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
2005-2008, 2012-2013 Royal Hibernian Academy Exhibition, Dublin
2010 LA Print International, Exchange Show, Saddleback College Art Gallery, Los Angeles
2010 Columbian Print Exchange, La Estampa Print Studio Medelin, Colombia
2009 Wayfaring, Stone Gallery, Dublin
2008 International Biennale of Printmaking, Museum of Contemporary Art, Connecticut, USA
2007 Milestones, Black Church Print Studio 25th Year Exhibition, Office of Public Works, Dublin
2005 Fifth International Biennale de Gravure, Liege, Belgium
2004 Contemporary Irish Printmakers, National Arts Club and Gallery of Graphic Art, New York
1999 Nordic Dispatches, International Print Show, Odense, Denmark
1998 Temple Bar International Print, Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin