LOUISE CHERRY
CONTEMPORARY ABSTRACT PAINTER AND CONCEPTUAL PHOTOGRAPHER
Louise Cherry is an Irish artist living and working in Wicklow Town. She has exhibited nationally and internationally in solo and group shows, through both conceptual photography and her abstract paintings. Louise has received funding from local authorities, governmental bodies and galleries to exhibit and produce work and her work has been added to public collections including The Bibliotheque National de France and the Wicklow County Council.
Louise is the founder and Director of the Louise Cherry Gallery, a contemporary gallery dedicated to the displaying the work of local artists and designers, and the founder and director of The Art Studio, an art school for children and teenagers, both in her home town of Wicklow. Louise is also the co-founder of The Venue Gallery, a contemporary pop up gallery in Wicklow Town which held its inaugural show July 2019.
Louise was a lecturer in photography at Dun Laoighaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT) and with the Dublin City VEC for a number of years before leaving to focus on her art practice. Louise has a first class masters in Visual Arts Practice from The Institute of Art, Design and Technology (2009), and she also graduated top in her class with her first class degree in Photography from The Dublin Institute of Technology (2001). Before turning to art, Louise had a previous career in the pharmaceutical industry and she also holds an honours degree in Business Studies from Kingston University, London (1994).
Louise has an extensive art practice that includes painting, photography, film, sculpture, performance and writing. Her current focus, abstract paintings, are an elaborate investigation of paint layering and deconstruction.
Artist’s Statement
The aesthetic should always challenge, a painting or any art piece should give so much more than just visual pleasure, the observer needs to be intrigued. Every time you look at an abstract painting, you should see something different, your eye should be led to a colour, texture or detail that you hadn't noticed before.
I feel a sense of excitement and fear everyday as I strive to create that intrigue for my viewer. It is not a simple process of looking and recreating what I see, in fact it is the opposite, to create what cannot be seen is the challenge. I intentionally do not to plan my paintings in advance, working instinctively, I allow the process to guide the development of my canvas, I like to discover a visual by accident, and coming to a point where I can look at the canvas and say, “that’s it, I’m getting there, I’m on to something”. The frustration, excitement, fear and challenge in this process are integral to each composition.
I work with a mixture of materials, a wide range of tools and I combine painting layers and layers of deconstruction on the canvas. It can be a beautiful and sometimes brutal process, the construction of each painting develops using destructive techniques. Often it can be more about what I take off the canvas than what I add and surfaces re assembled layer by layer over a period of months. The process is very physical and my studio is a happy energy filled space. All going well, the emerging process leaves me with a painting rich in colour, thick with layers and texture, full of intrigue and excitement, visually beautiful and full of joy.
I live and work in an old Coastguard Station and my studio is in the original lookout tower with panoramic views of The Irish Sea. I see and feel the weather with skies and sea stretching across Wicklow and up the coast of Dublin, on a good day, if I’m lucky I can see Wales on the horizon!! The ever changing Irish weather is a huge influence on my paintings and how I work and I love nothing more than to paint during a good storm; wind, rain, thunder and lightening provide an extra layer of passion and energy to my canvas. I hope you enjoy your journey through my work.
Solo Exhibitions
2020 Submerged, Louise Cherry Gallery, Wicklow
2008 All that’s left of you in me, Temple Bar Galleries, Dublin
2006 Fragilities, Wicklow County Buildings
2006 Fragilities, Temple Bar Galleries, Dublin
2005 Fragilities, Tinahely Arts Centre, Wicklow
2004 Members Only, Listowel Arts Centre, Kerry
2004 Members Only, St Johns Arts Centre, Kerry
2004 Members Only, Droichead Arts Centre, Louth
2004 Members Only, Riverbank Arts Centre, Kildare
Group Exhibitions
2019 Catching light The Venue Gallery, Wicklow
2010-19 The Art Studio, Curated Shows, Wicklow
2008 You, you and me, Temple Bar Galleries, Dublin
2008 Just tell me the truth, Temple Bar Galleries, Dublin
2005 Fragilities, Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast, UK
2005 Fragilities, Mermaid Arts Centre, Wicklow
2004 Members Only, The Model Arts Centre, Co.Silgo
2004 Members Only, The Workroom Studio, Dublin
2002 Camden Trade, VIA Group, Dublin
2001 Members Only, National Photography Archive, Dublin
2001 Members Only, Photo Service Gallery, Paris, France
2001 Members Only, International Photo Festival, Arles, France
2000 Dreamscapes, 4th International Photo. Gathering, Aleppo, Syria
Awards
2004. Artists Support Scheme, Wicklow County Council
2001 Culture Ireland Award, International Photo. Festival, Arles, France
2001 Photo Service Award, Galerie D’Essai Exhibition, Arles, France
2000 Culture Ireland Award, 4th International Photo. Gathering, Syria
2000 Alliance Francaise Award, International Photo Gathering, Arles, France
Public Speaking and Publications
2005 Perspective Publication, Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast, UK
2004 The Exclusion of Others Presentation, Droichead Arts Centre, Co. Louth
2001 Members Only Presentation,, The Gallery of Photography, Dublin
2000 Members Only Presentation, 4th International Photography Festival, Syria
2000 Members Only Presentation, The French Cultural Centre, Damascus, Syria
2001 Limited edition of ‘Members only’ series, private publication
2001 Members Only Publication, Galerie D’Essai - Laureats, Paris, France
Education
2010 MA Hons, First Class, Visual Arts Practice, IADT, Dublin
2001 BA Hons, First Class, Photography, DIT, Dublin
1994 BA Hons Business Studies, Kingston University, London, UK
Experience
2001 - present Independent artist
2020 - present Founder and Director. Louise Cherry Gallery
2009 - present Founder and Director. The Art Studio
2001 - 2010 Lecturer in Photography and Media Studies at IADT
1992 - 1998 Research Executive - Isis Research, London, UK