From a young age growing up in Dublin, Paddy Campbell had a profound interest in painting and drawing. However, as a young man in the context of 1960s Ireland, he was of the belief that it would be too difficult to make a living as an artist, despite taking courses in NCAD throughout the sixties. Instead, Campbell chose to delve into the world of culinary arts and his business in contract catering would blossom into a successful enterprise, taking over Dublin’s famous Bewley’s Café and
coffee business in 1986.
Despite his success as a businessman, art continued to attract Campbell to the extent of enticing him to move to Florence in 1996 where he began to study Renaissance painting and discovered his true passion for sculpture in 2000. Following studying and learning sculptural techniques, Campbell began working from his studio at Via Luna, in Florence, from where he currently works.
Campbell’s bronze and marble sculptures have been exhibited throughout Ireland and Italy, in particular in the RHA in Dublin and the RUA in Belfast.
Campbell was commissioned to cast the official portrait of the president of Ireland, Mary McAleese, a portrait of Sean Donlon, Chancellor of the University of Limerick as well as a memorial piece to those who lost their lives at Bantry Bay in Cork, all the while continuing to create the figurative bronze works for which he is most well-known.
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