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Detail from A New Earth by Paul McCloskey
Earthly Delights is a new exhibition by artist Paul McCloskey at University Hospital Waterford. Vibrant and full of colour, this collection of paintings is already lifting spirits and bringing a smile to the faces of patients, staff and visitors to the hospital. On display on the corridor leading to the Outpatients Department at UHW, the exhibition runs until 5 January 2025.
The exhibition programme at UHW is part of the Waterford Healing Arts programme, which is managed by Réalta, the national resource organisation for arts + health in Ireland.
Drawing on the artist’s surroundings, spiritual beliefs, imagination, memory and emotion, the vivid paintings in the Earthly Delights collection are also deeply influenced by the unique Irish landscape. As Paul McCloskey explains “the varied and stunning Irish landscape, coupled with our unsettled weather and often fleeting and mottled light, inspire me greatly.”
The collection is also enriched by the artist’s process of artistic creation, which allows him to remain in the moment as he paints, offering a cathartic pause from the day-to-day realities of life.
For further details about the exhibition, contact Aisling Kennedy, Réalta:
aisling.kennedy@realta.ie /051-842664
Artist Paul McCloskey in his studio, 2024
Paul McCloskey
Based in County Wexford, Paul McCloskey is originally from Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan. Involved in visual art education for over 30 years, Paul attended the National College of Art and Design, Dublin and De Montfort University in the UK, where he received his Master’s Degree in Fine Art in 2010.
Paul has exhibited extensively nationally and internationally, throughout the UK, Europe and the US. His work is held in many private and public collections including the Office of Public Works State Art Collection, the Osten Art Collection, the Gallery of Drawing Macedonia, Monaghan and Wexford County Council art collections, Ulster Hospital Belfast and RTE.
He was the 2016 recipient of the international jury’s Special Award at the Osten Biennial of Drawing/Works on Paper in Skopje, Macedonia, and five of his works are now in the permanent World Gallery of Drawing Collection of the Museum of Drawing/Works on Paper. In 2018, Paul was shortlisted for the London Contemporary Art Award and was awarded the Materials Bursary Award.
