Blackbird Rook Presents, One Fell Swoop, an exhibition of recent works by Mark Connolly. One Fell Swoop, the final blow, the end of conflict - presenting the battle seconds before the end, leaves the tableaux set but the victor undecided.
Two larger works, A Portrait of Kane and Face Off, consider conflict across time. Face Off draws on ancient allegorical battles, revisited and reconsidered. The Portrait of Kane was pulled from a prominent childhood fixture - the world of televised wrestling.
Portrait of Kane, 2022, Oil, wax and collage on canvas, 210x170cm
"A portrait of Kane, arose from the memory of an epic saga - the arc and plot of Kane and The Undertaker, during the nineties. Biblical references litter their character: Cain and Abel, brotherly betrayal, Kane's abandonment in a burning house, his implied damage due to neglect, his return and implied crusade in search of retribution, his affinity and ownership of the flames, heavy handed satanic nods. The Undertaker's character, being one at ease with death, the morgue and the cemetery - his signature move being a tombstone pile driver, seemingly deadly, and he himself almost impossible to overcome, more often than not, against all odds, rising like Lazarus, to return to victory. Their joint narrative, made a tremendous impact as a child - I was left on tenterhooks, awaiting the next weeks episode to find out where this epic would lead. Their portraits are isolated, much like the ancient allegorical battles - fragments presented as icons.”
Study for a Portrait of Kane III, 2021, Oil and collage on canvas, 40 x 30cm
"The nature of their characters, so tightly bound to the west and pseudo religious references, felt perfectly aligned running alongside painted iterations of battles drawn from the 14th and 15th century. But Kane is not grounded in an absolute likeness. Instead he is imparted with a subtle tenderness and irony. There is not really ferocity to be found here. Whilst the mask and leather have the bearings of a formidable opponent, the eyes, nose, and lips revealed, are that of an actor, not truly in character. Surrounded by the flames and cage, the stage is set, we can only wait."
Study for face off, 2021, Oil and collage on canvas, 30x20cm
"Ancient allegorical conflict has been woven through my practice - the search for a genuine parallel. The Western centric, religious function of represented conflict is in and of itself, a many headed beast. Often, the face given to temptation or any form of contradiction to moral righteousness and purity, is that of totally unadulterated and otherworldly terror. But the structures and values imparted by heroic, epic battles are no longer fit for purpose. The recontextualising, transformation, and amalgamation of influences is intended to bring new meaning and intent to these battles in the light of the moral sea we now seek to navigate.”
The end is near, diptych, 2021, Oil and collage on canvas, 45x32cm each
Alongside the conflict, there are borderline utopian portraits of animals and creatures. The animals, and creatures are guardians and observers. The breadth and variety of subjects, narratives, and spaces contribute toward a sense of these events and portraits existing within the same world.
Portrait of a Dragon, 2022, Oil on hardback book cover, 30x20cm
Mark Connolly (b.1991) is a painter and set designer based in London. Anthropomorphic, androgynous, creatures exist alongside representations of fictive and non fictive characters, ambiguity is woven through isolated incidents and observations. Historical allegories are reconsidered and strategically alienated from the whole. The fusion of multiple languages is intended to contribute to an overarching uncanniness. Historic symbolism is welded to contemporary philosophical considerations, the paintings seek space without time.
Mark Connolly, (b. 1991, Northern Ireland), studied at Sint Lucas Beeldende Kunst Gent, 2013, Edinburgh College of Art, 2014, and The Royal Drawing School, London, 2017. He has undertaken residencies at FoAM Lab Brussels, 2014, Six Foot Gallery Glasgow, 2015, Griffin Gallery London, 2016, Merchant Taylors' School, 2018, Borgo Pignano Tuscany, 2019. Recent exhibitions include Don’t Drink the Rain, Galerie Wolfsen, Aalborg, Denmark, 2022, The Amber Room at 180 The Strand, 2022, ASSEMBLE, VO Curations, London, 2022, Hung On A Minute, Platform Southwark, 2021, Cave Canem, Eve Leibe London, 2021, Limbo, Everyday Gallery Antwerp, 2020, and Show House JayJay Antwerp, 2020. Upcoming projects include Life in colour at The Room, London, Chronicles 5 with Galerie Droste, Berlin, and a solo presentation with Simchowitz, Los Angeles in 2023.
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