Biography
David O’Kane studied from 2007 until 2012 in Leipzig under professor Neo Rauch at the Hochschule für Grafik Buchkunst. He received a Diplom Degree (with distinction) in 2009 and a Meisterschüler Degree in 2012. He received an extended DAAD Scholarship for his studies in Germany. He also holds a 1st Class Joint-Honours Degree in Fine Art from NCAD in Dublin (2006).
O’Kane has won numerous awards, scholarships and residencies. In 2014 he was shortlisted for the Golden Fleece Award in Dublin. He was resident artist at the Stiftung Starke in Berlin from 2010 until 2013. He was awarded the Derek Hill Foundation Scholarship and Residency at the British school at Rome in 2009. Tom Morton awarded him joint first prize at the Claremorris Open Exhibition. In 2008 his short film ‘Babble’ was produced by eva and it won an eva open award from the curator, Hou Hanru. He also exhibited in eva in 2009. His proposal for the artistic projects tender at the Serralves em Festa 2008 in Oporto, Portugal was commissioned by the Regina Guimarães. In 2006 he won the R.C. Lewis-Crosby Award at the Royal Dublin Society.
His work is represented in collections such as the Kuntshalle der Sparkasse in Leipzig, the Zabludowicz Collection in London, the CAP Foundation in Dublin, the Trapaga-Fonalledas Collection in Puerto Rico, the Starke Foundation collection in Berlin and many international private collections.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2017 Solo Exhibition, Galerie Maïa Muller, Paris, France
2016 Solo Exhibition, Gallery Baton, Seoul, South Korea
2016 ‘The Acuity of Blindness’, Josef Filipp Galerie, Leipzig, Germany
2015 ‘Beltany’, Cavanacor Gallery, Donegal, Ireland
2014 ‘Continuum – Repetition & Difference’, Josef Filipp Galerie, Leipzig, Germany
2014 ’The Zoetrope – Repetition & Difference’, Gallery Baton, Seoul, South Korea
2013 ‘Der Spieler – Homo Ludens’, Stiftung Starke, Berlin, Germany
2012 ‘Blindsight’, Meisterschüler Exhibition, Leipzig, Germany
2012 ‘The Persistence of Vision’, Josef Filipp Galerie, Leipzig, Germany
2010 ‘Still’, Cavanacor Gallery, Donegal, Ireland
2009 ‘Animare’, Heidestrasse 46, Berlin, Germany
2009 ‘Dissection’, Filipp Rosbach Galerie, Leipzig, Germany
2009 ‘Doppelgänger’, Pierogi Gallery, Spinnerei, Leipzig, Germany
Selected Awards
2014 Winner of the Golden Fleece Award, Dublin, Ireland
2013 Shortlisted for the Golden Fleece Award, Dublin, Ireland
2013 Shortlisted for the ‘100 Painters of Tomorrow’, Thames and Hudson Book initiated by Kurt Beers
2011 Travel and Mobility Award, Arts Council of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
2010 Travel and Mobility Award, Arts Council of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
2009 Claremorris Open Exhibition Award (Awarded by the Curator Tom Morton)
2008 2 Honorary Awards for Video and Installation, 1st Montijo International Plastic Arts Biennial– IX Vespeira Prize, Portugal
2008 Winner of the artistic projects tender at the Serralves em Festa 2008 in Oporto, Portugal
2008 eva International Open Award, Limerick, Ireland. (Awarded by the Curator Hou Hanru)
2007 Travel and Mobility Award, Arts Council of Ireland, Dublin
2006 Travel and Mobility Award, Arts Council of Ireland, Dublin
2006 R.C. Lewis-Crosby Award for Painting at the Royal Dublin Society
2006 O’Sullivan Award for Graphic Art, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
2005 Emerging Artist Award, Portrait Ireland, Wexford