About

Mary A. Kelly has won many awards, including recently The College of Surgeons art award in conjunction with the Irish Times 2019, Artlinks award 2007 and the Irish American Arts award 2006. Her films have been screened at amongst others, NYU Tish School of the Arts, Cantor Film Centre New York and B.B.C. Short Film Festival, UCI Leicester Square London. She is widely collected and is included in both the Microsoft and Goldman Sachs collections/b. She is widely collected and is included in both the Microsoft and Goldman Sachs collections.

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Contact Mary A. Kelly

Mary Kelly is represented by:

G A L E R I E  V O S S

Mühlengasse 3

D-40213 Düsseldorf

Germany

Tel +49-211-13 49 82 • www.galerievoss.de

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Education

2001-03 M.A. Fine Art, N.C.A.D., Thomas Street, Dublin
1997-98 Film Degree, Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, 1st class honours
1992-97 Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Diploma in Fine Art, A.C.C.S (Distinction)
1974-77 University College Dublin, B.A. Psychology & Philosophy

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Solo Exhibitions

2024
Unlimited, Claremorris Gallery, Claremorris, Co. Mayo. 26th October – 26th November
Witnessing, College Lane Gallery, Howth, Co. Dublin. 2nd March – 18th May

2022
Commissioned by Office of Public Works for Leinster House – Kathleen Lynn 3, Matriline 3 and Seanad Women 1922 to 2022

2021
Chair, Reiners Contemporary art, Marbella, Malaga, Spain. 5th March – 15th April. Online.
Past, Present and Future, St. Raphael’s Seconrdary School, Stillorgan, Dublin. Commission.

2020
Royal College of Surgeoins, 123, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2: I make these promises solemnly, freely and upon my honour, 29th October. Commission.
Chair, Galerie Voss, Mühlengasse 3D-40213 Düsseldorf, Germany, 13th March – 12th May

2019
Chair, Touring Exhibition supported by the Arts Council. Highlanes Art  Gallery, Drogheda, Co. Louth, 9 February – 13 April; Customhouse Gallery, Westport Co. Mayo, 6 – 30 June; Uillinn: West Cork Art Centre, Skibbereen, Co. Cork, 5 October – 12 December

2016
Sacred Secrets, Custom House Gallery, Westport, Co. Mayo
Kathleen Lynn, Insider on the Outside, Mayo. Collaborative exhibition, curated by Catherine Marshall, March

2013
Docks Art Fair, solo show, Lyon, France, 12 – 15 September
Dusseldorf Photo Weekend, Galerie Voss, Muhlengasse 3, D-40213, Dusseldorf, Germany, 1 – 3 February

2012
Father and Child, Galerie Voss, Mühlengasse 3, D-40213 Düsseldorf, Germany

2010
Burial, as part of unbuilding project, Mermaid Art Centre, Bray, Co. Wicklow. Curated Group Exhibition. 28 September – 3rd October
asylum, video installation, International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership Conference, Republic of Ireland, May 2010

2009
Father and Child, New Work, Royal Hibernian Acadamy, Dublin. July – December

2008
Clay, Claremorris Gallery, Claremorris, Co. Mayo

2007
Under Construction, Hoarding Installation at site of new County Arts Centre, commissioned by South County Council as part of Fused ’07, June – duration of hoarding.
Pillars I, Mermaid Art Center, Bray, Co. Wicklow. 26 April
Asylum, John Mooney Foundation, Chigago, U.S.A., October – November

2005
Asylum, Linen Hall Gallery, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, June
The Landing, Solo booth, Brussels Art Fair, April

2004
The Landing, The Blue Room, Galerie Bugdhn und Kaimer, Düsseldorf, Germany,
December – January 2015
The Landing, The Blue Room, One Person Show with Galerie Bugdhn und Kaimer, at Art Brussels
The Landing, The Blue Room, One Person Show with Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, at Paris Photo, Paris

2003
The Landing, The Blue Room, Royal Hibernian Academy, Gallagher Gallery, Ely Place,
Dublin 2, July – August

2002
Food for Thought, Microsoft Atrium Building, Sandyford Industrial Estate, Dublin, Commission. Architects, MurrayOlaoire
Alice’s Teaparty, Through the Looking Glass, Office of Public Works, St. Stephens Green Dublin, Commission as % for Art Scheme

