‘Exploring notions of feminism, sexuality and identity with her skilfully executed surreal works’ (1) Alexandra Gallagher is a British multidisciplinary artist born in 1980, in Greater Manchester.

 

Gallagher draws on the playful and provocative language of Surrealism, to create oil paintings, collage, street art, prints, and mixed media artworks. ‘Surrealism aims to revolutionise human experience. It balances a rational vision of life with one that asserts the power of the unconscious and dreams. The movement's artists find magic and strange beauty in the unexpected and the uncanny, the disregarded and the unconventional.' (2) 

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Feeling limited as a traditional portrait artist, Gallagher began to explore surrealism through photography, collage and painting, combining these different approaches to explore a variety of topics, starting with the loneliness of childhood, to growing into adulthood, then exploring what it was to be a woman in western society and the world as a whole. 

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Using collage to digitally sketch, rather than the traditional media of pencil to paper, through her unique vision and distinctive style, Gallagher engages with the viewers on an intellectual and emotional level. Gallagher aims to provide a complex and multifaceted discourse on the interplay between patriarchy, beauty and subversion.  

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Gallagher interrogates topics such as identity, gender and power within the narratives of her work. With deep passions for History, Politics, Sociology and Theology, her works often employ symbolism to explore the narratives of the female experience. Gallagher implores to create something positive out of the negative. 

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Not only creating traditional paintings and street art;, Gallagher has also produced fashion and interior lines, commercial works, sculpture, branding, book covers and more. ‘Exhibiting and selling both across the country and internationally, she has been nominated for a number of awards. Shortlisted for the Zealous X, she was awarded the Saatchi Showdown Surrealism Second Place Winner and the Secret Art Prize Runner Up Winner 2016. Her recent achievements include being a London Contemporary Art Prize 2018 Finalist and being shortlisted for the Rise Art Prize. Gallagher has collaborated with several large clients and collectors, including COAST Fashion, Crown Paint, Grand Designs, Symphony of the Sea, Cushman & Wakefield.’ (3) 

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1 Rise Art (2021) A Guide to the Feminist Art Movement, Rise Art. Rise Art. Available at: https://www.riseart.com/guide/2418/guide-to-the-feminist-art-movement (Accessed: 12 October 2023). 

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2 Tate (no date) Surrealism, Tate. Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/s/surrealism#:~:text=Surrealism%20aims%20to%20revolutionise%20human,the%20disregarded%20and%20the%20unconventional. (Accessed: 12 October 2023). 

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3 ABOUT (no date) alexandragallagher. Available at: https://www.alexandragallagherart.com/about-alexandra-gallagher (Accessed: 12 October 2023).