NORMAN O'FLYNN | Habitats

NORMAN O'FLYNN

Habitats

10 May – 31 May 2025 | Everard Read Franschhoek

Everard Read Franschhoek is proud to present a new exhibition by Norman O'Flynn entitled Habitats.

Opening Reception: Saturday 10th of May @ 11AM

To be added to the catalogue waiting list, please click HERE

Norman O’Flynn’s arresting interiors are curated compilations of contemporary, everyday life.

Reminiscent of snapshots out of a luxury interior magazine, the compositions are carefully assembled with an almost obsessive attention to detail - floral arrangements and superheroes co-exist, tigers and chimpanzees feel right at home among the mid-century furniture. References to artworks by modern masters, from Picasso to Lichtenstein, Koons to Haring are interspersed with pop culture iconography like movie posters for ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ and phrases appropriated from animations. These symbols of leisure are further juxtaposed by sentiments of text expressing uncomfortable realities such as ‘Sell the house, sell the car, sell the kids’.

Similarly, the books filling the shelves contain phrases on spines ranging from actual titles to states of being (happiness, meaning, justice) to the names of famous rock musicians (Jimmy Hendrix, Mick Jagger). In this way, the lines between fact and fiction, between the real and imagined world O’Flynn creates are further blurred. Through these depictions of home, we as the audience become privy to the way information seeps into O’Flynn’s studio; mainstream media, the people in his environment and the books, songs and podcasts in his studio create mindscapes that sample all aspects of his daily environment. In his reverse acrylic glass paintings, the slick, glassy finish of O’Flynn’s work is no coincidence. Along with the flat smoothness of the paint, which adds to the digital feel of the work, we are reminded of the screens that constantly surround us. However, the relief of tactile mediums such as glass beads and use of embroidery in the pieces ‘Theres nothing I'm afraid of’ and ‘Interior with Hockney’ cut through these often overwhelming feelings of cyberspace, allowing the audience a moment to catch their breath while highlighting the uniquely tangible quality of these spaces. 

What sets O’Flynn apart is his ability to convey the peculiar paradoxes of our age with great attention to detail, while balancing incisiveness with the tongue-in-cheek. The interior tableau’s of Habitats provide insight into the culture from which they stem – as well as a means of engaging with it.

Like fantastical fever dreams or parallel universes, here, different realities co-exist. The neat, controlled lines of interior spaces are off set amongst chaotic backgrounds full of colour and rather than illustrating any specific cause, O’Flynn presents a world in which information overload forces contradictions to cohabitate, and the truths born from these contradictions are examined in this exciting new solo show, Habitats.

EVERARD READ - 20 Huguenot Road
Franschhoek, 7690
South Africa
+27 21 876 2446 l fgallery@everard.co.za

Opening hours:
Monday – Sunday 09:30 - 17:00
Please contact us to make an appointment outside of these hours.