Sean Hanrahan is a multidisciplinary artist based in Cork city, his work encompasses printmaking, photography, textile installation, and collaborative practice. Drawing upon art historical and sociological sources his practice incorporates a combination of philosophical inquiry and material investigation. Working in a wide range of media from traditional to unconventional, Hanrahan’s practice is process-driven and informed by site-specific research, through travel and personal experience of engaging with social and political concerns. For him, this is the core aspect of being an artist – to examine our physical world and society, to interpret, interrogate and disseminate ideas through creative practice.
Recent projects/exhibition – Parklands: Biodiversity in Irish Art Glucksman Gallery Cork. Artist in residence at IMMA (Irish Museum of Modern Art) produced a site-specific flag Project Memory Anthem for IMMA’s A Radical Plot residency program August-October 2021. Facebook Artist in Residence (AIR) program, produced a large-scale mural for their Cork Oculus laboratory offices. In 2018 I co-curated Aрка/Arch exhibition of Belarusian graphic work with Belarusian Artist Roman Sustov, Studio 12 Backwater Artists, Cork IRE. HALFTONE 16,17,18, 20, 21 The Library Project, Dublin IRE. The 188th RHA open submission exhibition, Dublin IRE. Solo exhibition Night Frightens the Day/Калі ноч палохае дзень VCCA (Centre for Contemporary and Modern Art) Minsk, Belarus. Over the Sun (Kazimir Malevich’s influence on western Artists) Initiated and curated by Seán Hanrahan. Participating artists Seán Hanrahan IRE Dominic Fee IRE and Josh Dannin USA, Vitebsk Gallery of Modern Art (V.C.C.A ) Vitebsk, Belarus.
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Education
2009-2010: Graphic Design QQI Level 5, St John’s Central College, Cork 2009-2009: Arts and Empowerment Training and Facilitation
Certificate Art Therapy Department, Crawford College of Art and Design, Cork
2001-2005: Fine Art Bachelor of Arts (Honours), LIT Limerick School of Art and Design
Work experience
2018-2024 Board of Directors (non-executive volunteer position), Backwater Artists Studios, Wandesford Quay, Cork
2009-2011: Exhibitions Production Team, Glucksman Gallery, Cork
1994-1998: Performer, Musician, Set and design production Macnas Theatre Group, Fisheries Field, Galway
Residencies, Commissions, Awards
A Radical Plot Artist residency, IMMA Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin IRE. 2021 Commissioned limited edition Memory Anthem prints for IMMA30, IMMA Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin IRE. 2021
Facebook Artist in Residence program (AIR.) Cork City IRE 2020
Changing Rooms International Temporary Residency (TR5) Cork Midsummer Festival, Cork IRE. 2011
Commissioned artist for the 55th Cork International Choral Festival, Cork IRE. 2009
Agility grant Awards 2021/2022 Arts Council of Ireland
Collections
Glucksman Art Museum UCC Collection, Cork city, Ire
China Printmaking Museum Guanlan, China
Northern Beaches Council Australian Library, Australia Law Society of Ireland Dublin Ire
Douro Museum Biennial Collection, Douro, Portugal Schio Municipality Collection, Vicenza, Italy
Office of Public Works (OPW) Collection, Dublin Ire
Botanical Gardens Archive Collection, Glasnevin, Dublin Ire Civic Trust House Collection, Cork city, Ire
Solo Exhibitions
In the Presence of Beings Studio 12 Backwater Artists, Cork 2025
Holdfast Spike Island, Cork Harbour Festival, Cork 2022
Night Frightens the Day Minsk Gallery of Contemporary Art, CCA, Minsk, Belarus 2015
Over the Sun (Kazimir Malevich’s influence on western Artists) Cork Printmakers Gallery, Cork 2014
Night Frightens the Day Vitebsk Gallery of Contemporary Art (VCCA) Vitebsk, Belarus 2014
Selected Group Exhibitions 2005-2025
Backwater Artists studio members exhibition. Curated and selected by Kevin Kavanagh. Lavitt Gallery, Cork 2024
Invited Lavitt Annual Members Show Lavitt Gallery Cork IRE. 2024
Cork Printmakers Members Show Lavitt Gallery, Cork IRE. 2023
Closer Backwater Artists Studios member exhibition Curated by Janice Hough Artists Residency
Programme Co-ordinater at IMMA, Lavit Gallery Cork 2022
Parklife Glucksman UCC University Cork 2021
Expanded Curated by Andrew Folan Head of fine art Print NCAD Dublin and Peter Brennan of Graphic studio gallery Dublin 2020
London Art Fair London, UK 2020 VUE Art Fair RHA Gallery, Dublin 2019
Northern Beaches Library Artists’ Book Awards The Manly Art Gallery and Museum, Australi ApKa/Arch Exhibition of Belarusian graphic work curated by Sean Hanrahan and Roman Sustov. Studio 12 Backwater Artists, Cork 2018
RHA 188th Annual Exhibition Ely place, Dublin 2018
Hermione 18 Invited group exhibition curated by Aisling Prior. Alexandra College, Dublin 2018 Stampa Ora Cork Print makers & Italian National Association of Contemporary Engravers,
Fondazione Villa Benzi Zecchini, Treviso, Italy and Universita degli Studi di Sassari, Sassari, Sardinia 2018
Collision SO Fine Art Editions, Law Society Dublin 2018
Artists are here! curated by Sean Hanrahan with Belarusian artists Kyrill Demchev, Anton
Levadny, Paulina Ivansova and Anastasia Gohcharova. Tolstoy Arts Centre, Vitebsk, Belarus 2018
Over the Sun (Kazimir Malevich’s influence on western Artists) Initiated and curated by Sean Hanrahan in association with V.C.C.A Vitebsk, Belarus featuring Sean Hanrahan, Dominic Fee (IRE) and Josh Dannin (USA). Vitebsk Gallery of Modern Art (V.C.C.A ) Vitebsk, Belarus 2018 ImPress: Printmaking in the Post-print age. IMPACT9, Hangzhou, China 2017
Anthology of Artists Bottega Del Tintoretto, Venice, Italy Di Carta/Papermade Schio Vincenza, Italy 2015
Ireland: Alphabet Series A Cork Printmakers touring exhibition Irish Arts Centre, New York, USA 2015
Impressions of your City : Exhibition of large-scale Lino cuts from Cork Printmakers Road Roller Project, Cork Opera House 2010
Charles Tyrrell selects :Cork Printmakers Kinsale Arts Week Cork, IRE. 2008
Prints from Ireland Cork Printmakers curated by Prawat Laucharoen. Horace Mann Gallery, New York City, USA 2008
Node National Print Studio Network Exhibition Selected by Ray Henshaw Original Print Gallery, Dublin 2008