GRAHAM KNUTTEL (IRISH, B. 1954)

Graham Knuttel was born in Dublin and attended Sandford Park School; rather than playing sport in the afternoon he would go home and sketch seagulls which he sold to a neighbour.  He trained at the Dun Laoghaire School of Art and Design, principally as a sculptor, but it is figurative painting which defines his career.  He comes from an illustrious family; Cary Grant was his great uncle and he is related to Newlyn artist, Thomas Cooper Gotch.   The challenging characters in his work are, in his own words, '...not engaging with society, they are looking the other way.  That is me in a way.  I am told I am very furtive.'  The female figure that appears in much of his work is based on artist Rachel Strong, who died in 2004, with whom he had a ten year relationship.  His work has been collected by Sylvester Stallone, Frank Sinatra, Robert de Niro and Michael Stipe.