District 13 Art Fair

International Art Fair – Hôtel Drouot, 9, rue Drouot 75009 Paris, France

12 – 14 January 2024

Opened in 1852, Drouot is a large auction house in Paris consisting of 16 halls hosting 70 independent auction firms, which operate under the umbrella grouping of Drouot. It is the oldest public auction institution in the world and has become the central place to view contemporary art. Picasso, Matisse, Braque, Dali are among great names in art history whose pieces sold under the hammer of the venue’s auctioneers.

For the first time since its opening, Drouot welcomes a fair dedicated to a movement in mutation : Urban art. SO Fine Art Editions are excited to be one of the international galleries exhibiting work there this January, kindly supported by Culture Ireland.

The artists we are showcasing are Niall Cullen, John Fitzsimons, James Kirwan, Mary O’Connor and Shane O’Driscoll.

Niall Cullen is a contemporary visual artist. His works investigates themes of identity, public space, mark making, re-appropriation of data and imagery. His art is informed by his ongoing relationship with, and research based around, subcultures within urban environments.

John Fitzsimons is a Dublin-based painter and printmaker, whose paintings seek to evoke balance and harmony in society while also highlighting our damaging relationship with the environment. Fitzsimons’ careful juxtaposition of curvilinear and linear shapes on a flat ground interrogates the space between form and boundary. He uses the infinite possibilities of colour, line and shape to explore the endlessness and expansiveness of time. Devised in electric colour palettes, the works vary from rhythmic and modular, to pulsating with a newfound sense of dynamism. The paint itself is applied in thin layers, minimising the artist’s hand, and creating a smoother, more hard-edged spirit.

James Kirwan works both as a street artist and a studio painter and has painted many murals in Ireland and abroad. He wishes to create a particular concept and then to adapt that concept to a specific surface and surroundings. His urban art mirrors his studio paintings in that they are painted in bold colours with a mix of playful abstract forms and references to the natural world and landscapes.
In 2020 James brought his art even more directly to people – he planted several small artworks across the city, painted on wood recycled from a friend’s skip and using wood washed up from Dublin’s beaches as frames. He invited anyone who stumbled across the pieces to keep the unique and original piece of art.

Mary O’Connor is a multidisciplinary artist who makes paintings, screen prints and large-scale wall murals using bold abstract geometric designs and a strong colour pallet. Her works incorporate shape, space, colour and gestural mark making that emerge as non-representational abstract compositions. Mary recently participated in ‘Block Party’ a full day of live painting by 20 of Ireland’s leading Street artists.

Shane O’Driscoll is a visual artist from Cork City and is a printmaker and street artist. His work is dynamic and includes geometric and textured elements against a flat background creating an element of tension across the composition. His large scale murals explore the interaction between colour, shape and environment. He is one of the directors of Ardú Street Art Project which has brought a number of large scale murals to Cork City in recent years. He has also participated in the Annual International Waterford Walls Street Art Festival.

See here for all the galleries represented at District 13 Art Fair January 2024.

Works are also available from our ONLINE SHOP
Click on the thumbnails below to see full image of the works.