Documenting the environment, space, and texture, his work represents spontaneous shifts as he encapsulates the passing of time.
Neal Greig RUA is a distinguished landscape painter whose work navigates the fertile territory between abstraction and representation. Born in Belfast in 1965, his artistic career spans more than twenty years of dedicated practice, resulting in a distinctive style that captures the ephemeral qualities of light, atmosphere, and time in natural settings.
Educational Foundation
Neal's formal art education began at Edinburgh College of Art, where he earned a BA Honours in Fine Art (1983-1987), followed by a Post Graduate Diploma in Fine Art (1988-1990). During this period, he was awarded the prestigious Andrew Grant Scholarship, supporting his postgraduate studies and early artistic development.
Neal Greig's Artistic Philosophy
At the core of Neal's practice is an exploration of the language of paint and the creativity that emerges from direct engagement with the present moment. His work weaves together abstract passages of paint with more analytical, representational elements, creating compositions that trigger both familiarity and fresh perception.
Working primarily en plein air, Neal embraces the changing conditions of outdoor painting, allowing the unfolding day to inform his creative decisions.
Technique and Process
Neal's paintings capture a sense of urgency, an attempt to preserve changing light and atmospheric conditions before they disappear. His process involves documenting environmental qualities, spatial relationships, and textural elements while embracing spontaneous shifts that reflect the passage of time.
This approach often results in compositions where certain areas remain deliberately understated while others become focal points, creating a dynamic visual rhythm.
The artist employs various brushes and tools, with considerable mixing of colors both on the palette and directly on the canvas. He describes his method as "pushing the paint around," allowing pigments to interact on the surface, creating rich, complex relationships. In developing pictorial space, Neal typically begins with the furthest point from the eye, then draws the composition forward toward the viewer. This technique creates what he describes as "a natural, organic space rather than a picturesque view", representing not a single moment frozen in time, but rather the accumulated experience of being in a place.
Recognition and Artistic Journey
Throughout his career, Neal has received significant recognition, including election to the Royal Ulster Academy in 2019, the Arts Council of Ireland Agility Award (2021), and the prestigious Pollock Krasner Award from the Foundation in New York (2011). He has been awarded numerous residencies, including the Ballinglen Fellowship, the Vermont Studio Centre Fellowship, and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre residency.
Collections and Exhibition
Neal's work is held in numerous public, corporate, and private collections, including the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, the Office of Public Works, Mayo County Council, Bank of Ireland, and Monaghan County Museum. His paintings have been exhibited internationally, with his work currently on view at Graystone Gallery in Edinburgh, showcasing his continuing exploration of landscape's emotional and temporal dimensions.