Solo Exhibition at The Molesworth Gallery, Dublin June 2006

...... Her carefully observed studies of coastal scenes, prosaic still life subjects and interiors are mostly fragmentary and oblique, making brilliant use of the play of horizontal, vertical and diagonal accents. Her use of paint is subtle, economic and accurate. She relishes the vibrancy of maritime light and there is a poignant quality to the deserted, inviting spaces she describes. Giorgio Morandi and Edward Hopper come to mind.

Aidan Dunne, Irish Times, June 28th 2006



Portrait Maeve Binchy at The National Portrait Gallery, National Gallery of Ireland, October 2005

Life Features: Striking a pose for my country
Maeve Binchy writes about her portrait by Maeve McCarthy at The National Gallery of Ireland
The Irish Times (Oct 25 2005)
To read the full article click here

Irish Lives, Portraiture
"Recently unveiled at the National Gallery, Maeve McCarthy's portrait of author Maeve Binchy follows in the tradition of Renaissance portraiture where visual clues to the sitter's personality form a vital part of the composition"

Marianne Hartigan, Irish Arts Review Winter 2005

 

BP Portrait Award 2004, National Portrait Gallery, London

"...and among the small paintings, the self portraits of .........., Maeve McCarthy and ..........have obvious merit ignored by the judges in favour of less than mediocrity. "

Brian Sewell The Evening Standard London June 2004

 

The RHA Annual Exhibition April 2004

".......In The 19th Century, portraiture formed a veritable industry for painters, an industry that had the stuffing kicked out of it by the invention of photography. So much so that it is suprising that it thrives. There are several terrific examples ................. among them an intense self-portrait by Maeve McCarthy,......"

Aidan Dunne , Irish Times

 

Exhibitions, RHA Prizewinners 2004
"This Painting has magnetic force and is more realist in approach than McCarthy's preceding portraits. While conceived on a small scale, the impact is dramatic, with the observer almost captured in the artist's gaze; yet not quite , McCarthy looks beyond us........"

Marianne O'Kane, Irish Arts Review Summer 2004

 

Solo Exhibition, The Frederick Gallery Sept 16 - 27 2002

"Maeve McCarthy at the Frederick makes still lifes and studies of shoreline landscape. The latter recall Edward Hopper's paintings , particularly his watercolours of Cape Cod and other coastal locations, with their sensitivity to light and texture - there is the same feeling of light being something plastic and palpable that you get in Hopper's work. For most of the time, the sea in McCarthy's painting does not look as if it is composed of water - you are in no doubt that it is blue paint - but the pictures still work. She has an eye for narrow, oblique views of spaces and angles that leads us into the pictures and suggests psychological complexities"

Aidan Dunne , Irish Times


" ....has produced an attractive selection of uncomplicated pictures of real-life subjects. There's a refreshing series of cheerfully-coloured fruits and vegetables, a realistic lobster, beachscapes and several interesting vertical slices of buildings and the edge of the pier. McCarthy paints freely and competently, and her popularity is proof of the solid appeal of such images..... Hidden depths in McCarthy's work hint at the abstract, although the surface is always accessible and she has exhibited in both Europe and the US. This exhibition acts like a lovely, calming dose of what the Rolling Stones used to call Mother's little helper"

Anne Iremonger, The Dubliner


Solo Exhibition, Jo Rain Gallery (Kevin Kavanagh), 1998

"Maeve McCarthy is a good descriptive represental painter...there are also a number of very good , understated pictures in which the air , light and colour of the desert environment are beautifully rendered. It is all a quite brash looking but all the same McCarthy is a subtle colourist. Her anecdotal isn't at all precious or cloying"

Aidan Dunne, Sunday Tribune

"Maeve McCarthy is without a doubt a very strong painter in the traditional sense. While the versatility of her ability is shown in landscapes and still lives, it is the internal terrain explored in her portraits, namely Gavin Kostick, Patrick Hickey and Siobhan Cleary, that are particularly outstanding"

Ciara Ferguson, Sunday Independant, Jan 25 1998


BP National Portrait Awards, London and Belfast, 1997

" ...At Annaghmakerrig - by Dublin's Maeve McCarthy - refuses to be intimidated"

The Sunday Times


National Portrait Award Exhibition, Arnotts Dublin 1989

" ... a self - portrait in a light filled room, with slightly wonky perspective, but good colour and feeling for paint."

Brian Fallon, The Irish Times