All welcome to the Fine Art Exhibition by Brian Farrell
Friday 30th May 2025 – 7pm – 9pm
The Exhibition will continue until 19th June 2025
Opening times : Wednesday – Saturday 12- 5pm
About the Exhibition
In this, Farrell’s most recent body of work, he bares his soul on canvas, using bold strokes to reveal his innermost secrets and vulnerabilities through an uncompromising, frenetic brush that reflects a journey through his own mental health marked by anxiety, paranoia, and depression.
Unusually, his images are paired down to their essence; to emphasise the importance of the lines of his chosen vocation, where black and white ignite his internal emotions.
On display on the walls of this gallery are Farrell’s paintings, born from a dark place, lay bare the emotional state of a man struggling to keep a grip, echoing a frantic, doomed existence and moments of feeling utterly alone.
This body of work that is authentic to his own experience of life, often left unfinished like the final pieces of artists who died too soon, hinting at a dangerous proximity to death.
Drawing from the rawness of Käthe Kollwitz and the abstract expressionism of Franz Kline, these works transform terrible circumstances into something more positive and meaningful which offer the viewer a stark, authentic reflection of Farrell’s current emotional reality.
Each painting is very personal, a part of the artist, a constant observation of heads, eyes, and movement, capturing moods and meanings with endless possibilities, where the process itself reinforces the vitality.
About the Artist
Brian Farrell is a Derry painter whose work provokes imagination and interpretation while seeking to capture the aesthetic and the beautiful. He is interested in solitary figures and faces in close up which he captures in great detail, suggesting introspection and the state of being alone.
He often expresses autobiographical emotions in his work. Heavily influenced by the Expressionists and interested in glances and visage, Brian seeks to encapsulate specific moods and emotions with a modern style, a sometimes
dark visual content, and abstract colours.
Themes and ideas about surviving adversity and the everyday angst of being human and alive are evident in the work. Paintings that are a testament to resilience through the process of introspection are key to Brian’s output. His work invisages or masklike forms, sometimes painted with bright and vibrant colours, could be seen to contradict the much darker themes that inspire him. He engages with inner worlds rather than the external and his images express these ideas.
Brian is particularly interested in exhibiting in an artistic setting where his work can
invoke a reaction from viewers and peers on a level much deeper than the surface
image might suggest. He produces work that is crafted to encourage a trigger or a
thought process in someone else’s mind. His artistic goals are visual and constantly
tuned to ideas that will inform and expose his drawings and paintings.
“Brian Farrell is a painter who captures the aesthetic and beauty in images of solitary figures that penetrate surface detail to explore themes of introspection and resilience. Brian has a particular talent for capturing mood and emotion with a modern style, a direct engagement with inner worlds, and an often unexpected use of colour.”
About UV Arts – Garden of reflection Gallery takeover
The project is part of UV Arts community outreach program and continued takeover of the Garden of Reflection Gallery. The partnership between UV Arts and Inner City Trust continues with engaging and inspiring art opportunities and exhibitions for local artists.
“The Urban Art Gallery” hosts a series of workshops and demonstrations, and a School for Street Art, promoting and educating people and places via street art and contemporary mural arts, in addition to having an alternative art store stocking all the tools required to create colossal art and also a podcast studio that can be booked by local creatives and businesses.
UV Arts aims to educate, promote and change perceptions of public spaces via street art, graffiti and contemporary mural arts. Specialising in large scale outdoor murals, advertising and community-driven initiatives, Karl Porter and his team are involved in many creative and collaborative projects across the North West.