Conor Walton

A new version of 'The Man Who Sold The Moon' on the easel. #themanwhosoldthemoon #oilpainting #robertheinlein #moonrace #conorwalton #artoftheday #artistsofinstagram #art_spotlight https://www.instagram.com/p/B2jxzptI_6p/?igshid=13r4txi3y9ofg

Red Grapes #timelapseart #timelapse #paintingdemo #oilpainting #wip #workinprogress #grapes #conorwalton #artistsofinstagram #artoftheday #art_spotlight #instaart https://www.instagram.com/p/B2e4SHbIaF1/?igshid=11gbcxpud3q7q

'Microcosmos' oil on linen, 60 × 90cm, 2003 #stilllife #vanitas #microcosmos #conorwalton #artistsofinstagram #artoftheday #instaart #allegory #art_spotlight https://www.instagram.com/p/B2RxO1Go-ed/?igshid=1gv6hstxwplr6

'Still Life with Oranges' oil on linen, 45 X 30cm, 2008 #oranges #plastic bag #ballygowan #stilllife #painting #contemporaryrealism #conorwalton #artistsofinstagram #artoftheday #art_spotlight #instaart https://www.instagram.com/p/B2CV5rZIPTb/?igshid=9tz0rgz18lps

'The Threshold of Liberty' oil on linen, 30 × 45cm, 2008 #thresholdofliberty #magritte #stilllife #contemporaryrealism #painting #planets #astronomy #conquestofspace #conorwalton #artistsofinstagram #artoftheday #art_spotlight #instaart #irishart https://www.instagram.com/p/B19L4-iIo8Q/?igshid=1i4zddoqp14jo

'Veiled' oil on linen, 45 x 50cm, 2012 To some extent this is simply an old-fashioned exercise in chiaroscuro, understood not simply as 'light-and-shade' but as it sometimes used to be translated; 'clair-obscure'. Light itself is here understood as an agent of clarity, but in its encounter with air and matter it is deflected, scattered and obstructed in such complex ways that its revelation is always only partial and teasing. With the painted objects frontally lit, the transition from clarity to obscurity within this picture is also a journey from surface into depth, drawing us from the superficially self-evident towards unfathomable darkness. The bags are painted quite texturally with crisply impasted lights and something like a physical approximation of the thin plastic. What's in the bags is barely indicated, but because the surface of the bag and the effect of light transmitted through it is so truthful, I think the viewer will tend to accept it as a convincing token of the riches contained within. I believe the original marble bust is called 'Veiled Lady', circa 1860, by Raffaelle Monti (mine is a plaster copy). Sculptures of this sort have long been popular because they display such virtuosity in their surface effects. These effects are deployed in a complex, almost painterly way, using the play of light and shade over the form to create an illusion of translucency and of a surface beneath the surface. The veiled figure thus reinforces my reflection on painterly virtuosity and the play of surface against depth within the painting, a 'doubling' which emphasises that this play is not an accidental feature of the picture, but its principal theme. Placed centrally and facing the viewer, she is also a sort of mirror-image of the beholder, a reminder that for us perception is inevitably clouded, that our struggle to separate appearance from reality is never complete. [continued below...] https://www.instagram.com/p/B16xO7_oJal/?igshid=1ot8zh6tpvwzr

Review of my 'Asymmetrical Warfare' show @luangalleryathlone in @sundaytimesculture: "In Athlone's fine Luan gallery, Conor Walton's adept oils on canvas works feature Old Master imagery, self-portraits and still-lifes of grapes, pears and bananas. Favouring a dusky, low-angled, orangey light, Walton sails into eccentric fantasy. Two large allegorical works borrow from Bellini: one with himself as John the Baptist drizzling plastic-bottled water onto a salamander in a dried-up river Jordan, witnessed by his own "angelic", breathtakingly depicted children. These recur as lutenists or singers in another work, alongside Darwin, Gregor Mendel, James Lovelock and a chimpanzee madonna and child. Next, he loots their toybox of plastic dinosaurs, Marvel figurines and Disney princesses. His Europa paintings retell the myth with a tiny Louis XIV court watching Zeus's bull swim off with a Napoleonic soldier sitting backwards on it. The endless overwrought references and sugary colours do eventually pall, and a depiction of Donald Trump really takes the biscuit. Recast as Conan the Barbarian, he postures in fur loincloth atop a pile of gore, a disrobed Melania clinging to his leg as fascist salutes hail his well-toned abs. It's a distasteful take on a narcissist who defies such weak satire, and a waste of Walton's prodigious talent." -Mic Moroney #asymmetricalwarfare #artcriticism #conorwalton #irishart #exhibitions #reviews #artoftheday #artistsofinstagram (at Luan Gallery) https://www.instagram.com/p/B133QO3oaDT/?igshid=1kxfex8w1ve8t

