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Construction with the paint and collage material #discourse #process #painting #contempora
Ronan Bowes is an Irish contemporary painter living and working in Northern Ireland. Attending John Moores School of Art (Liverpool, UK) obtaining a First Class BA Fine Art in 2008, later attending Northumbria University (Newcastle, UK) 2010 were he completed a Post Graduate Certificate in Art Education.
 
Bowes' current work is an amalgamation of constructed, deconstructed and reconstructed studio materials; pigments, canvas, aluminium, steel, wood, paper and various construction materials are experimented with to create painted 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional handmade forms that fluctuate between small objects, drawings and paintings to full interior space installations.
 
The life, death and rebirth of his studio materials are core thoughts during the process, acting as a symbolic resource where autobiographical elements, considerations about society and Art history find expression.
 
'Decompression:
A Retrospective of Works on Paper'  was a recent  solo show of his work through Gallery 545 (Belfast, UK) in May 2022.
 
Bowes received a Merit Grant and Community Service Award from the Vermont Studio Center, (VT, USA) 2020; a selected artist for Hang Tough Contemporary Gallery's Open Call in 2021 (Dublin, Ireland).

 
Other recent exhibition selections include; Gorey School of Art Annual Open Call: Peripheries (Wexford, Ireland) 2019, multiple group shows focusing on Contemporary Art in Northern Ireland through Gallery 545 (Belfast, UK) 2018-2022, Delphian Gallery, (London, UK) 2019, Boyle Arts Festival (Roscommon, Ireland) 2018, El Triunfo (New York, USA) 2017, Standard Projects & YoungSpace (Wisconsin, USA) 2017 and Aqua Art Fair (Miami, USA) 2016 to name a few.

Selected for residencies at Vermont Studio Center (Vermont, USA) 2020, Lodestar Art School (Co.Limerick, Ireland) 2019, White Elephant Arts (Melbourne, AU) 2012/13; and in 2010 participating as an art educator and resident artist at St. Joesph Swan High School (Northumbria, UK).
 
Curator of exhibitions at Aside Bside Gallery (London, UK) 2015, White Elephant Arts (Melbourne, AU) 2012 and John Moores University (Liverpool, UK) 2005-8.
 
Bowes has taught his subject through public schools in Ireland, England and most recently the Alternative High School System in New York, USA where he educated students with special needs and challenging backgrounds.
 
Whilst in New York he was a selected artist with NYC Crit club in the Spring of 2018 and from a previous studio at Rockland Arts Centre Bowes held workshops for the advancement of his students studies as well as studying himself to obtain New York State Teacher Certification.
 
Bowes was commissioned to create work for the Liverpool Biennial (Liverpool, UK) 2008, his work can be found in Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust public collection and private collections internationally.

Publications of his work are included in Art Maze Magazine 2018 as well as field related online platforms such as Structure and Imagery by artist, curator and writer Paul Behnke.
 
A Freelands Foundation (UK) grant recipient 2020.
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