Title: The Not So Ginger Man
Karen - January 13, 2007 04:53 AM (GMT)
Posted on 2/25/06 at 10:34 PM
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This is from Dogmatika (and Circa magazine), but they include 2 JPD quotes from the exhibit catalogue that previously were not included.
Click here: Dogmatika :: books >> culture >> stuff
The not so Ginger Man
24 February 2006
An exhibition of JP Donleavy's art has just finished in Dublin.
From Circa magazine:
Donleavys exhibition Beastly Beasts, Birds People and Places, is a varied selection of his work, with pieces stemming from the late '40s to 2005. Each painting has been defined by a title or quip, which serve the works well and illustrate the artist’s sensibilities. His enjoyment of the absurd is somewhat Kafkaesque, with strange contrived beasts turning to face the spectator and juxtaposed one-liners to enhance the humanistic expressions on their faces. The whimsical nature of his brightly coloured watercolours contrasts with the intensity and weight of his works in oil. This is his fifteenth exhibition during a rich artistic career that has been seen him to the celebrated age of 80.
[..]
With its adaptation to the big screen, The Ginger Man has seen a host of Hollywood’s finest vying for the leading roles. The boozing, brawling, wife-abusing anti-hero Sebastien Dangerfield is to be played by the eminent Johnny Depp. Donleavy has expressed his delight at this, citing Depp as "one of the greatest actors of all time, like Gielgud or Olivier. In that class or better."
Also in the line up is scallywag Shane McGowan, who has accepted the role of Brendan Beehan.
From the exhibition catalogue:
Do you think that painting and writing are two sides of the same project?
The only thing I’ve learned is that the hard work you have to put into the writing – I mean I’m working on a short story about New York at the moment and there is a tremendous amount of stress and energy that the brain has to channel in order to correct and rewrite and I turn to painting then as a more purely creative activity. And so I tried to switch from writing in the day to doing some painting or sketching in the evening but I found that both activities are exactly the same. I mean, you need just the same amount of intellectual concentration. You realise that once a line has appeared on the paper, then the next one confronts you. And it’s not that you are consciously thinking about the work, I mean, the whole point is not to. This is one of the reasons why I like to work quickly, get the thing down.
Does the fact that much of your work is not intended for public display make you a little like an Outsider artist?
Yes, that is absolutely the case. When I was living in London I produced many dark images of birds, cattle, very dark images, not very happy-looking at all. And I remember doing those only for my own gratification. Or my cemetery pictures that I don’t think I’ve ever shown.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is from Dogmatika (and Circa magazine), but they include 2 JPD quotes from the exhibit catalogue that previously were not included.
Click here: Dogmatika :: books >> culture >> stuff
The not so Ginger Man
24 February 2006
An exhibition of JP Donleavy's art has just finished in Dublin.
From Circa magazine:
Donleavys exhibition Beastly Beasts, Birds People and Places, is a varied selection of his work, with pieces stemming from the late '40s to 2005. Each painting has been defined by a title or quip, which serve the works well and illustrate the artist’s sensibilities. His enjoyment of the absurd is somewhat Kafkaesque, with strange contrived beasts turning to face the spectator and juxtaposed one-liners to enhance the humanistic expressions on their faces. The whimsical nature of his brightly coloured watercolours contrasts with the intensity and weight of his works in oil. This is his fifteenth exhibition during a rich artistic career that has been seen him to the celebrated age of 80.
[..]
With its adaptation to the big screen, The Ginger Man has seen a host of Hollywood’s finest vying for the leading roles. The boozing, brawling, wife-abusing anti-hero Sebastien Dangerfield is to be played by the eminent Johnny Depp. Donleavy has expressed his delight at this, citing Depp as "one of the greatest actors of all time, like Gielgud or Olivier. In that class or better."
Also in the line up is scallywag Shane McGowan, who has accepted the role of Brendan Beehan.
From the exhibition catalogue:
Do you think that painting and writing are two sides of the same project?
The only thing I’ve learned is that the hard work you have to put into the writing – I mean I’m working on a short story about New York at the moment and there is a tremendous amount of stress and energy that the brain has to channel in order to correct and rewrite and I turn to painting then as a more purely creative activity. And so I tried to switch from writing in the day to doing some painting or sketching in the evening but I found that both activities are exactly the same. I mean, you need just the same amount of intellectual concentration. You realise that once a line has appeared on the paper, then the next one confronts you. And it’s not that you are consciously thinking about the work, I mean, the whole point is not to. This is one of the reasons why I like to work quickly, get the thing down.
Does the fact that much of your work is not intended for public display make you a little like an Outsider artist?
Yes, that is absolutely the case. When I was living in London I produced many dark images of birds, cattle, very dark images, not very happy-looking at all. And I remember doing those only for my own gratification. Or my cemetery pictures that I don’t think I’ve ever shown.