'Still Life with Musical Instruments' oil on linen, 60 x 60cm 2003 #stilllife #painting #guitar #mandolin #musicalinstruments #contemporaryrealism #contemporarypainting #conorwalton #artistsofinstagram #artoftheday #art_spotlight https://www.instagram.com/p/B11f6CtIwML/?igshid=14v8hieqanq2a

'Bread' oil on linen, 30 × 40cm, 2012 #bread #painting #oilpainting #stilllife #conorwalton #artoftheday #artistsofinstagram #art_spotlight #instaart https://www.instagram.com/p/B1y-oTzo0dy/?igshid=1rfrqm5co5opn

Delighted to see a little red dot beside my painting 'The Man Who Sold The Moon' @arcadiagallery #fiveandunder show! The Man Who Sold The Moon' is the title of a Robert Heinlein SciFi novel written in 1949 about the first landing and colonisation of the moon, and more broadly, an examination of the corruption of science and exploration by politics and business. The proximate inspiration for the piece was a conversation I had with Barry McArdle, one of the partners in CK Contemporary in San Francisco, who in the seventies lodged a claim with the US land registry to a large chunk of the moon's surface, and then travelled the world wearing a spacesuit and selling lunar real estate for a dollar an acre. He presented me with a certificate of ownership of an acre in the Sea of Tranquillity, and a copy of his autobiography, 'I Sold the Moon'. Perhaps it isn't entirely surprising that he advanced from selling lunar real estate to the art business! Here's his website: http://www.isoldthemoon.com/ My painting, inspired by these stories, is a meditation on technological optimism and the way the moon landings and the 'conquest of space' were turned into political theatre and lucrative business, with little benefit to the population at large. It is also a comment on political hucksterism, the corruption of democratic politics, the selling of illusions, absurd promises, impossible dreams. #artoftheday #artistsofinstagram #conorwalton #irishartist #moonlanding #spacerace #themanwhosoldthemoon #instaart (at Arcadia Contemporary) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1wYlCzoBh-/?igshid=13uvy2w389aob

Part 2 of video tour from my opening. I'll put a longer video of opening speeches etc on my Facebook and YouTube channels. See my profile for links. (at Luan Gallery) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1R39p2osz7/?igshid=ocuwy3jze0g2

From my opening @luangalleryathlone Thanks to those who attended and helped make it a great opening. My duties as host meant I couldn't do as good a job recording this as I would have liked, but this is a taster. Part 2 to follow... #athlone #luangallery #luan #asymmetricalwarfare #conorwalton #irishart #irishartist #exhibition (at Luan Gallery) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1R3UgKAXOV/?igshid=s6sccp15llxn

Novus Ordo Seclorum oil on linen, 125 x 100cm, 2019 The idea for this painting came from a Facebook discussion about who might paint President Trump’s official portrait. Some of America’s best portrait painters were part of this conversation, but it appeared none of them would touch the job: the phrase ‘career suicide’ was mentioned. It struck me as an opportunity lost. I started thinking about how I’d like to paint Trump; how it might be possible to portray him in a way that would satisfy his ego and vanity, be true to his belligerence and macho sexism, and also work as satire or critique. The old Frank Frazetta image of Conan the Barbarian came to mind as a template; one that would be true to his American low culture base and easily legible to all who grew up on cheap fantasy art and literature, superheroes, Hollywood etc., thus widely enjoyable and hard to disown or reject, whether you love Trump or hate him. When Michael Pearce asked me to contribute to an exhibition he was curating in California called ‘The Illusionists’, and explained the theme and crossover from fantasy art with ‘Conan’ artists like Boris Vallejo involved, I told him of my idea and he approved. Since the exhibition opened on March 31st, we agreed to publish the image on social media on April 1st, claiming it to be President Trump’s official portrait. I tweeted: “Thrilled and honoured to be chosen to paint @realdonaldtrump official portrait! Heading to Washington for the unveiling.” There was the possibility it would go viral on Twitter and provoke the President to respond, but this involved a certain risk: he might not appreciate the joke! Falsely claiming the picture was Trump’s official portrait essentially put me in legal jeopardy with the most powerful man on earth, and one not averse to suing and otherwise making life difficult for his enemies. I had to balance the risk of being sued, facing huge legal fees and even going on a CIA ‘shitlist’, against the reward of possibly hooking the President of the United States in a practical joke. [continued below] https://www.instagram.com/p/B1OslfPIZ4-/?igshid=ogpee5fqpfya

