street Gallery and Trinity Gallery, Dublin.
- 2025
- Winter Salon Exhibition, Schoolhouse for Art, Enniskerry, Wicklow.
- 2025
- Summer Open, The Courthouse Gallery & Studios, Ennistymon, Clare.
- 2021-25
- Market House, Dunlavin Arts Festival, Dunlavin.
- 2019-24
- Group shows with Barbara Stanley Irish Contemporary Art in London, Irish Cultural Centre, London.
- 2022
- Early Summer Exhibition, Green Acres Gallery, Wexford.
- 2022
- Open Submission, Green Acres Gallery, Wexford.
- 2020
- Green Acres Spring Exhibition, Green Acres Gallery, Wexford.
- 2019
- Mart Group Show, Mart Gallery, Dublin.
- 2017-19
- Market House, Dunalvin Arts Festival, Dunlavin.
- 2017-18
- Group shows, Glasthule Gallery, Dublin.
- 2016
- Summer and winter shows, Chimera Gallery, Mullingar.
- 2013
- Out of Booooom, Bust & Ruin Springs This, Filmbase, Dublin
- 2012
- Just In Time For The Apocalypse, Moxie Studios, Dublin.
- 2012
- Art For Art’s Sake, Avenue Road Gallery, Dublin.
- 2011
- FFS POP-UP Gallery @ Kilkenny Arts Fringe, Kilkenny.
- 2011
- Making Do With Paper Clowns, Moxie Studios, Dublin.
- 2011
- One or Several Wolves, Moxie Studios, Dublin.
- 2010
- Ancient Palaces, International group show at Villa Tittoni, Milan
- 2010
- Group Show of Painting at the Sycamore Arts Club, Dublin
- 2009
- Of This Earth, Rua Red,Dublin. (two person).
- 2008
- Emerging Artist Award, Backstage Arts Centre, Longford.
- 2008
- Royal Ulster Academy Annual Show, Belfast.
- 2008
- Summer show, Hallward Gallery, Dublin.
- 2008
- Enniskillen Visual Arts Festival, Higher Bridges Gallery, Fermanagh.
- 2007
- Winter Group Show, Hallward Gallery, Dublin.
- 2007
- Figure and Landscape, La Cathedral, Dublin. (two person).
- 2007
- Loft Gallery, Dublin.
- 2007
- Summer Group Show, Hallward Gallery, Dublin.
- 2006
- RDS Student Art Awards Exhibition, Dublin.
- 2006
- DIT Graduate show, St Joseph's Convent, Dublin.
Collections
Public Collections: McCarthy Insurance Group (Dublin), The Unicorn Restaurant (Dublin), OPW (Dublin), Ardstone Capital (Dublin), Cavan Arts Centre (Cavan).Private Collections in Ireland, UK, Europe, Thailand and USA.
Awards
- 2008
- Shortlisted for Backstage Theatre Emerging Artists Award
- 2006
- The Cill Rialaig Studio Residency “Scholarship” for a Young Emerging Artist
