17″x17″; mixed media on board; 2020. Courtesy of the artist and Duke Street Gallery, Dublin.
FROM KOLAJ 34
Brian Palm’s Artist Portfolio
How does an artist use their own archive? Brian Palm uses colored pencil, oil and spray paint to intervene on black-and-white photographs he took of Dublin in the 1980s. This was a particularly difficult time for the city. Unemployment, poor housing and poverty fueled an epidemic of addiction and despair. Yet, the city was on the cusp of change. The paramilitary violence of “the Troubles” that had rocked Dublin in the 1970s was cooling to civil disobedience and protest. City planners recognized early in the decade a need to preserve the city’s architectural heritage. Artists were flooding into Temple Bar on the south bank of the River Liffey and planting the seeds of the cultural district it is today. Originally from Hartford, Connecticut, USA, Palm was one of them.
A portfolio of Palm’s work appears in Kolaj 34. To see the complete Artist Portfolio, SUBSCRIBE to Kolaj Magazine or Get a Copy of the Issue.
18″x18″; mixed media on board; 2020. Courtesy of the artist and Duke Street Gallery, Dublin.
This theme of disquietude is reinforced by the repeated depiction of an abandoned tricycle, left in the street forgotten after play was interrupted.
A portfolio of Palm’s work appears in Kolaj 34. To see the complete Artist Portfolio, SUBSCRIBE to Kolaj Magazine or Get a Copy of the Issue.
Brian Palm holds a BFA (honours) from the National College of Art and Design. Palm has shown his work in solo and group exhibitions throughout Ireland, including the annual exhibitions of the Royal Hibernian Academy and the Royal Ulster Academy, Eigse Exhibitions, Galway Arts Festivals, Iontas Exhibitions, and many others. He has received several Arts Council of Ireland awards and bursaries. Palm’s work is represented in numerous public and private collections in Ireland and abroad. Originally from Hartford, Connecticut, USA, the artist lives and works in Dublin and is represented by The Duke Street Gallery, Dublin. Learn more at www.dukestreetgallery.ie.