Luke Reidy

Growing up on the west coast of Ireland, Luke Reidy’s life revolved around admiring the spectacular sea, surfing, and spending time with family and friends. However, it was art that became his main passion early on in his life. Loving the simplicity and balance that contemporary design evokes, at the age of 18 Luke decided to start his art degree in Galway, where, in his third year, he discovered and fell in love with screen printing.

At first, Luke’s work was based around his love for people and photography, and as a result he began making abstract portraits through the medium of silkscreen. However, he later discarded photography in favour of layering abstract shapes. This idea came to him while taking photos of the cityscape, which he then drew in his sketch book, dissecting the buildings and their edges, creating a sharp effect that pierced the skyline. 

Through screen printing, Luke rebuilds architectural structures using simple shapes, and overlapping transparent layers and colours. These structures are broken down into the simplest forms folding and unfolding, with the planes orientating in space, and the flat image becoming almost three dimensional. “Architectural structures and the material form of buildings are often perceived as works of art. I have always had a fascination with contemporary design and in particular love the simplicity and balance it suggests” states the artist. His use of colour highlights the depth of these unique forms, and provides them with a visual energy. Luke’s hand cut paper stencils and blade marks on edges show the artist’s presence, and demonstrate the bespoke and unique nature of his work, maintaining his well-known crisp and clean aesthetic that complements modern-day interiors.

After graduating in June 2018, Luke was featured in Circa Art Magazine as an up and coming young artist to watch, and was awarded a 12-month bursary award at Cork Printmakers. It was here he began his professional artist career, working alongside some of the top printmakers in Ireland, such as Shane O’Driscoll, Deirdre Breen and Emma O’Hara. Consequently, Luke learned quickly, and his work developed significantly during his tenure.

During his first year in Cork, Luke’s work launched onto the Irish art scene, exhibiting in some of the finest gallery’s nationally and internationally. He received commissions from collectors, schools, architects, designers, and hotels. The Office of Public Works and the National University of Ireland have also acquired several of his pieces. In January 2020, Luke returned to GMIT Print department to undertake the role of “Artist in Residence” for Galway City of Culture 2020.

Luke recently moved back to the coast of Clare after 6 years away. “During this pandemic, it is quite tough to stay motivated and create work without my studio and relevant equipment, but it does have its advantages” describes the printmaker. After 2 weeks of exploring other creative avenues, Luke set up a new studio in the shed of his families home in order to give painting a go. He explains; “What I do is quite similar to the shapes that I create by blocking the screens with my paper stencils, but I use tape now to block areas of the canvas“. Using a combination of spray-paints and acrylics, Luke creates his own transparent colours through layering shapes on top of each other, instead of it happening naturally when he is screen printing.

Currently, he is enjoying heading to and fro from his coastal studio to the sea; surfing while his layers dry, and painting them up again. “The last 2 years since graduating have been really successful for me and I would like to keep pushing my work out there for more people to see… Besides, I am lucky enough having a great following that keep me busy with commissions through my new paint medium for now. Who would have expected that?” he concludes.

www.lukereidyartist.com
@lukereidyy

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