2001
How to Butterfly a Leg of Lamb, collaboration with Abigail O’Brien, Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Muhlengasse 3, Dusseldorf, July
Wide Shut, Sligo Art Gallery, March

2000
Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh, August

1999
How to Butterfly a Leg of Lamb by Mary A. Kelly and Abigail O’Brien. Concourse Installation Programme, County Hall, Dún Laoghaire
Installation sited in Circa magazine, issue 87, How to Butterfly a Leg of Lamb, Spring

1998
Pure Blue, Intermedia ’98, Triskel Art Centre, Cork

Selected Group Exhibitions

2024
RHA Annual Selected, Ely Place, Dublin
RHA Annual Selected 1823 – 2023, Ely Place, Dublin. Award winner.
Ancestral Home, Beijing; Yates Day ’23 with the Embassy of Ireland to China, Hong Kong AF Galleries and LolliGo Art Space. 13th June – 13th July and touring.
Trace, Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda, Co. Louth. August.

2022
The Works we Thought we had, Limerick Museum, Henry Street, Limerick, 21st April – 5th May
For the Love of Paint, Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda, Co. Louth, 29th April – 21st May
Meat and Potatoes. How to Butterfly a Leg of Lamb, with Abigail O’Brien, Crawford Art Gallery, Emmet Place, Cork, 16th July – 6th November
Selection, Galerie Voss, Düsseldorf, Germany, 8th February – 5th March.

2021
Meditations in Time of Civil War, Hamilton Gallery, Sligo
RHA Annual, 27th September – 30th October

2019
Boyle Arts Festival, 18 – 27 July
Royal Hibernian Academy Open Submission Annual, May – August
REGARD, work from the National Portrait Collection of Ireland; The Bourne Vincent Gallery, University of Limerick, 8 March – 18 June

2018
R.H.A. Annual, May – September.

2017
Vernissage, Galerie Voss, Muhlengasse 3, D-40213, Düsseldorf, 12 July – 2 August
Rue des Cordeliers, Portraits of a House, published by Keber; publication curated by Christoph Benjamin Schultz

2016
Two Birds / One Stone, Farmleigh Gallery, Dublin, 6 July – August, curated by Janet Mullarney
2016 an Image of Ireland, Contemporary Artists of Ireland, Luciano Benneton Collection.

2015
Gemalte Legenden gezeichnete Helden, Kunstverein, Villa Streccius, Landau, Germany, September – October
R.H.A Annual, Ely Place, Dublin, May – August

2014
Conversations, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Kilmainham, Dublin, June – December
R.H.A. Annual, Ely Place, Dublin, May – August
Re-framing the Domestic  in Irish Art, Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda, Co. Louth, April – August
Catch The He(art) – A travelling Residency – May 2014, curated by Michelle Browne

2013
R.H.A. annual, Royal Hibernian Acadamy, Dublin  May – August

Skin, Royal Hibernian Academy, 15 Ely Place, Dublin, March
HANDICRAFT. Threads and stitches in fine art, Museum Kunst der Westküste Det Paulsen Legaat gemeinnützige, GmbH, Hauptstraße 7, D-25938 Alkersum, March – August
Skin, Royal Hibernian Academy, 15 Ely Place, Dublin, March – April

2012
Atelier + Kitchen – Laboratories of the Senses, at Martha Herford Museum, Goebenstraße 4–10, 32052 Herford, May – September 2012
7.42, Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda, Co. Louth. Solo shows with artists Thomas Brezing, Sean Cotter and Abigail O’Brien, July 2012
7.42, Cable Factory, Helsinki, Finland with artists Thomas Brezing, Sean Cotter and Abigail O’Brien, March 2012

2011
Still, The Peppercanister Gallery, 3 Herbert St, Dublin 2, September – October
7.42, Lapua Art Museum, Lapua, Finland with artists Thomas Brezing, Sean Cotter and Abigail O’Brien, December – February 2012
RHA Annual, Invited, Dublin Ireland. May / June 2011
The Colour Red, SOMA, Waterford City, April 2011
The Colour Blue, SOMA, Waterford City, April 2011

2010
Let Them Luv’ Cake, Cake Contemporary Arts, Old Band Hall, Curragh Camp, Co. Kildare, March – April
Mirror Mirror, a selection of work from the National Self Portrait Collection of Ireland, RHA, Dublin, January – March
Intimacy. Das Bad in der Kunst, Kunstmuseum, Ahlen Museumsplatz 1, 59227 Ahlen, Germany, January – April 2010

