Michael Canning has developed an idiosyncratic visual language driven by a commitment to his pictorial research. Interestingly, Canning was originally trained as a sculptor before turning his attention to painting. His distinct juxtaposition of planes, particularly between foreground and background, is certainly the result of an approach to image-making motivated by spatial concerns. The plants and flowers he depicts are varieties found during walks in County Limerick where the Irish artist resides. Canning holds up the flowers, rotating them between his fingers so they are always showing their most attractive side as he paints their every appendage. Canning’s work is frequently considered as records of botany. In fact, the artist has little interest in the specimens he paints. He pursues a visual dynamism that can only be achieved by the combination of colours, shapes and planes. His subjects are thus simple tools in his relentless quest towards compositional vitality. One might even say that Canning’s work is musical, not only because of the rhythmic juxtaposition of words used for his evocative titles, but also because of quiet dynamism of his botanical figures, which all appear to be captured amidst a gleeful dance.
Michael Canning wurde 1971 in Limerick, Irland, geboren. Er studierte zunächst an der School of Art & Design und anschließend an der School of Fine Arts in Athen, Griechenland. Seine künstlerische Ausbildung schloss er 1999 mit seinem Masterabschluss in Bildender Kunst am National College of Art & Design in Dublin ab. Im Jahr 2003 wurde der Künstler mit dem renommierten Hennessy-Craig-Preis der Royal Academy ausgezeichnet. Michael Canning ist Dozent am Fachbereich Bildende Kunst der Limerick School of Art & Design, LIT, und hat in den Studiengängen Bildhauerei und kombinierte Medien sowie Malerei unterrichtet. Er lebt und arbeitet in Limerick, Irland.