Conor Walton's works reveal a deft mastery of technical skill as he takes on classical painting genres to give them a dark twist of modernity. His works at once pay homage to Old Master painting and the humanistic aesthetic, and give a nod to the evolution of painting since that time; viewing the works is a brilliant exercise in reading between the lines.
Walton's most provocative pieces are his 'philosophical' works, which reveal the kind of clear perspective a painter can only attain from being on the edge of things, rather than at their center. That is, the works are executed with a self-referential quality, something Walton knowingly refers to as "a certain unavoidable level of irony and self-consciousness." He adds, however, "the idea of painting a microcosm, a compressed or metaphorical image of the world, complete on its own terms, is what interests me."
Walton was born in Dublin, Ireland, and studied in the National College of Art and Design, from which he graduated in 1993 with a Joint Honors Degree in the History of Art and Fine Art (Painting). He has shown his work in exhibitions and Biennales across Europe and his paintings can be found in many private collections around the British Isles.
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