2009
(Summer Interval ’09l) & Choice: something else, Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Düsseldorf, July – September
Selected, Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer GMBH, Heirich- Heine- Allee 19, Düsseldorf, Germany, March – May
Another Island, Contemporary Irish Art, American Irish Historical Society, New York City, U.S.A., March – April

2008
Summer Group Show, Claremorris Gallery,  Co.Mayo, September
Slice 2008, Fairgreen House, Galway, June
Is Mise Ireland, 411 Galleries, Xin TianDi area (Shangai) and Central Academy of Fine Art (Beijing), Spring

2007
Journeys, Castletown, Celbridge, Co. Kildare, Louvain Institute for Ireland in Europe, Leuven, Belgium July – September

2006
Irish American Arts Award, New York, September; Award winner.
Greenstar Open Exihibition 2006. Winner. Mermaid Art Centre, Bray, Co. Wicklow
Ten Years in the Making, Farmleigh Gallery, Castleknock, Dublin July
Additions 2006, National Self Portrait Collection of Ireland, Limerick University, June ‘06
Royal Hibernian Academy annual May ’06. Invited

2005
Artforum, Berlin, Paris Photo, Cologne Art Fair
Eurojet FuturesAn Anthology, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, July
Test Tube, Commission for Teagasc, Biotechnology Building, Oak Park, Co. Carlow
Paris Photo, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, November
Cologne Art Fair, Cologne, October
Artforum, Berlin, September

2003
Arrival, Waterford Hospital, December
Basel Art Fair, Switzerland, June
Hugh Lane, M.A. National College of Art & Design group show
Loosing it, Fenton Gallery, Cork, March

2002
The Leabhar Mór exhibition, Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art, October
Crawford Open 2, Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Crawford Municipal Gallery, Cork, December – January 2002
Vacationland, Westbourne Studios,Portabello, London, December – March 2002
From past to present, Art of the State, 1815 – 2001, Draíocht, Blanchardstown Centre, Dublin 15, September; Dungarvan Art Centre, Wexford Colllege; Enniskillen Castle Museum, Northern Ireland; Co.Londonderry; Atrium, O.P.W. St.Stephens Green, Dublin.
Vacationland, Arthouse, Templebar, Dublin June
Eurojet futures 01, Royal Hibernian Accadamy, Ely Place, Dublin 2, June
Zwischenraum 4, Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer,Muhlengasse 3, Dusseldorf.

2000
Series, Elkedsoscher Galleries, Hamburg, December
Cologne Art, Cologne October
Zwischen Raum, Galerie Seitz & Partner, Wieldstr. 34, Berlin, February

1999
How to Butterfly a Leg of Lamb with Abigail O Brien, Cologne Art, Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, November
How to Butterfly a Leg of Lamb with Abigail O Brien, Artforum, Berlin c/o Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Dusseldorf, September
Black Sole Bonne Femme, Perspective ’99, Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast
How to Butterfly a Leg of Lamb with Abigail O’Brien, EV+A reduced, City Art Gallery, Limerick

1998
Baby Blue, Perspective ’98, Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast
Pure Blue, Festival Revue, Edinburgh Festival

Film Screenings

2000
Festival Internazionale del Cinema Giovane, Switzerland, October
Tai Wan Film Festival, Taiwan, May

1999
Foyle Film Festival, Derry, November
Raindance Film Festival, London, October
NYU Tish School of the Arts, Cantor Film Centre, New York, October
B.B.C. Short Film Festival, UCI Empire, Leicester Sq. London, September
Odense Film Festival, Denmark, August
Soho Film Festival, London, July
Galway Film Festival, July
Dublin Film Festival, Virgin Cinema, May
Kino Festival, Manchester, April

Awards

2023
RHA Friends of the RHA award

2019
2019 winner of the Royal College of Surgeons art award in conjunction with The Irish Times

