Born in 1968, Dubliner Martin McCann’s desire to express himself as an artist has taken him on various journeys of exploration throughout a stunning and varied career.
In Music, as a singer, songwriter, band-founder and musician (with ‘Sack’ and ‘Elevens’) ; on the stage, performing in Sean Millar’s ’Silver Stars’ and ‘The Circus Animals’ Desertion’, both directed by ‘Brokentalkers Theatre Company’. He is a sought-after graphic artist/designer, (poster and album cover design). Not least he has gained a reputation as one of the most innovative and entertaining deejays in Ireland creating and helping to design such iconic club spaces as ‘Sides’, and ‘The Furry Glen’ in both sound and vision. His residencies at both ‘The Kitchen’ and ‘HAM @ POD’ also kept Dublin on its toes throughout the late 90’s and ‘The Globe Bar/Ri-Ra’ hosted his eclectic choice for over 10 years before the Covid closure in 2020.
His work in all of these avenues has received both applause, accolades and awards in his home country and internationally, in places as far flung as Europe, USA and even New Zealand.
He has worked with such luminaries as Morrissey, (with whom his band ‘Sack’ were invited on two separate occasions as ‘special guests’ to offer tour support in Europe and USA) and with ‘Elevens’ in 2014 to sing and play for Irish President Michael D Higgins at a garden party at Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin.
While McCann has continued to impress and gain accolades in both his music and stage career, he has recently begun to expand and express his unique vision through painting.
Surrounded and befriended for decades by influential graphic designers, photographers and painters, his own visual explorations have been triggered by his love of abstraction, history, and his own background. His love for the written word, music and performance leads to a translation of these emotive elements through the medium of affecting visual images. Utilising acrylics and oils, collage, soft pastel and cold wax medium, expression is the key element in his art.
It has worked for him.
Martin’s debut exhibition ‘Summer Songs’, was a huge success as part of Culture Night 2019 at OutHouse, the LGBTQ+ Centre in Dublin. ‘Summer Songs’ featured a collection of 15 framed works depicting various scenes that hold a particular meaning relating to his daily life in the city. Martin’s paintings have also featured in Dublin’s prestigious Doorway Gallery’s annual Christmas group show for the past two years.
His artistic journey as a painter, still exploring, ever experimenting with ideas, continues today, as he discovers new techniques with various materials, tools and surfaces.
A musician, a performer, a writer, a designer, an actor and now a painter, McCann continues to explore what it is to express and convey a sense of self that regards, rewards and resonates with others.