Justin Fitzpatrick in conversation with Thomas Conchou

Join us on Friday 8 November at 5pm for an ‘In Conversation’ event where artist Justin Fitzpatrick will discuss his work with Thomas Conchou, Artistic Director of La Ferme du Buisson in France.

Justin Fitzpatrick works with painting, sculpture, text and, most recently, video to explore human consciousness through the prism of biology. He presents us with elaborate and fantastical paintings of mysterious figures and mutating forms; sinewy lines evoke art nouveau detailing, fused with gothic and macabre elements. Much of his work contains figurative elements transformed into static, infrastructural ones: the bodies of men become mechanical, forming spaces to inhabit or transit upon. Highly stylised musculoskeletal structures seem visible through the skin, while ornate, vegetal forms and insects link his subjects to the earth, or point towards the interconnectedness of different species. Fitzpatrick’s work is informed by the science around cellular structures (in particular, mitochondria), metaphysical poetry, mythologies, and an array of archetypal figures, often viewed through a lens of class and sexuality.

Born in 1985 in Dublin, Ireland, Justin Fitzpatrick attended St. Oswald’s School of Painting in London from 2004–2007 and earned his MA in Fine Art Painting from the Royal College of Art in London in 2015. Current and forthcoming exhibitions include Arcanes, Rituels et Chimères, FRAC Corsica (4 July – 19 October) and A Musical Instrument, the artist’s first solo exhibition at Kerlin Gallery (24 October – 23 November). Recent solo exhibitions include Ballotta, La Ferme du Buisson, Paris (2024); Ballotta, Seventeen Gallery, London; Mitochondrial Abba, Margot Samel, New York (both 2023); Alpha Salad, The Tetley, Leeds; Angiosperme Telephone, Sultana Gallery, Paris (both 2022).

Thomas Conchou is curator and director of the Centre d'art contemporain de La Ferme du Buisson, in the Paris region (77). Involved in numerous initiatives to promote art in a social context, he is developing an interdependent and collaborative curatorial practice, notably within the Société des Nouveaux Commanditaires, for which he is a mediator-producer. He also conducts action research into the emancipatory potential of queer artistic practices, and edits The Master's Clock, an editorial platform on the politics of time.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Kerlin Gallery, Anne's Lane, Dublin 2, Ireland