Peter Richards (b.1970)

The Significance of Vitalism in Red

Born in Cardiff in 1970, Peter Richards is an artist and curator living and working in Belfast. He works in a range of media including forms of photography, installation and performance. After graduating with a BA in Fine Art from Howard Gardens in Cardiff, Richards moved to Northern Ireland to further his studies, completing an MPhil. entitled "Representations of Representations" at the University of Ulster. Shortly after moving to Belfast, Richards became involved with the artist-run collective Catalyst Arts and guest curatorships followed at the Context Gallery in Derry and at the Old Museum Arts Centre. However, it is through his work at Belfast’s Golden Thread Gallery, that Richards has made his greatest curatorial contribution to contemporary art in Northern Ireland. He has been director of the gallery since 2002 and during that time has profiled the work of contemporary Northern Ireland artists such as Lisa Byrne, Ian Charlesworth, Willie Doherty, Dan Shipsides, Mary McIntyre and Susan MacWilliam to name but a few. He has also worked closely with a number of younger artists creating a platform for them to develop their practice.

His first solo exhibition Corrective Perspective was at the Context Gallery, Derry in 1996. Since that time, he has exhibited widely in Northern Ireland and further afield. Recent solo exhibitions include Another Perspective, Verbal Arts Centre, Derry (2020) and The Square, Artisann, Belfast (2019). Richard’s work has also featured in a number of group shows, including the touring exhibition ‘Troubles Art’ in partnership with National Museums Northern Ireland. His work was shown in Northern Ireland’s inaugural presentation at the la Biennale di Venezia 51, The Nature of Things – The Long Weekend, Artists from Northern Ireland.

Richards’s works can be seen as artistic enquiries into subjects, such as: how understanding is formed and truth is subscribed to; how we each have the capacity to suspend disbelief in order to continue believing in chosen truths. He often engages with interactions between re-presentation, time and referencing. This particular piece, The Significance of Vitalism in Red, is on loan from the artist.