Kilcock Art Gallery is delighted to host the solo exhibition entitled “Endangered…” By Mary McGrath M.A. Fellow of the International Institute of Conservation & Artist.
Her exhibition opens on Sat. 30th September. @ 3pm & continues through October 2023.
Mary McGrath’s career in art spanned the USA, London & Dublin.
Following the presentation of a paper at a gilding conference in Philadelphia she was invited by the Getty Museum to be a visiting consultant for two consecutive Summers.
In Ireland Mary McGrath worked in the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, Dublin as a conservator for many years and at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. One of the most interesting projects she managed was moving Francis Bacon’s studio from London to Dublin. Subsequently, presenting papers about the move to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and the V & A in London and the American Institute for Conservation Annual Conference, & the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid
“Now, as I indulge my love of painting, my passion for biodiversity and conservation of our natural world continues to imbue my work. My art is an attempt to highlight nature’s beauty, the importance of retaining and encouraging wildlife habitats and what can be lost if we don’t. This exhibition is my effort to do something: hopefully to raise awareness and start a conversation. I have spent a lifetime working in the area of conservation. Conservation of Art, & Nature have been two constant inspirations during my career. My passion for biodiversity and conservation of our natural world, continues to imbue my work.
My art is an attempt to highlight nature’s beauty, the importance of retaining and encouraging wildlife habitats and what can be lost if we don’t.
My work invites the viewer to be aware of their surroundings. To give nature a chance to recover. To appreciate and cherish our ecosystem’s survivors and realise that we can all make a positive difference.
Horses, rare breeds, and biodiversity are the subject matter of my paintings and drawings.
Working in oils, print and watercolours I aim to depict the variety and variability of Irish wildlife and the richness of our native animals and birds which have survived despite intensive farming, habitat destruction and the demands of industry.
Spending time on my smallholding during lockdown reminded me of what we have already lost, many hares and skylarks, bees, and ladybirds. The curlew has long since gone. “
Mary McGrath