2007
Artlinks Bursary Award 2007

2006
Irish American Arts Awards, New York, Oct.06.
Mermaid Greenstar Open Submission Competition Award Winner

2005
Arts Council Travel & Mobility award
Cultural Relations Committee award

2003
Arts Council Bursary Award

2002
Artists-in-prison-scheme, Arts Council award, Portlaoise Prison, Summer ’02, Autumn ‘02

2001
Solo Exhibition Award, Sligo Art Gallery, March

2000
Arts Council Bursary Award, May ’00.
Wicklow County Council Arts Funding Awards, May

1999
EV+A award
Arts Council – Aer Lingus Travel Award

1998
NCEA Student of the Year Award
Random Access Video Training Symposium, Sculptor Society of Ireland
Markievicz Gold Medal ’97/’98 for Best Emerging Sculpture, United Arts Club, Dublin

Selected reviews

2020
Art that lies beneath: Cry Freedom by Mary A Kelly, by Niall MacMonagle, Sunday Independent, 3 May

2019
Chair – Mary A Kelly by John P O’Sullivan, Sunday Times, Culture, 24 February

2017
Rue Des Cordeliers Portraits of a House. Conversations Mary A Kelly. Curator Christoph Benjamin Schultz. Published by Kerber

2016
Mayo puts Kathleen Lynn back in the frame by Aidan Dunne, April

2012
Father & Child, Galerie Voss Germany, by Marianne Hoffmann, The Visual Artists’ News Sheet, Critique Supplement, May – June 2012
Between the darkness and the light, The Irish Times, by Gemma Tipton 18 April
Die Liebeserklärungen der Väter, WZ Mittwoch, by Von Sema  Kouschkerian, 28 March
Die irische Künstlerin Mary A. Kelly in der Galerie Voss, Rheinische Post, by Von Klaus Sebastian, 16 March
Mary A. Kelly’s Father & Child, Wall st. International Magazine, by David Galloway 7 April
Saako lasta surra nain by Heli Karhumaki, Kotimaa, 5 January

2011
Gleaming Spires, Still, by Aidan Dunne, The Irish Times
Creativity Overcomes Commerce, by Aiden Dunne, Irish Times, 25 May, p. 12

2010
Critics Pick, Artnews by David Galloway, November issue

2009
Mary Kelly, by Kate Butler, The Sunday Times Culture, 11 Oct 2009.
Contemporary Irish Art at American Irish Historical Society, by Alison Armstrong, Irish Literary Supplement, Fall 2009

2008
Regional profile, My studio is my home, The Visual Artists’ News Sheet, issue 2, 2008 p 12

2007
R.T.E. Radio 1, The Eleventh Hour. Interview with Elizabeth O Neill Friday 18 May
Building Site Battles in all their crude, aggressive glory, by Aidan Dunne, Irish Times, 16 May

2005
asylum, by Aidan Dunne, Irish Times, June
Kurz, grüne Gefangnis-Welt, p4 by Gertrud Peters, 14 January
Land of art NRW, p. 54 by Annette Urban, The Line between staging, abstraction and fiction

2004
Paris Photo, pp. 32 – 33
Why Paint? A vox pop, Circa Art Magazine, September

2003
The Landing, by Belinda McKeon, pp. 34 – 47, Contexts café publications, volume 2 issue 3
The Landing, by Orla Fitzpatrick, pp. 55 – 56, Source magazine, autumn
Dublin: Mary A. Kelly at Royal Hibernian Academy, by Catherine Lyons, pp. 84 – 85. Circa art magazine, issue 105
Asserting personal identity in prison spaces, by Aidan Dunne, Irish Times
Mary A. Kelly, The Landing, by Billy Leahy,In Dublin magazine, p. 57, August
Capturing the artistic moment, by Catherine Foley, Irish Times, 19 July
Exhibition, Sunday Business Post, 20 July
Mary A. Kelly. The Landing, by Catherine Leen, Sunday Times, Culture Section, 20 July
Exhibiting a degree of ability – and then some, by Aidan Dunne, Irish Times, June
Cork: Loosing it, by Alannah Hopkin, Circa, issue 104; Summer
Losing it, by Mark Ewart, The Irish Times, 19 March
Vox Pop, Circa Magazine,issue 102, Jan

2001
Kunst im Kochstudio, by Georg Imdahl, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeiting, 28July
Doing away with convention, by Aidan Dunne, Irish Times, 24 May
Showcasing the future, Marianne Hartigan, The Sunday Tribune, 3 June
Wide Shut, Cormac O Leary, Arts West, Spring

