Fintan Whelan is an experimental painter who has exhibited across Europe and Asia. Notable solo exhibitions include dual showings at 508 Gallery in London as well as features at CICA Museum in Seoul, Rotte House and Holborn House in Göttingen, Germany, 4H Gallery in Hannover, Germany, and Yudian Art Gallery in Hangzhou, China. Fintan’s group exhibitions entail participation at Yudian Gallery in Hangzhou, Galerie du Marais in Paris, Künstlerhaus in Göttingen, Germany, Bellini Museum in Florence, Herman’s Auction House in Dublin, James Baird Gallery in St. John's, Canada, Icône Art Galerie in Le Touquet Paris Plage, France, and Eugene Gallery in Seoul. He has participated in over 40 art fairs including The Other Art Fair and Red Dot Miami.
Like an alchemist, Fintan concocts a secret recipe of pigments, oils, varnishes, and various media in order to create the intricate bleeding effects on his paintings. The works almost appear like digital or abstract photographic prints, however upon closer inspection, the viewer will find the works are indeed carefully crafted paintings. His colors range with quiet areas of negative space containing muted tones while the central compositional organic-like shapes become formed through areas of bright and vivid hues.
Pristine and organized, the various bleeding paintings are executed with a great degree of control and precision towards forming cohesive compositions. These are not completely improvised works as the alchemical concocted paint becomes carefully directed into undeviating composure. Essentially abstract and non-figurative, these laid out designs offer insight into how to advance the cause of painting, a medium which has been thoroughly exhausted throughout the ages. These new integrative methods Fintan employs, using various tools from brushes to palette knives, create a directive towards ‘pushing’ the paint, both literally and metaphorically, beyond capacities traditionally used.
Orchard Rain II (pictured above) offers a suggestive title which has the artist implore the viewer to contemplate nature while studying the piece. Organic and free-flowing, the work contains a great deal of fluidity, much like the rain. We can imagine ourselves listening to the cool, crisp, and soothing sounds of the rain and morning dew. Orchard Rain II remains a rich painting which offers refreshing experiences and reduces stress.
Fintan Whelan remains a gifted visionary who exemplifies the need to promote integrative methods in order advance contemporary art, especially in two-dimensional surfaces. Flowing and nuanced, these works are a beautiful visual experience which offer insights into the tranquility of a complex mind and expression of a sincere artist. With an extensive portfolio and a drive to advance painting, Fintan pushes experiential boundaries with his unique approach and methods. The pieces exemplify adversity in the face of an intimidating blank canvas. Fintan commands his two-dimensional surface with a great degree of precise control while allowing the paint to behave within natural motion and substance.
