Alice Maher

Alice Maher (born 1956) born at Kilmoyler, near Bansha, County Tipperary, Ireland, is a noted artist who uses a wide variety of media including sculpture, photography and installation.

Education

Alice Maher 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 from 1985-86.[1] She spent time in San Francisco Art Institute in 1986 as a Fulbright Scholar.[2]

Works

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

Alice Maher is a contemporary Irish artist who works in a wide range of media, often from outside the tradition of fine art and more from the natural and domestic world, such as hair, nettles, bees, thorns.[3] More recently she returns to her roots in drawing and videos of her drawings. She has been adventurous in her explorations of 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 brilliant, luminous white sheen.[4] She is interested in how identities, particularly gendered identities, are constructed from the peculiar texture history and culture give to artefacts that surround us.

Exhibitions

The artist's work was the subject of a survey show at the Irish Museum of Modern Art 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.[5]

Maher represented Ireland at the São Paulo Art Biennial in 1994.[6]

Collaborations

Alice Maher has collaborated with artists from a range of disciplines. She has collaborated with composer Trevor Knight since 1999. Knight produces the soundtracks for her animated videos. Visitant, a live show combining dance, music and visual art, was a collaboration between Alice Maher, Trevor Knight, Butoh dancer Gyohei Zaitsu and musician Áine O’Dwyer. Visitant was performed at the Project Arts Centre in 2014.[7]

Maher's film Cassandra’s Necklace, produced for her retrospective exhibition at IMMA, was based on an unpublished script by Irish writer Anne Enright and features the actress Charlie Murphy .[8]

Publications

Maher's book Reservoir (Dublin: Roads Publishing, 2014) brought the collection of sketchbooks that she has created over many years to the public's attention for the first time.[9]

Work in collections or on display

Further reading

References

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

External links and references

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