David Eager Maher
David Eager Maher, a Fine Art graduate from the National College of Art & Design in Dublin, holds a BA (2009) and MFA (2011).
Maher works mainly in painting and drawing, using oil, watercolor, and pencil on panel and found paper. His style delicately considers 'possibility,' blending personal and historical imagery to create quasi-descriptions of time.
His work orchestrates like stage sets or animation backgrounds, drawing from art history and contemporary culture. Traditional techniques and historical motifs are reimagined, conjuring narratives that traverse personal and contemporary themes. Maher's pieces are saturated with charged opulence, proposing a world where gravity is ignored, distance collapses, and time is suspended in a space of personal logic.
Over time, Maher's narrative has evolved, moving from purely historical motifs to a blend of personal and contemporary influences. This evolution reflects his growing engagement with the complexities of visual culture and historical context.
Maher aims to challenge perceptions of time and space, creating works that suspend reality and invite viewers into a world governed by personal logic. His art evokes a sense of timelessness and altered reality.
Vita
EDUCATION
2010-11 MFA, Fine Art Painting, National College of Art and Design, Dublin.
2010 Erasmus Exchange, Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst, Leipzig.
2005-09 BFA, Fine Art Painting, National College of Art and Design, Dublin.
2002-05 HND, Higher National Diploma, Classical Animation, Irish School of Animation, Ballyfermot, Dublin.
2000-02 Trained as a Fabric Designer / Silk Painter for Veronique Didi. Wicklow.
RESIDENCIES
2010 Castle Ellen House, Athenry, County Galway, TULCA, Curated by Michelle Browne.
2009 Takt Kunstprojektraum, Berlin.
2008 Sim, Reykjavík, Iceland.
TEACHING
2016 Master Class Instructor, RHA, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, Ireland.
2015 Guest Lecturer, Belfast School of Art, University of Ulster, York Street, Belfast.
Exhibitions
Selection
2018 Jarmuschek + Partner, Berlin; Solo Exhibition
2017 Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin; Locus, Solo Exhibition,
2017 Galerie Drei Ringe, Leipzig, Germany; Villa
2017 Luan Gallery, Athlone; Jealous Wall, Curated by Séamus McCormack. (G)
2017 Jarmuschek + Partner, Berlin; Exploration Landscape (G)
2017 Galerie Drei Ringe, Leipzig; les rêveries du promeneur solitaire (G)
2016 Pallas Projects / Studios, Dublin. Ireland; Paper Trees
2016 Galerie Martin Mertens, Berlin; Paper Works II (G)
2016 Oliver Sears Gallery, Fitzroy Square, London; In Residence II (G)
2016 RHA, Royal Hibernian Academy Dublin; 186th Annual Exhibition (G)
2015 Galerie Drei Ringe, Leipzig, Germany; Inheritance
2015 Galerie Drei Ringe, Leipzig; Instabil (G)
2014 Casino at Marino, Dublin; Meditation on Plates, (G)
2014 RAKE Visningsrom, Trondheim, Norway; MOON FARK, (G)
2014 Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane; Savage State, (G)
2013 Exhibition of Contemporary Art celebrating Ireland’s 40 years in the E.U. (traveling exhibition) i>40/40/40 (G)
2013 Pallas Projects / Studios, Dublin; Afterlife (G)
2013 Broadstone Studios, Dublin, A Lamb Lies Down, (G)
2013 RHA, Dublin; RHA 183th Annual Exhibition (G)
2013 The Glue Factory, Glasgow; I want to be your dog (G)
2012 Cross Gallery Dublin; God’s Hotel
2012 Cross Gallery, 110 N.E. 36 Street, Florida; SCOPEMIAMI, (G)
2012 13 North Great Goerges St, Dublin; Tentamen (G)
2012 Cross Gallery, Kaserne, Switzerland; SCOPEBASEL, (G)
2012 NCAD Gallery, WORK HEAD (G)
2011 Cross Gallery, Kaserne, Switzerland; SCOPEBASEL (G)
2010 Cross Gallery, Dublin; I would have drawn this more accurately but they didn’t allow me a knife to mend my pen
2010 RHA, Dublin; 181st (G)
2010 FE Mc William Gallery, Banbridge, County Down & Highlanes Gallery County Louth,The Surreal in Irish Art, Curated By Dr Riann Coulter. (G)
2010 Parliament Buildings Stormont, Belfast; Titles, (G)
2010 Pallas Contemporary Projects, Dublin; BIZZARE BAZAAR (G)
2010 Cross Gallery, Dublin; Group Show Gallery Artists (G)
2010 The Fairgreen Gallery, Galway; TULCA People Place and Possibility, Curated by Michelle Browne (G)
2010 Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Dublin; Something Tells me it’s all happening at the Zoo, Curated by Davey Moor (G)
