Self Portrait with a Pet and a Bathtub by Daniel Lipstein - 8 October to 2 November 2025
8 October - 2 November 2025
Solo show:
Self Portrait with a Pet and a Bathtub
Artist: Daniel Lipstein
Official Opening at 6:30pm on Wednesday 8 October 2025,
Olivier Cornet Gallery, 3 Great Denmark Street, Dublin 1.
Olivier Cornet Gallery, 3 Great Denmark Street, Dublin 1.
Guest speaker: Catherine Barron,
artist
The exhibition also features in our 3D virtual space.
The Olivier Cornet Gallery is delighted to present Daniel Lipstein's first solo exhibition with us.
Self Portrait with a Pet and a Bathtub
“Self, pet and a bathtub is a triangle of elements arranged as a composition in this oil on linen painting whose title is also the title of the whole show.
The bathtub is from my locality at the fields around my studio in county Donegal where farmers arrange bathtubs arbitrarily on the landscape for their cows and bulls to drink from. Once an intimate function in a household now these are curious shapes in open spaces resembling alienation and corrosion on their way back to the elements of metal and earth.
Fish in my visual language is an ancient creature that reflects the antiquity of species, the fish as a pet is pulling its owner into the deep water of the prehistorical unknown.
The self of his portrait is located on the top of a ladder or a bike where, in spite of the rapid pace of an advanced evolution, a strong cord through his pet connects him to his deeper portrait in the unknown.
There are many elements in the paintings in this exhibition like written surfaces, levitation, climbing and taking off. These items and motions, which I like to paint, mean a lot to me on a deep level and their presence also motivates me to work, but in the same time I cannot say that I know exactly why they are there.
For example, the painting 'Farewell to a Loved One', an oil on canvas dedicated to my late mother, is a letter to her. Its visual language feels like a completion of a message or a prayer whose nature and exact content I cannot tell, though, as a painting, it means everything to me. Likewise, the painting 'Water' oil on canvas where fish go back to their natural habitat in the ocean while a cat examines water in a bathtub: these painted things and directions merge on a deep level and their presence can be interpreted in many ways, but the composition and my effort to paint it to the best of my ability feel good and this is my main concern as an artist."
Daniel Lipstein
Coverage:
