A gifted colourist, Richard Gorman is best known for his paintings and works on paper exploring the dynamic interplay between geometric forms. Infused with a sense of vitality, Gorman’s offbeat shapes appear mobile – as if floating past, wiggling around or colliding with one another, like dancers in motion. Often graced with a subtly playful or humorous undertone, their generosity of spirit is enhanced by a striking colour palette, varying from meditative blues to piquant acid tones. Gorman’s approach to painting has been guided by the places he has visited and been influenced by: Milan, where he has lived on/off for many years, and Japan, home to the family-run paper factory he has visited to produce his handmade kozo washi paper for over 30 years. His works on paper offer a delicacy and fragility in counterpoint to his more robust oils on canvas, but both strands of Gorman’s practice draw their power from the compositional tension between boldly simplified blocks of colour.
Richard Gorman lives and works in Dublin and Milan.
The MAC, Belfast, 2014
Richard Gorman’s work has been exhibited at The Drawing Centre, New York; Berkeley Art Museum, California; Barbican Centre, London; Koriyama City Museum of Art, Mitaka City Gallery of Art and Ashikaga City Museum of Art in Japan; The MAC, Belfast; the Irish Museum of Modern Art and Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin. He is currently the subject of a major solo exhibition, Living through Paint(ing), at The Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin (until 20 August). Recent solo exhibitions include Kerlin Gallery, Dublin (2020); Chigasaki Museum, Japan (2019); Limerick City Gallery of Art, Ireland (2017); Castletown House, Co. Kildare, Ireland (2016). Recent group exhibitions include The National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin (2021). Gorman’s work is represented in the collections of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin; Crawford Art Gallery, Cork; Josef and Anni Albers Foundation; Koriyama City Museum of Art, Japan; Centre of Contemporary Graphic Art, Fukishima, Japan and New York Public Library.
Chigasaki Museum, Japan, 2019
Richard Gorman
Keijo / Emotional Geometry, 2019
Chigasaki Museum, Japan
Richard Gorman
Buzz and Hum, 2017
Limerick City Gallery of Art, Ireland
Richard Gorman
CASA, 2016
Castletown House, Co. Kildare, Ireland
Richard Gorman
KIN, 2014
MAC, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Richard Gorman
Richard Gorman, Paintings and Prints, 2010
Mitaka City Gallery of Art, Tokyo; Ashikaga City Gallery of Art, Japan
Richard Gorman
Paintings and Paper Works, 2003
Koriyama City Museum of Art Koriyama, Japan
KIN, Richard Gorman at The MAC, Belfast
A film by Judith Du Pasquier
The Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin presents Living through paint(ing), Richard Gorman’s first museum solo show in his hometown.
