Artist and Flag President, Mo Enright.

 

Meet Mo Enright

Many members of Friends of Leamington Art Gallery will already know Mo Enright as our President, but they may not know the remarkable artistic career that lies behind her long-standing support for the arts in Leamington.

Born and raised in the Hambleton Hills of North Yorkshire, Mo studied Fine Art before completing a Master's degree in the History of Art and Design. She is now a full-time professional artist working from her Warwickshire studio.

Mo's paintings are best known for their evocative use of memory, landscape and the passage of time. Working primarily in oils, she creates richly layered works that draw on personal experience as well as the environments that surround her. For commissioned projects, she carefully considers the character of a site and will often adapt her approach and materials to suit the setting.

Over the years, her work has found its way into private and corporate collections across the world and she has been recognised through inclusion in Who's Who in Art.

One of Mo's most significant local commissions can be seen at St Mary's Church, Leamington Spa. Created between 2001 and 2002, The Easter Story consists of two large-scale paintings positioned on either side of the altar. The semi-abstract works explore the themes of Christ's death and resurrection through dramatic contrasts of colour, light and form.

The commission was awarded a Leamington Society Golden Jubilee Award in 2003 and continues to be admired for the way it complements the architecture of the church while offering a powerful visual interpretation of the Easter narrative.

As both an accomplished artist and a passionate advocate for the visual arts, Mo has made an important contribution to the cultural life of Warwickshire. We are delighted to have her as President of Friends of Leamington Art Gallery and grateful for her continued support of our work.

Waiting - series of 6 paintings

This series of six paintings is about time and the concept of time in a child's mind. The concept of time to a young child is very different to that of an adult. For the child, time appears to pass at a snail's pace and as in this case allows much time for curiosity, impatience and naughtiness to ensue.

At this rehearsal session a small child waits behind a makeshift screen for her turn to step from behind and present her performance piece. Waiting - the minutes seem like hours, curiosity gets the better of patience - just one little peep, or two. Waiting patiently or impatiently is, in this case,  conducive to mischievousness. The temporary stage curtain is not up to this kind of treatment and soon departs from its moorings. One turn in the wrong direction leads to unavoidable entanglement. A young child aware of her misbehaviour can exit the scene extremely quickly.

Mo Enright at ‘Waiting’ exhibition. 

Legacy (Triptych)

These panels endeavour to make a statement about the/my carbon footprint. They depict my concern about the indiscriminate felling of trees, the destruction of the forests and the ultimate damage caused to the environment worldwide. We need paper, we need books, but do we need so much and so many? Millions of books are printed every year and hundreds of thousands are sold, however, many, many thousands remain unsold and are returned to the publishers for pulping. A large percentage of books will never be read. Of course paper is just a minuscule part of the problem, but a part nevertheless. The trees, the forests, are our life support, what are we doing abusing them in this way?

Legacy by Mo Enright- triptych

 

Legacy Triptych by Mo Enright

 

 The Easter Story

The oil painted panels situated on the East Chancel wall in the Sanctuary of St Mary’s Church Leamington Spa, were commissioned in 2000 and the whole project took approximately two years to complete. The paintings nestle in the arched recesses either side of the altar and tower up to 579cm high by 109cm wide culminating in a Lancet Arch at the apex.

The paintings show, in a semi-abstract idiom, a visual depiction of some of the momentous events in the Christian calendar leading up to Holy Week. The artist's aim was to blend the new art work with the existing artefacts of the Leonardesque Last Supper of the reredos, up through the painted panels to the large stained glass window of the Ascension.The work was dedicated by the Bishop of Coventry on the 10th February 2002

The Easter Story by Mo Enright.