2000
Cologne, by Alan Phelan, Circa Art Magazine, Issue 91, Spring ’00

1999
It may surprise you – you may surprise yourself, by Elizabeth Baird, Belfast Telegraph, 21 August
Playing in the ruins of western culture, by Aidan Dunne, The Irish Times, 11 August
EV+A has a little lamb…, by Gemma Tipton in conversation with Jeanne Greenberg, Circa Art Magazine, issue 88
99 Reduced, by Sean Taylor, SSI newsletter, July
Limerick’s mini-marathon, by Aidan Dunne, The Irish Times, 27 May
All about EV+A, by Dorothy Walker, The Sunday Times, 23 May
The Silence of the Lamb, by Aidan Dunne, Irish Times, 10 March
A Woman’s Work, by Ciaran Owens, The Event Guide, 3 March

1998
A Wider Perspective, by Gavin Weston, Sunday Times, 11 October
Take a walk on the wild side, by Marianne Hartigan, Sunday Tribune, September
Old Baths keep it in Perspective, News Letter, 19 October
Intermedia, by Allanah Hopkin, The Sunday Times, 3 May
Intermedia, by Mark Ewart.The Irish Times, 12 May
Markievicz Medal, by Jason Oakley, Sculptor Society of Ireland Newsletter, May / June

Publications and Catalogues

2012
Atelier + Kitchen = Laboratories of the Senses, Edited by MARTA Herford, foreword by Hubertus Gaßner, Roland Nachtigäller, texts by Sabine Autsch, Friederike Fast, Hubertus Gaßner, Michael Kröger, Herbert Molderings, Thomas Niemeyer, Jürgen Raap, Sabine Schütz, Oliver Seifert, Philip Ursprung, Monika Wagner. ISBN 978-3-7757-3438-7
Father & Child, essay by David Galloway, ISBN 978-3-00-037855-3

2011
Contemporary Visual Art in Ireland 2000 – 2011. Curated / edited by Noel  Kelly & Seán Kissane. ISBN: 978-1-907683-11-4

2010
Intimacy! Baden in der Kunst, Burkhard Leissmere and Martina Padberg. ISBN 978-3-86832-020-6
Movers and Shapers 3 – Conversations in the Irish Art World, Vera Ryan, p. 115 – 117, Galley Head Press
Mirror Mirror, a selection of work from the National Self Portrait Collection of Ireland

2009
Another Island, Contemporary Irish Art. Seeing Ireland by Aidan Dunne

2008
The Visual Artists’ News Sheet, Issue 2, March-April, Mary A. Kelly, p. 12

2007
Journeys, Office of Public Works.

2006
Ten Years in the Making, Art in State Buildings ’95 – ’05, OPW

2005
Paris Photo ’05
Eurojet Futures, An Anthology of Emerging Art from Ireland, Royal Hibernian Academy
Artists at Work. Asylum. Contexts. The art work, issue 2/2005
Asylum, St. Mary’s hospital, Castlebar

2004
Why Paint? A vox pop, Circa art magazine, September
Paris Photo ‘04

2003
The Landing, by Mary A. Kelly, p. 48, Contexts café publications, volume 2
Losing it, Article Press, U.K.
Royal Irish Academy Summer/autumn 2003
Crawford Open 1/3, ‘02

2001
From Past to Present, Art of the State ‘01, 1815 – 2001
Wide Shut, Sligo Art Gallery
Eurojet futures 01

1999
Installation Programme ’99, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council
How to Butterfly a Leg of Lamb by Mary A. Kelly & Abigail O’Brien
Perspective ’99, Black Sole Bonne Femme, by Mary A. Kelly & Abigail O’Brien
in many ways we were strangers…by Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn,
EV+A reduced catalogue

1998
Reviewed Once Is Too Much, I.M.M.A., Circa Art Magazine, issue 83
Crossing the Distance, by Louise Dompierre, Perspective ’98 Catalogue
Reviewed Banquet Show, R.H.A with Peter FitzGerald & Elaine Hartigan, Circa Art Magazine, no.82

Collections

Irish Museum of Modern Art
National Self Portrait Collection, University of Limerick
Castlebar General Hospital
Microsoft, Dublin
Office of Public Works, Dublin
Teagasc, Carlow
Goldman Sacks, London
Wicklow County Council
Private Collections Ireland, Europe and U.S.A.