Satan, Sin and Death, 2022

Oil on canvas

210 x 180 cm 

Lifted off into the night, 2023

Oil and collage on canvas

210 x 180 cm

ARTWORK STATEMENT

Satan, Sin and Death is an allegorical battle scene, Sin caught between Satan and Death. The battle unfolds in a red, barren, hilly landscape where both the sky and water are purple. The moon looks on in anguish, possibly calling for an end of the violence. The battle is universal and speaks to morality, both past and present, our eternal conflict of doing right by ourselves and others.

Lifted off into the night, is allegorical in equal measure, but steps toward our present reality, being situated in or alluding to an actual place, Charlton, South East London. A self portrait of sorts, still in bed, I am unknowingly taken into the night by a winged demon. It could be read as a journey to the underworld, or another life/world. I am not altogether interested in how it is interpreted, as a painting, it is an event, a tangible happening unfolding, knowingly or unknowingly, heading out into the world, leaving behind the comfort of home.

BIOGRAPHY

Mark Connolly (b. Ballymena, UK), is a London-based artist who completed the The Drawing Year at The Royal Drawing School London in 2017, after studying at Edinburgh College of Art and Sint Lucas Beelende Kunst Gent.  Recent and upcoming exhibitions include, ‘seconds from the end’, a solo presentation at Simchowitz, Los Angeles, July 2023, ‘an act of god’, a solo presentation at James Freeman, London, January 2023, ‘Chronicles 5’, a group show at Galerie Droste, Berlin, September 2022, ‘Don’t Drink The Rain’, a group show at Galerie Wolfsen, Aalborg, March 2022 and ‘LIMBO’, a group show at Everyday Gallery, Antwerp, September 2020.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

1 – No Poverty

2 – Zero Hunger

11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities
15 – Life on Land