Rosemary Mahoney

Artist Profile 

     Rosemary Mahoney's work is akin to the Rreeling bustle of a three-ring circus. Her dynamic line and bold swift brushwork captivate the eye, drawing the viewer into a vibrantly human world of action and texture, light and sound.

     Mahoney is a social artists.  People are her theme, and her talent for portraiture is extraordinary.  Each painting is a work of great subtlety, sympathetic to the situation portrayed.  Her striking brushwork slashes and swirls, creating a dynamic image-broad and abstract around the edges, spiraling in to the center of interest.  Even the details have a swiftness of execution about them, suggesting that the paintings were conceived and finished in a totally wet state.

     Mahoney's compositional device, in which the central area unfolds, becoming more vague around the edges, lends a dreamlike and at time a disturbing quality to her work.  The classic technique, coupled with a sprinkling of graffiti, creates her highly individualized style of realism.  Though obviously inspired by the mystery and uniqueness of contemporary life, there is nothing photographic about Mahoney's work.  Here paintings are animated, her accomplishment Rubenesque in scale.  Whether of airport waiting rooms or tourists in Florence, her subject matter is reminiscent of Honore' Daumier-humorous and earthy.

     In essence, Rosemary Mahoney paints confident, sophisticated portrayals of contemporary society.