Biography

(Photo: National Gallery of Ireland)

Niall Naessens was born in Dublin in 1961 and currently lives in Lios na Caolbhaí, Brandon in West Kerry. Naessens has been drawing all his life. He is a graduate of the National College of Art and Design, Visual Communications 1983. He first engaged with printmaking at the Graphic Studio Dublin in 1990. He worked on the Visiting Artists Program at the studio was a director 2000-2004. In 2004 he set up Cló Cill Rialaig an etching workshop in Ballinskelligs and was master printmaker there until 2009. Naessens returned to N.C.A.D. graduating with an MFA in Fine Art Print in 2013.

Naessens’ most recent solo show was Good Morning Mister Turner, Niall Naessens and J.M.W. Turner at the National Gallery of Ireland 2018. Naessens showed etchings and drawings inspired by Turner alongside the Henry Vaughan Bequest Tuner watercolours. Good Morning Mister Turner also showed at Siamsa Tire Tralee, 2018. In 2019 his work is included the RHA annual Exhibition, Impressions Print Biennial at Galway Arts Festival, Graphic studio summer Show and Boyle Arts Festival 20 Year Exhibition.

Naessens is working towards an exhibition titled Absurd Man to be shown at SO Fine Art, Dublin October 2020.

Artist’s Statement

I am a 58 year old artist. I have been living and working in Lios na Caolbhai, a remote and exposed townland in West Kerry. I am a draughtsman specialising in etching. My work explores many ideas within the genre of landscape art.

My work focuses on light and space. The way I construct an image is deliberate and pedantic the composition and mark making thought out. I use rules and stencils and I draw formal hatching. I layer my drawings, making an image out of several independent procedures. My landscapes are square, making them intimate. While I pay heed to tradition, my take on landscape is not traditional. I hide things behind distractions interference and motifs.

Recently I have introduced figures into my work. This started off while making work for my 2018 Good Morning Mister Turner show where an artist featured in many works. It was unclear whether the artist was myself or Turner but the presence changed the dynamic of the work. It opened new dialogues with the viewer and suggested narratives.

I make pictures that are familiar yet not real, a magic realism.  I see my images as backdrops to events; maybe a gust of wind or an artist observing dawn. Although I live in a remote and beautiful landscape and the idea of merely ‘capturing’ does not interest me anymore. I am looking closer and trying to portray the life of an artist and his ideas through the vehicle of landscape. I want the viewers to look, think and wonder as I do. The sentiment in my work is about the physical nature of being in a place 

I make 3 and 4 plate colour etchings involving hard and soft grounds, aquatint, sugarlift, spitbititng, engraving, burnishing and erasing. My drawings are graphite printed over with flat ares of translucent etching ink and gouache. I employ my own particular drawing syntax which I have developed by moving between the two mediums. I capitalise on the limitations of a medium, finding in restrictions the freedom to create voice.

Niall Naessens

June 2019.

CV

______EDUCATION

1978-1983Diploma in Visual CommunicationsNational College of Art and Design
2011-2013MFA fine Art PrintNational College of Art and Design

______SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2019DrawAn Diseart, Dingle, Co. Kerry
2018Good Morning Mister Turner
Niall Naessens and J.M.W.Turner
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
Good Morning Mister TurnerSiamsa Tire, Tralee, Co. Kerry
2015L 12121 Picture PanoplyGraphic Studio Gallery, Dublin
L 12121 Picture PanoplyStiuideo Lios na Caolbhaí, Brandon, Co. Kerry
Neighbour in the PrintroomCork Printmakers, Cork
2012Eyeful of SkySiamsa Tire, Tralee, Co. Kerry
Distant WorldBildtse Aardappel Weken, Het Bildt, Holland
2011EtchingsAn Lab, Dingle, Co. Kerry
An Irish EtcherThe Ink Shop, Itheca, New York, USA
2010LandmarksGraphic Studio Gallery, Dublin
2008VicoDalkey Arts, Dublin
Paintings & EtchingsHamilton Gallery, Sligo
2007Brandon EtchingsGraphic Studio Gallery, Dublin
Brandon EtchingsArt Upstairs, Wexford
Brandon EtchingsWellspring Gallery, Tralee, Co. Kerry
Cé BhréanainnOld Town Hall, Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA
2005South WesterliesPaul Kane Gallery, Dublin
2006Laistíos den ChnocAn Diseart, Dingle, Co. Kerry
Painting in KerryMillcove, Sheen Falls Hotel, Kenmare, Co. Kerry
200310 Prints Niall NaessensFactory Performance, Sligo

______TWO AND THREE PERSON EXHIBITIONS

2016Song Lineswith Daniel LipsteinHamilton Gallery, Sligo
Song Lineswith Daniel LipsteinCustom House Gallery, Westport
2011Two Person ShowGreenlane Gallery, Dingle, Co. Kerry
2002Two Person ShowKilcock Art Gallery, Kilcock
2000Two Person ShowPaul Kane Gallery, Dublin
1999Two Person ShowGraphic Studio Gallery, Dublin
Two Person ShowWatch House Gallery, Enniscorthy, Wexford
1995Three PrintmakersGraphic Studio Gallery, Dublin
Landscapes (3 Artists)Wellspring Gallery, Tralee, Co. Kerry
Three PrintmakersDroichead Gallery, Drogheda Co. Louth

______SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2019GSD summer showGraphic Studio Dublin
RHA AnnualRoyal Hibernian Academy
Boyle Arts FestivalBoyle, Co. Roscommon
2018Duoro Print BiennialDuoro, Portugal
Boyle Arts FestivalBoyle, Co. Roscommon
GSD summer showGraphic Studio Dublin
2016Duoro Print BiennialDuoro, Portugal
25, Cork Printmakers 25 YearsThe Atrium, Cork City Hall
RHA Annual ExhibitionRoyal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
2015RHA Annual ExhibitionRoyal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
ImpressionsCCAM GMIT Galway
A lonely Impulse of DelightS.O. Fine Art Dublin
2 Global Print 2015Douro, Portugal
2014RHA Annual ExhibitionRoyal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
2013NCAD MFA ShowMoxie, Dublin
LandmarksBlue Egg Gallery, Wexford
2012MFA ShowIMOCA, Dublin
Plata TeGreenlane Gallery, Dingle
Limerick PrintmakersKruezberg Printmaking Centre, Berlin
2011RA Summer ExhibitionRoyal Academy, London
RHA Annual ExhibitionRoyal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
2010RHA Annual ExhibitionRoyal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
2009Artists ProofChester Beatty Library
Print ShowHimmelblau Gallery, Tampere, Finland
RHA Annual ExhibitionRoyal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
2008Eigsé FestivalCarlow
Group ShowThe Blackbird Gallery, Kilkenny
GSD @ Kenny’sKenny’s Art Gallery, Galway
Feile na BealtaineDingle, Co. Kerry
2007Heal 2007The Naughton Gallery, Queens, Belfast
Eigsé FestivalCarlow
RHA Annual ExhibitionRoyal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
Port PrintDublin Port and Graphic Studio Dublin
2006What is a PrintNational Gallery of Ireland
Of Place & Time Lavitt Gallery, Cork
London Original Print FairRoyal Academy, London
RHA Annual ExhibitionRoyal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
Feile na BealtaineDingle, Co. Kerry
2005Garden of Earthly DelightsChester Beatty Library, Dublin
London Original Print FairRoyal Academy, London
The Cracked Looking GlassGraphic Studio Gallery, Dublin
2004London Original Print FairRoyal Academy, London
RHA Annual ExhibitionRoyal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
SpringboardDavis Gallery, Dublin
2003New WorksGraphic Studio Gallery, Dublin
Oireachtais ExhibitionDublin
Limited EditionsFrank Lewis Gallery, Killarney
Every Blooming ThingNational Botanic Gardens, Dublin
London Original Print FairRoyal Academy, London
RHA Annual ExhibitionRoyal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
2002Holy ShowChester Beatty Library, Dublin
On BoardSligo Art Gallery, Sligo
Iontas Prize-winners ShowSligo Art Gallery, Sligo
Oireachtais ExhibitionDublin
London Original Print FairRoyal Academy, London
RHA Annual ExhibitionRoyal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
Graphic Studio PrintsNordens Lus, Stockholm, Sweden
2001Ireland/France Print ExchangeParis, France
Small WorksPaul Kane Gallery, Dublin
Oireachtais ExhibitionDublin
London Original Print FairRoyal Academy, London
RHA Annual ExhibitionRoyal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
Graphic Studio PrintsKunst Forum, Norskoping, Sweden
20004th Triennale Mondial d’Estampes.Chamalieres, France
London Original Print FairRoyal Academy, London
RHA Annual ExhibitionRoyal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
Irish Print ExhibitionKelowna and Okanogan, Canada
Graphic Studio PrintsChris Doswell Gallery, Limerick
1999Galleri AstleySkinsratterberg, Sweden
London Original Print FairRoyal Academy, London
1998Art into ArtNational Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
International Print ExhibitStockholm, Sweden
Five PrintmakersFrank Lewis Gallery, Killarney
19973rd Triennale Mondial d’Estampes.Chamalieres, France
Out of IrelandKennesaw State University, Georgia, USA
London Original Print FairRoyal Academy, London
1996Irish PrintsYellow Gallery Chicago, USA
Print ShowWellspring Gallery, Kerry
Guest PrintmakerRubicon Gallery, Dublin
1995Irish LandscapesFrank Lewis Gallery, Kenmare, Kerry
Ljubljana Print BiennaleLjubljana, Slovenia
1994Irish PrintsBluecoat Gallery, Liverpool
RHA Annual ExhibitionRoyal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
1993RHA Annual ExhibitionRoyal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
Iontas Small WorksSligo Art Gallery, Sligo
1992Group ShowPantheon Gallery, Dublin

______COLLECTIONS

National Gallery of IrelandDublin City University
Bank of IrelandOffice of Public Works
Chester Beatty LibraryWilliam Fry & Company
St. Vincent’s University HospitalShelbourne Hotel
Beaumont HospitalABN Amro Bank
Allied Irish BankContemporary Art Society of Ireland
Hilton Hotel, KilmainhamIrish Embassy, Beijing
Irish Embassy, TanzaniaGeorge McClelland
Global CrossingJury’s Hotel Group
Mason Hayes and CurranRadisson Hotel SAS
Northern Bank

______COMMISSIONS

Department of Foreign Affairs Ballyroe Hotel, Tralee, Co. Kerry
Dublin Port CompanyGraphic Studio, Dublin
University College DublinUCD Club, St. Stephen’s Green