While most of Oliver Curran's paintings are of a serious nature, some contain that which is in all us Irish, a lilt of wit and humor. His pallet contains a mixture of things; in his own words, 'tea, tears and ash,' along with a medium acrylic oil. Born in 1949 in post war Ireland Oliver Curran lives in Newry, Co. Down, a place once described by Jonathan Swift thus, 'High church, low steeple, dirty streets and proud people.'

Growing up in Newry, Oliver missed school on a regular basis and was ejected from art class aged 11, he only started painting seriously 4 years ago after a fire left him penniless and somewhat depressed. Entirely self taught, Oliver studies Van Gogh, Roderic O Coner and Jean-Francois Millet. One of the highlights of his short career to date was seeing one of his pictures listed in the sales catalogue as lot #1 in Whites Auction Room in Dublin alongside big names like the aforementioned O Coner.

In the past Oliver Curran was, among other things, a tin miner, a columnist for Local paper, (a weekly feature on antiques and collectables), considered an architectural consultant and an environmentalist. He has literally been a butcher, a baker and candle stick maker, oh and an Irish Peninsular Furniture restorer/dealer!

A person with a disdain for the landlord and bulldozer alike, a great deal of Oliver's work has captured the terrible years of An Gorta Mor. "It's amazing but good that there's so much interest in our Famine and past history, people will not be allowed to forget it with the likes of me around. My pictures of eviction, and emigration show the horrors inflicted on our ancestors by the landlords and their helpers, amazement is expressed at some of my pictures where I depict the dead and farmer's being beaten with rifle butts by the Blade and Tans. I paint nothing that wasn't true, and in some cases is still true."

Oliver had his first solo exhibition outside Ireland last fall when he visited New York and displayed 30 pieces at Fitzpatrick's Manhattan that related to the famine, evictions and peninsular furniture of Ireland. Recent Invitations to exhibit have included Italy, Galway, London, Colorado, Cork, Florida and Scotland.

Oliver paints his figures with vivid colors and says he dresses the Irish bright and cheerful as they always are or would be given a standing chance, and he states.'"Throughout the world most pictures showed our famine people as drab beggars, the best part of these images coming out of England. I feel I have to change peoples view of them, we were always a proud people no matter what we possessed. In those days they were allowed to own nothing, they were forced in a lot of villages to eat sea weed mixed, if they were lucky with yellow Indian meal, how would they be dressed in anything but ragged thrown out potato sack and flour bags. Unfortunately the landlord is still here in a lot of respects, but like in the ruins of the cottages where the trees grow from the hearts so shall they grow from the Castles. My pictures tell the stories of Ireland."

In terms of where his undoubted talent will take him in the future Oliver explains. "As my art advances it is getting more complex and in some ways a little abstract.

These new and in a lot of ways political pictures are I feel attracang a growing interest in my art. In a newsletter recently I was referred to as being somewhat like Marc Chagall, an artist I had never heard of. Now that I've seen his work I wish I could agree. One day I may reach the same status.

A family man, Oliver has 5 children, 2 girls and 3 boys.

Irish Connections Magazine will be closely following the work and and exhibitions of Oliver Curran in upcoming editions.