Ian Burke’s work on exhibition at Staithes Gallery

Ian Burke was born in Saltburn and was brought up in Redcar. After studying Fine Art at Newcastle University he followed his father’s footsteps and worked as a labourer on the North Sea oil rigs for two years before continuing his studies at Goldsmith’s College, London.
Formerly a resident of Staithes, he now lives close by on the North York Moors and the village continues to inspire him. Many of his strong, unsentimental images depict its boats and buildings and the fishing industry which remains at the heart of this community.
Ian is a dedicated teacher of art who takes great pride in nurturing new talent. He has taught in various comprehensive schools throughout the country, as well as at Rugby School and Eton College where he is now Head of Art.

Exhibitions include:

Royal Academy: Summer Show and Young Contemporaries Exhibitions
Eton College
Zillah Bell Gallery, Thirsk
Montage Gallery, Castleton
Shepherd’s Market, Mayfair, London.

In 2013 two of Ian’s prints were selected to hang in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.  The following year his large painting Glut was also selected.  In 2015 another pair of prints: Big Dog and 30 Years Old were well received there, both runs selling out during the course of the exhibition. More recently his delightful print, Stonegate Owl, featuring a model that nested in his garden the previous summer was exhibited in 2019.

From August 2012 to August 2013 Ian worked on a collaborative project with photographer Anthony Hutchinson who made a photo-essay in Staithes in 1970 as part of his photography degree at North London Polytechnic. His bleak and beautiful black and white images are an astonishing record of a harsh yet enduring way of life. Ian developed the images to create a beautiful series of paintings and prints, at once homage to the photographs themselves but also the world they recorded and to its inhabitants past and present.

Ian has exhibited annually at Staithes Festival of Arts and Heritage as well as leading workshops that are very popular with visitors.  His most recent solo exhibition Hanging it out to Dry in our satellite Sunday School Gallery was a highly acclaimed part of Staithes Festival in September 2019.  For this show Ian experimented with installations using found objects and printing onto laser cut wooden panels.