09/07/2026
Engage Art Studios is delighted to present, As It Darkens,a solo exhibition by James Wellwood, as part of Galway International Arts Festival ‘26 curated by Mark O’Gorman, inaugural curator and producer of visual art at The Complex, Dublin. The exhibition is accompanied by a text from Irish artist Laura Fitzgerald , an artist who creates woven narratives of personal and political reflection in video, drawing, and text, often referencing the artist’s own rural background.
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James Wellwood’s painting practice approaches each body of work as a site-responsive, project-based visual diary, grounded in an engagement with places of personal significance. Landscapes and environments that carry emotional weight or formative influence form the basis for exploring themes of nostalgia, memory, isolation, and spatial perception, considering how a place is experienced both physically and psychologically.
James Wellwood (b. 1999) is a Kilkenny-based artist. He graduated with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art (Painting) from Limerick School of Art and Design in 2024. Wellwood’s work documents everyday experiences and immediate surroundings, often transcribed from photographs taken on his phone. These images capture quiet, intimate moments that might otherwise go unnoticed. Through painting, these encounters are slowed down and reconsidered, allowing personal narratives to emerge within each composition.
Wellwood has exhibited nationally and internationally, including at The Hunt Museum and Ormston House, Limerick; Outset Gallery, Galway; GOMA, Waterford; and iP12 House, Chania, Crete.
✨Artist James Wellwood
✨Curated by
✨Exhibition text by
✨Facilitated by Vicky Smith and Tadhg Ó Cuirrín
Image: Red Sky at Night , 2024, Oil on Canvas, 30x25cm
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💥Launching Sunday 12th July at 12pm 🥂🍾
💥 15-26th July open Wednesday - Saturday 11am-4pm. Closed Sunday, Monday & Tuesday
💥Exhibitions Events: James Wellwood in conversation with Laura Fitzgerald Thursday 16th July at 2pm.
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Paint, Sketch, Walk. Summer Art School 11-14 year olds Starts Monday 13th to Friday 17th July. Follow the link in our bio for more info.
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