Mark Shields: While Silence Gathers Up Its Shadow

‘WHILE SILENCE GATHERS UP ITS SHADOW’ exhibition emerges from a synthesis of diverse series and artistic modes developed concurrently in recent years. Across various media – drawing, painting, collage, and printmaking – concepts and discoveries intertwine, creating a tapestry where image and process meld.

This recent collection of works oscillates between structured forms and spontaneous gestures, navigating a spectrum from remoteness to intimacy. Figures drawn from obscure folk narratives, radiant objects, and emblematic minimalist panels coexist in an allusive and enigmatic dance, simultaneously referencing the tangible world and asserting their presence as independent entities. Creating contemplative spaces for dialogue

Thematically traversing the abstract and the figurative, Shields' exploration unfolds as a choreography of fresh meanings, rejecting a monolithic approach in favour of continual experimentation. This fervent willingness to evolve remains a defining aspect of his career.

Biography

A painting student at Ulster University in the early 1980's, Shields has been working and exhibiting for forty years. With 10 solo exhibitions in the Grosvenor Gallery, London, as well as significant exhibitions in Belfast, Dublin, Berlin, Cape Town, Hong Kong, Florence and the USA, including a solo exhibition at the prestigious Art Basel art fair in Switzerland, he is also the winner of several art prizes and his work is held in public collections including the Ulster Museum, The National Gallery of Ireland, Trinity College, Dublin and the Palace of Westminster, London

Curated by Feargal O'Malley