Artist to launch colourful solo exhibition at the Dockside
Artist Luke McTaggart is going solo for the first time at the Dockside Gallery in Tweedmouth, near Berwick, where he has previously exhibited in group shows.
In this first exhibition dedicated to his work, the Amble-based artist will present new paintings inspired by the area around his home along with others depicting Berwick and the River Tweed.
He has given it the title Full Colour, reflecting what he describes as his new approach to colour inspired by French painters of the early 20th Century, particularly those associated with the Fauvists or the Nabis.
The former favoured bold colours and wild brush strokes while the latter believed a painting should express thoughts and feelings rather than be a faithful depiction of a scene.
Luke explains: “Over the past year or so I’ve become really interested in the work of painters like (Pierre) Bonnard and (Andre) Derain who used very strong colours to create a kind of emotional intensity in their work”.
Deploying what he calls an “unnatural” palette, he sought to convey a deep sense of the places he and so many others love.
The Dockside Gallery, which you’ll find at the corner of Kiln Hill and Main Street, used to be a barber’s shop.
It was converted into a gallery by owner Mary Drummond after she moved from north west Scotland, where she had set up her first gallery in 2012, to Tweedmouth in 2017.
It has earned a loyal following by exhibiting work by a growing number of emerging and established artists from the North East and across the UK.
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It presents ever-changing mixed exhibitions and an autumn solo exhibition by selected artists.
Of the forthcoming exhibition, Mary says: “I discovered Luke’s work two years ago when some Dockside Gallery artists were painting on location in his home town of Amble.
“I was immediately struck by how Luke’s palette and brushstrokes evoke the mood of the Northumbrian landscape and his love for it.
“Be it a windswept beach, boats barely perceptible through the thick North Sea haar (dialect word for fog) or the sun setting on the neat straight lines of a modern housing estate, the feeling that comes across is of absolute connection to his surroundings.”
Of course, Luke isn’t the only artist to have been inspired by this coastline which might not strike some people as particularly colourful, especially when blanketed in that ‘haar’.
It was loved by L.S Lowry who is currently the subject of an acclaimed exhibition at the Granary Gallery, located not far away over the River Tweed in Berwick.
Luke’s Full Colour exhibition opens on Saturday, October 5 and will run until the 19th of the month. The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5.30pm.
Anyone wishing to attend the launch event is encouraged to join the Dockside Gallery mailing list via the website.
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Looking forward to this exhibition and seeing Luke’s new work in full colour.