My works are invented psychological mindscapes. Taking inspiration from a variety of interests including anthropology, geometry and psychology, I create uncanny dystopian imagery that reflects a belief in the power of art to provoke enquiry. My work explores space and personal symbols challenging perceptions by presenting the ordinary in an unfamiliar way. There are contradictions at play: humanity and the artificial; the banal and the extraordinary. Some elements are cold and hard-edged, others are humane and tender. Figures or animals find themselves in an uncompromising and bleak arena. Ladders, steps, arches, holes and other motifs punctuate the picture plane. There is stillness but it is deceptive, implying a precarious and fragile existence. Transformation awaits but everything stays lodged in its rigid place. The use of perspective - travel into space - implies the impossibility of time passing without action.
The news media, traditional assumptions and society’s belief structures raise questions about our ability to judge our place in the everyday experience. My work endeavours to address the problem of how to represent the uncertain and precarious nature of our reality.
The Golden Ratio is inherent in the work to invoke questions around beauty and aesthetics; the subjective and the absolute. Traditional principles of drawing spatial depth are employed as analogies of social constructs that we have learned to accept but do not completely trust.
I am a painter who works in oils and mixed media. I also make unique works on paper through drawing or using drypoint, monotype and other print media.
BIOGRAPHY:
Born in 1963, prize-winning artist Kenneth Le Riche describes himself as a late bloomer. Having first earned himself a degree in engineering (1986), he worked in a variety of different jobs in different countries. He only started painting in earnest in his late 20’s and didn’t go to art school until he turned 30, when he attended the Foundation Course at Leith School of Art (1994). This paved his way to study at Edinburgh College of Art where he received a BA Hons. (1998) and where he won an Andrew Grant Scholarship. He was also awarded an Erasmus grant for a four-month exchange to the Villa Arson Centre d’Art Contemporain, France.
He was awarded a scholarship to pursue further studies at the New York Academy of Art where he graduated with a Master of Fine Arts with distinction (2003).
Le Riche regularly has work selected for the Royal Scottish Academy, the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour, the Society of Scottish Artists and Visual Arts Scotland Open Exhibitions. He has been a council member for Visual Arts Scotland and is currently a professional member. Kenneth is a RSW having been awarded membership of The Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour in 2022.
He has also had work selected for the Mall Galleries, London by the New English Art Club and the Society of Graphic Fine Art.
In 2009, he won the Visual Arts Scotland Purchase Prize at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh.
In 2021, he won the John Busby Award at the RSW Annual Exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh.
In 2022, he won the Doreen McIntosh Prize, at the New English Art Club Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London.
Le Riche has worked for several arts organisations including the Leith School of Art, Edinburgh College of Art, and The New York Academy of Art. He has exhibited widely both in the UK and overseas and has been artist-in-residence at the Leith School Of Art, UK; Amagansett Applied Arts, New York, USA; Odd Nerdrum Studios, Norway; and the International Art Symposium, Jordan. His work is held in numerous collections around the world. Le Riche has his studio practice in Forres, Northern Scotland where he lives with his wife and two children.
SELECTED EDUCATION:
2000 - 2003 MFA Painting (cum laude), New York Academy of Art, USA
1994 - 1998 BA Honours Painting, Edinburgh College of Art, UK
1993 - 1994 Foundation Course, Leith School of Art, Edinburgh, UK
1981 - 1986 BSc Honours Mechanical Engineering, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK
AWARDS, GRANTS, & SCHOLARSHIPS:
2022: Doreen McIntosh Prize, New English Art Club Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London.
2021: John Busby Award, RSW Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh.
2009: Visual Arts Scotland Purchase Prize, VAS Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh.
2000: New York Academy of Art Scholarship, USA
1997: Erasmus Grant, Villa Arson Centre d’Art Contemporain, France
1996: Andrew Grant Scholarship, Edinburgh College Art
SELECTED MIXED EXHIBITIONS:
2022
New English Art Club Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition, Edinburgh
Visual Arts Scotland Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2021
Society of Graphic Fine Art, Mall Galleries, London
New English Art Club Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
Aberdeen Artist Society Annual Exhibition
Royal Scottish Academy, Annual Exhibition, Edinburgh, UK "Flow" VAS Members Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK
2020 Royal Scottish Academy, Annual Exhibition, Edinburgh, UK Aberdeen Artists Society, Aberdeen, UK 2019 Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition, Edinburgh, UK Members' Exhibition, An Talla Solais, Ullapool, UK Society of Scottish Artists, Edinburgh, UK
2018 RSW Open Exhibition, The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK RSA Exhibition, The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh,UK Oseana Kunst & Kultursenter, Bergen, Norway
2017 Sutton Gallery, Edinburgh, UK RSA Exhibition, The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour, RSA, Edinburgh, UK
2016 Visual Arts Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK Moray Art Centre,Findhorn, Moray, UK
2015 The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour, RSA, Edinburgh, UK ART4X, Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh, UK
2014 The Leith School of Art, Edinburgh, UK
2013 Visual Arts Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK
2012 Scottish Society of Artists, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK
2011 New Hampshire Institute of Art, USA Visual Arts Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK
2010 Visual Arts Scotland, Edinburgh, UK
2009 Invited Guest Artist, Scottish Society of Architect Artists, Smith Museum, Stirling. Visual Arts Scotland, Edinburgh, UK
2008 Remal Arts Centre, Amman, Jordan Visual Arts Scotland, Edinburgh, UK
2007 Visual Arts Scotland, Edinburgh, UK Imagination Art Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
2006 La Exposici'n Realismos - travelling exhibition, Spain Cuixart Foundation, Barcelona, Spain Stricoff Fine Art, Chelsea, New York, USA
2005 INBAL, Tel Aviv, Israel.
2004 Stricoff Fine Art, Chelsea, New York, USA
2003 Artists' Night 7!, New York, USA
2002 Artspace, New York Sotheby's, New York
2001 New York Academy of Art Student Exhibition, New York
2000 Rene Lizard Gallery, New York
'Two Years On', The Leith Gallery, Edinburgh
1999 Visual Arts Scotland, RSA, Edinburgh Scottish Society of Artists, RSA, Edinburgh New Graduates', Stenton Gallery, East Lothian, UK 'New Graduates', The Leith Gallery, Edinburgh
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2020 Upstairs Gallery, Inverness, UK
2018 Orchard Road Studios, Forres, Moray, UK
2017 The Moray Art Centre, Findhorn, Moray, UK
2011 Patriot Hall Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
2010 Axolotl Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
2008 soloNOVA Art Festival, Union Square, New York City, USA The Kunst Gallery, Edinburgh, UK The Leith School of Art, Edinburgh, UK
2006 Estudi Obra Vista, La Raval, Barcelona, Spain
2005 Estudi Obra Vista, La Raval, Barcelona, Spain
2004 Centre Stage Gallery, Chelsea, New York, USA
2000 The Reynolds Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
1999 The Leith School of Art, Edinburgh, UK
ART RESIDENCIES:
2008 International Art Symposium, Amman, Jordan
2005 Assistant to Odd Nerdrum
2003 -4 Amagansett Applied Arts Artist-in-Residence, New York, USA
1998 - 1999 The Leith School of Art Artist-in-Residence, Edinburgh, UK
1997 Villa Arson, Ecole Pilote Internationale d'Art, Nice, France
