To coincide with the Cruinniu na mBad festival which is to be held in Kinvara on August 20th, 21st and 22nd, Christopher Banahan shall hold an exhibition of new works at his studio in Seawood house, Mountscribe, Kinvara.
The show is inspired by the distinctive beauty and grace of the Galway Hooker, which has developed over the centuries to satisfy the needs of the local fishermen who have had to battle the strength and power of the Atlantic Ocean. The elegance of the hooker belies its true purpose as a working vessel. Christopher Banahan works on wood, often allowing the grain to maintain a stubborn residual presence, coming through the image, adding to the sense of duration, imparting the feeling that the image is tenuous, immaterial, barely there against the immensity of time.
Banahan was awarded an MA Fine Art by Goldsmith’s College, London. In 1990 he received the Rome Award in Painting from the British School of Rome.
Banahan has displayed his talent extensively in Ireland and internationally where he showcased his work on many occasions in the USA with exhibitions in Boston University and the Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe.
Banahan was also one of the artists chosen to represent Ireland in the 2005 ‘Contemporary Art From Ireland’ held at the European Central Bank, Frankfurt.
He has been awarded public commissions in Dublin, Kildare and Galway and has exhibited his fine work extensively in Ireland at venues such as the Lineage Butler Gallery, Kilkenny Castle, the Hallward Gallery in Dublin and Belltable Arts Centre in Limerick.
