Paul McCloskey was born in Carrickmacross Co. Monaghan, Ireland. For the past 16 years Paul has been living and working in Gorey Co. Wexford. Paul attended the National College of Art and Design (N.C.A.D) Dublin from 1981 and graduated with honours in 1986. He is a permanent teacher of art, craft and design at Gorey Community School and he has been involved in art and design education for the past 19 years.

He has exhibited widely throughout Ireland and internationally with great success. He has been short listed on a number of occasions to represent Wexford both at home and abroad. He has travelled and worked throughout Europe and Australia.

Paul has won an award for his painting from the Wexford Arts Centre, sponsored by the Lions Club Wexford, as well as having his work very favourably reviewed by the Arts and Crafts Council of Ireland.  Paul has worked with mixed media (Watercolour, ink and tempera) but more recently with oils. He likes the freedom of choosing any one or combinations of media.
His aim is to highlight the aesthetic value of ordinary everyday subjects and to encourage the viewer to see afresh-everyday subjects of their environment. Paul is a figurative expressionist painter with a distinctive style. Colour plays a very important role in his paintings, drawing the viewer into key areas of the painting.

Paul believes the artist should stimulate and challenge the viewer to look and look again and to gain a sense of feeling or reality when viewing art. It seems pointless to him to have a language visual or otherwise in which nobody can understand or which is so personal to the artist that it is beyond another interpretation. He feels Painting as a visual medium should be visual and not require catalogues of text in order to be appreciated. "The majority of people are relatively visually literate and if they trust their own instincts about what they are viewing they will find themselves quite capable of judging painting" he says. He feels that an artist must remain true to him/herself and not just follow the fleeting fashions in the visual arts in order to be in vogue, as this further isolates the viewer, which encourages pretentiousness, which is often associated with the arts. He welcomes the challenge of all subject matter that takes his interest, from portraits to landscape.

   His latest series of paintings Called "awakening"  (oil on canvas/board) attempt to again highlight the familiar, the places and things we see every day, to see with fresh eyes the beauty that's all around us and to awaken, refresh and enlighten us to the fact that everything we need to know is already inside and all around us.
   
Paul has work in the following collections;

· Norma Smurfit Collection (Davis Gallery Dublin)
· Irish Bank of Commerce Dublin
· RTE Design Studios Dublin
· Kavanagh Heritage Centre Monaghan
· Connemara design centre
· Education centre Dublin
· "Comhairle Bhaile Cheanntair" (Public works) Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan    
· John Wilson T.D.
. Monaghan VEC.
· As well as many private collections throughout the country.

Paul is currently represented in New York by the Montserrat Gallery of Contemporary Art.

  Most recent selected Exhibitions:
   
   ·    1994 - "Lough Derg" (Kavanagh heritage centre Monaghan) Permanent collection.
   ·    1994 - "Monaghan Artists" (Carrickmacross Co. Monaghan)
   ·    1995 - "Art with a view" (Wexford Co. Council public works. A short listed exhibition of six artists)
   ·    1995 - "Wexford showcase" (Arts centre Wexford)    
   ·    1995 - "Christmas show" (2 man show)(Woodland arts and crafts gallery Gorey)
   ·    1996 - "Opera festival show" - Solo Exhibition-(Sponsored by Guinness Ireland and The Arts council Ireland)
   ·    1997 -  “Group show” (Watch house Gallery Enniscorthy)
   ·    1997 - "Lions Club" (Arts Centre Wexford)    
   ·    1998 - "Award winners exhibition" (Wexford arts centre, sponsored by Lions club.)
   ·    1999 - "Gorey Summer Fair" (Solo Exhibition)    
   ·    2000 - "CELTIC CONNECTIONS" - (The Arts Council Ireland.) (A Welsh/ Irish exchange exhibition of four short listed artists) Fishguard Wales.
   ·    2000 - "Lions Club exhibition" (Wexford arts centre)
   ·    2000 - "Comhairle Bhaile Cheanntair" (solo show)(Public works) Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan.
   ·    2001 - "Scenes before the eye" Agora Gallery (2 man show) Manhattan New York.
   ·    2001 - "Group Show"  - Taylor Gallery Belfast..
   ·    2001 - "Wexford Opera Festival" - Wexford Arts Centre (Invited Artist).
   ·    2002 - "Eigse - Carlow arts festival" - Open selection.
   ·    2003 - "East meets West" Invited artists Carrickmacross Co. Monaghan.
   ·    2004 - "Group show - invited artist - Ashdown Hotel, Gorey, Co. Wexford.
   ·    2004 - "Eigse - Carlow arts festival - open selection.
   ·    2005 - "Wexford showcase - Arts Centre Wexford.    
   ·    2005 - “Summer show” - Kennedy Gallery Dublin
   ·    2005 - “Summer group show” - OS/B Gallery Enniskerry
   .    2005 - " Christmas Show" - OS/B Gallery Enniskerry    
   .    2006 - " Summer group show - Clifden art gallery Galway
   .    2006 - "Awakening" - Art upstairs Gallery - Wexford festival opera - Solo Show.
   .    2006 - '07 -   Salon Exhibition - Montserrat Gallery of Contempoary Art - New York.

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