Gerhardt Gallagher

Biography

Gerhardt was born in Waterford, educated at De la Salle College, and qualified in forestry at UCD. He studied art at Waterford Technical College, NCAD, Black Church and Airfield Print Studios and was also self taught. He has been exhibiting since the 1960s.

He works in aquatint, hard and soft ground, drypoint etching, and also with oils, acrylics and watercolours. Drawing and sketching have always featured in his work and his numerous sketchbooks are used as an archive for current themes. Style has varied from hard edge figurative to more stylised representational landscapes with figures which also are reflected in his prints.

Venues include: Garter Lane, Dundalk, Castlebar, James Joyce, and Ranelagh Art Centres; Malton, Kennedy, Combridges, Bective, Kirk, Grace O’Malley, Greenacres,RHA, Grey Friars and Kenny Galleries; also Irish Life, Microsoft, Bank of Ireland, Arnotts, Liberty Hall, UL Glucksman Library, Rathfarnham Castle, Phoenix Park OPW Centre, Goethe Institute and open exhibitions in Ireland and abroad.

Collections include: Waterford Municipal, Arts Council, Airfield Trust, VEC, Blackchurch PS, RTE, Comhaltas Ceoilteoiri,, Office of Public Works, Madigan and Co., Bausch and Lomb and other Business and Private collections in Ireland, UK, US, France, Sweden, Germany, Canada, China and Finland.

Some recent exhibitions are: Enter into Art print and mixed media exhibitions, Konigswinter. Cologne and Rhineland centres 2017-2020, Greenacres Gallery print selections, Wexford. 2018-2020, VUE Art Fair , RHA Gallery 2017-2019, BCPS Showcase 2020, QuBi International Mini-print Exchange, Vicensa, Italy 2019, Impressions Biennale, Ways and Byways at the Ranelagh Arts Festival, 2018 was his 20th one/two person exhibition.

Gerhardt is a fulltime member of BCPS and a professinal member of VAI.

Statement

My work as a visual artist is evolving over time. I’ve been drawing almost since I could walk, and have exhibited since the sixties with with a variety of media, oil, acrylic, pencil and ink and more recently etching, using my sketchbooks, which accompany me at home and when travelling, as source material. While I’ve gone through a few phases, variations on one theme, figures on a landscape, come up in many of my images, perhaps reflecting the German romantics. This was in a semi abstract way in some of my earlier work which comprised hard edged space and time paintings, and later on, as Max Ernst said, ‘with one eye open and one shut’ in a later series of historical/mythological themes. My work has since then moved towards a more stylised representational approach and I’m increasingly drawn to woodland, shore and rock motifs. In earlier works figures often dominated but more recently they take a more diminished role. Maybe its a mellowing process.

I came to etching and printing in the late nineties and became a full member of Black Church studio some eight years ago. Aquatint combined with hard and soft ground as well as dry point etching fits in with my continuing involvement in drawing and composition and I find the discipline of the process increasing a successful image rewarding. My grandmother was a well known etcher and painter of the North German land and seascape so there may be something in the genes also. Print images are all based on my drawings and tend to follow a somewhat painterly landscape route using gradation and contrast in light and shade which aquatint allows.