Local artist, Joe Gregory, holds solo exhibition in Strule Arts Centre, Omagh

Local artist, Joe Gregory, opened his solo exhibition ‘History Again’ in the Strule Arts Centre, Omagh on Thursday 4 January 2024.

The exhibition has a deep-rooted thematic link to the work he produced while at university in the evolving and everchanging cityscape of Liverpool through the 1980s and 1990s.  Joe studied the hidden and ignored spaces revealed as the city gradually regenerated, exploring the theme through painting, ceramics and printmaking.

Over 30 years later, ‘History Again’, revisits the abandoned and overlooked, where the lives of history are stamped on the structures that were once inhabited and loved.

Now, Joe works almost exclusively with oil paint on canvas or wooden board, using textured media and abstracted compositions in search of that beauty, subtlety and history which is often ignored and concealed.

There are no landscapes or figures embedded in these works though much of the iconography of them can be gleaned by the individual viewer.

Though produced mainly through 2022-23, the works have a deliberate look of being aged and eroded by time. The elements and colours are muted and restrained with an intentional reference to the past and its tenuous hold on the present.

Speaking about his inspiration for this exhibition, Joe said:

“Many years ago in Liverpool, I discovered the empty, the forgotten and the abandoned including homes and factories, where lives had passed, and memories were made. In every derelict, there are colours and forms, textures and echoes which speak not only of themselves but of those who went before. This is my ongoing exposition of that history and of those stories. Every building must have its own soul.”

Speaking at the launch of the exhibition, Vice Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Councillor Anne Marie Donnelly said; “Through his work in various media, Joe has shown that empty space has a history which is depicted through colours, textures, forms and echoes.

His exhibition ‘History Again’ is important as it shows the importance of our history and the need to cherish and preserve it.

Fermanagh and Omagh District Council is committed to promoting the arts and ensuring it is accessible to all.  By creating opportunities for local artists such as Joe to exhibit their work in local arts venues.”

The artworks featured in the exhibition are available for sale and can be purchased through the Strule Arts Centre, further supporting local artists and the arts sector.

The exhibition will be open until Saturday 27 January 2024 from 9.30 am – 5 pm, Monday – Saturday. Admission to the exhibition is free.

For more information on the exhibition, or Strule Arts Centre’s programme of events visit www.struleartscentre.co.uk, telephone 028 8224 7831 or email: strulearts@fermanaghomagh.com.