Brian Maguire Exhibition

Entitled “La Grande Illusion” the exhibition is structured and distilled in ways that reveal how the artist has represented the fragility of human rights and how he has persistently responded to societal injustices and their legacies. Focusing on a period of intense productivity for the artist, 2007–2024, it appraises his activism in human rights and his efforts to document the shape-shifting nature of war with its far-reaching impact on the poor and our environment.

Maguire presents an expanded view of war- seen as a constant cycle of corrupted power and death – it encompasses capital, class, gender, and post-colonial legacies. Intimate and uncompromising, his paintings form a demand for social justice and are an act of solidarity with families and communities. The exhibition will draw on seven pioneering and interconnected bodies of work, with works from Hugh Lane Gallery and Crawford art Gallery collections alongside works from private collections including the Tia Collection, Santa Fe. These include paintings from projects in Juárez, Mexico (2012–15), the Mediterranean (2016), Aleppo (2017), South Sudan (2018), the Amazon (2022), Arizona (2022) and Brazil (2022-23)

Testimony is integral to understanding violence, human rights violations and state abuse.

This exhibition is co-curated by Michael Dempsey, Head of Exhibitions and Barbara Dawson Director, Hugh Lane Gallery.

Brian Maguire the Painter

He studied at Dun Laoghaire School of Art and the National College of Art and Design. Through observation, he draws attention to marginalized voices. His expressionist paintings address issues of social injustice and malfunction. He has worked in institutions with marginalised groups in many countries such as Ireland, Poland and the US. He was appointed Professor of the Fine Art Faculty of the National College of Art and Design in 2000 and is an elected member of Aosdána.