Artist Oliver Murphy’s interest in portraiture developed out of his deep fascination with faces, writes Róisín Kennedy
The winner of this year’s Ireland–U.S. Council/ Irish Arts Review Portraiture Award at the RHA is Oliver Murphy, for his painting Lana. This small, 24 x 18 cm oil on wood painting caught the attention of the judges to a greater extent than larger and more elaborate compositions. Its strong and harmonious colour palette, its luminosity and its evocation of the sitter’s personality contributed to its success. Less is more in this case and the tiny panel packs a big punch.
The artist, Oliver Murphy, is largely self-taught. He attended the Crawford School of Art in Cork briefly but left to take up a job in RTÉ Television’s sound department. Later, in 2003, he moved into production design, designing sets for Saturday night with Miriam, The Podge and Rodge Show and Premier League. He describes the environment in RTÉ as ‘very creative’. Murphy also works as a photographer with the Irish Professional Photographers and Videographers Association.
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