Kilkenny artist prepares to hold major exhibition of his work

For the first time in years, renowned Kilkenny artist Daithí Holohan will showcase his art at an upcoming public exhibition in the city.

Daithí always had an eye for creativity and in his early teenage years he was taken on as an apprentice goldsmith by Rudolf Heltzel. After a year, he packed his bags and headed to the Aran Islands to learn Irish.

Daithí switched schools from the CBS to Kilkenny Vocational School when he arrived back in Kilkenny and immediately took to subjects such as technical drawing and metalwork.

His portfolio was so impressive that it bagged him a scholarship and he went on to study Fine Art in the National College of Art and Design (NCAD).

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It was in London, whilst staying in a grotty squat in upmarket Maidavail, that Daithí had his first major mental breakdown.

The experience totally changed Daithí’s life and work, with ensuing admissions, voluntary and involuntary to psychiatric hospitals including in Mountjoy Prison and the so-called ‘Criminal Lunatic Asylum’ in Dundrum.

These experiences in institutions would shape a great core of Daithí’s work throughout life, and he often drew portraits of fellow patients to wile away the hours.

Thankfully, his stints getting treatment did not stop him from exhibiting his work when he was back on the outside. He gleefully exhibited in countless exhibitions in Kilkenny and in locations across the country throughout the 80s and early 1990s.

Over the ensuing years, Daithí’s art style shifted from predominantly fine line detail portraits to loose interpretations of city and landscape.

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His recent work reflects an appreciation of his new surroundings, positive mental health, nature, wildlife and Republicanism.

“By not following any particular medium or style, I try to retain a vibrancy and freshness in my approach to each new piece,” Daithí explains.

Daithí has produced art in times of suffering that can only be achieved through intense moments of perceptual clarity. Has he suffered for it? Perhaps. Has he lived for it? Without doubt.

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His new exhibition will run in Saint Canice’s Neighbourhood Hall from December 8-22.