BIOGRAPHY
Diane Magee is painter, based in Co. Cork. In 2023 her work was selected by Nuala Clarke for a solo exhibition, called Winterage with Artnetdlr, Dunaoghaire. In 2024 she was one of 10 artists, from Backwater Artists Network, to be part of Field Trip an exhibition in Lavit gallery, Cork curated by gallerists Kevin Kavanagh and Alannah Murray. Also that year she was an invited artist at Ar Seiz Avel exhibition in Rennes, France and had her work selected for the Art Riddler exhibition where she was the recipient of the K&M Evans Award. In 2025 and 2026 her work was selected for solo shows in Signal Arts Centre, Bray and Cnoc Buí, Arts Centre, Union Hall, West Cork. Those exhibitions were called Blaze and Forecasters.
STATEMENT
My paintings evolve through layers of paint, experiment and go through many stages before they resonate with me. To achieve this, I need time and space to research, explore and resolve. These paintings are made on gessoed panels and vary in scale. Biodiversity, the climate and the animals that inhabit that space are direct sources of inspiration which I find endlessly fascinating and challenging. Much of my work explores and records the landscape, the subject within the landscape, warm and cool colours, light and dark. I initially created abstract watercolours based on the wild landscape and light of West Clare. As the work developed, the subject matter became more representational, the perspective more traditional, and I began to work in oil on canvas. Since 2020, with the opportunity of a number of residencies, I have made a welcome return to working from my imagination and a semi abstract style has emerged. I work on a number of paintings simultaneously. This allows me to transport certain elements from one piece to the next. Each painting shares some details with the other works in a series. I paint both outdoors and in my studio. I make colour studies and sketches. In the studio, I analyse, plan and imagine what it is I want to do in a painting. Often I will add an element that better compliments the colours, values and shapes of the subject matter. Changes that will enhance or strengthen a painting are considered and then employed to that end.
C.V.
ACADEMIC
M.Ed, University College Limerick
Postgraduate H.dip. Art & Design Teaching, LSAD
BA Fine Art, LSAD
AWARDS & RESIDENCIES
Residency Kilruddery House 2026/2027
Residency Cill Rialaig Arts Centre 2025
Residency The Tyrone Guthrie Centre, 2024, 2023,
Recipient of The Evans Award at Art Riddler Exhibition 2024
Shortlisted for the Bucolica award, Artform 2024
Residency The Burren College of Art, 2021,2022
COLLECTIONS AND PUBLIC REALM
Crew Digital Hub Galway on behalf of
Contemporary Irish Arts Society, Dublin 2
Montes of Kathmandu,Temple Bar, Dublin 2
Host & Co, Dublin, Sth William St, Dublin
Tomas Healy Builders Ltd. Limerick
Chapter One Restaurant, Dublin
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS - SOLO
2027 Kilruddery Yard (pending)
2026 Cnoc Buí Arts Centre Forecasters
2025 The Signal Arts Centre Blaze
2023 Artnetdlr ,Walters Dunlaoghaire, Winterage
2017 The Nest Gallery, Dunlaoghaire, Portraits in Pencil
2014 Smock Alley Theatre, Temple Bar, Fieldwork
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS - GROUP
2026 Art Riddler, One Charlemont Square, D.2
2025 Art Riddler, One Charlemont Square, D.2
2024 Art Riddler Exhibiition, Cnoc Buí members exhibition LHQ gallery, Cork County Council Made by Hands, Dunamaise Arts Centre,
Sample- Studios members exhibition Ar Seiz Avel, Parliament Buildings, Rennes, France, Ranelagh Arts Centre, Mount Congreve/Artform
Lavitt Gallery/Kevin Kavanagh curated, Backwater Artists members exhibition, The Georgian Society city assembly House,
2023 Dunamaise Arts Centre LHQ gallery, Cork County Council, Cnoc Buí Arts Centre Uilinn West Cork Arts Centre, Artlink FortDunree, Ranelagh Arts Centre Signal Art Gallery, LHQ gallery, Cork County Council, Gallery Omata, Lavit Gallery, Backwater Artists members exhibition
2022 Artnetdlr ‘Pause’ Artlink/126 Gallery, Open Exhibition Boyle Open Arts Festival, Birr Open Arts Festival,The Courthouse Gallery & Studios Signal Art Centre Lavit Gallery,The Holy Art Gallery, London. Backwater Artists members exhibitioon
2021 Artnetdlr,The Courthouse Gallery, Winter Open, ARTFORM Waterford, Winter Open ,Royal Hibernian Academy 191st Annual Exhibition, Lavit Gallery member exhibition
2020 The Courthouse Gallery Winter Open,The Courthouse Gallery Trasna 1X, Lavit Gallery members exhibtion, ArtnetDLR , Signal Arts Centre, Lavit Gallery, Members ExhibitionThe Holy Art Gallery, virtual exhibition
2019 Royal Hibernian Academy 189th Annual Exhibition, Ranelagh Arts Centre
2018 Ranelagh Arts Centre
2016 The United Arts Club, Winter Exhibition, The United Arts Club, Summer Exhibition
PUBLICATIONS
The Sunday Independent April 2026
The Gloss.ie April 2026
The Evening Echo April 2026
The Gloss Magazine, The Irish Times, March 2025
The Bray People, March 2025
The Gloss Magazine, The Irish Times, October ‘23
House & Garden UK Condè Naste Jan-March, ‘23
The Gloss Magazine, The Irish Times, 2014
PUBLIC TALKS
2026 Cnoc Bui Arts Centre
2024 Mór Collective
2024 Lavit Gallery
2023 Backwater Artists Network
2022 Burren College of Art
2021 Burren College of Art
2017 The Nest Gallery, Dunlaoghaire
2016 University of Limerick
ARTIST COLLECTIVES
Visual Arts Ireland, Sample Studios, Backwater Artists Network, Mór Artists Collective, Ranelagh Arts Centre, Artnetdlr Collective, 126 Gallery, Lavitt Gallery
LINKS
The Artist Well interview 2024 with Alan Keane https://youtu.be/kdtS8ycp3Wo?si=Mw71rOGE5OuhR3rG
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diane_magee_art/