IRISH Artist, Eamonn B. Shanahan is a native of Thurles, Co. Tipperary. After four years of study at the Crawford College of Art & Design, Cork, Eamonn moved to London to pursue Creative Producing at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in 2015.
Eamonn passionately advocates creativity through his work as a director, designer, visual artist, photographer and creative educator.
Among other galleries, Eamonn has exhibited within a group and as a solo artist at the Crawford Art College, Alliance Francaise, Cork Film Centre, The Source Arts Centre and Lismore Castle. Eamonn is the founder of the Nua Collective and is a member of Visual Arts Ireland and Backwater Artists Network. As a practicing and commercial artist, Eamonn continues to use photography, film, painting and multimedia/graphic design.
In November 2020, Eamonn founded Nua Collective, a platform for professional visual artists from around the world.
Eamonn B. Shanahan is visual artist, photographer and theatre maker from Tipperary, Ireland.
His dedication to the arts is driven by his fervent commitment to nurturing creativity within individuals, businesses, and communities. Eamonn thrives on curating art projects, collaborating with fellow artists, and actively contributing to the evolution of cultural landscapes.
Eamonn achieved Honours in Fine Art from the Crawford College of Art and Design in Cork in June 2014. While there, he established himself as an artistic director and arts producer, successfully launching two significant exhibitions. “Are We There Yet?”, featured the work of 64 artists and included a series of performances and co-chaired the fine art exhibition “Na hOibreacha (The Works)”.
In 2014, Eamonn pursued further education at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, where he earned a Master of Arts in Creative Producing and Theatre Studies. This intensive program delved into various aspects of arts management, creative entrepreneurship, performance research, archiving, and understanding the ever-changing cultural landscape. His MA led him to the English National Opera (ENO), where he served as Assistant Producer and Company Manager in the Opera Works program.
Eamonn’s passion for theatre ignited during his involvement with Phoenix Productions, which he joined in 2007. In his early career, his theatrical endeavours included work as the Artistic Director and Co-producer for three productions with MTU Musical Society: “Tick, Tick… Boom” (2011), “A New Brain” (2011 & 2012), and “Into the Woods” (2013). He went on to direct and co-produce “Aladdin” at The Source Arts Centre (2015), serve as Assistant Director to Michael Scott on “The Chastitute” at The Gaiety Theatre (2015), and work as an administrator for City Theatre Dublin’s productions of “The Matchmaker” and “The Successful TD” (2014-2017).
More recently, Eamonn directed and produced several plays, including the world premiere of Billie Traynor’s “Beryl & Eejit” (2017) at Theatre Upstairs in Dublin, the world premiere of “Close” at the Landor Space in Clapham, London (2018), and the MTU Musical Society Irish premiere of “Bad Girls” (2018).
In addition to his directorial work, Eamonn practices various artistic disciplines, including curation, photography, filmmaking, and graphic design. He has collaborated with numerous artists and organisations, including Estee Stimler, Michael Vinsen, Reece Kerridge, Deirdre Masterson, Opera in the Open, Down Syndrome Ireland, Julian Benson CF Foundation, among many more. Eamonn’s short film, “Workspace,” was showcased in galleries and art-house cinemas throughout Ireland, and his debut solo art exhibition, titled “Truth Beauty”, took place at The Source Arts Centre in 2018.
In 2015, Eamonn established his production company, initially known as Poppin Productions and now operating as Pinstripe, with a focus on developing original Irish works. He has produced and directed various projects, including a contemporary dance workshop based on an Irish Concept Album called “Duodeca” in collaboration with music producer Cian MacSuibhne (1000 Beasts), singer/songwriter Briony O’Toole, and choreographer Aileen Coffey.
Eamonn has created and delivered creative workshops: “Let’s Create”, a workshop for children that explores storytelling through various art forms; “Storymaking with Film” an intensive course that delves into the practical and artistic elements of filmmaking; and “Don’t Think, Play”, a course designed for educators that applies creative learning to literacy. He also lectures on Professional Development and Creative Producing for final-year performing arts students at Irish American University.
In November 2020, Eamonn founded Nua Collective, a visual artist collective that aims to provide a supportive platform for Irish artists based in Ireland and abroad. The collective launched online with its first season featuring 50 Irish artists. Alongside the launch, The Nua Journal was established to encourage artists to share their perspectives through the written word and podcasts. Nua Collective has since presented several exhibitions, including “The Nua Collection” (2020), “Equinox” (2021), “Fantastical Reality” (2021), “The Origin Collection” (2022), and an upcoming international touring exhibition of “BLACKOUT” launching in November 2023 and touring throughout 2024.
Most recently, Eamonn served as the creative director of Channel Islands Pride in Jersey in 2021, as a designer for Galway County Council‘s Ceol an tSamhraidh and Ceol an Fhòmhair festivals, Galway City Council’s Arts Office creative consultant and designer. Eamonn produced the 2022 Musical Theatre Irish Intervarsities Competition and served as the production manager for Irish Modern Dance Theatre‘s production of “Othello – Maybe a Dance” in 2022.
In London, Eamonn recently acted as a consultant producer and live theatre recording director for Áine Ryan’s “Kitty in the Lane” (2023) and Reece Kerridge’s “Icons” (2023). He is currently preparing for his upcoming exhibitions, “Blue Beauty” and “Truth Beauty Drag.”
The work focuses on the emotive entity that can be examined in each painting. Each painting is created without direct preconception but with a compound memory of personal and cultural experiences.
Each artwork evokes an atmospheric space; structures, or lack thereof, that resonate an internal, emotional archetype.
Interacting shapes and towering plinths form the scale of the environment which is interrupted with brush strokes and plaster rendering that define the emotional pace giving a live theatricality that aims to resonate to the viewer’s life journey.