Peter Monaghan

Born in 1955, Peter Monaghan is an Irish artist living and working in Dublin. A graduate of the National College of Art and Design, he has worked as an award winning graphic designer, run his own graphics design business, worked as an art lecturer in the Dun Laoghaire College of Art and for the past decade, produced distinctive, sought after art pieces.

The result of his interest and research into the experience of looking, Monaghan’s work demands that the viewer actively participate in the dialogue. Every movement, tilt of the head or squint of an eye tests the ability to keep up with his inventions. The aesthetic pleasure derived is not just visual, but cerebral. Almost all of his work is comprised of colour planes attached to a single colour background. Considering the self-imposed limitations; the colour, size, rhythm and compositional associations have presented a complete variety of expression which, in turn, has proven to be infinitely adaptable. He articulates and orchestrates his colours to contrast and interact, while phrasing and placing complimentary elements. The desired effect is to make the viewer question what is real, and what is imagined; what is the foreground and background and why are the colours and shapes shifting. The work is a personal exploration of the relationship between two and three dimensions and the illusions that result from that exploration.

Monaghan’s work has been shown in Dublin, Bristol and London as well as mainland Europe, Asia and the USA. In 2010 he was awarded the National Allianz Business to Arts Award. His commissioned work can be seen in the V.I.P. Presidential Suite in Dublin Airport, the Gibson Hotel and the Beacon Clinic. He has produced large-scale installations for UCD’s scientific centre, The Marker hotel in collaboration with Scott Tallon Walker, and One Grand Parade in collaboration with O.M.S.