Biography
Mary A. Fitzgerald studied Fine Art at Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology and received an Honours Degree in Fine Art from The National College of Art and Design (NCAD). She completed a Master’s Degree of Fine Art at NCAD in 2004, and is currently a lecturer in the department of Core Studies at that university. Recent awards include a three-year Studio Award at Independent Artists Studios (2007-2010), the Heinrich Boll Residency Award (2008), the Clo Ceardlann Residency Award (2013) and Cill Riallaig Residency Award (2009).
In 2005, she was selected from Ireland to show at the 5th International Biennale de Gravure, in Liege, Belgium, and was invited to show at the Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition that same year. She has been awarded both a Visual Arts Bursary and a Professional Development Grant from The Arts Council. Fitzgerald was awarded a public art commission with Breaking Ground and Ballymun Regeneration in 2003.
She has exhibited widely both nationally and internationally and her work is included in many public and private collections including the Office of Public Works, University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, Bank de Paris, Microsoft Ireland, Allied Irish Bank and Axa Insurance.
Central to Fitzgerald’s practice has been an ongoing enquiry about drawing in its broadest sense and how images and their meaning are transformed by their positioning together and their placement in a public space. Her interest also lies in visual propositions created by combining imagery, techniques and presentation devices that extend beyond formal concerns usually associated with drawing. Her iconography originates from images that have a particular currency for the artist. The work positions itself between meaning: abstraction and figuration, humour and malevolence. Fitzgerald’s ways of working have recently combined traditional fine art practices: single sheet drawings and paintings, multiple fine art prints, wall and window drawings, to rework themes and meaning. Her work presents a series of narratives. However, the artist’s subjects are never presented in full, and remain open- ended in interpretation.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2010 Certain Distance, Paul Kane Gallery, Dublin
2008 A Longer Walk Home, Lemon Street Gallery, Dublin
2005 New Work, Lemon Street Gallery, Dublin
2004 Master of Art Exhibition, The Digital Hub, Dublin
2003 DRAWN, Original Print Gallery, Dublin
2002 Hus, Grafikens Hus, Stockholm, Sweden
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 Decennium, 10th Anniversary Exhibition, SO Fine Art Editions, Dublin
2022 Winter Exhibition 2022, SO Fine Art Editions, Dublin
2022 Summer Exhibition 2022, SO Fine Art Editions, Dublin
2021 Winter Exhibition 2021, SO Fine Art Editions, Dublin
2020 Winter Exhibition 2020, SO Fine Art Editions, Dublin
2020 The Human Heart, Graphic Studio Gallery, Dublin
2020 RHA Annual Exhibition, Dublin
2020 Grafik från Irland, Galleri Helle, Knudsen in Stockholm
2019 ARTWORKS Visual, Carlow
2019 Cairde Visual, The Model Sligo, Sligo
2019 Artworks Open Submission, Visual Carlow
2019 Winter Exhibition 2019, SO Fine Art Editions, Dublin
2019 RHA Annual Exhibition, Dublin
2018 Féile Gheimhridh, Winter Exhibition 2018, SO Fine Art Editions, Dublin
2018 RHA Annual Exhibition, Dublin
2018 Steamboat Galleries and Studios Exhibition, Dublin
2017 Claremorris Open Exhibition curated by Tom Morton, Frieze Magazine
2017 Small Format, The Library Project, Dublin
2016 No copy, No original, No center, No edge, Steambox, Dublin
2016 Enniskillen Visual Arts Open Exhibition
2016 Rosebud, The Library Project, Dublin, curated by Alison Pilkington & Cora Cummins
2015 Quantum Leap, Foundation 15 in association with IMMA, Tullamore, Offaly
2015 U- Turn, Curated by Marysia Wieckiewicz-Carroll, The Library Project, Dublin
2014 Artisterium 7, 7th TbilisiAnnual International Contemporary Art Exhibition, Curated by Magda Guruli
2014 The Palimpsest/Rianú Project at the Pearse Museum, Rathfarnham, Curated by Claire Halpin and Eoin Mac Lochlainn
2013 The Palimpsest Project at Arsterium VI, Tbilisi International Contemporary Art Exhibition, Tbilisi History Museum, Georgia (Curated by Claire Halpin)
2013 Île Seguin 11/25/11 Curated by Valarie Connor, The Library Project, Dublin
2013 Circulation, curated by Paul McAree, FLOOD, Dublin