Exhibition by Luke Teague opens at London Irish Centre

Sean Sorohan with Luke Teague at the show

Paintings by young up-and-coming artist Luke Teague were shown at an exhibition which opened at the London Irish Centre in Camden on Friday evening. The evening was introduced by author Sean Sorohan who wrote: 'Irish London During the Troubles' (See: ICN 17 October 2012 www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=21261)

Although born and brought up in London, Luke still feel a strong affinity with his Irish heritage. In this exhibition he explores his background and themes related to it through a series of 12 paintings and one drawing. He paints in oils on canvas in an expressionist style and feels his paintings “are a language only the eyes can read”.

‘The Place’ is based on his memories of a family farm in County Down where his grandmother grew up and his mother spent many holidays. He looks at family memories of the past through ‘Farm of Dreams’ and ‘Wild West’, the latter highlighting the stormy and wet weather his grandfather used to experience in County Mayo, living close to the elements. ‘Tractor Boys’ highlights the experience of his mother’s brothers who loved playing on the tractor during summer holidays in County Down. ‘Ancient landscape’ notes the strong ties Irish people have with the land.

‘Crossroads’ moves into the area of choosing new paths in life, paying tribute to the generations of young Irish men and women who emigrated and are still emigrating to seek work overseas. ‘The Crossing’ focuses on the boats which used to take them across the Irish Sea, and the largest silhouette is the Duke of Argyll which was in service on this route 1956-1975. ‘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”, featuring a swan, which is a bird of Irish mythology.

The life of the Irish community in London is highlighted with ‘A Place of Welcome’, a painting of the London Irish Centre in Camden, which has supported the needs of Irish emigrants in London since 1954. ‘Church and Meeting Place’ notes that for many Irish, their social life revolved around their local Catholic parish, and Our Lady Help of Christians at Kentish Town has had a large Irish community for at least six decades. ‘Reminiscing’ pictures an old man reflecting on his life experiences.

In his self-portrait ‘Identity’ Luke Teague recognises his Irish roots, whilst appreciating his life in multi-ethnic London.

Praising the show, Sean Sorohan said: "This exhibition is seminal. As far as I’m aware it represents the first time a third generation Irish artist has expressed himself and his heritage in such a manner – indeed it follows on wonderfully thematically and contrasts stylistically with the Irish born artist Bernard Canavan’s work on the London Irish and the second-generation Mike Cahillane’s art which graced these halls over the past year."

The exhibition runs until 14 March 2013. For more information visit: www.luketeague.com

The full text of Sean Sorohan's speech follows:

Ties That Bind

When I was writing my book, Irish London During the Troubles, I focused some research on the issues of identity faced by many of those who were born here to Irish parents. People saw themselves in many different ways, whether it be ‘Irish’, English, a bit of both or London Irish. However, one of the key themes to emerge was that all, without fail, felt at some point in their lives an inexorable draw back to the island from which their parents came. Each expressed this in a different way – some fanatically supported Irish sports teams, some engaged in research for family history, others played music, read history, danced, played Gaelic games. The richness of Irish culture has allowed the second-generation Irish to play huge roles in many different fields.

And now it seems it’s the turn of the of the third-generation Irish in London to be confused about their identities, to be drawn back to the wonders of the shores whence their ancestors departed and to express themselves and their experiences culturally. Luke and I are both Irish through our grandparents, who in Luke’s case were from Counties Mayo and Down, and we both have had very similar experiences growing up. Luke and I were both born and brought up in London and are privileged to have lived most of our lives in this great city. We have both attended Catholic schools, indeed I have known him since he was in my younger brother’s class at St Josephs’ Primary School. We were lucky enough to go to universities in this country – even luckier to have got in before they cost £9000 a year. And we have both throughout our lives been acutely aware of how we are bound by strong ties to our Irish backgrounds and have sought to explore them in our own ways. Indeed, perhaps the only significant difference between Luke and me is that I can’t draw to save my life.

So as you can imagine that Luke’s artistic exploration of Ireland and his Irish heritage holds a fascination for me, as I hope it will for many others of Irish extraction.

Luke’s paintings cover many prescient themes for the Irish in London. Indeed, one might see them as a running commentary of the diasporic story – the 14 stations of London Irish perhaps.

The Ancient Landscape of Ireland wonderfully portrays the harsh world from which most of the post war emigrants came. I think that the painting’s contrast between the landscape itself and the darkness of the colours brings to mind that paradox of many parts of Ireland where the beauty of the landscape belies the difficulty of actually living on the land. That difficulty is undoubtedly the underlying reason that has driven millions to leave their homes for a new life across the world.

