“If you could say it in words there would be no reason to paint.” -Edward Hopper

This group of paintings are a continuation of works exhibited last summer at RePUBlic gallery in Blyth. There is a further exploration of themes I began to grasp in those works; transient feeling, the painting process, it’s internal logic, as well as the specifics of place, and my relationship to it. In terms of geography, these works continue to explore Morwick, Amble and Warkworth, but in terms of their nature as paintings, I have found myself more and more involved with notions of layering.

Each painting is formed out of a series of revisions, alterations and erasures – thin veils of paint layered one across the next in alternating fashions, gradually revealing the structure of the image. The fuel for this activity is feeling, the landscape gathered and recollected in the studio. I have found that the feeling that has defined these works is that of reflection – predominantly reflections on the end of summer. Something that seems so distant as I write this with snow on the ground.

This exhibition could be regarded as the quieter, more subdued, sibling to the July exhibition.

Luke McTaggart Bio

Luke McTaggart is a painter from Amble, Northumberland. He has exhibited widely, including in group shows at the Royal Scottish Academy and at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art. Recent exhibitions include ‘Light Takes The Tree’ at RePUBlic Gallery in Blyth in 2025, ‘Full Colour’ at Dockside Gallery in Berwick-upon-Tweed and ‘Horizons’ at Bailiffgate Museum & Gallery in Alnwick.

In 2022 he was awarded a Highly Commended Prize at the Woodhorn Museum Open Exhibition for his painting ‘Northumbrian Dusk’. In 2023 he was shortlisted for the North East Emerging Artist Prize at Seaton Delaval Hall. Alongside his regular painting practice, he also co-directs the organisation Dovecote Street Arts alongside Jim Donnelly, which aims to promote the visual arts in Amble and the surrounding area.

Private View on Sunday 15th February 2-4pm