Working with Light and Shadow
Brian Ballard was born in Belfast in 1943, he studied at the College of Art Belfast 1961- 1964 and at the Liverpool college of art 1964- 1965. Ballard is a contemporary painter of figurative nudes, landscapes and expressionistic still life. His practice has developed into stylistic representations of subjects through the use of rich colours and bold brushstrokes. He often re-presents multiple renditions of the same subject to evoke changes in time and atmosphere.
View “Two Bottles and Daffodils” within the Collection
Two Bottles and Daffodils by Brian Ballard
Working with light and shadow, Ballard has developed a pallette with highly evocative pigments midnight blue and aqua marine, laying down thick strokes of paint that bring great depth and expression to his canvases.
“His work is emotional, intuitive and expressive, yet firmly portrays the subject before him. Each canvas possesses a strength of intimacy and immediacy that prompts quiet admiration from the viewer. Every individual painting is a timeless chronicle of found objects, the human figure or the natural world. Captured elements are marshalled into an order chosen by the artist and then crystallised to offer a creative impression of a familiar subject. Brian Ballard’s work is marked by purity of expression and fidelity to nature as he witnesses it.”- Marianne O’Kane
His work can be found in many collections including The Arts Council of Ireland, A.I.B., Crawford Municipal Gallery Cork, The Ulster Museum, The National Trust, Waterford Wedgewood PLC and Irish Rock Legends U2.
Education
Liverpool College of Art, Liverpool 1961-64,
Belfast College of Art, Belfast, 1964-65,
Selected Exhibitions
Linenhall Library, Belfast, 2011
Peppercanister, Dublin with Lisa Ballard, 2011
Greenacres, with Lisa Ballard, 2010
Cadogan Contemporary, London, 2010
Greenacres Gallery, Wexford 2009
Peppercanister Gallery, Dublin, 2009
Cadogan Contemporary, London, 2008
Barbara Stanley, London with Lisa Ballard, 2007
Peppercanister Gallery, Dublin, 2007
“Paintings 2000-2005” Gormleys Fine Art, Omagh, 2005
Solomon Gallery, Dublin, 2004
Cadogan Contemporary, London, 2004
Solomon Gallery, Dublin, 2004
Henshelwood Gallery, Newcastle-on-Tyne, 2003
Cadogan Contemporary, London, 2002
New Year 2001, Cadogan Contemporary, London, 2001
C20 – C21, A Painting for the New Century, Cadogan, 2000
One-person Show, Cadogan Contemporary, London, 2000
New Year Exhibition, Cadogan Contemporary, London, 1999
Summer Show, Cadogan Contemporary, London1998,
Solo Exhibition, Cadogan Contemporary, London, 1998
Art Miami, Solomon Gallery, 1998
Adam Gallery, Armagh, 1997
Solomon Gallery, Dublin, 1996
Cadogan Contemporary, London, 1996
Banquet Exhibition, Royal Hibernian, 1996
Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast, 1994
Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, 1994
Cadogan Contemporary, London, 1993
Waterman Fine Art, London, 1992
Mistral Galleries, London, 1990
Images from Ireland, Brussels, 1990
“Salute to Turner”, Thos Agnew & Sons Ltd, London, 1990
Beaux-Arts, Bath , 1989,91
Kerlin Gallery, Dublin , 1988,90,91
Solomon Gallery, London, 1987,88
Main Fine Art, Glasgow, 1986
Grafton Gallery, Dublin, 1986
Listowel International Biennale III, 1982
Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast, 1982
Image Gallery, Dublin, 1980
Art Spectrum, Ulster, 1971
Butlin Foundation for Young Irish Artists, Arts Council Gallery, Belfast, 1967
Collections
Ulster Museum National Trust
Crawford Municipal Gallery, Cork
Ulster TelevisioN
An Comhairle Ealaion/ Arts Council of Ireland
Royal Bank of Scotland
Arts Council of Northern Ireland
Belfast Education & Library Board
Great Southern Hotels
Guiness Peat Aviation
Haverty trust
Waterford Crystal plc
AIB
U2
Jefferson Smurfit Group plc
C.R. Sugar Trading
P.J.Carroll
Conrad International Hotel, Dublin
Irish Intercontinental Bank
Commissions
Design of poster, Arts Council of Northern Ireland in collaboration with poet John Montague, 1973
Awards
Caroll Prize, Irish Exhibition of Living Artists, 1970
Publications
O’Kane Boal, Marianne Brian Ballard – Trinity of Genres, Nicholson and Bass, Belfast, 2005.
Mallie, E. (ed), 100 Years of Irish Art, Nicholson and Bass, 2000, Belfast Finlay, S., The National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland, University of Limerick Press, 1989 Ruane, F., The Allied Irish Bank Collection, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, 1986 Longley, M. (ed), Causeway: The Arts in Ulster, Nicholson and Bass, 1971, Belfast
Represented by
Peppercanister Gallery, Dublin
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