Musicians

Fiddler, Horse and Wrenboys

Masks, musicians and Irish folklore permeate this new collection from Dara Vallely. With works inspired by legends of Irish Traditional music, from Joe Burke to Mick Moloney, Sharon Shannon to John Doherty, as well as the fusion of musician and mask as seen in the Irish Mummers, Rhymers and Wrenboys, New Orleans Mardi Gras and Italian Commedia Del’Arte.

As a musician, performer and artist himself, Vallely’s work often explores how these artforms intertwine to create multi-sensory explorations of heritage, culture and tradition.

A recurring theme in this collection is Vallely’s use of colour. The canvas pulses with intense, swirling hues, vibrant oranges, deep blues, fiery reds and golden yellows. These bold tones represent not just the sound of the instrument, but the very rhythm of the music. Each stroke of the brush seems to capture the frenetic energy of jigs, reels, and hornpipes, racing around the musician’s head and connecting them to the larger world of Irish traditional music. The hot and intense colours saturating the canvas speak to the feverish pace of the session. The intensity of the colours mirrors the intensity of the music itself; fast-paced, and full of life.

This collection serves as a visual encapsulation of Irish heritage, capturing both the music and the mythology that define it. The energetic interplay of the music with the shadowy presence of mythical horses, masked performers and the Wrenboys in their ritualistic roles suggests that these elements are not separate but are instead threads in a single, powerful narrative. Through this collection, Vallely offers a reflection on the enduring power of Irish tradition, where music, myth, and community continue to feed one another in a never-ending cycle of renewal.