Ciaran Bennett assesses the evolution of emblem and motif in John Noel Smith’s new series of paintings at Hillsboro Fine Art Gallery
The current exhibition of paintings by John Noel Smith is an exciting departure for those familiar with his work. The texture and skin of the paintings is distinctly personal and recognisable, yet the motifs have developed beyond their usual linear pattern. Since returning to Ireland from Berlin in 2002, Smith’s work has developed from ogham centred images to an incorporation of older personal motifs – the abstracted linear movements from the early 1980s in Dublin. This latest series is singularly epic and equally novel with a new sense of movement articulated through abstracted lines, which appear to have their own inherent pattern
On the eve of his show at the Hunt Museum, Limerick, in Winter 2009 Joseph McBrinn considered the unique aesthetic Rudolf Heltzel has brought to jewellery design.
