Pascal Ungerer

Born
1978
Nationality
Irish
Country
Ireland

I specialise in contemporary landscape oil painting. My art practice predominantly focus’s on spacial cultures, with a particular interest in liminal and peripheral topographies. I am fascinated by places and structures that lie on the margins of human habitation.

I see my work as being grounded in an archaeology of the recent past, in a space where I can uncover hidden layers of meaning within the everyday.

My work examines the in-between spaces and edgelands that lie at the intersection of the urban and rural. I see these topographies and structures as an ‘architecture of the periphery’ and an allegorical reference for time, change and history. They also speak to the interrelationship between the built and natural world and the conflict that sometimes exists in that space. 

I like to challenge normative perceptions of landscape painting through the prism of unusual structures and topographies. For me, many of these places represent a kind of ‘otherness’ in an often overlooked environment.  

Most of my paintings are fictional and imagined landscapes where I amalgamate different places and ideas into a metaphorical space to reflect upon wider socio-geographic issues such as ecological degradation, alterity, peripherality and speculative future landscapes. 

'Monolith' 170 x 140 cm, oil on canvas, 2023
Occupation
artist
Interests
reading
running
health
art
politics
Languages
English
French
Biography

Pascal Ungerer is a visual artist from Cork, Ireland.  He specialises in large scale oil painting.  In 2018 he completed a scholarship funded MFA at Goldsmiths University London. 

He has exhibited his work extensively throughout Europe. Recent shows include his solo exhibition ‘Speculative Artefacts’ which took place at the Uillinn West Cork Art Centre in Ireland. He also recently showed work at the Saatchi Gallery in London for the Robert Walters UK New Artist of The Year Awards where he was one of 10 shortlisted finalists from across the UK and Ireland.  

He has won, been shortlisted and long-listed for many other awards including the Alliance Franciase de Cork Exhibition Award, The Jacksons Painting Prize, the Bloomberg New Contemporaries, The Solo Award, The Alpine Fellowship, The Sunny Art Prize, The ACS Studio Prize and The Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize.

He has received funding awards  from The Arts Council of Ireland, Cork County Council, Cork City Council, Culture Ireland and Goldsmiths University London.

Education
MFA goldsmiths university
Exhibitions
2023
Speculative Artefacts
Uillinn West Cork Art Centre
Solo
2022
Earthbound
"GOMA, Gallery of Modern Art, Waterford"
Solo
2023
Robert Walters UK New Artist of The Year
at the Saatchi Gallery in London
Group
2022
Trace Elements
Gallerie Burgerstockersenger Zurich, Switzerland
Solo
2022
Trace Elements
Custom House Studios & Gallery, Mayo
Solo
2021
Shifting Planes
The Prism Contemporary, Blackburn, UK
Solo
Prizes and Awards
Arts Council of Ireland Agility Award, 2021
Cork City Council Arts Office Individual Artist Bursary Award, 2020
Cork County Council Artist in Residence Award at the Uillinn West Cork Art Centre, 2020
Cork City Council Arts Office Individual Artist Bursary Award
, 2018
rts Council of Ireland Travel and Training Award
, 2017
Goldsmiths Masters Scholarship Award, 2016
Goldsmiths MFA Fine Art Fee Waiver Award, 2016
Goldsmiths Excellence Award, 2016
Alliance Francaise de Cork Solo Exhibition Award, 2016
Testimonial
Quote
'Like all great art, Pascal’s work affords us the privilege of seeing into the deeper nature of our lives here on Earth, and the life of the Earth, which in many ways are both now on the edge. While they are not apocalyptic or dystopian paintings, they do challenge us to enter their territories of transition and uncertainty.'

John Fitzgerald, UCC
Ungerer's paintings are en eloquent evocation the sense of silence and isolation within these strange landscapes. Telecommunication structures, pipes, solar panels and satellite dishes take on an otherworldly, mysterious aspect in their hidden locations. Their structured, sculptural quality contrasts beautifully with the softness of the depiction of the landscapes in which they stand.'

Margarita Cappock, The Irish Arts Review
Links
Media
Favorite Quote
'Allegories are, in the realm of thought, what ruins are in the realm of things.
Walter Benjamin'