I "met" John Nolan through social media last year Red Interactive art show event hosted by Phantom Galleries Superior. Artists from all over the world participated including Nolan, a Dublin artist whose recent show this past weekend featured a hand-painted guitar called "Rhapsody In Colour" which he created for the Musical Youth Foundation.
All his work seems to be a rhapsody of color and it is my privilege to share him here with you.
EN: What caused you to first take an interest in art? John Nolan: My father was a huge influence from an early age. He regularly encouraged me, I watched him painting and we would visit art galleries weekly.
EN: Did you have any formal training? JN: Yep, all my formal training was at home with my father. I attended art college later, but dropped out in order to pursue a career in art. Might sound strange but I discovered art college had nothing to do with becoming an artist, It was basically a 3 or 4 year course which qualified the student to teach art and continue the cycle.
EN: How did you come to master your craft? JN: Not yet… still striving and struggling.
EN: Many of your paintings have a distinctive look. Do you have a name for your style? JN: My style is basically stylized, hugely influenced by Van Gogh, Bernard and Gauguin. Flat colour separated with bold dark delineations. It is called Cloisonnism. The approach is to simplify the composition in order to focus on line and colour. As we know it is more difficult to simplify something than it is to complicate it. Also, all art is derivative. There is nothing original except for perhaps cave paintings.
EN: Who have been your favorite artists over the years? I see homages to Degas and Modigliani. JN: My favourite artists are, Modigliani, Matisse, Van Gogh, Degas, Pollock, Rouault, Lichtenstein, Picasso, Irvin, the list is endless.
EN: What’s your favorite subject matter and why? JN: My favourite subject is any subject that can push the artistic process even further. At the moment I am exploring the still life subject in conjunction with my Homage Series, trying to contrast my motifs with the great icons of art history in the still life format.
EN: How can people see more of your work? JN: Best place to see and buy my work is
here at my website. Also, people can visit my studio in Dublin, 106 Griffith Avenue, Drumcondra, Dublin 9, Ireland. The
Latest News link on my site will inform people regarding various exhibitions.
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Sorry I could not attend your show this past weekend. Thanks for your time.
