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Born in Dublin in 1947, Fred McElwee trained and practised as an architect up to retirement in 2012. However first interest always was and still is drawing and painting. Art training took place in NCAD and DLIADT.
His work is to be found in many collections, public and private, worldwide including Irish embassies. Public collections include OPW., IBEC., RTE., Limerick University.
One person shows include Kennys Galway, Molesworth Gallery, Dublin, Cork Arts Society, Bridge Gallery, Dublin, Dyehouse Gallery, Waterford, Dolmen Gallery, Limerick, and others.
Selected open exhibitions have included RHA Annual, Oireactas, Iontas Small works.
Group shows have included Jorgensen Fineart Dublin, Doorway Gallery Dublin, Barbara Stanley Fine Art London, Dillon Gallery London, Dalkey Arts, James Gallery, Art Ireland, Greenacres Wexford, Frank Lewis gallery and many more over the years.
The special aspects of the Irish landscape which have captured Fred’s imagination are the ever-changing light of the seasons, the moods of our inconsistent weather and the interacting invisible force of the wind
The pervasive influence of architect is evident throughout the work and as such he is especially attuned to line and shape, to mass and structure, to the telling detail that is no mere ornament but an integral part of what gives the solid form its sense of permanence within change. The handling of foliage, in particular,combine an almost scientific appreciation for the weight of a branch and the effect of a strong gust of wind. Yet the intense pleasure in light makes it seem almost as if these solid objects are woven out of the light and the prismatic effects of colour.
The painter John Shinnors said at the opening of one of Fred’s exhibitions in Limerick:
“I think it was about eight years ago that I was confronted at the RHA Annual Exhibition, by one particular painting revealing a rich masterly technique, which for me showed that the creator of this impressive work was a natural painter.By a natural painter I mean one who has a natural and inherent ability and talent to take up a brush and colours and ‘get on with it’ as easily as one would butter a slice of bread. It is an enviable talent and we are all very fortunate in having artists like McElwee and it is no surprise that there are so many that admire the unique qualities in this artist.”
While one is always painfully aware that there is only so much you can say about paintings, especially these intensely visual works. In the same way, to number influences , such as Cezanne, Roderick O’Connor, Corot, Wolf Kahn etc., may be interesting but is ultimately peripheral to the image as it confronts us in these paintings.”
The novelist and philosopher Iris Murdoch has defined humility as ‘selfless respect for reality’. It is a description that may be applied to an artist like Fred McElwee. In these works we have the impression of someone sitting down in front of the abundant variety of the natural world and letting it speak – in colour, shape, texture. These things are a language themselves and the landscape artist employs them to say what he or she has to say. Perhaps the only written and spoken words able to complement them are those of the poet, in this case Robert Skelton:
After a time
the land is not
outside you
but a part of where
you deeply breathe
and firmly walk.
The above comments are extracts from various commentaries on Fred’s shows over the years.
