Martin De Porres Wright - I can feel the tug

Draíocht’s 'Out of the Studio' is a series of artist-led exhibitions, presentations, or happenings which platforms work by local artists. The idea evolved organically and is in direct response to artist’s expressed need to exhibit new work made during lockdown.

For the inaugural 'Out of the Studio', Martin De Porres Wright, a Fingal artist, presents 'I can feel the Tug', new works in painting, drawing, mixed media and sculpture which continues the artist’s investigation into Irish boglands. All of the work exhibited was initiated by Wright during an INCUBATE Artist Studio Residency at Draíocht in 2019/20 and continued through the pandemic.

The title of the exhibition 'I can feel the Tug' is a line from a Seamus Heaney poem entitled Punishment, which together with Heaney works relating to story, mystery and discovery of Boglands, has been the inspiration for De Porres Wright.

Martin De Porres Wright is a Dublin 15 based artist. He attended NCAD where he studied fine art and later graduated from the College of Commerce Rathmines in Art Direction and Design. He is an award winning Art Director and Designer both nationally and internationally and has worked across film, theatre, photography, design and exhibitions.

De Porres Wright is a painter and he also works in mixed media and sculpture. His works develop from found objects and collected materials from within the local landscapes and the natural environment. His current preoccupation is with the history, alchemy, and material properties of bogland.

His work has been shown in a number of exhibitions including: The Lookout Tree, Irish Georgian Society, Dublin 2016; Tumbleweed, Building 98, Marfa, Texas, USA, 2017; West to West, Connemara National Park, 2018; Ireland and Home Again, Summerville, South Carolina, 2019.

'I Can Feel the Tug' is his second solo exhibition with his first being in 2016 in City Assembly House Dublin.

Find more of Martin's work on his website.

Image: Donal Moloney, Photographer

Enjoy a specially commissioned short documentary film on Martin De Porres Wright’s artistic practice and process, made by Joe Lee and Tom Lee.