Royal Academician Michael Rooney was a passionate painter at an early age, studying at the Royal College of Art and British School in Rome. His work is unusual, mysterious, atmospheric and almost spooky in a way that puts one in mind of the work of a polychrome Charles Addams. For that reason alone, I find it charming.
Michael, known as “Mick” Rooney, says this of his work:
I am a narrative painter who seeks stories to tell, and as such I am ever conscious of the perceived difference between ‘high art’ and illustration. I prefer the word illumination which, rich with the promise of clarity and insight, somehow speaks directly to the soul.
At once startling and exciting, Mick Rooney’s work doesn’t struggle to show an idealized life, but, rather to show the very essence of life. These bug-eyed children, for example, would be quite gruesome if one encountered them on the street, but in their painted form, they do seem like an excellent representation of many of the children I saw writhing around stores this past week. Similarly, the painting “Woman with Fishes”—this is not just a portrait of a woman with fishes, but rather a statement of those clammy, dull moments which we all experience every so often. No, it’s not pretty in a conventional way. But, we often give up traditional beauty for the truth of experience.
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