Mary Byrne
Email: marybyrne@tiscali.co.uk
Websites: ArtSpace Loughborough http://www.artspace-lboro.co.uk/
The Association of Leics Artists http://theassociationofleicestershireartists.weebly.com/
Made in Leicestershire http://www.madeinleicestershire.org.uk/
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
Mary is a writer as well as an artist. She paints and draws and composes digital collages with narrative themes, often with surreal overtones. She is also fascinated by old photos of people. Work in 2018 was inspired by photos of women workers at the Zenobia perfume factory, Loughborough, in the 1920s. Recent work is inspired by her love of dolls’ houses. She finds their echo of reality intriguing but slightly surreal. Although they started out as a means for the rich to show off what they owned in a miniature version, they have become a way for both adults and children to seem to have control over their world, albeit a tiny one.
Mary exhibits widely on her own and with ArtSpace Loughborough and the Association of Leicestershire Artists. She is a member of Leicester Writers’ Club and has had stories and poems published in literary magazines.
EDUCATION
BA Honours Fine Art (Painting) (2.1), Loughborough College of Art and Design
BA Honours English, London University
PGCE, Leeds University
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
‘Imagined Worlds’, Charnwood Museum, Loughborough |
Feb-Apr 2014 |
‘Hidden’, Nottingham Society of Artists’ Gallery, Friar Lane, Nottingham |
Aug 2012 |
‘Inner Lives’, Melton Mowbray Library Art Gallery |
Sep 2011 |
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS IN THE LAST 5 YEARS
‘Inside/Outside’, ArtSpace, Sock Gallery, Loughborough Town Hall |
Jan-Feb 2019 |
‘Layers and Edges’, ArtSpace, Charnwood Museum |
Apr-June 2018 |
‘Coming Together’, LE11 1N Group, Loughborough Old Rectory Museum |
Apr-May 2018 |
‘Seeing the Light’, ArtSpace, Deda Performance Centre, Derby |
Jan-Feb 2018 |
Leicester Open 28, Old Library Gallery, Leicester |
Sep 2017 |
‘Light and Dark’, Old Library Gallery, Leicester |
Feb-Mar 2017 |
‘The Eye Opens’, Old Library Gallery, Leicester |
Dec 2016 |
The Association of Leicestershire Artists, Atkins Gallery, Hinckley |
Nov-Dec 2016 |
‘Reflection’, ArtSpace, Charnwood Museum, Loughborough |
May-Aug 2016 |
‘Renewal’, ArtSpace, Atkins Gallery, Hinckley |
Mar 2016 |
Leicester Open 27, Leicester Museum and Art Gallery |
Mar-May 2016 |
‘Beyond Words’, ArtSpace, Sock Gallery, Loughborough Town Hall |
May-June 2015 |
‘Looking Back’, ArtSpace, Curve Theatre, Leicester |
July-Sep 2014 |
‘Under the Surface’, Assoc of Leics Artists, Leicester Museum/Art Gallery |
Oct-Dec 2013 |
REVIEWS
Review of ‘Imagined Worlds’, Loughborough Echo, 16 Feb 2014
Review of ‘Inner Lives’, Leicester Mercury, 2011