Rita Duffy

Rita Duffy was born in 1959 in Belfast. She received her BA at the Art and Design Centre and her MA in Fine Art at the University of Ulster. She is one of Northern Ireland’s groundbreaking artsist who began her work concentrating primarily on the figurative/narrative tradition. Her art is often autobiographical, including themes and images of Irish identity, history and politics. Duffy’s work has grown and evolved but remains intensely personal with overtones of the surreal. Homage is paid to the language of magic realism and always there is exquisite crafting of materials.

She has initiated several major collaborative art projects and was made an Honorary Member of the RSUA for her developmental work within the built environment. Her work  is increasingly shown in solo and group exhibitions aroung the world. She is an associate of Goldsmiths College, London, working on an artistic exchange between Argentina and N. Ireland. Her Belfast studio practice continues to develop and her public art projects are increasingly preoccupied with international themes. Currently she holds a Leverhulme Fellowship with the Transitional Justice Institute, looking at the role visual art has in post conflict societies.

In 2013 Stoney Road Press published At Sixes And Sevens, a limited edition book by Paul Muldoon with etchings by Rita Duffy.