Taylor Galleries is pleased to present Love, Life and Launch, an exhibition of work by Pauline Bewick that runs at the gallery from 5 to 26 September 2015. Held on the occasion of the artist's 80th birthday, the exhibition also coincides with the publication of Bewick's autobiography, 80, by Arlen House.
The exhibition features a variety of recent work including paintings, drawings, textiles, sculpture and collage. One of the central themes of the show is the unknowability of people to each other, even those in close romantic relationships. There is always a difficulty in understanding someone with whom we have fallen in love, and much of this new work is inspired by Bewick's readings of the French folktale Bluebeard, the story of a nobleman who stored the bodies of his murdered wives in a locked room. Her work describes the world she sees around her, with studies of landscapes, animals and plant life featuring strongly. She often portrays women as voluptuous nudes who face nature's predators with dignity and pride and frequently incorporates natural materials in her work, using eggshells, feathers and slate chippings to add texture and colour.
Born in 1935, Pauline Bewick spent her early years leading a nomadic life travelling through England and Ireland with her mother and sister before finally settling in Dublin. Self-taught as an artist, she returned to Kerry with her husband and daughters in 1974, settling in Glenbeigh, where she still lives and works. Bewick has written and illustrated many books and is an elected member of the Royal Hibernian Academy and Aosdána. She has exhibited widely throughout Europe and has been associated with Taylor Galleries since she began showing with the gallery's predecessor, Leo Smith's Dawson Gallery, in 1965. Pauline Bewick's work is represented in innumerable private collections in Ireland and abroad and features in the public collections of The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, RTÉ, Bank of Ireland, OPW / State Art Collection, AIB, and Áras an Uachtarán, amongst others.