The Molesworth is delighted to present, Bathers, an exhibition of new work by Gareth Reid. In this, his second solo exhibition at the gallery, Gareth returns to the figure. Like the Winter Swimmers in Finland, that were the subject of his last show, he situates his subjects outdoors. The work is instinctive and direct; it remained fluid until finished so that observed or found objects could be added at any point to balance the compositions. As a result, the images hover between a directly-observed rendering of reality and an amalgam of gathered visual references that gives them a fantastical, almost uncanny atmosphere. The muted palette of colours employed adds to this sense of the unreal.
Born in Belfast in 1974, Gareth is a graduate of the Glasgow School of Art. He is a former winner of the BP Travel Award and has exhibited five times at the BP Portrait Award Exhibition in the National Portrait Gallery, London. He has had previous solo exhibitions at the Dickon Hall Gallery, Belfast, and at Compass Gallery, Glasgow. He lives and works in Glasgow, where he is a visiting lecturer at the Glasgow School of Art.
CURRICULUM VITAE
Solo Exhibitions
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
2008 BP Travel Award, National Portrait Gallery London
Islington Art Fair, London (Compass Gallery)
2007 BP Portrait Award, National Portrait Gallery London
Small Works, Ava Gallery, Clandeboye
Discerning Eye, London (Invited Artist)
Royal Ulster Academy, Belfast
2006 Figure and Space, Ava Gallery, Clandeboye
Islington Art Fair, London (Compass Gallery)
2005 Modern Masters, Ava Gallery, Clandeboye
Islington Art Fair, London (Compass Gallery)
2004 Islington Art Fair, London (Compass Gallery)
2002 Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
Beaux Arts Gallery, Bath
The Hunting Art Prize, Royal College of Art, London
2001 Bulkhead Art Prize Finalist, Glasgow
2000 BP Portrait Award, National Portrait Gallery, London
Royal Ulster Academy, Belfast
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
1999 BP Portrait Award, National Portrait Gallery, London
1998 BP Portrait Award, National Portrait Gallery, London
Drawing Open, Cheltenham and Berlin
Awards
2007 BP Travel Award Winner
2007 Regional Award, Discerning Eye
2006 Collioure Residency, France
2001 Bulkhead Art Prize, Finalist
Talks
2008 Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen
National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh
National Portrait Gallery, London
Public Collections
The Royal Bank of Scotland, Edinburgh (Portrait of Sir George Mathewson)
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland
Ralph Lauren, New York
Education
1998/1999 Florence Academy of Art
1993/1996 Glasgow School of Art
1992/1993 University of Ulster
