Statement

The phrase “ye” comes from old English and has poetic and religious connotations. It’s an unusual word with a certain sense of other worldliness or strangeness. It effectively means you, but in the plural sense. It’s me looking at you or ye. Or even you looking at me or others. 

Ian Healy’s drawings centre around portraits and the figure, a subject that motivates him most. 

His intention is to talk about the human condition. All our emotions, needs, wants and purpose are examined. 

“It’s a universal ideal but it’s the most obvious thing for me.” 

This recent body of work in “Ye” centres around the park and was a response to the pandemic climate. Fictitious figures and environments, often with a nod to art history, are drawn onto a semitransparent lokta paper, like ghosts or memories. 

“I imagined characters inhabiting the park, the park became a kind of vessel for creating portraits and figures.” 

Healy likes to put something awkward into a work, maybe in a portrait, something not quite right, “like having a stone in your shoe or a bird shitting on you,” he says. This, he says, makes more sense to him: it’s a reflection of the complexities of life. 

“I often don’t know what’s coming in a drawing or painting. This is the exciting part; you might have an idea of what you want but through the process of working it can become an alternative.”

Biography

Ian Healy’s depiction of the contemporary figure navigate a precarious line where meaning meets form. His work using a variety of mediums, whether it is pastels, oil paint, or watercolour, are often produced in quick bursts to portray a sense of urgency and tension.

He draws on a variety of sources including literature, film, comic books and art history. He uses humour, historic reference and the imagination to tell stories or narratives, that are brought alive with an exuberance of colours.

He was born in Cork City in the Republic of Ireland. He gained a degree in Painting from the Crawford College of Art & design in 1992.

He has shown recently in a number of galleries in London, and his work is held in the collection of the Crawford Municipal Gallery, Ireland.  

Curriculum Vitæ

Education

1992 Degree in Fine Art Painting, Crawford College of Art & Design, Cork, Rep. of Ireland

Solo Exhibitions

2020 Contraband, Galerie Youn, Montreal

2018 'Bridge II', Cloud Cucko Land Gallery, Here East, London (curated by Alice Herrick and Gavin Turk)

2017 'The Bridge', Herrick Gallery, London

2017 'Side Show', Studio One Gallery, London

2017 'In The Pink', Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh

2014 ‘Some of its Parts’, Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh

2009 ‘Folk’, Harbour Arts Centre, Irving

2008 ‘Offerings’, Attic Salt Gallery, Edinburgh

2006 ‘Folk’, The Arches, Glasgow

Art Fairs & Group Exhibitions

2021 Mothflower Gallery
2020 The Spirit of Togetherness, Galerie Youn, Montreal
2020 No borders, Arthou

2020 Lucid abnormalities, Crawford Art Gallery, Cork
2019 Papier Art Fair @foirepapier, Galerie Youn, Montreal
2018 Pulse Miami beach, Galerie Youn, Montreal

2018 'Slightly seared on the reality grill', Unit 5 Gallery, London, curated by Jérémie Magar
2018 Galina Munroe & Sarah Gilbert

2018 ArtMaze Magazine, Summer Edition
2017 'Paint a Vulgar Picture', Sluice Biennial, with Studio One Gallery, London

2017 'Painting [Now]', Studio One Gallery, London
2017 'Pop', Herrick Gallery, London

2017 Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize, Mall Galleries, London
2016 DOK Artist Space, Edinburgh

2016 'Fly' @VAS, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2016 Featured in Fresh Paint Magazine, October

2016 Wilson Williams Gallery Solo Award shortlist

2016 Biscuit factory, Newcastle

2016 'Converge' @VAS, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2015 SSA, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh

2015 Blackcube Collective Annual, Gayfield Creative Spaces, Edinburgh
2015 Newave Gallery, Aberdeen

2015 Patriothall Gallery Ian Healy & Derek McGuire, Edinburgh
2013 Scottish Society of Artists, RSA, Edinburgh
2010 Crawford Municipal Gallery, Cork
2010 NewbloodArt, London
2007 ‘Bona Fide’ Patriothall Gallery Edinburgh, with Lynn Ahrens, Vakho Bugadze, Mikheil Gogrichiani, Mikheil Shengelia, Caroline Walker
2005 Embassy Gallery Edinburgh Arc Gallery, Chicago, U.S.A.
2004 Compass Gallery Glasgow
2004 London Art Fair (Compass Gallery)

Awards & Distinctions

S.S.A. Prize Winner 2000
Arts Council of Ireland Cultural Relations, Irish department of Foreign Affairs

Press & Media Coverage

2017 Floorr Magazine interview Issue 11
2017 Pleat Gallery interview

Collections

Crawford Municipal Art Gallery, Cork, Rep. of Ireland

Residencies

International Art Symposiium, Lithuania
Centre d’Art i Natura, Farrera, Catalunya, Spain