VIbes - Dick Donaghue
15th January 2015 - 26th February 2016

There are three main influences in this exhibition of abstract watercolours. The first is the word itself, which became a buzzword in the sixties when I was growing up. It became synonymous with how a place or event felt: the vibration of it. And there were of course "good vibes" and "bad vibes". The hit song by the Beach Boys "Good Vibrations" put the stamp on it.
 
The second influence comes from science: that everything is in vibration: Sound, Vision, Touch, and Light, even thoughts; the whole universe in vibration, the "music" of the spheres, Music and how its vibrations can influence our moods and move us emotionally. 
 
Thirdly and most importantly for me is the vibrations of colour. Mondrian's painting of the apple tree which over a series of deconstructions, comes to the essence of the tree, or simply the underlying vibrations. In his later works, and especially "BroadwayBoogie Woogie", he depicts the excitement of Manhattan clearly.
 
I have always been fascinated by watercolour ever since I received my first paint box.  Its translucent colours; its liquidity and ability to merge like no other medium, the excitement of its transparency and the immediacy and simplicity of its application. It is a lifetime study that can delight and excite and in abstraction can open our imaginations to interpretation in any way we desire.

Dick Donaghue.  Jan 2016.