ABOUT THE ARTIST
Maév Kelly is a visual artist based in Dublin. Working across mixed media, oil painting, and drawing, she is best known for her evocative paintings grounded in observation and intuition. Her work often draws on everyday objects, interiors, and figures, using restraint and subtle shifts in tone to explore presence, memory, and interior emotional states.
Kelly’s practice is grounded in close looking and allowing meaning to emerge through the act of making. Painting functions as a way of thinking — an attentive, reflective process in which the physical qualities of paint remain visible. While her work is rooted in figuration, it frequently moves toward more open, intuitive structures, embracing ambiguity and the quiet tension between what is seen and what is felt.
She holds a degree from Limerick School of Art and Design and has worked at Fenway Studios, Boston; Charles Cecil Studios, Florence; and Engomi Studio, Cyprus. Kelly has exhibited nationally and internationally through annual exhibitions and solo shows. Her work was selected for the Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize in 2025, and she was the winner of the inaugural Kilkenny Portrait Prize in 2024.
She lives and works in Dublin.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 SOLAS, Cowshed Gallery Farmleigh, Phoenix Park, Dublin Ireland
2017 Postcards from Cyprus, Sarahs Jazz Club, Nicosia, Cyprus
2016 Wild Atlantic Way, Sol Gallery, Dawson St, Dublin
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Exhibition, Online exhibition
RHA 195th Annual Exhibition, Dublin 2, Ireland
2024 Lines of the Land Exhibition, An Chéad Tine Gallery, Kilkenny, Ireland
RHA 194th Annual Exhibition Dublin 2, Ireland
Kilkenny Portrait Exhibition, An Chéad Tine Gallery, Kilkenny, Ireland
2023 Royal Ulster 142nd Annual Exhibition RUA Belfast, Ireland
RHA 193rd Annual Exhibition Dublin 2, Ireland
Sky Portrait Artist of the Year Season 10, Battersea London
2022 Royal Ulster 141st Annual Exhibition RUA Belfast, Ireland
2021 RHA 191st Annual Exhibition Dublin 2, Ireland
Royal Ulster 140th Annual Exhibition RUA Belfast, Ireland
2020 RHA 190th Annual Exhibition Dublin 2, Ireland
2019 Royal Ulster 139th Annual Exhibition RUA Belfast, Ireland
The United Arts Club Group Exhibition
2018 RHA 188th Annual Exhibition Dublin 2, Ireland
2012 RHA 182nd Annual Exhibition Dublin 2, Ireland
2010 RDS Art Fair, RDS Simmonscourt Dublin 2 Ireland
AWARDS
2024. Kilkenny Inaugural Portrait Show (winner) An Chéad Tine Gallery, Kilkenny, Ireland
COLLECTIONS
Maev Kelly features in various national and international private collections.