Sarah Longley was born in Belfast in 1975, daughter of internationally distinguished poet Michael Longley and academician Dr Edna Longley. She studied art at Manchester University and later, at Edinburgh College of Art. While at college she won a number of prizes for outstanding artistic merit and was awarded a first class honours B.A. in painting and drawing before going on to earn her masters degree in that field. She continues to reside and work in Edinburgh with regular visits to Ireland.
Sarah is undoubtedly one of the brightest young talents to burst on the Irish art scene in recent years. Her work is a personal response to her surroundings, with her subject -matter ranging from intimate domestic interiors, still lives with flowers and fabrics to portraits of friends and family and self portraits. She is an extremely accomplished draughtswoman, drawing in charcoal from the posed female model with strength and scale characteristic of earlier masters such as Sir William Orpen RA and Roderic O’Conor. She succeeds in rendering the human form with amazing sureness and skill, and when she switches to acrylics and oils she reveals an equal facility, with the added attraction of a joyous colour sense. The skill and anatomical insights revealed in her nude figures suggest probable knowledge of and admiration for the paintings of Roderic O’Conor who also mostly painted the female figure in bright post-impressionist colours. Her humanity and empathy towards the subject is tangible. When she runs out of models she reverts to self-portraiture, wearing different items of eye-catching garments and adornments and posing herself in interesting interior arrangements. She paints and draws quickly, energetically and instinctively and sees endless future possibilities in a time-honoured tradition that eschews modernity.
Sarah Longley also loves to paint intimate domestic interiors in addition to well-ordered still life compositions involving flowers, exotic fabrics in vibrant colours and various household items. A strong sense of light pervades all of her work which she carries out in a spontaneous and uninhibited manner that is gloriously refreshing. The public response to her art has been immediate, as her work has grown in strength and elegance, demonstrating increasing confidence and distinction.
Sarah is a regular exhibitor with the Peppercanister Gallery with three successful one-person shows under her belt. She has been the recipient of many prizes for art in her young but meteoric career. Her work has been avidly bought by major corporate and private collections. She presents her fourth solo exhibition of interiors and nudes at the Peppercanister in January/February 2007.
