Drawing: Void Pastoral Series
Sat. 9 Sep. – Sat. 7 Oct.

Artist Talk: Thu. 5 Oct., 2pm, Free

Michael Wann is a Sligo based artist whose practice is rooted in drawing. Using charcoal and water, he explores the myriad possibilities of what happens when drawing with these elemental materials. Drawing on themes of landscape and memory, he returns over and over again to the work of classical artists such as Gainsborough, Constable, Corot and Hogarth. Observing and looking at history books, old engravings, sepia photographs and etchings, this practice of looking goes back to the artist’s childhood. It has informed his drawing and imbued it with an otherness that is both classical and contemporary.

In this exhibition, Wann selects several works from the Niland Collection which are presented in a unique arrangement alongside his own drawings and research material. Works by Wann, together with Le Brocquy, Hooghiemstra, Diarmuid Delargy and Paul Henry exude a quiet intensity, which tap into a deep history of drawing, which informs the present and will no doubt persist into the future. In this presentation, Wann presents exciting new work, with burnt edges, sepia splashes, spontaneous gestures and accidents which converge in the making of a landscape.

Michael Wann lives and works in Sligo. Originally from Dublin, he graduated from Sligo Institute of Technology in 1992 with a Diploma in Fine Art, and in 2003 with a Bachelor in Fine Art.
Wann has exhibited widely in both solo and group exhibitions. He has been awarded numeous residency fellowships and has received several prestigious drawing prizes, including the Tom Caldwell Drawing Prize at the Royal Ulster Academy’s 129th Annual Exhibition and the Sean Keating Award and Silver Medal at the RHA’s 186th Annual Exhibition in 2016. His work is held in both private and public collections nationally and internationally.