Monday, September 19, 2005

An artist in Wolf's clothing

The quaint village of Enniskerry has had a bit of Hollywood thrust upon it as an exciting exhibition opened in the O'Sullivan Bewick Gallery yesterday.

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Fred Wolf is president and founder of one of Hollywood’s leading animation development and production studios. Multiple awards including an Academy Award, an Academy Award nomination and three Emmys have honored his work.

Within its thirty-five year history, Fred Wolf Films has produced many television series that include, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Zorro and James Bond Jr. Other productions with Fred Wolf at the helm include two Emmy Award-winning television specials, as well as programming for Walt Disney, Warner Brothers, MGM, MTM Productions, CBS, NBC, and ABC.

Mr. Wolf’s art emphasizes compositional challenges in figurative situations. Light source and color choices add to the whimsy in a fantastical, if not surrealistic, manner. Many of his paintings invite the onlooker into a moment of some untold, but familiar story. The collection is comprised of original oils painted from 1994 to the present.
Prior to this period, his time allotted to painting was limited due to film studio commitments. However, years of sketching little thumbnail ideas for future paintings proved to be advantageous in the execution of the final canvases.

The influence of his animated film experience can be found throughout several of the paintings. Consider his early short films where his unique wit and sense of comedic timing are coupled with his sense of brevity; using only what is essential to tell the story.

The exhibition runs from 18th to the 30th of September and is well worth a look should you be in the area.