Jim McKee celebrates the west of Ireland with his latest exhibition – ‘A Week in the West’ – at the Kenny Gallery until 5 July, 2022.
The exhibition forms part of the 55th Annual Exhibitions schedule offered since the first Kenny Gallery opened in Salthill in 1968. It was their first standalone gallery space, and the first in the west of Ireland. The gallery also hosts readings and events at their bookshop.
Jim McKee is an internationally acclaimed self-taught artist who is fearless with paint. For
many years, the Burren was his actual and spiritual home. He finds inspiration all around
him… in a cluster of wildflowers, the bend of a lane, a corner of the bog, a tractor in a
field, and the colours of nature. “My journey goes from enjoying success as an artist to the despair of the recession, to being evicted from my home after 10 years and then an unexpected return to my home county of Tyrone with a new love and a new baby,” he says.
Jim continues to be deeply inspired by the Burren and the west of Ireland and is greatly
admired for his interpretations of that landscape and its people. This new exhibition “A Week in
the West” is a coming home of sorts, and a return to form in a wonderful celebration in paint of
the west of Ireland, its life, landscape and people.
The exhibition is dedicated to Jim’s dear friend Mary Keogh (RIP), and continues Monday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm until 5 July.