Fionna Murray uses loosely connected images to create fragmentary worlds that are often concerned with boundaries and an ordering of forms within and across urban and rural thresholds. Negotiating materiality and make-believe, the paintings attempt to make visible the experience of shifting sequences of lived time and lived places. Observation and memory inform her imagery; literature, film and musical references might become titles for paintings and are part of the work. With humour and a little melancholy her drawings, paintings and installations suppose more than explain, giving rise to speculation about how the activity of painting might also address the notion of an unlimited space in which to practice freedom.
Fionna was born in London and studied at Chelsea College of Art UAL. She moved to Ireland and completed an MFA at University of Ulster, Belfast in 1997. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, with her work being represented in public and private collections in Ireland and abroad, including: The University of Galway, The Office of Public Works, Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Centre Cultural Irlandais, The University of the Arts, London. Fionna lives and works in Galway city and is a member of Artspace Studios.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023 Fionna Murray, The Dock, Carrick on Shannon, Leitrim
2019 Metropolitan Pastoral, The Hyde Bridge Gallery, Sligo
2016 Blow Up and Other Stories, Emma Hill Arts,The Eagle Gallery, London.
2010 Daily Truths, Duende Studios, Rotterdam
2009 Wildlife, Metis-NL, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2008 Nightwind, Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray
2007 A Real Corner of the World, The Dock, Carrick on Shannon
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025 The Ties That Bind, 126 Gallery, Galway
2024 Borders, Rua Red Gallery, Dublin
Go under the ivy, away from the party, 126 Gallery, Galway
2023 Connections, Boyle Visual Arts Festival, Boyle, Roscommon
2022 Nothing has changed, Everything has changed,
Beep Biennial, Elysium Gallery, Swansea, Wales
RHA Summer Show, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
2019 Night Walking, Emma Hill Arts, The Eagle Gallery, London
Four, Wilson Stephens & Jones, London
Cairde Visual, Model Arts Centre, Sligo
Summer Exhibition, Courthouse Gallery, Ennistymon
2018 A Sense of Place, Project Gallery, Arundel, UK
2017 Cairde Visual, The Model Arts Centre, Sligo
A Promised Land, St Anne's Galleries, Lewes, Sussex, UK
2016 New Century Retro, Claremorris Open, Claremorris, Mayo
2014 Some of my Colours, Emma Hill Arts, Eagle Gallery, London
2013 RHA Summer Show, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
Panel Paintings, Emma Hill Arts, The Eagle Gallery, London
Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Exhibition, Kings Place, London
Awards
2023 Arts Council of Ireland Agility Award
2013 Painting Prize, Claremorris Open, selected by Andrew Wilson
2010 First Prize, Claremorris Open, selected by Lisa Le Feuvre
Arts Council Travel and Training Award
Residencies
2010 Duende Studios, Rotterdam, Netherlands
2002 Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris
2001 Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Co Mayo
