Biography
Michael Canning was born in Limerick in 1971, he studied there at the School of Art & Design and then in Greece at the School of Fine Arts in Athens. In 1999, he received his Masters Degree in Fine Art from the National College of Art & Design in Dublin. In 2003, Canning was awarded the Royal Academy’s prestigious Hennessy Craig Prize. Canning’s work has been shown widely across the United Kingdom, Ireland and Europe.
Michael Canning’s paintings of hedgerow plants confront certain traditions of northern European painting. Neither landscapes, nor still lifes, Canning’s work conveys an atmospheric quality laden with spiritual undertones. Heavy mists shroud the rolling hills of the Irish landscape which part only for the wild plants.The plants are rendered directly from observation. Michael finds the plants on daily walks near his home in County Limerick. Michael Canning has won several awards for his works, including the Oriel Gallery Award from the RHA (2007) and the Arts Council of Ireland Award (1996).
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2014 Waterhouse & Dodd, London
2011 Michael Canning, Hillsboro Fine Art, Dublin
2010 Waterhouse & Dodd, London
2008 Vangard Gallery, Cork, Ireland
2006 Hallward Gallery, Dublin
1997 Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick
1994 Arts Council of Ireland, Dublin
Selected Group Exhibitions
2013 Launch, SO Fine Art Editions, Dublin
2010 Hillsboro Fine Art, Dublin
2008, 2009 RHA Open Exhibition, Dublin
2009 Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Mayo, Ireland
2007 Pallas Contemporary Projects, Dublin
2006 Irish Art, John Martin Gallery, at Lalique, New York