Ian Healy

Ian Healy’s depiction of the contemporary figure navigate a precarious line where meaning meets form. His work using a variety of mediums, whether it is pastels, oil paint, or watercolour, are often produced in quick bursts to portray a sense of urgency and tension. 

He draws on a variety of sources including literature, film, comic books and art history. He uses humour, historic reference and the imagination to tell stories or narratives, that are brought alive with an exuberance of colours.

He was born in Cork City in the Republic of Ireland. He gained a degree in Painting from the Crawford College of Art & Design in 1992.

He has shown recently in a number of galleries in London, and his work is held in the collection of the Crawford Municipal Gallery, Ireland.

ARTIST STATEMENT


The phrase “ye” comes from old English and has poetic and religious connotations. It’s an unusual word with a certain sense of other worldliness or strangeness. It effectively means you, but in the plural sense. It’s me looking at you or ye. Or even you looking at me or others.

Ian Healy’s drawings centre around portraits and the figure, a subject that motivates him most.

His intention is to talk about the human condition. All our emotions, needs, wants and purpose are examined.

“It’s a universal ideal but it’s the most obvious thing for me.”

This recent body of work in “Ye” centres around the park and was a response to the pandemic climate. Fictitious figures and environments, often with a nod to art history, are drawn onto a semitransparent lokta paper, like ghosts or memories.

“I imagined characters inhabiting the park, the park became a kind of vessel for creating portraits and figures.”

Healy likes to put something awkward into a work, maybe in a portrait, something not quite right, “like having a stone in your shoe or a bird shitting on you,” he says. This, he says, makes more sense to him: it’s a reflection of the complexities of life.

“I often don’t know what’s coming in a drawing or painting. This is the exciting part; you might have an idea of what you want but through the process of working it can become an alternative.”

2022

  • DUEL

    Soft pastel on Nepalese Lokta Paper
    27 x 21 in / 69 x 54 cm (framed)
    2022

  • Evening Smoke

    Soft pastel on Nepalese Lokta Paper
    27 x 21 in / 69 x 54 cm (framed)
    2022

  • Prophet

    Soft pastel on Nepalese Lokta Paper
    27 x 21 in / 69 x 54 cm (framed)
    2022

  • Regular Man

    Soft pastel on Nepalese Lokta Paper, 69 x 54 cm 27 x 21 inches, 2022 (framed)

2021

  • Running Through The Park (Sold)

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    27.5 x 21.6 in / 69.85 x 54.86 cm
    (framed) 2021

  • Man and Dog In The Park (Sold)

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    27.5 x 21.6 in / 69.85 x 54.86 cm
    2021 (framed)

  • Walk Through the Park (Sold)

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    27.5 x 21.6 in / 69.85 x 54.86 cm
    2021 (framed)

  • Picnic In The Park (Sold)

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    27.5 x 21.6 in / 69.85 x 54.86 cm
    2021 (framed)

  • Park Life (Reserved)

    Charcoal on Lokta paper2
    7.5 x 21.6 in / 69.85 x 54.86 cm
    2021 (framed)

  • Park Man II

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    27.5 x 21.6 in / 69.85 x 54.86 cm
    2021 (framed)

  • Park Man

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    27.5 x 21.6 in / 69.85 x 54.86 cm
    2021

  • Work Head

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    8 x 11.5 in / 20.32 x 29.21 cm
    2021 (framed)

  • Trip To The Park

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    8 x 11.5 in / 20.32 x 29.21 cm
    2021 (framed)

  • Park Woman

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    8 x 11.5 in / 20.32 x 29.21 cm
    2021 (framed)

  • Park Kook (Sold)

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    8 x 11.5 in / 20.32 x 29.21 cm
    2021 (framed)

  • Listening

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    8 x 11.5 in / 20.32 x 29.21 cm
    2021 (framed)

  • Nature Girl

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    8 x 11.5 in / 20.32 x 29.21 cm
    2021 (framed)

  • Owner Head

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    8 x 11.5 in / 20.32 x 29.21 cm
    2021 (framed)

  • Commie Youth Head (Sold)

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    8 x 11.5 in / 20.32 x 29.21 cm
    2021 (framed)

  • Girl Near The Park

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    8.2 x 11.7 in / 20.82 x 29.71 cm
    ,2021 (framed)

  • Hangabout

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    8 x 11.5 in / 20.32 x 29.21 cm
    2021 (framed)

  • Condition

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    8 x 11.5 in / 20.32 x 29.21 cm
    2021

  • Head and Hand

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    8 x 11.5 in / 20.32 x 29.21 cm
    2021

  • Head and Switch

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    8 x 11.5 in / 20.32 x 29.21 cm
    2021

  • Head with Hat

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    8 x 11.5 in / 20.32 x 29.21 cm
    2021

  • Looking up In The Park

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    8 x 11.5 in / 20.32 x 29.21 cm
    2021 (framed)

  • Park Head (Full Moon)

