Artist in Focus - Getting to know Jamie Gallagher

This week we take a look at the work, inspiration, and techniques used by artist Jamie Gallagher. An artist from Bath who describes his work as a type of therapy, and his reasons for originally getting stuck into the world of graphic design.

Founder and creative strategist at brand design agency Hello, Jamie Gallagher uses incredible layers in this paintings to convey the visceral themes in which he finds beauty. You'll find waves of deep impasto oils contrasted with flashes of spray paint highlight, sumptuously set atop the textured canvas underneath.

Jamie describes his painting as a therapy, originally conceived to help process the loss of two close friends. From this he found his creative flow in the medium, and constantly pushed to develop his work further.

A graphic designer by trade, Jamie originally got into design through a love of comics. Choosing Art College over A levels, Jamie has now spent over 20 years working in the design industry. 

"It's the people and variety that have made it such a fascinating job - as a designer you essentially solve problems, and that's addictive, so combining that with meeting new people and finding out all about them makes for a pretty varied and interesting job"

Jamie saw a talent gap in the pool of talent by only employing from the traditional uni system. Instead he, alongside a selection of other design professionals founded Werkhouse. Through weekend workshops made up of young designers led by a Senior Designer, participants work through creative briefs in an environment where they can contribute and collaborate. This in turn provides invaluable experiences that they can take out into the industry.

Drawing connection from the materials and tactility of the painting process, Jamie describes his process as instinctive rather than preconceived. His last show, Post Normality Reality Disorder, addressed the current effects on society of the extremities of social and cultural disruption. Not aiming to create work that fits a mass style, Jamie enjoys that his work seems more to resonate with people on a personal level.

"My work explores the concept of 'identity', as individuals are forced to experience psychological and emotional challenge, probably because of the relatively traumatic experiences that inspired me to start"

Love Jamie's work? visit our Artist pages to see a selection of available pieces.

Each week we will take a look at one of our resident artists with our Artist in Focus blog, we will also share more about their work and insight into the artists on our social media. Sign up to our newsletter to get our Artist in Focus Blog delivered to your inbox every 2 weeks.