Cork-based artist Kevin O’Brien has been painting murals and street art since 2016. Using vibrant colour palettes, shapes, textures, and patterns, Kevin creates artworks using themes drawn from local history, heritage, culture, and environmental issues.

 

After co-founding the street art and guerrilla gardening group Mad About Cork in 2016, Kevin led many community art projects and events with volunteers, business organisations, community groups and other city stakeholders. These projects had a strong emphasis on local heritage, culture, and urban biodiversity. Community participation was encouraged in an effort to grow civic pride in Cork City. The group received the Lord Mayor’s Community Award in 2019 and was nominated for a Pride of Place award in 2018. 

 

Notable project highlights include street art tributes to notable Cork people who stood out in their field, including humanitarian Mary Elmes, botanist Ellen Hutchins, and actor Cillian Murphy.  Mad About Cork also developed numerous pocket gardens in derelict or neglected spaces across the city, 

including a vegetable garden at an abandoned site on the Coal Quay.

 

As a solo artist, Kevin has created numerous pieces of street art and murals across Cork and beyond. He has worked with numerous community groups, Tidy Towns associations, and sports clubs to create vibrant artworks in public spaces. Kevin’s latest projects saw him paint 30 on-street utility boxes for Ballincollig Tidy Towns group, which highlight the variety of the local wildflowers found in the locality. He has also recently painted a large mural for Douglas Tidy Towns at the entrance to Ballybrack Woods to promote the history, community and biodiversity of the area.

 

Kevin has also worked with numerous educational institutions throughout Munster, facilitating groups of all ages to create new art through mural painting workshops and practical sessions where participants get to paint their own mural.

 

Kevin’s murals can be found on the grounds of Bantry Youth Reach, University College Cork, Christ King Secondary School, East Cork Music Project in Midleton, Douglas Community School, and many more.