Jonathan Luke is a multimedia artist, based in the Scottish Highlands and Wimbledon, though his work is undoubtedly influenced by East Sutherland. Initially a Fine Artist, Luke's work took a directional change following a period of study at the Slade School of Fine Art in 2010.
At first glance, much of his work can be characterised by geometric abstraction with traces of representation, but closer observation presents something more. Luke works by painting onto a canvas that has been placed flatly onto a wall. This allows for vigorous paint application and sometimes crude mark-making. On occasions, the paint is sanded back against the rough studio wall to leave a distressed, tangibly satisfying quality.
In Autumn of 2013, Luke delivered an impressive solo of 54 artworks with the Russian Academy of Arts, in conjunction with the Moscow Museum of Modern Art.
Guided by the inner rhythms of the places he explores, Luke patiently searches for the right nuances of colour, the correct distortion of objects in a composition and the balance of multiple perspectives. The outcome of patience and perfectionism, Luke’s canvas portrays the landscape on the edge between fantasy and reality, inhabited with the silhouettes of people and the ghosts of buildings.
At first glance, much of his work can be characterised by geometric abstraction with traces of representation, but closer observation presents something more. Luke works by painting onto a canvas that has been placed flatly onto a wall. This allows for vigorous paint application and sometimes crude mark-making. On occasions, the paint is sanded back against the rough studio wall to leave a distressed, tangibly satisfying quality.
In Autumn of 2013, Luke delivered an impressive solo of 54 artworks with the Russian Academy of Arts, in conjunction with the Moscow Museum of Modern Art.
Guided by the inner rhythms of the places he explores, Luke patiently searches for the right nuances of colour, the correct distortion of objects in a composition and the balance of multiple perspectives. The outcome of patience and perfectionism, Luke’s canvas portrays the landscape on the edge between fantasy and reality, inhabited with the silhouettes of people and the ghosts of buildings.
