Winner of Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2017.
Born in Belfast, Gareth studied at University of Ulster, Glasgow School of Art and Florence Academy of Art, and now lives and works in Glasgow.
He has shown on five occasions at the BP Portrait Award in the National Portrait Gallery in London, and in 2007 won the BP Travel Award. Having travelled to Finland, he gave talks on his work in the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh and the National Portrait Gallery, London. His work has been published by the NPG.
Previous commissions include Graham Norton for the National Gallery of Ireland, retiral portraits of Sir George Mathewson and Stephen Hester for RBS, Lord Gill and Billy Connolly. His work is held in the collections of RBS, Ralph Lauren, The Old Bailey, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the National Gallery of Ireland.
Gareth is a portraiture and life drawing tutor previously in Con Ed at Glasgow School of Art, and currently at the Centre for Lifelong Learning, Strathclyde University. He also runs his his own drawing classes around Glasgow.
Solo Exhibitions
2017 Heads, Molesworth Gallery, Dublin
2017 Portrait Drawings, The Art Space, Cass Art Glasgow
2013 Bathers, Molesworth Gallery, Dublin
2011 Seven Paintings, Dickon Hall Ltd, Belfast
2011 Recent Works, Molesworth Gallery, Dublin
2010 Long Before, Dickon Hall Ltd, Belfast
2007 Black Mirror, Ava Gallery, Clandeboye
2006 Small Paintings and Works on Paper, Ava Gallery, Clandeboye
2004 Everything Remains, Ava Gallery, Clandeboye
2002 Compass Gallery, Glasgow
2001 Elaine Somers Gallery, Belfast
2000 Elaine Somers Gallery, Belfast
1997 Lloyd Jerome Gallery, Glasgow
Two-Person Exhibitions
2001 Charcoal Willy, WMS Gallery, Glasgow
Selected Group Exhibitions (1998 - 2017)
Sky Arts Winners Exhibition, Wallace Collection, London
BP Travel Award, National Portrait Gallery London
Dickon Hall Ltd, Belfast Ava Gallery, Clandeboye
Islington Art Fair (Compass Gallery), London
BP Portrait Award, National Portrait Gallery London
Discerning Eye (Invited Artist), London
Royal Glasgow Institute, Glasgow
Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
Royal Ulster Academy, Belfast
Hunting Art Prize, London
Beaux Arts Gallery, Bath
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
Bulkhead Art Prize Finalist, Glasgow
Elaine Somers Gallery, Belfast
Drawing Open, (Jerwood Drawing Prize) Cheltenham and Berlin
Awards
2017 Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year
2012 Perpetual Silver Medal, Royal Ulster Academy
2007 BP Travel Award Winner
2007 Regional Award, Discerning Eye
2006 Collioure Residency, France
2001 Bulkhead Art Prize, Finalist
Talks
National Gallery of Ireland
Gray's School of Art, Aberdeen
National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh
National Portrait Gallery, London
Public Collections
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Belfast
The Old Bailey, London
Ralph Lauren, New York
Private Collections
Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Italy, USA
Education
1998/1999 Florence Academy of Art
1993/1996 Glasgow School of Art
1992/1993 University of Ulster