One of the first sights on this journey of emigration would have been a set of rural crossroads. Luke’s painting, ‘the crossroads’, portrays this iconic imagine of Ireland. The movement implicit in the painting is reminiscent of the dancing that took place at such crossroads for centuries. The painting is also indicative of the several difficult choices a young emigrant had to take – to leave or not, England or America, London or Birmingham. This theme of choice in life is one that chimes in each of us, emigrant or not.

The Migrant and the Crossing picture parts of the journey that Irish people took when travelling to this country. The Migrant picks up on the loneliness that emigration can engender – the migrant is not alone on the road but is noticeably distant from his fellow traveller. This brings to mind what Father Bobby Gilmore, once of this Centre, said to me, ‘the internal journey is the hardest of them all.’

The darkness of the ‘Crossing’, which pictures the cattle ships crossing at night, captures the sense of loss and foreboding that is present in so many memoirs of emigrants. John B Keane for instance, remembered that ‘The younger men were drunk…to forget the dreadful loneliness of having to leave home…[There was] a communal feeling of tragedy which embraced us all.’

A Place of Welcome is a painting of this centre, which served as the first home for many of those stumbling off the train at Euston with little idea where to head and continues six decades later to provide a cultural home for the Irish in London. One cannot understate the importance of this centre and others in providing Little Irelands for people here in London, giving pastoral care, a temporary home and a place to have the craic. Places such as this and more exclusively social clubs such as the Galtymore enabled the Irish to feel at home here and are major reasons why so many Irish in London talk about their younger years as a time of freedom and joy rather than the ‘tragedy’ that many feared in the English Capital.

I think that the towering Spire in ‘Church and Meeting Place’ is particularly adept in illustrating the huge role that the Catholic Church has played in the lives of the Irish in London. The Church provided a spiritual rock for a good majority of first generation emigrants and it’s moral and religious teachings have continued to play enormous roles in the lives of subsequent generations, whether they have believed or not. But almost equally as significant was the social role that the Church played as a ‘meeting place’ – parish clubs and halls were the centre of the social universe for many emigrants. This was illustrated by one of the quotes that sticks in my head from my research which expressed the eminently understandable sentiment that, ‘A big plus [of the Sacred Heart in Kilburn] was the number of Irish girls who went there...’.

‘I never stopped missing my home village’ is the quote that accompanies ‘Wild West’, an evocative picture of the harsh landscape of the west of Ireland that so many emigrants came from. The sense of loss and a powerful myth of eventual return to Ireland remained a feature in the lives of so many of the Irish in this country. In my experience Irish emigrants never fail to refer to Ireland as ‘Home’, regardless of how long they have been away, and this sense of a spiritual home being somewhere other than the physical reality has infused Hibernian music and literature since at least the nineteenth century. Luke’s paintings, ‘Reminiscing’ and ‘Farm of Dreams’ also touch on this theme of endlessly looking backwards towards Ireland.

One of the second-generation interviewees for my book said that he still gets butterflies when he drives over the hill to see the farmhouse that he used to stay in in Ireland as a boy. Trips to Ireland were hugely important in instilling a ‘dual sense of home’ and Luke’s paintings pick up on this diasporic story – ‘The Place’ and ‘Tractor Boys’ being inspired by his mother’s and uncles’ memories of visiting ‘home’ during their childhood. The ‘Tractor boys’ will certainly chime with my family as a trip to Longford almost always involves a lesson or two in the workings of farm machinery.

The exhibition culminates with a self-portrait of a modern young man, a Londoner, an artist, but one nevertheless infused with wonder at the history of Ireland and the experiences of emigration in his family that has gone into creating him.

This exhibition is seminal. As far as I’m aware it represents the first time a third generation Irish artist has expressed himself and his heritage in such a manner – indeed it follows on wonderfully thematically and contrasts stylistically with the Irish born artist Bernard Canavan’s work on the London Irish and the second-generation Mike Cahillane’s art which graced these halls over the past year.

In this time of renewed emigration to London, it is of huge importance that the existing Irish community in the capital express what the experience of being London Irish has been like for us and our parents and grandparents. Cultural events like this exhibition help the existing community reflect on itself but also help new emigrants draw on the experiences of those who came before them, reflect on the binds that join Irish people across the world back to the auld sod and to each other and engender understanding across generations.

On top of all this reflection on significance, I should of course point out that each of these paintings would look fantastic above your fireplace and no doubt represent a shrewd investment.

Last year I wrote an article for the Irish Post suggesting that the Irish born here should be proud enough of both sides of our heritage to be able to use the term ‘Irish Briton’ in describing our national identity. While common use of such a term may never be adopted, both sides of Luke’s heritage, that from Ireland and that from Britain, can be proud for having provided the inspiration for a truly talented artist.

 The exhibition runs until 14 March 2013. For more information visit: www.luketeague.com