Paul Hallahan is an Irish artist based at Fire Station Artists’ Studios in Dublin. His work returns again and again to questions of nature, perception, and the shifting ground between clarity and uncertainty. He primarily paints, though his practice also includes sculpture and video, each medium offering a different route toward contemplation.
His paintings are built slowly through thin, layered washes that hold and reflect light. Rather than presenting fixed images, they remain open and fluid, changing subtly with time, light, and perspective. Each work becomes an environment in itself; atmospheric, temporal, and elusive. They resist finality and instead invite close attention, asking the viewer to linger.
His video works share this sensibility. Minimal in composition and steady in pace, they centre on duration and focus. Meaning emerges gradually, not through sharp definition, but through repetition, softness, and drift. These works favour patience over resolution and invite viewers to stay with uncertainty.
His practice is thoughtful and measured, grounded in the belief that visual work can hold space for reflection and remain active long after it is made. Whether on canvas or screen, the works speak quietly, holding presence without insistence.
In 2009 he founded Soma Contemporary in Waterford with the support of Waterford City Council. The gallery ran until 2012, providing a platform for emerging artists and experimental practices. Since then, his work has been exhibited across Ireland in spaces such as the Royal Hibernian Academy, Hang Tough Contemporary, The Lab, and The Complex in Dublin, as well as Berlin Opticians Gallery, Roscommon Arts Centre, and in a touring two-person exhibition that travelled from Lexicon Gallery to Garter Lane, Sternview, and Platform Arts.
He received the Golden Fleece Award in 2018. His paintings are held in both public and private collections, including The Arts Council, Trinity College Dublin, Kildare County Council, and the Office of Public Works.
