Alice Maher

RHA
Born1956
Kilmoyler, County Tipperary
NationalityIrish
EducationCrawford Municipal College of Art, Cork
Alma materUniversity of Ulster
Known forSculpture, photography, installations
SpouseDermot Seymour
ElectedAosdána

Alice Maher RHA (born 1956) is a contemporary Irish artist working in a variety of media, including sculpture, photography and installation.[1]

Education

Maher was born in Kilmoyler, near Bansha, County Tipperary and received her early education at Ballydrehid National School and at Coláiste Chríost Rí, Cahir. She later graduated from the University of Limerick and the Crawford College of Art in Cork. Then she undertook an MA at the University of Ulster, Belfast in 1985 and 1986.[2] Maher spent time in San Francisco Art Institute in 1986 as a Fulbright Scholar.[3]

Career

The Axe (and the Waving Girl) by Alice Maher, 2003

Maher works in a range of media, often from outside the tradition of fine art and more from the natural and domestic world, such as hair, nettles, bees and thorns.[4] She has explored the themes of childhood and death, such as Mnemosyne, 2003, wherein she creates a bedlike structure constructed from refrigerator coils; when the coils become frosty they gleam a luminous white sheen.[5] She is interested in how identities, particularly gendered identities, are constructed by history and culture.[citation needed]

Exhibitions

Maher's work was the subject of a survey show at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, IMMA, in 2012 titled Becoming. The exhibition took place in the IMMA's temporary location at Earlsfort Terrace as the museum was undergoing renovations at the time.[6] Maher represented Ireland at the São Paulo Art Biennial in 1994.[7]

Collaborations

Maher has collaborated with artists from a range of disciplines. She collaborated with the composer Trevor Knight since 1999. Knight has produced soundtracks for her animated videos. Visitant, a live show combining dance, music and visual art, was a collaboration between Maher, Knight, the Butoh dancer Gyohei Zaitsu and musician Áine O'Dwyer. Visitant was performed at the Project Arts Centre in 2014.[8]

Maher's film Cassandra's Necklace, produced for her retrospective exhibition at IMMA in 2015, was based on an unpublished script by Irish writer Anne Enright and features the actress Charlie Murphy.[9]

In 2018, Maher collaborated with the poet Doireann Ní Ghríofa on the book Nine Silences published by Salvage Press.[10]

Collections

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ "Alice Maher". IMMA. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  2. ^ Deepwell, Katy (2005). Dialogues : women artists from Ireland. London: I.B. Tauris. p. 136. ISBN 9781850436218.
  3. ^ "Alice Maher - Current Member | Aosdana". aosdana.artscouncil.ie. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  4. ^ Women Artists Slide Library Journal 22 (April–May 1988). Retrieved 5 November 2014 Archived 5 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Circa: c104: Summer 2003 – Alice Maher, Mnemosyne". circaartmagazine.website. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  6. ^ "Through the looking-glass with Alice". The Irish Times. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  7. ^ "Anglo Celt - EVERYWOMAN - Innovative IMMA exhibition in Cavan". Anglo Celt. Retrieved 13 October 2015.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ "Dark collaboration: four artists, four disciplines, one show". The Irish Times. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  9. ^ "Alice Maher, and getting better at what you do | Pop Life". www.irishtimes.com. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  10. ^ "100 Archive".
  11. ^ "RESERVOIR BY ALICE MAHER: SKETCHBOOKS & SELECTED WORKS". www.irishartsreview.com. Retrieved 13 October 2015.

External links

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