The Molesworth Gallery is delighted to present Journey, an exhibition of new work by Maeve McCarthy RHA.
Artist's statement:
These images are a metaphorical search for home. I often traverse the country at night, between my rented retreat at the foot of Mt. Brandon and my childhood home in Dublin. I reflect on changes in the landscape and townscapes along the way.
Observation and memory, photographs and fleeting iPhone snapshots, each are a starting point for charcoal drawings and paintings on gesso panels. Shadows strip extraneous detail; features are highlighted by streetlights, headlights and security lights. Lights glow from inside buildings enticing the viewer to voyeurism. Night may symbolise the unconscious. It is a time for sleep, for dreams, or for restlessness.
This ongoing series began a few years ago after spending a year in the US and includes work from a residency in Ballinglen, Co. Mayo.
Maeve McCarthy, October, 2012
MAEVE McCARTHY - Curriculum vitae
Born, Dublin, 1964
Education, NCAD, Fine Art
Solo Exhibitions
2008 Night and Day in America, The Molesworth Gallery
2006 The Molesworth Gallery
2002 The Frederick Gallery, Dublin
1998 Jo Rain Gallery, Dublin
Selected Group Exhibitions
Revelations, National Gallery, Dublin (2008)
BP Portrait Award, The National Portrait Gallery, London, (1997,2004,2005)
RHA Annual Exhibition, Dublin, (1995,1999,2000,2004-2007)
The Frederick Gallery, Dublin, various shows, (1999 - 2004)
National Portrait Awards, Arnotts, Dublin, (1985,1986,1989,1999)
RHA Banquet Exhibition, Dublin, (1995,1996,2004)
Iontas small works, Sligo and Dublin, (1995)
Irish Graduates at The Festival Interceltique, Lorient, France, (1987)
EV& A, Limerick City Art Gallery, (1986)
Awards
RHA Portrait Prize (2006)
The Don Niccolo D' Ardia Carraciolo Award, RHA, (1995,2004)
Arnotts National Portrait Awards, Open Award - joint 1st, (1989,1999)
Irish Arts Council/Aer Lingus Artflight to Italy, (1997)
Residency at Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annaghmakerrig, (1997)
The James Kennedy Award, RHA (1995)
Irish Arts Council travel grant to Colorado, USA, (1995)
Commissions
Portrait of Maeve Binchy for The National Portrait Gallery (National Gallery of Ireland), commissioned and presented with the support of Irish Life and Permanent plc.
Commissioned for one in a series of former Taoisí and one in a series of former Chief Justices.(1996)
Two past Presidents of The Royal Dublin Society, (2000)
Film work includes portrait of Sinead O'Connor for The Butcher Boy, directed by Neil Jordon (1996)
Selected reviews & publications
Irish Times, review of solo exhibition at the Molesworth Gallery,2006
BP Portrait Award catalogues, published by The National Portrait Gallery, London, 1997, 2004 & 2005
A buyer's guide to Irish art, edited by Meg Walker, Ashville Media Group, 2003
