Cu

Stephen Lawlor

Cu and Recent Paintings combines two separate bodies of work that take their inspiration from specific locations in both time and place. CU, the chemical symbol for copper was shown at Fred London in January 2010 and exhibited for the first time in Dublin. Lawlor travelled to two copper mines, one at Amlwch in Wales the other at Avoca in Co. Wicklow that are joined by the same seam of copper under the Irish Sea. The extraordinary panorama and rich geology of the mines was a perfect source for the artist to produce works that confidently reference art history. Lawlor has condensed the landscape and brings the viewer close up, which heightens the tension within the images yet retaining an epic sense of place.