“I wanted to go out and immortalise Belfast’s streetscape,” explains visual artist Ed Reynolds of his latest exhibition which is currently being shown in 2 Royal Avenue.
“I wanted to convey a very honest and raw depiction of what I was seeing in the city.”
About Belfast is a collection of 13 paintings (and counting). Over the course of the exhibition Ed will continue to create and add new pieces inspired by spontaneous interactions and experiences with people he meets.
The aim is to end up with a vibrant series of pieces which celebrate Belfast and capture the city’s dynamic essence through a fusion of traditional techniques and contemporary insights.
“Some of the pictures are kind of dark, grim and grey but there’s movement and there’s life and there’s beauty in that too. And I think people are getting that from it.
“A woman came up to me yesterday to tell me I’d made her day and she said, ‘You’ve depicted the city streets as I know them, as I remember them, warts and all, and you’ve made me really happy’ which in turn made my day.”
Originally from Ashbourne in Co Meath, Ed came to NI in 2005 and worked as a commissioned community artist.
“I was commissioned by the Arts Council to re-imagine and replace old paramilitary murals around Belfast, like the one on the lower Shankill, and come up with inspiring artworks of a different theme, which was a really powerful thing to be a part of,” he says.
“But over the last few years while I love commissions and I love working with other people. I wanted to do something different.
“So, I took the bull by the horns and just made the plunge and went out into the streets and started painting what I saw - and it’s been working so far.”
Ed’s creative process invites viewers not just to observe but to become part of the exhibition. People can witness the transformation of a blank canvas into a vibrant depiction of the city, their presence subtly influencing the final works.
“I love demystifying the process of painting,” he explains.
“Part of my mission is to reveal and not conceal. I really enjoy showing people how a painting comes together.”
By painting in situ, he blurs the lines between artist, artwork and audience, fostering a unique participatory art experience.
“I love the process of being amongst the subject that I’m painting.
“You get a true sense of what it is you’re looking for and what you’re trying to achieve with the painting, and I love engaging with passersby.”
He credits his love of painting on location to his mentor, fellow painter and former president of the RHA (Royal Hibernian Academy) in Dublin, Thomas Ryan.
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“Thomas was my friend’s dad and I remember just standing in awe watching him thinking about how much I’d love to be able to do what he was doing,” he says.
“It did take me a long time to pluck up the courage to just go out there and paint but now I never think twice about setting up an easel where I think might make a good painting.
“I think it’s a very honest way to paint.”
Ed’s niche is his ability to the make the ordinary a little more extraordinary. Similar to About Belfast, his recent series of Listen and See exhibitions, which combine art and audio and have been held in Dublin, Wexford, Holywood and Belfast, focus on everyday life in the community, most notably its streets, coffee shops, shorelines and landscapes.
“I like the ethereal quality of painting on the streets and that’s what I try and bring into my work – it’s about holding it in a timelessness capsule forever,” he explains.
“I don’t want people to be able to pinpoint when exactly the painting is from because that way it can be whatever people want it to be.”
However, he does admit that Belfast can be quite a difficult subject to capture.
“My intention was to get a load of really sunlit paintings of Belfast but as you and I know there hasn’t been much of that – I think there’s three in the collection with a little bit of sunshine in them,” he laughs.
“There were a couple of paintings that I just had to wipe away because of they didn’t work because of black, grey, dull Belfast weather – it’s very challenging to paint.”
This encouraged Ed to instead paint some of the goings on within 2 Royal Avenue which led to him creating one of his favourite paintings within the exhibition.
“Yesterday, a gentleman called Joe was walking by and said, ‘You wouldn’t paint me, would you?’ and I said, ‘Of course I will.’
“So, I sat and painted a very loose picture of Joe sat on a chair with yellow Belfast 2024 arrows in the background and I just love it.
“I love the spontaneity of it. I love the fact that Joe sat there with his own doodle book with him. I think he really relished the value of being painted.
“So now Joe is part of the exhibition and it’s my favourite painting so far.”
“I’m really excited about the exhibition and to see people’s responses to it,” Ed enthuses.
“I love the idea broadening the net and making art more accessible to people who maybe aren’t that familiar with it.”
