London artist launches exhibition with Irish theme

Luke Teague

A young London artist is launching his exhibition ‘Ties that Bind’ during February, looking at links with his Irish heritage and themes relevant to the Irish community in London.

One of the paintings – of Our Lady Help of Christians in Kentish Town – highlights that for many Irish people, their social life revolved around their local parish. Kentish Town parish has had a large Irish community for at least six decades.

Luke Teague’s exhibition opens at the London Irish Centre in Camden on the evening of Friday 8 February and will run for a month. The painting ‘A Place of Welcome’, shows the Centre, which has been supporting the needs of Irish emigrants in London since 1954.

Born and brought up in Harrow, Luke Teague’s maternal grandmother and grandfather were Irish. They married and settled in West London in the mid-1950s.

The painting ‘Crossroads’ points to choosing new paths in life, and for many Irish this has meant migration to London. Another painting ‘Ripples of life’ picks up on the Seamus Heaney quote, “I have begun to think of life as a series of ripples widening out from an original centre”.

In his self-portrait ‘Identity’ Luke Teague explores the influences that shape the person he is today. The creativity and resourcefulness of the Irish community are part of that.

8 February - 8 March 2013
London: Ties That Bind
Exhibition of paintings by Luke Teague
At London Irish Centre,
Camden Square, NW1 9XB
Tel: 020 7916 2222 for more information.