about — RICHARD FURLONG

ABOUT

I studied at Chelsea School of Art and Swansea College of Art in the early 1960's, specialising eventually in stained glass design, while continuing to draw and paint actively. I did not abandon my art practice completely but it was only after a 30-year career in academic administration that I was able to return full-time to my passion for painting. I now work from my purpose-built studio in Moseley, Birmingham, UK.

My main artistic concerns are about colour, line and form. For the last thirty years my work has been entirely abstract in orientation, transitioning some 19 years ago from highly gestural and expressive pieces to pieces based on simple geometric forms, sometimes inspired by everyday shapes in the world around me - from the pyramidal shape of an often-viewed Spanish mountain, to the wooden kindergarten blocks with which I played as a child. Colour is a key concern and challenge in my work. I work both with strong primary and secondary colours and with more subdued colour palettes. My interest lies in exploring the impact of adjacencies: the interplay between line, form, mass and colour and the interrelationship between adjacent colours and their impact on the viewer's perception. I strive to create a tension in which colours vibrate in their intensity or a harmony between form and colour resulting in a single mood.

The ball I threw while playing in the park/Has not yet reached the ground. (Dylan Thomas)

Richard Furlong, 2021

Cupola Contemporary Art, a gallery in Sheffield, handles some of my work.