As a child, I used to flick through our gigantic leather-bound bible and pore over the beautiful art work. I loved to watch Daniel grappling with the Lion and stared wondrously at ‘the visit’ from the angel Gabriel. Religious art captured my imagination and depicted for me the workings of Christianity.

After meeting John Dunne, I now realise that religious art is by no means dead and gone. The emergence of new work from John Dunne in his exhibition the ‘Dream of Gerontius’ harks back to the renaissance period.

This exhibition is on view from 1st-11th of November 2007 at the Edith Stein Room at the back of Clarence Street Church. Inspired by the John Henry Newman poem, Dunne takes us on a “journey of an old man from when he dies to when he’s judged.” The pieces are both fantasy and realism and the palette both rich and vibrant.

What perhaps is most interesting about this figurative painter’s work is his use of the canvas. Preferring to paint from a black canvas allows him to work from dark to light. And all his paintings tell a story which is why he is also renowned as a narrative painter. Oil is his medium and the varying brushstrokes give good contrast in terms of both texture and structure.

Dunne gets inspiration mainly from literature and a mere line can spark off a process of work. Indeed, it took four years to put his most recent work together. Although Dunne does not indulge in a lot of preparatory drawings, he does tend to develop his work via story boards.

Dunne is originally from Bath Avenue and started out his career in the Royal Air Force as an electronic engineer. It was in 1960 that his love of art came into fruition when he studied life drawing in Singapore.

Having arrived back in Ireland in 1980, Dunne took up a driving job so he could paint part-time. Now a fulltime artist, he is beginning to enjoy the fruits of his labour.