BERNARD FALLON: Light, Lens & Paint

Online Exhibition – view HERE

For many artists, regardless of genre, their artwork expresses personalized reactions to the world around them that can resonate with universal appeal. Bernard Fallon is such an artist, utilizing his many talents and personal accounts to connect his vision with a further-reaching human experience.

Fallon began reflecting upon his own localized environment in his native Liverpool, not only using his paintbrush and canvas, but also his camera and black-and-white film. Bargemen working at the docks nearby spoke to him of survival in an industrialized seascape. Human interaction with the sea would become a major subject throughout his career.

The artist moved to Southern California where his canvases brightened with the light and color of the Pacific coastline.  Afterwards, he would return to his hometown of Liverpool to paint the seascape of his youth with fresh vision. In his Iron Man paintings, sculptures of the silhouette of a man replaced the black smoke of factories.

Although his new life in California would not be without its struggles, Fallon continued to produce silver-lined visions. Hope was created as his wife battled cancer – a brightly optimistic golden light shines just beyond a cold, closed, heavy oak door. Last year, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Fallon again turned to his unfaltering muse, the sea. Somewhat abstracted depictions of Portuguese Bend confidently assert an attitude of hope through his application of unblended sections of color.  Inspired by the Fauves, this new body of work repeats the seascape in a wide array of vibrant possibilities.

Bernard Fallon is an ever-evolving artist and PVAC is fortunate to have him both as a reflective artist and instructor.

– Aaron Sheppard