'Silk Road to Golden Dawn with Labyrinth Tree Stairway'
Flowerfield Arts Centre Portstewart 7-27 January 2005
Higher Bridges Gallery Enniskillen 4 -25 February 2005
St Patricks Trian Armagh 1-31 March 2005

Click on a thumbnail to see a larger image.

Exhibition Press Release

From China through Samarkand and on to ancient Rome the mystery of the orient shimmers in the splendour of paint on fluttering raw silk. The “ Silk Road Banners” are part of a collection of 25 works first exhibited together in Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam , by Colin McGookin, in June 2004. A psychedelic celebration of colour and narrative, exploring elements found in both the traditions of east and west. The exhibition continues the glorious theme with the “Golden Dawn” suite “where the blue of the night meets the gold of the day” and then “The Labyrinth Tree” which peeps into the mystery of the human condition, drawing upon ciphers and symbols, secular and arcane. The viewer’s imagination is invited to run riotously through a visual feast of form, colour and texture, contained within this gorgeous body of work. Something to brighten up the dark days of winter

Colin McGookin was born and lives in Belfast . He is a prolific painter and has exhibited extensively throughout the world, from Vietnam to Las Vegas ! He also works with youth partnerships and childrens’ creativity workshops and is currently undertaking such a venture in Portrush. Until recently he was artist in residence at Queens University , Belfast , where he completed a fabulous mural programme with the Institute of Byzantine Studies . A founder member of The Artists’ Collective of Northern Ireland Colin is an elected associate member of the Royal Ulster Academy and his work is to be found in prestigious collections both public and private.