Irish Ambassador opens joint exhibition

Ambassador Nicholas Twist performed the official opening at Apocalypse Gallery of Synthesis, the joint exhibition by Valerie Brennan and Chiaki Kamakawa, pictured here with the Ambassador. The exhibition runs until 24 February 2016.

Ambassador's Welcoming Remarks:

Synthesizer – Valerie Brennan & Chiaki Kamikawa
Apocalypse Gallery, Nicosia, 12 February 2016

It is a great pleasure to welcome you all to the official opening of this joint exhibition by Valerie and Chiaki.

Their joint title is Synthesizer, inspired by a quotation from Samuel Beckett, to the effect that whereas Joyce was a synthesizer, trying to include as much as he could, he himself, Beckett, was an analyser, inclined to minimalism. Certainly, anyone who has experienced Waiting for Godot, with its bare, windswept landscape will know what Beckett meant. It is not surprising that one of the recurring acronyms in Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, is HCE, which inter alia stands for Here Comes Everybody. One commentary on Joyce’s novel is called The Guests at the Wake, so numerous were they.

One of my favourite moments in Godot is when one of the two tramps, Gogo and Didi (Estragon and Vladimir), turns to leave the scene but recoils in horror as his direction is towards the audience. Happily, we are not in his predicament this evening.

Valerie’s paintings are so densely populated that it will take several visits to become familiar with their depth and richness. These are vibrant, colourful images, scarcely typical of what one might expect from an Irish artist. They reflect her experience of living in sunnier climes, in different countries and continents. In that sense, they could be said to synthesize her encounters with other cultures. Painting, like music, transcends the language barrier.

Walking in the door tonight, one could be forgiven for initially thinking that Valerie was channelling Jackson Pollock, so rich is her colour palette. Indeed, Pollock said that “The painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through.” This is surely what Valerie is doing – letting the spirit within articulate itself on the canvas, giving intuition full rein. However, on closer inspection, we can see that there is more art, and artifice, in these paintings.
Both Valerie and Chiaki bring considerable technical expertise to bear in their work, as we can see here tonight. They have spent several decades mastering their craft, in order to give full expression to their art.

Chiaki has travelled a long way from Japan, spending time in the Netherlands, in particular, but with her work finding a permanent home in several other countries as well. Valerie has spent time in Mexico, and one can sense the vivacity of this stimulating ambience in her work.

So, in a sense, each artist has synthesized their own life experience, rather than create any synthesis between them. Nonetheless, it is useful for us to be able to gaze on the work assembled here in Apocalypse Gallery. The paintings resonate with each other and bring latent elements into higher relief. It is appropriate that Paphos will be a European Cultural Capital next year, when it can host two such creative and inspiring artists.

To return, by a commodius vicus of recirculation, to Samuel Beckett. One of his more famous, or notorious plays was Breath. One could say, we are left breathless by the works on display. My final remark is that this is not wall candy. We must reciprocate the work and creativity of the artists by engaging with their work, by returning time and again to immerse ourselves in the paintings. We will be richly rewarded.

I am pleased to declare this joint exhibition by Valerie Brennan and Chiaki Kamikawa officially open. Apoláfste tis dimiourgiés tous!

Nicholas Twist
Ambassador of Ireland