Connor Cullinan
Connors work is about visual perception; it’s a contemporary extension of 1960s Op art into the realm of figuration. The subjects, portraits and still lifes, are created by closely set dark and light lines. These lines are hand-painted in acrylic or screen printed, with both methods often occurring in one painting.
The visual effect of the strongly contrasting lines sets up a subtle illusion of movement when gazed at. This effect suggests the vitality of the human figures as well as the shifting qualities of light falling on them or on still life objects. The illusions of movement (and the phantom colours that are fleetingly present) are symptoms of the brain’s visual system becoming unstable due to conflicting visual stimuli.
These optical illusions are not happening out there on the canvas but inside the brain, at the very edge of vision, where perception starts to disintegrate. The sense of transience and dematerialisation is reinforced by the binary line technique used to construct the subject matter: much of the space between the dark lines is the empty ground of the canvas, which effectively makes the subjects only half there.
The dark lines read as a screen of parallel filaments through which one peers at the ground and as one does so, the subjects appear to dissolve into pure energy, suggesting what lies beneath solid form. The screens of lines also allude to the gratings used in perceptual psychology and scientific experiments into the physics of light, in which rays are shone through vertical slits in a surface.
Connor Cullinan, Shutter, 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 61 x 91 cm
Connor Cullinan, Transmission, Screen print, 104 x 75 cm, 2016, Edition of 20
Connor Cullinan, Thelma Mort, Screen print, 70 x 50 cm, 2011, Edition of 5
Connor Cullinan, The City, Screen print, 30 x 39 cm, 2015, Edition of 20
Connor Cullinan, Suspect, Screen print, 42 cm x 30, 2009, Edition of 15
Connor Cullinan, Standing Nude, Acrylic on canvas, 88 x 71 cm, 2016
Connor Cullinan, Sphinx, Screen print, 42 x 30 cm, 2009, Edition of 10
Connor Cullinan, Self Portrait, Screen print, 70 x 50 cm, 2012, Edition of 14
Connor Cullinan, Possession, Screen print, 43 x 61 cm, 2008, Edition of 20
Connor Cullinan, Pieter Hugo, Screen print, 70 x 50 cm, 2012, Edition of 18
Connor Cullinan, Nicola Grobler, Screen print, 70 x 50 cm, 2012, Edition of 10
Connor Cullinan, Lizette Chirrime, Screen print, 70 x 50 cm, 2012, Edition of 15
Connor Cullinan, Fluorescents, Screen print, 75 cm x 53 cm, 2016, Edition of 12
Connor Cullinan, Emissary, Screen print, 60.5 x 80 cm, 2015, Edition of 20
Connor Cullinan, Dave Southwood, Screen print, 70 x 50 cm, 2011, Edition of 6
Connor Cullinan, Conrad Botes, Screen print, 70 x 50 cm, 2014, Edition of 24
Connor Cullinan, Charles Maggs, Screen print, 70 x 50 cm, 2012, Edition of 10
Connor Cullinan, Passengers, Acrylic & screen print on canvas, 60.5 x 80 cm, 2020
Connor Cullinan, The Tempest, Acrylic on canvas, 90 x 120 cm, 2015 – 2016
Connor Cullinan, Manifestation, Acrylic on canvas, 127 x 102 cm
Connor Cullinan, The Lodger, Acrylic on canvas, 61 x 91 cm, 2017
Connor Cullinan, Afternoon, Acrylic on canvas, 85 x 120 cm, 2017
Connor Cullinan, Host, Acrylic on canvas, 80 x 120 cm, 2008
Connor Cullinan, Seizure, Acrylic on canvas, 80 x 100 cm, 2008
Connor Cullinan, Possession, Acrylic on canvas, 76 x 102 cm, 2007
Connor Cullinan, Ecstasy, Acrylic on canvas, 90 x 105 cm, 2007 – 8
Connor Cullinan, Sphinx, Acrylic on canvas, 76 x 51 cm, 2009
Connor Cullinan, Augury, Acrylic on canvas, 89.5 x 122 cm, 2008 – 9
Connor Cullinan, Superintendent, Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 70 cm, 2009
Connor Cullinan, Jo O’Connor, Acrylic & screen print on canvas, 102 x 76 cm, 2011
Connor Cullinan, City, Acrylic on canvas, 41 x 51 cm
Connor Cullinan, Paper crystals I, Acrylic & screen print on canvas, 2017, 50 x 70cm
Connor Cullinan, Thelma Mort, Acrylic on canvas, 2012, 121.5 x 88.5cm
Connor Cullinan, Still life With Three Boxes, Acrylic & screen print on canvas, 2017, 59 x 84cm
Connor Cullinan, Still Life with Seven Spheres, Acrylic & screen print on canvas, 2017-8, 65 x 95cm
Connor Cullinan, Still Life with Rods & Cones, 2018, 35.5 x 50cm
Connor Cullinan, Still Life with Prisms, Acrylic & screen print on canvas, 2018, 65 x 89cm
Connor Cullinan, Still life with Owls, Acrylic & screen print on canvas, 2017-8, 117 x 85cm
Connor Cullinan, Still Life with Hourglass, Acrylic & screen print on canvas, 2018, 69 x 98cm
Connor Cullinan, Still Life with Eagle, Acrylic & screen print on canvas, 2017-8, 83 x 103cm
Connor Cullinan, Still Life with Crab, Acrylic & screen print on canvas, 2018, 35.5 x 50cm
Connor Cullinan, Still life with a Crystal Skull, Acrylic & screen print on canvas, 2018, 55 x 70cm
Connor Cullinan, Self Portrait, Acrylic on canvas, 2013, 83.5 x 59cm
Connor Cullinan, Pieter Hugo, Acrylic on canvas, 2013, 102 x 76cm
Connor Cullinan, Paul Edmunds, Acrylic & screen print on canvas, 2012, 122 x 88.5cm
Connor Cullinan, Paper crystals II, Acrylic & screen print on canvas, 2018, 50 x 70cm
Connor Cullinan, Paper crystals I, Acrylic & screen print on canvas, 2018, 50 x 70cm
Connor Cullinan, Mthandeni Ziqubu, Acrylic on canvas, 2011, 127 x 101.5cm
Connor Cullinan, Madonna of the rocks, Acrylic & screen print on canvas, 2018, 41 x 110cm
Connor Cullinan, Looking Glass Still Life, Acrylic & screen print on canvas, 2017, 60 x 85cm
Connor Cullinan, Lizette Chirrime, Acrylic on canvas, 2013, 101.5 x 76cm
Connor Cullinan, Dave Southwood, Acrylic on canvas, 2011, 100 x 100cm
Connor Cullinan, Conrad Botes, 2013, 75 x 55cm
Connor Cullinan, Charles Maggs, Acrylic on canvas, 2012, 100 x 75cm
Connor Cullina, Nicola Grobler, Acrylic on canvas, 2012, 83.5 x 59cm
Connor Cullinan, X, Acrylic on canvas, 2008-9, 200 x 95cm
Connor Cullinan, Rameron, Acrylic on canvas, 2014, 61 x 76cm