CHARLES MC CARTNEY
Charles Mc Cartney rediscovered his interest in art in the early 2000s, aged 38, and went on to study art as a mature student at the University of Ulster. He graduated in 2007 with a BA (Hons.) in Art and Design. Since then, he has had a solo exhibition at the Safehouse Gallery, and has also exhibited in such places as Belmont Tower School Café, Esporta Fitness Complex, Belfast Castle and several other venues.

ARTIST STATEMENT

The paintings presented at the John Hewitt Bar are part of an ongoing body of work that I have been producing for the past three to four years. They vary between Belfast street scenes and indoor bar scenes.

I take various snapshots with a camera or mobile phone, before going through an editing process to select the shots that are most interesting and exciting to me. I use the photographs as the main source from which I make the paintings, although I also try to recapture the atmosphere that I felt at the time of the event.

The paintings are a visual documentation and observation of life in Belfast, capturing a strong sense of the atmosphere of the time and place. They are often related to and influenced by various memories, both recent and from the distant past, but I always strive to keep them vibrant and current.

I also work with video and photography, with all three elements of my practice feeding off each other.