(Above) INHAUS AS SEEN FROM ROBERT EMMET BRIDGE, www.oisinbyrne.comINHAUS is a large scale drawing by artist Oisin Byrne which was specifically created for display in the windows of the Portobello Wharf apartment building at Robert Emmet Bridge on the banks of The Grand Canal. The drawing points outwards and is optimally viewed as a pedestrian or motorist. At night time high powered theatre spots inside the building illuminate the drawing through the paper creating a vast light box effect. Oisin Byrne succeeds in bringing art into the street without the usual embarrassing community art clichés. In fact the work looks like a vast salon painting hanging in the streetscape and puts one to wondering why we don’t hang beautiful things everywhere.
The assembled drawings, rendered in black ink describe an atmospheric, stately interior with carved heads on columns and portraits mounted on the walls. The carved heads almost exclusively depict youthful, idealized male visages. Byrne was recently on retreat in Norway and Scandinavian folk influences are evident. Other words that come to mind include; banqueting hall, Masonic lodge, log cabin and art nouveau. Meanwhile, highly arousing was the fish scale pattern that masterfully excites the brick work on the building exterior. A skilfully drafted vaulted ceiling strongly provokes a sense of Trompe-l'œil which is critical to the success of the artwork.
Byrnes current work plays with the idea of artworks as props and stage sets designs for a visually and spiritually enhanced reality. The work is idealistic in it’s unashamed commitment to beauty and the artist‘s idiosyncratic world view. Though Oisin Byrne is primarily a painter, in recent years a strong relational and sculptural tendency has emerged. Inhaus can be viewed from Robert Emmet Bridge until September 13th.
Gary Farrelly, Dublin
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