For over forty years Colin McGookin has centred his art around conveying traditional mythologies rooted within a Northern Irish perspective. His artwork conveys an ongoing exploration of mythology, identity and the human condition. Millennium Court is delighted to have on display this innovative new exhibition, in which McGookin reimagines the story of Adam and Eve, through a contemporary lens.
After graduating from Belfast College of Art in 1981, Colin first exhibited paintings within the Douglas Hyde Gallery Dublin from 1978-1981. He has went on to have a prolific creative career, extensively exhibiting worldwide. His work has received positive critical acclaim, winning prizes including 1st Prize Claremorris Open. He was elected into the Royal Ulster Academy in 1989, and won the Conor Prize within the same year.
Colin’s latest exhibition ‘The Expulsion from Paradise’ takes its inspiration from Masaccio’s fresco painting on the walls of the Brancacci Chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence. Depicting the biblical connotations of Adam and Eve being expelled out of Paradise into the world that we now inhabit.
He takes a modern interpretation to this biblical theme, by including modern day warfare aeroplanes. By examining our current political landscape, he illustrates how war has led to the human expulsion from paradise. His artwork is embedded with symbolism, on how planes fly over our skies on a daily basis reminders of the destruction that occurs worldwide.
His paintings are created from a various range of mediums including paper, silk and canvas measuring two metres across and sizes varying from small to large pieces. Through the use of symbols and imagery, he engages the viewer to examine closer where the lines between myth and reality align.
For the inspiration behind his artwork Colin states “It’s about that tension between paradise and the world we actually live in, I’m interested in how we navigate beauty, violence, and the choices that shape our lives.”
We are delighted to have Colin exhibiting his new work from ‘The Expulsion from Paradise’ at the Millennium Court, with the opening exhibition event on Saturday 25th April at 2pm. Visitors can expect a thought-provoking journey through paradise, exile, conveying the reality of the world that we inhabit today.
