Hebden Beck, A Closer Look: Exhibition

Hebden Beck, A Closer Look: Exhibition at Hebden Bridge Town Hall

John O'Regan studied art in Waterford, Ireland and later through a series of adult courses at Trinity College Dublin, and has worked semi-professionally as an artist ever since. After countless exhibitions he has maintained a steady output of works, concentrating on an immediate response to the prevailing landscape wherever he might be. His work is included in Municipal collections in Ireland, as well as private collections in Ireland, the UK, Spain, Slovakia, Canada and the US. This is his first exhibition in the UK, the first of many hopefully.

"I am besotted by landscape. For forty years I’ve been marinading in it, and trying to capture it in acrylics on a flat surface, be it in Ireland, Spain, Slovakia, Corfu, Yorkshire, or now, the Welsh Valleys.

There’s no predicting what will strike a chord and provoke a response, but in this case it was Hebden Beck, and specifically the length of river just north and south of Gibson’s Mill.

It’s no easy task trying do justice in paint to the feelings such places evoke. After a day’s work, my daughter, whom I have never known to fail, offers instant judgement in the form of ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘meh!’…. Of course yes is what I want to hear, even no I can handle, but ‘meh!’ opens a Pandora’s Box of writhing and fulminating such that Goya himself wouldn’t get a look in. Does she not realise that this could be the fourth or fifth effort to produce an image that is more than the sum of its parts and actually says something….anything? Ultimately of course she’s right, something must be articulated, if for no other reason than to stifle the dead hand of mere illustration. For this to happen it must, while acknowledging them, transcend the tyranny of facts one is faced with. In short: It’s not absolutely necessary for that branch to turn left instead of right, is it?

With persistence and experience the painting will open a dialogue wherein there is compromise on both sides towards the production of an image that offers an insight, however humble. It occurs once in a while, and I hope these works evoke something of the struggle in capturing the atmosphere I experienced over an eighteen month exposure to The Beck.

Nature herself wins every time of course and we mere dabblers are just trotting in her wake.

Please enjoy!"