Pete Monaghan

Works
Biography
Pete Monaghan
“My work always begins with sketching on location. Subsequently re-sketching many times in the studio in order to interpret and understand. Only when I have drawn sufficiently do I feel the freedom to splash and pour paint, enticing abstraction, entering into a dialogue of controlling and letting go.  The work is concerned with vernacular architecture. I am interested in the "wabi-sabi" effect; the beauty in the hidden, the modest, the decaying or the unnoticed.”
Pete Monaghan was born in Stroud, Gloucestershire, of Anglo-Irish parentage and is currently working in Aberystwyth, Wales and in Southern Germany. He trained initially in mechanical engineering and then technical illustration. Subsequently he spent over twenty years in Germany working as an illustrator.  In 2012 he completed an MA in Fine Art at Aberystwyth University. Inspired by vernacular architecture, he likes to tap into the special energy of place.  From initial sketches in the open, he refines and reworks images in the studio, creating work which is full of energy and tension. It celebrates the beauty and dignity of humble buildings.  Pete enjoys collaging everyday objects into his paintings, there are often pieces of coffee cups, maps and corrugated cardboard to be discovered. Portions of each painting are retained as drawn elements to reflect the fragility and temporality of the structures. Pete's work is part representation, part visceral interpretation.