Cloé Cloherty

Paintings

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About the Exhibition

The spectacular scenery to be found on the west coasts of Ireland and Scotland has provided the inspiration for this stunning collection of oil paintings by Cloé Cloherty. Travelling long distances alone to visit hard to reach and frequently isolated locations is second-nature to Cloé, who is passionate about experiencing landscape in its purest, most remote form.

Her distinctive and powerful oil paintings are a direct response to the landscape and coastline she encounters on her travels – heavy storms drawing in over the mountain-tops, abandoned wild and windswept beaches, waves beating against magnificent rocky headlands…just a few examples of the dramatic natural phenomena that she paints with such obvious skill.

This 2009 exhibition of paintings marks Cloé’s fifth one-man show at The Osborne Studio Gallery and in this particular collection of work we find her choice of subject matter has broadened. Cloé has long been known for her paintings of the west coast of Ireland, an area from which her family originate – Connemara, Dingle and Clare being amongst her favourite locations in this area. However, a trip to Scotland last autumn opened Cloé’s eyes to new inspiration when she was as she describes it “…quite literally blown away” by the scenery she encountered.

Cloé set off alone on the Wester Ross Trail, travelling from Inverness up to Gairloch, around to Applecross and onto Skye. It was a fantastic journey for her to make, affording her the realization that she was just as mesmerized by the western Scottish landscape and coastline as that of her native Ireland. There are obvious similarities between the two in terms of topography and the fact that both meet the Atlantic and the extreme weather conditions that this ocean generates.

Weather is in fact central to Cloé’s subject matter and is something she readily admits to being passionate about! Dramatic shifts in the weather are nowhere more apparent than on these western coastlines, where bright light over the ocean can quickly change to darkness as a fierce storm blows in, or inland where mountains bathed in sunshine one moment may appear to vanish the next under a heavy mist. Cloé produces small, preparatory oil sketches on the spot which record the colour and light of the scene in front of her. Upon returning home she starts to paint the large finished canvases in her studio. Working at speed she applies thick, bold brushstrokes to the canvas.

She paints with tremendous energy, using this energy to convey the intensity of the scenery and weather she has experienced. The range of her palette is very broad, she uses twenty to twenty-five core colours and the rest as she puts it “are because you just never know”. Her handling of this immense colour-spectrum is proficient to say the least, her paintings are alive with colour – they are a real celebration of the landscape and coastlines she has encountered.

Cloé studied Fine Art at Goldsmiths College, London before a period of travelling and painting on film-sets abroad, as well as at Pinewood, Shepperton and Elstree. Subsequently, she began her career as a full- time landscape and figurative artist and has become very successfully established in her studio in Battersea. Her career has gone from strength to strength over the years and she has built up an extensive national and international clientele.

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions 1995 - 2009

1995

The Motcomb Street Gallery, London

1996

Hollywood Road, London

1998

Ebury Street Gallery, London

1999

The Osborne Studio Gallery, London

2000

The Irish Club, London

2001

The Osborne Studio Gallery, London
Horton Gallery, Philadelphia

2003

The Osborne Studio Gallery, London

2004

54 The Gallery, London

2005

The Osborne Studio Gallery, London

2006

The Barbara Stanley Gallery, London
54 The Gallery, London

2008

The Barbara Stanley Gallery, London

2009

The Osborne Studio Gallery, London

Mixed Exhibitions 1995-2009

Paintings exhibited in: Mexico, New York, Los Angeles and galleries throughout the United Kingdom.