Peter McArdle
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Peter McArdle (born December 17, 1965 is an English artist, member of the Stuckists art group and gallery owner.
He was born in Tynemouth, graduated from the University of Sunderland in 1992 and did Atelier study with painter and poet Jeffrey Johnson in London. Since college he has been a full-time artist with biennial sell-out shows, including Llewellyn Alexander Gallery and Mark Jason Fine Art, Bond Street, London.
He runs the Brockdam Gallery near Gateshead. In 2003 he founded The Gateshead Stuckists as "a response to the Baltic's nihilism". He was a featured artist in the key show The Stuckists Punk Victorian at the Walker Art Gallery for the 2004 Liverpool Biennial.
He is a dedicated worker, painting seven days a week and starting as early as 4 a.m.. He paints in oil with traditional glazing techniques, taking six months or more per painting, sometimes working with a 000 ("cat's whisker) sable brush. A burnt umber underpainting can have up to seventeen layers of glazing. He rejects a third of the finished paintings.
Images are mostly one or several figures in an empty room, often seemingly unaware of each other's presence, and given titles that are equally enigmatic. However, there are personal origins to the images, as evidenced by his description of On a Theme of Annunciation:
| “ | It’s probably a lot to do with being brought up as a Roman Catholic, and a transitional moment in my life. Every Saturday night I went to confession. One day my father asked the priest to tell him his own sins. The priest clammed up and my father walked out of confession.. After that we left the church. Years later I went to Venice for a few weeks and I was confronted by all this religious imagery which brought back all the guilt. I was inspired by a Titian painting with a sexual element and also wanted to paint a contemporary annunciation. These things fused. It gets a bit more complex after that. The gun is symbolic of penetration yet also of protection. I expect the viewer to work hard. You need a certain understanding of history. | ” |
He has gained a reputation as a contemporary artist treating modern issues, but showing an obvious facility with traditional standards. He has been described as "a top draughtsman with a funky fluid style" (Evening Standard) who "augurs well for the future of British painting" (Art Review).
He lives in the countryside in Northumberland in a Georgian farmhouse with his wife and two sons.
[edit] Sources
- Milner, Frank ed. (2004), "The Stuckists Punk Victorian" National Museums Liverpool, ISBN 1-902700-27-9
[edit] External links
