London exhibition for Slane-born artist

Bettystown resident artist Andy Devane is to show his work in a debut exhibition in London next month. 'Carnevale' takes place in Highgate Gallery. Inspired by the Italian festival, the cities of Rome and Venice are treated as giant funfairs, full of the colour and excitement associated with an evening at the circus. The exhibition will be opened on Friday 12th February by Bobby McDonagh, the Irish Ambassador to Britain. Devane grew up in Rossnaree, Slane, eldest son of Richard and Susan Devane, and went to school in Slane National School and St Patrick's Classical School, Navan. He studied painting at Limerick School of Art and Design before travelling to Rome during the summer of 2000. It was to be a fortuitous move and a profound turning point in the young artist's career. On the final day of his seven-week stay, his Dublin-bound flight left without him. Devane remained in Italy for seven fascinating years, during which time he spent his days painting the ancient sites of central Rome. He recorded the smaller details of the city's colossal heritage, often adding a pinch of the fantastical to the factual, and soon became involved in a variety of major exhibitions in both Rome and Vatican City. To his amazement, he found himself in an exciting and eclectic world populated by artists and diplomats, actors and princesses. In 2007, he finally returned to Ireland, but maintained strong artistic links with Rome where the majority of his paintings can be found. In early 2008, he exhibited in the Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Dublin, followed later that year with an exhibition in the Pontifical Irish College, Rome.