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    8 x 11.5 in / 20.32 x 29.21 cm
    2021 (framed)

  • Park Head (Waving)

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    8 x 11.5 in / 20.32 x 29.21 cm
    2021

  • Park Head (Waving)

    Charcoal on Lokta paper, 8 x11.5 inches, 2021 (framed)


  • Park Head, Park Shock

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    8 x 11.5 in / 20.32 x 29.21 cm
    2021

  • Sleeper

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    8 x 11.5 in / 20.32 x 29.21 cm
    2021

  • The Lady

    Charcoal on Lokta paper
    8 x 11.5 in / 20.32 x 29.21 cm
    2021

2017 - 2018

  • The Lookout (Sold)

    Oil pastel on paper
    14.75 x 18 in / 37.46 x 45.72 cm
    2018 (framed)

  • The Plan (Sold)

    Oil pastel on paper,
    14.75 x 18 in / 37.46 x 45.72 cm
    2018 (framed)

  • The Lookout 2

    Oil pastel on paper
    14.75 x 18 in / 37.46 x 45.72 cm
    2018 (framed)

  • The Lookout 2

    Oil pastel on paper
    14.75 x 18 in / 37.46 x 45.72 cm
    2018 (framed)

  • Spotter

    Oil pastel on paper
    14.75 x 18 in / 37.46 x 45.72 cm
    2018 (framed)

  • Smuggling Spinster

    Oil pastel on paper,
    14.75 x 18 in / 37.46 x 45.72 cm
    2018 (framed)

  • Smuggler 2 (Sold)

    Oil pastel on paper,
    14.75 x 18 in / 37.46 x 45.72 cm
    2018 (framed)

  • The Lookout 1 (Sold)

    Oil pastel on pape
    14.75 x 18 in / 37.46 x 45.72 cm
    2018 (framed)

  • Headless (Sold)

    Oil pastel on paper
    14.75 x 18 in / 37.46 x 45.72 cm
    2018 (framed)

  • Head (Sold)

    Oil pastel on paper
    14.75 x 18 in / 37.46 x 45.72 cm
    2018 (framed)

  • Contraband

    Oil pastel on paper
    14.75 x 18 in / 37.46 x 45.72 cm
    2018 (framed)

  • Book Minder (Sold)

    Oil pastel on paper
    14.75 x 18 in / 37.46 x 45.72 cm
    2018 (framed)

  • Book Lady 2 (Sold)

    Oil on cardboard
    15.25 x 20 in x 38.73 x 50.8 cm
    2018 (framed)

  • Book Dance

    Oil on cardboard
    20.5 x 27.5 in / 52.07 x 69.85 cm
    2018 (framed)

  • 60’s Smoker (Sold)

    Oil pastel on paper
    14.75 x 18 in / 37.46 x 45.72 cm
    2018 (framed)

  • Bouffant (Sold)

    Oil pastel on paper
    14.75 x 18 in / 37.46 x 45.72 cm
    2018 (framed)

  • Entertainer

    Oil on paper
    15.6 x 19.6 in / 39.37 x 49.78 cm
    2017 (framed)

  • Hurdy Gurdy Man (Sold)

    Oil pastel on paper
    14.75 x 18 in / 37.46 x 45.72 cm
    2018 (framed)

  • Smuggler

    Oil pastel on paper
    14.75 x 18 in / 37.46 x 45.72 cm2
    018 (framed)

  • The Rest (Sold)

    Oil pastel on paper
    14.75 x 18 in / 37.46 x 45.72 cm
    2018 (framed)

  • The View (Sold)

    Graphite, watercolour and pastel on paper
    11 x 15 in / 27.94 x 38.1 cm
    2017 (framed)

  • Daffodils (Sold)

    Oil Pastel on Paper
    11.5 x 8.25 in / 27.94 x 20.95 cm
    2018 (framed)

  • Devotee (Sold)

    Oil pastel on Paper
    11.5 x 8.25 in / 29.21 x 20.95 cm
    2018 (framed)

  • Book Smuggler (Sold)

    Watercolour on Paper
    11.5 x 8.25 in / 29.21 x 20.95
    2018 (framed)

  • Corner Man (Sold)

    Oil Pastel on Paper
    11.5 x 8.25 in / 29.21 x 20.95 cm
    2018 (framed)

  • Migrant (Sold)

    Oil on paper
    34.5 x 26.5 in / 87.63 x 67.31 cm
    2017 (framed)

  • The Messenger (Sold)

    Oil Pastel on Paper
    8.25 x 11.5 in / 20.95 x 29.21 cm
    2018 (framed)

  • Book in the Woods (Sold)

    Oil pastel on paper
    18.5 x 14.4 in / 46.99 x 36.57 cm
    2018 (framed)

  • Export (Sold)

    Oil Pastel on Paper
    11 x 15 in / 27.94 x 38.1 cm
    2018 (framed)

Next

Adam Archer