Imagery extracted primarily from the topography of West Kerry, where Naessens lives and works, and embellished with memory, dreams and invention, are the bedrock of his pictures. In many works, a figure – often an artist, occasionally a philosopher – appears, inviting us to share their outlook and ideology. Developing his own brand of Irish Romanticism, originating from the ideas of Edmund Burke, he enquires into our emotional connection with the world. With colour and motif, he endeavours to portray his world in fantastic compositions, each one an episode of the greater narrative of the show.
Favouring the sublime over the picturesque, this series modestly proposes several meanings. The isolation of the artist in a remote place is central to his work, but satellite themes around geology, time, environment, philosophy and physics are tacitly suggested. Naessens prefers a cropped intimate prospect of the landscape, using exaggerated perspective and parallax to intensify the experience and to draw the viewer in. In many works, interference, literal or abstract, both obscure and reveal content. There are many complex details revealed on scrutiny in these rich and considered landscapes. This body of work is both a continuation and an advance on themes and approaches he has been developing steadily over a long career. Applying variety in approach, Naessens fastidiously takes each work to its own individual conclusion.
Artist bio:
Niall Naessens. Born Dublin 1961; living and working in West Kerry for more than twenty years. Graduated from the National College of Art and Design in 1983 (BA) and 2013 (MFA). A master printmaker, he has a long history with the Graphic Studio Dublin, where he was director 1985-90. Although principally an etcher, he also makes drawings, paintings and digital works, all commenting on aspects of landscape.
He has had 26 solo shows In Ireland and abroad, including Good Morning Mister Turner at the National Gallery of Ireland, a response to their J.M.W. Turner Watercolours in 2018. In 2020 he was elected a member the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers in London and shows work in their Bankside Gallery in London.
Image: 01. Niall Naessens, Hound and Near Gale Winds, 2025, Image courtesy of the artist.
02. Niall Naessens, Masatiompan and Brandon Ridge, 2025, Image courtesy of the artist.
03. Niall Naessens, Mister Burke and His Hound, 2025, Image courtesy of the artist.
