Introduction
Mary A Waters is an Irish artist living and working between The Netherlands and the west-coast of Ireland.
The area that interests Mary Waters very much and that she addresses in her work is the relevance of European visual imagery to many of the people living in The West. Because she comes from a country with a long and troubled history with colonisation; when these images were presented to her despite the fact that she was a white, western European Christian, they were not hers in any real sense. They carried a message of the superiority of the bearer who almost always came from abroad. Because of the poverty in Ireland there was little or no indigenous visual art tradition. The ‘otherness’ of western art was something she felt strongly. At the same time the beauty and obvious worth of these images attracted her greatly.
She believes this is something very many people living in the west right now are experiencing.
Short text about painting
All of the source images for my work are taken from European (mainly Italian Dutch, Spanish and English)painting from the 14th to the 19th century.
These images are seen by most of the western world as embodying the best in us.
They are iconic and unquestioned.
Coming from Ireland, a country with a long history of colonisation and its aftermath, I see another side of this imagery. In Ireland, these Paintings were not seen as our cultural heritage in the same way they would have been by the English, Dutch, Italians or Spanish. They carried a message of unattainable superiority and lasting authority, culturally and politically.
This tension, for me is profoundly interesting and I have been exploring it in my work for many years. I have to stress that I do not look at the images in a sequential, analytical or academic way; I am not an Art historian. I can only describe my study of them as instinctive visually led. Looking at these images I have concluded that they frequently reflect the character of a culture more in their aesthetic than in their content. The values or desires of a society are often allowed only subliminal expression. It seems that for most of us, we can only examine ourselves obliquely. “
Mary A Waters
Eating the Image
I paint because I want to own these images!
Some notes on my work.
Because I was brought up on the opposite side of Ireland from the only real museum in the country at that time; The National Gallery Dublin, I had no contact with art and more specifically painting.
My only contact with the images I was interested in (16th – 19th century painting) was through the printed image.
There is a feeling that these reproductions are of little significance compared to the physical presence of the originals. I see the power of an original, when one stands before it: the presence of the paint, the artist and the time are tangible.
However I see the printed image as having a power of its own. It crosses very much with what one experiences before the original but the context of both these viewings is very important. For the most part a museum or gallery experience is a very public one made more so by the accessibility of these places in our time. Looking at the originals (this particularly applies to Dutch 17th Century painting) one is confronted by an icon of huge cultural and monetary value and preciousness that leads one to venerate rather than see it.
It is the accessibility of the printed image that has given us the best opportunity to experience the images with the required amount of time and quiet needed to explore them. Reproduction also removes us somewhat from the iconic status of the work and gives us a chance to really see its worth
The other area that interests me very much and that I address in my work is the relevance of European visual imagery to many of the people living in The West. Again because I come from a country with a long and troubled history with colonisation; when these images were presented to us despite the fact that we were white, western European Christians, they were not ours in any real sense. They carried a message of the superiority of the bearer who almost always came from abroad. Because of the poverty in Ireland there was little or no indigenous visual art tradition. The ‘otherness’ of western art was something we felt strongly. At the same time the beauty and obvious worth of these images attracted us greatly. I believe this is something very many people living in the west right now are experiencing.
Ironically given my regard for the printed image, I have found the intensity of figurative painting is the best way for me to express the experience of looking at these reproductions and the many hours painting layer after layer of paint helps reflect and reconcile the beauty of the images with the complexity of the messages they convey.