Close-up of 'Novus Ordo Seculorum' oil on linen, 125 x 100cm, 2019 #fascism #novusordoseclorum #trump #asymmetricalwarfare #conorwalton https://www.instagram.com/p/B1MrOGrIkVP/?igshid=xifmfkmo9x92

Delighted that my painting 'The Man Who Sold The Moon' will feature in 'Five and Under' @arcadiagallery in LA opening this Saturday. Looks like a great show! 'The Man Who Sold The Moon' is the title of a Robert Heinlein SciFi novel written in 1949 about the first landing and colonisation of the moon, and more broadly, an examination of the corruption of science and exploration by politics and business. The proximate inspiration for the piece was a conversation I had with Barry McArdle, one of the partners in CK Contemporary in San Francisco, who in the seventies lodged a claim with the US land registry to a large chunk of the moon's surface, and then travelled the world wearing a spacesuit and selling lunar real estate for a dollar an acre. He presented me with a certificate of ownership of an acre in the Sea of Tranquillity, and a copy of his autobiography, 'I Sold the Moon'. Perhaps it isn't entirely surprising that he advanced from selling lunar real estate to the art business! Here's his website: http://www.isoldthemoon.com/ My painting, inspired by these stories, is a meditation on technological optimism and the way the moon landings and the 'conquest of space' were turned into political theatre and lucrative business, with little benefit to the population at large. It is also a comment on political hucksterism, the corruption of democratic politics, the selling of illusions, absurd promises, impossible dreams. 'The Man Who Sold The Moon', oil on linen, 25 x 35cm, 2018 #themanwhosoldthemoon #robertheinlein #fiveandunder #arcadiacontemporary #conorwalton #artoftheday #artistsofinstagram #moonlanding #hucksterism #politicalsatire (at Arcadia Contemporary) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1HZRafIygt/?igshid=cdlk3czn8fuf

'Asymmetrical Warfare' 'Madmen we are, but not quite on the pattern of those who are shut up in a madhouse. It does not concern any of them to discover what sort of madness afflicts his neighbour, or the previous occupants of his cell; but it matters very much to us. The human mind is less prone to go astray when it gets to know to what extent, and in how many directions, it is itself liable to err, and we can never devote too much time to the study of our aberrations.' - Fontenelle(1) ‘Asymmetrical warfare’ is defined as war between belligerents whose strength, strategy or tactics differ significantly. Typically, it is war between a well-resourced professional army and an insurgency or resistance movement often seen as ‘unlawful’ (‘subversives’, ‘guerrillas’, ‘terrorists’), in which the weaker force uses unconventional tactics to prevail over an apparently stronger opponent.(2) It is a phrase obviously relevant to recent military conflicts such as those Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, but also metaphorically to the various political insurgencies within our Western democracies (typified by Trump, Brexit, the rise of the Alt-Right and Alt-Left) where anti-establishment forces score unexpected victories through unorthodox means. It also applies in the contemporary cultural arena to an Avant-Garde that has become ‘Old Guard’, ‘Establishment’, and is now being challenged and subverted in surprising ways and from unexpected directions. My work is caught up in that challenge. ‘Asymmetrical Warfare’ in a way sums up my career and approach to painting and culture. However, it has particular relevance to my current work because this deals explicitly with cultural conflict, with the crises of our times – political, ecological, financial, cultural and moral – and the warped perspectives that ensue. In most of these pictures I try to ‘dance along the cultural fault-line’, ] presenting complex narratives that may be interpreted in opposite ways, depending upon the viewer’s perspective. [continued below...] https://www.instagram.com/p/B1B3mrngW_N/?igshid=2u8sinm4abwa

#framing... #artistsofinstagram #art_spotlight #artoftheday #conorwalton #asymmetricalwarfare (at Wicklow, Ireland) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0_iQI1AVpd/?igshid=5nvj2e0bxuj4