2010 Pallas Contemporary Projects, Dublin; Preface, (G)
2009 Monstertruck Gallery, Dublin; Pinks, Queens and Criminal Queers
2009 Sebastian Guinness Gallery, Dublin; The Great Redundant (G)
2009 RHA, Dublin; After Dark (G)
2009 Gallery Exhibeo, Berlin; Gatspeil (G)
2009 Sarah Walker Gallery, Cork; Graduate Exhibition (G)
2009 RHA, Dublin; 180th Annual Exhibition (G)
2009 Irish Museum of Contemporary Art, Dublin; This Must be the Place (G)
2008 Temple Bar Gallery and Studios, Dublin; Winter Salon (G)
2008 RDS, Dublin; RDS Art Awards and Traveling Exhibition (G)
2008 Monstertruck Gallery Dublin; Artswap (G)
2008 Department of Justice; Sanctuary (G)
2007 Seljavour Gallery, Iceland; Excuse me I seem to have lost my needle in your Haystack (G)
2007 County Buildings, Wicklow; Next to Nothing (G)
2007 RDS, Dublin; RDS Art Awards and Traveling Exhibition (G)
Awards
2016 Visual Artists Bursary, The Arts Council of Ireland.
2015 Golden Fleece Award, Merit Prize.
2014 Artist’s Support Scheme, Bursary, Wicklow County Council.
2013 Thomas Damman Memorial Trust Award.
2013 Whyte’s Auctioneers Award.
2012 Three Year Membership, Temple Bar Gallery & Studios.
2012 Shortlisted for The Golden Fleece Award.
2012 Shortlisted for Per Cent for Art Scheme, Selected by Aisling Prior.
2012 Shortlisted for CCA Derry-Londonderry ‘Production Ireland’ award as member of WORK HEAD: Jason Dunne, Sam Keogh, Joseph Noonan-Ganley, Frank Wasser, Marcel Vidal & myself.
2011 Associate Member, Temple Bar Gallery & Studios.
2011 Individual Artist’s Bursary, Wicklow County Council.
Collections
Trinity College Dublin.
Department of Justice, Ireland.
Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland.
The Office of Public Works, (OPW), Ireland. The State Art Collection.
Dublin City University, (DCU).
National University of Ireland, Maynooth, (NUI).
The Casino at Marino, Ireland.
Daughters of Charity, Dublin.
Private collections in Ireland, England, Germany, Switzerland, Iceland, U.S.
Publications/Texts
2017 The Strange and Unsettling World of David Eager Maher, Aidan Dunne, Irish Times
2017 Vistas, Séamus McCormack, Essay.
2017 Locus, Aidan Dunne, The Ticket, The Irish Times
2017 Gothic Follies and Ghostly Films, Gemma Tipton, The Irish Times.
2017 Jealous Wall, Art in Ireland TV
2016 Imago Mundi, Contemporary Art from Ireland. Luciano Benetton Collection.
2016 In Residence II, Exhibition catalogue, Oliver Sears Gallery, Fitzroy Square, London.
2016 Life’s Work: Adelle Hughes, head of the art department, Whyte’s, Dublin, Michael Parsons, The Irish Times.
2016 Kunst in konzentrierter Form, Christiane Meixner, Der Tagesspiegel
2016 Creativity needs to be given room to breathe, Gemma Tipton, The Irish TImes
2016 Art that’s as strong as the paper it’s painted on. Aidan Dunne, The Irish Times
2016 Paper Trees, by Ingrid Lyons
2014 Fukt for Contemporary Drawing #13, New York Art Book Fair at MoMA PS1 ISBN 978-3-95763-227-2
2014 Intenst og mystisk i Rake-boksen, Udresfeabifen Kultur, by Per Christiansen.
2014 MOON FARK, Natt og Dag, by Gustav Borgersen.
2014 What would a contemporary cave painting look like?, Interview with Jason Dunne, Marcel Vidal and David Eager Maher, MOON FARK, trondheimkunsthall.com
2014 A Lamb Lies Down, The Visual Artist’s News Sheet, Critique Supplement, by David Brancaleone.
2013 Top Drawer, The Irish Times, Culture Magazine, Cristin Leach Hughes
2013 40/40/40, Catalogue, Essay by Helen Carey.
2012 Seven Impertinent Notes on Tentamen, Pamphlet, by Davey Moor.
2012 Dreamworks, Irish Arts Review, September - November, by Dr Riann Coulter.
2011 Landscapes of the Mind, The Surreal in Irish Art, Irish Arts Review, March - May, by Dr. Riann Coulter.
2011 Titles, Essay ‘What’s in a Title’ by Helen Carey, ISBN : 978 1 4074 26045w
2010 The Surreal in Irish Art, Essays, Fiona Loughnane, ‘Surrealism in Britain’ & Dr Riann Coulter,‘ The Surreal in Irish Art’ ISBN : 978 190845500
2010 Living on the Edge has a Better View, Aidan Dunne, The Irish Times.
2010 TULCA ‘Hunting Season’, Sunday Business Post Magazine.
2009 Taking Art Beyond Fixed Boundaries, Aidan Dunne, The Irish Times.
2009 The ambiguities of postmodernist art as exemplified in the work of David Eager Maher, by Rowan Sexton