Council is hosting a unique exhibition of icon portraits by Mullingar-based artist David Dunne in the Atrium, County Buildings, Mullingar from November 1 to January 10.
David Dunne describes himself as a contemporary Irish realist portrait painter. He is completely self-taught and has been drawing since early childhood. Over the last few years he has really started to concentrate on his preferred medium of oils.
David aspires for his paintings to be photo realistic. His inspiration comes from music, film, sport, and the political world. His main influences are the American portrait artist Chuck Close and German artist Sebastian Kruger. It was a painting by Irish caricaturist Niall O’Loughlin that actually inspired David to start painting portraits.
David held his first solo exhibition entitled Icons in The Bad Art Gallery in Dublin in March 2010, which was opened by Victoria Mary Clarke.
He says he is constantly striving to improve his technique. “As an artist I want to create photo realistic portraits that emphasise every possible detail. Losing myself in the detail is where my pleasure with the painting process lies. For example spending hour after hour painting Bruce Springsteen’s hair. While the initial inspiration is captured in a split second, it takes days, sometimes weeks, to create a detailed portrait.”
To see more of David’s work visit his website www.daviddunneart.com
