A trans-media enquiry into the humanesque.
I am an Irish artist based in London, fusing my first degree in Engineering with a Masters in Fine Art. My practice is an interplay between the mediums of oil painting and time-based digital media, feeding off an underlying urge to make the pixel more visceral. I have won several awards for my work, and am an elected member of The London Group and ArtCan. As of September 2024, I am enrolled in the Turps Off-Site painting development programme.
My creative focus is an enquiry of the body and human condition – the “humanesque”. I have a particular fascination with the skin, which I see as an interface between the person within and the world around us.
Through my paintings, I aim to reveal the body as an unending site of reinvention, an exploration of what it means to be human in a rapidly evolving world. The work draws inspiration from the concept of spolia, reimagining the human form through fragmentation and reclamation. I use paint to dismantle and rebuild the body, presenting it as a site of tension between genetic inheritance and the possibilities of transformation. As an artist with a fascination for the human body/condition, exploring that through oil paint, nudged by an interest in Sci-Fi, I have been working what is generically called drafting film as one of my preferred support materials. The following article talks about my use of Canon Double Matte 145 micron Film.
The digital work in my practice centres on collaboration with actual people to explore aspects of what/who they are, thus, there is a realness which feeds the rich imagery. Often, this includes mappings of ‘non-normative’ bodies (although I do not believe that any body can truly be called ‘normal’ per se), and digital investigations of the human body as a celebrated, objectified, abstracted form.
Creatively, my roots are firmly planted in the Renaissance when the exploration of the body was led by artists. Nurtured by an interest in Sci-Fi and transhumanism, those roots have grown, bypassing the Enlightenment, feeding on a few 20th and 21st century artists, and up to the present moment. Now, I am exploring the near future evolution of humans.
An ongoing project in my practice is Birth Sleeves. Taken from Richard Morgan’s Altered Carbon, ‘sleeve’ is the term used for bodies that serve as a receptacle for the human consciousness. The body an individual is born with is called their Birth Sleeve. The Birth Sleeves project manifests as a body of research which has been presented across multiple solo shows, an ambitious curatorial project in collaboration with a group of 16 international artists, and has served as an impetus for the creation of numerous new artworks.
I have exhibited extensively in Europe, Australia/New Zealand, Thailand and the US, including the Vigeland Museum, Oslo; Goldsmiths University of London; Auckland Uni of Technology; Kings College London; Arco Madrid; Guildhall Gallery (City of London Corp); Portland State University; Ars Electronica; Chiang Mai University; and the London Group.
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Awards
Winner of the Schauerman Digital Art Prize at the London Group Open.
The Schauerman Prize for Digital Art, awarded to Jonathan Armour for Sleeve Shock, a time-based digital work representing an interplay between both oil painting and digital mediums to investigate the human body.
‘‘We were blown away by the strange beauty of ‘Sleeve Shock,’ and Jonathan Armour’s remarkable 3D video techniques. We look forward to seeing what he does next,’’ shares Nicola Schauerman, Genetic Moo.
Ars Electronica Animation Festival 2023 selects The Needlecast Rhapsody.
The Needlecast Rhapsody was showcased at the Ars Electronica centre in Linz Austria, and also at Deep Space 8K as part of Bodies, Data, Space. Then later The Needlecast Rhapsody will be part of the Animation Festival on Tour.
Winner of the NTU X Vieunite ART PRIZE 2022
The judging panel included Dr Benedict Carpenter van Barthold, Principal Lecturer Fine Art at NTU, Yasmin Canvin, freelance curator & artit, and Tom Godfrey, Director of the Bonington Gallery choose Specimen 07 as the first prize winner. Specimens
Second prize winner at the New York Centre for Photographic Arts 2022.
Mappa Mundi Inscribed won second prize at the exhibition “The Human Body” selected by juror Darren Ching of the Klompching Gallery of Brooklyn NY.
Arts Council England grant for participation in the Perfection / Speculation Residency, 2020.
ACE funded my involvement in the residency at Praksis in Oslo, Norway.
Gilead Sciences awarded £6000 sponsorship for InSideShow VR research project, 2017.
Infinite Surface was made in collaboration with Prof. Richard Sawdon Smith, and challenges the stigma attached to living with HIV. With the advent of effective medication many HIV+ people now have undetectable viral-loads, which promise non-transmission, however there still exists one indelible mark – stigma. Continuing the Infinite Surface collaboration with Richard Sawdon Smith, a “micro-drone” is sent deep inside Richard’s HIV+ body, seeking out the virus in vain. The development of this film into a VR installation was supported by the pharmaceutical company Gilead, the main provider of PrEP.
QUALIFICATIONS
2013-15, MA in Fine Art, City and Guilds School of Art, London.
2012-13, Foundation Diploma in Art and Design, City Lit College, London.
Previously, BSc Engineering, University of Bath.
COMMISSIONS
Commissioned to create 5 new works for “All our tomorrows…” conference, King’s College, London, curated by Gabriel Gbadamosi and Jonathan Meth, KCL Arts and Humanities Festival 2017.