Mary A Waters
CONTACT INFORMATION
*1957, London | Irish national
Mary A. Waters lives and works in Galway, Ireland and Utrecht, Netherlands
www.marywaters.net
alacoquewaters@icloud.com
bob@bobnegryn.com
REPRESENTATION
Galerie Michael Sturm Stuttgart Germany | www.galerie-sturm.de
Galerie Sturm & Schober Vienna Austria | www.sturmschober.com
Zic Zerp Rotterdam The Netherlands | www.zerp.nl
SOLO SHOWS (SELECTED)
2021
Galerie Sturm & Schober Vienna
2019
Galerie Sturm Stuttgart
2016
If I Had Time I Would | Galerie Michael Sturm, Stuttgart
Lang Gallery Amsterdam
2015
Galerie Piece Unique, Paris
2014
Galerie Vous Etes Ici, Amsterdam
Stedelijk Museum Kampen, NL
2012
Galerie Piece Unique, Paris
2010
Galerie Piece Unique, Paris
Al Blu di Prussia, Naples
2008
Eating The Image | Galerie VOUS ETES ICI, Amsterdam
2004
Galerie Arti Capelli, ‘s-Hertogenbosch NL
2000
Galerie Arti Capelli ‘s-Hertogenbosch NL
1999
Singer Museum Laren NL
1997
Flatland Gallery Utrecht NL
1996
Museum ‘t Koopmanshuys Franeker NL
1995
Flatland Gallery Utrecht NL
1993
Flatland Gallery Utrecht NL
COLLECTIONS
Museum Ulm, Ulm DE\
Museum Het Prinsenhof Delft NL
Museum Flehite Amersfoort NL
Stedelijk Museum Kampen, Kampen NL
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (embassies) NL
Rijksgebouwendienst NL (office of public works)
Museum Krona Uden NL
Private collections
PUBLICATIONS
MW | Flatland Gallery NL 1999
Eating the image ISBN 9789079372034 | 2008 Published by www.pelskemper.nl
Mary Alacoque Waters monograph | Galerie Piece Unique Paris 2012
GROUP SHOWS (SELECTED)
2026
Painting 1 | Galerie Sturm & Schober Vienna
2025
Painting 1 | Galerie Sturm Stuttgart
2023
Sommergalerie Salzburg AT | Galerie Sturm & Schober
2021
Galerie Elisabeth & Reinhard Hauff Stuttgart
2020
Sommergalerie Salzburg AT | Galerie Sturm & Schober
Zerp Gallery Rotterdam NL
2019
Galerie Michael Sturm Stuttgart | On Canvas
Zerp Gallery Rotterdam NL
Galerie van den Berge Goes NL
2018
Salon 18 | Utrecht NL
Galerie van den Berge Goes NL
Warum Kunst | Museum Ulm & Kunsthalle Weishaupt Ulm DE
Museum MIJ, IJsselstein NL | Bloemenpracht bij MIJ (curated by B Negryn & M Waters)
Museum MIJ, IJsselstein NL | Tulpenmanie bij MIJ (curated by B Negryn & M Waters)
2016
Lang Gallery Amsterdam
2014
Galerie Ramakers The Hague NL
Galerie Mieke van Schaijk ‘s-Hertogenbosch NL
Museum IJsselstein NL
2013
Galerie Vous Etes Ici Amsterdam
2011
Arti & Amiciteae Amsterdam
Galerie Vous Etes Ici Amsterdam
Galerie Michael Sturm Stuttgart
2010
Museum Gouda NL
Galerie Vous Etes Icic Amsterdam
2009
Brutto Gusto Berlin
2008
Galerie Animaux Rotterdam
De Nieuwe Salon Utrecht NL
2007
Galerie Majke Husstege ‘s-Hertogenbosch NL
2006
Kunstpaviljoen Nieuw Roden NL
Museum Het Valkhof Nijmegen NL
Galerie Arti Capelli ‘s-Hertogenbosch NL
2004
Kunstpaviljoen Nieuw Roden NL
2003
Salon Utrecht artists Cantraal Museum Utrecht NL
2002
Galerie Arti Capelli ‘s-Hertogenbosch NL
Groninger Museum Groningen NL
Kunstpaviljoen Nieuw Roden NL
2001
My Castle My Home | Museum Slot Zeist NL
Galerie Transit Mechelen BE
1999
CBK Utrecht NL
1998
Salon Utrecht Artists Utrecht NL
Galerie Transit Mechelen BE
Arti & Amiciteae Amsterdam
1997
Arti & Amiciteae Amsterdam
1996
Stedelijk Museum Delft NL
1995
Salon Utrecht Artists Utrecht NL