Brian Smyth (born 1967) is an Irish figurative painter. Born in
Cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
, Smyth studied art at the
Crawford College of Art and Design
Cork Institute of Technology (CIT; ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Chorcaí) was an institute of technology, located in Cork, Ireland. Upon its dissolution, the institute had 17,000 students studying in art, business, engineering, music, dram ...
in Cork, where he specialised in painting and graduated with an honours degree in art and design in 1995. Subsidiary subjects included print, video and photography.
In January 2000, Smyth exhibited at Lavit gallery with Tom Climent and Martin Finnin.Allen, Jo "c92: Spring 2000" ''Circa'', Spring 2000. Retrieved 6 February 2010. Jo Allen in ''Circa'' described Smyth's work as "tastefully hued paintings of photographs of a pretty woman resting were slick and pleasing to the eye. But they seemed to have little to say beyond their cool, ironic stance."
Mark Ewart in ''
The Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'' said the work of each of the three exhibiting artists was "quite distinctive", Smyth's colours being toned down to the point where they approached monochrome, and that his work, like Climent's, was nostalgic: "The paintings of the reclining female figures are particularly atmospheric, the features seeming to melt into an understated, yet fluidly painted background."Ewart, Mark "Tom Climent, Martin Finnan, Brian Smyth" ''
The Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'', 2 February 2000. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
His first solo show took place in November 2001 at the Blue Leaf Gallery, Fairview, of around 25 oil paintings, mostly portraits, using film scenes, his girlfriend, and portraits by artists such as
Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...
,
Klimt
Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d'art. Klimt's prim ...
and
Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...
as source material.O'Riordan, Dick "Evensong" , ''
The Sunday Business Post
The ''Business Post'' (formerly ''The Sunday Business Post'') is a Sunday newspaper distributed nationally in Ireland and an online publication. It is focused mainly on business and financial issues in Ireland.
Founding to Irish financial crisi ...
'', 11 November 2001. Retrieved 6 February 2010. A concern with tone, light and character created a
postmodern
Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...
style, which he saw as "timeless". In 2008 at the Lavit Gallery, Smyth curated ''Brian Smyth Selects'', and chose five artists who, like him, work in representational painting. The artists were Patrick Cashin, Mary Clancy, Philip Lindey, Stephen Murphy, and Jennifer O’Connor.Looney, Niamh "Group Show at Lavit Gallery (Cork)" , Visual Artists Ireland, 2 October 2008. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
At the start of 2012, Smyth moved to Florence, to study at the Angel Academy of Art. There, he developed his drawing and painting skills, working under the tutelage o and Jered Wosnicki. Working directly from the life model, in a naturalistic style, Smyth's drawings and paintings developed a new level of realism.
Smyth began to paint still life paintings, pushing out the boundaries of his use of colour.
From 2013, Smyth became a student instructor, tutoring other students in Bargue drawings and sight size method cast drawings in charcoal.
In September 2014, Smyth became an instructor at the Angel Academy, teaching the life drawing course to new students at the Angel Academy.
Smyth's work has been exhibited in Ireland (Lavit Gallery and Buckley Fine Art, Cork, and the Oisin gallery, Dublin), the UK (Red Rag Gallery in Stow on the Wold),"Paintings by Brian Smyth" Red Rag Gallery. Retrieved 6 February 2010. and abroad (New York, Chicago and Switzerland). , The Barbara Stanley Gallery. Retrieved 6 February 2010.