Eddie Rafferty

Man Outside the Pub

When Rafferty left school he became a leather worker with the Gilford firm Shane Wright, who made saddles, handbags and belts. At the same time he attended art classes at night at Lurgan Technical College. Here he was taught by Victor Sloan and met Neil Shawcross, whose encouragement and advice eventually led him to study printmaking and drawing at Belfast College of Art. He has worked in South Africa and also extensively with healthcare providers and clients in Northern Ireland.

Rafferty never uses an easel but works on the flat, a technique that distinguishes his style which is narrative and graphic. His influences are familiar artists such as Egon Schiele and Sidney Nolan and less obvious figures from the South African art scene including Sam Nhlengethwa, William Kentridge and Marlene Dumas. His prints, drawings, paintings and collages depict the people and places that he has encountered at home and abroad.