Ian Healy
Ian Healy (born in Cork, Ireland, and based in Edinburgh) is a painter whose practice primarily explores the inherent energy of the painted gesture. Trained at the Crawford College of Art & Design, he has developed since the 1990s a body of work focused on the presence of the painted motif—whether a face, an object, or an ambiguous form—rather than on narrative.
Healy seeks the moment when the familiar shifts into the strange, the unsettling, or the humorous. His works, often given pragmatic titles, privilege immediate sensation: colour, light, and the softness or abruptness of the brushstroke create an atmosphere rather than a story. In recent years, he has incorporated his own family into his compositions, finding in this closeness a new sense of authenticity while continuing to draw on art-historical references.
Education
Degree in Fine Art Painting, Crawford College of Art & Design, Cork, Rep. of Ireland 1988-92
Solo Exhibitions
2022 Parade, Mothflower.com
2021 Ye, Galerie Youn, Montreal, Canada
2020 Contraband, Galerie Youn, Montreal, Canada
2018 Bridge II, Cloud Cucko Land Gallery, Here East, London (curated by Alice Herrick and Gavin Turk)
2017 The Bridge, Herrick Gallery, London
Side Show, Studio One Gallery, London
In The Pink, Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh
2014 Some of its Parts, Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh
2009 Folk, Harbour Arts Centre, Irving
2008 Offerings, Attic Salt Gallery, Edinburgh
2006 Folk, The Arches, Glasgow
1997 Crawford Municipal Art Gallery, Cork
Group Exhibitions
2026 “Le sentiment du déjà” Galerie PJ, Metz, France.
2025 Canal Boat Contemporary, London
Delphian Gallery online
2024 Papier Vol.2, Delphian Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2023 Papier, Delphian Gallery, Linge, France
2022 Character, Mothflower Youniverse, Galerie Youn, Montreal, Canada
2021 Mothflower group show
2020 The Spirit of Togetherness, Galerie Youn, Montreal
No borders, Arthou Lucid abnormalities, Crawford Art Gallery, Cork
2018 Pulse Miami beach, Galerie Youn, Montreal
‘Slightly seared on the reality grill’, Unit 5 Gallery, London, curated by Jérémie Magar Galina Munroe & Sarah Gilbert ArtMaze Magazine, Summer Edition
2017 ‘Paint a Vulgar Picture’, Sluice Biennial, with Studio One Gallery, London
Floorr Magazine interview Issue 11
‘Painting [Now]’, Studio One Gallery, London
‘Pop’, Herrick Gallery, London
Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize, Mall Galleries, London
Pleat Gallery interview
2016 DOK Artist Space, Edinburgh
‘Fly’ @VAS, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
Featured in Fresh Paint Magazine, October
Wilson Williams Gallery Solo Award shortlist
Biscuit factory, Newcastle
‘Converge’ @VAS, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2015 SSA, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
Blackcube Collective Annual, Gayfield Creative Spaces, Edinburgh
Newave Gallery, Aberdeen
Patriothall Gallery – Ian Healy & Derek McGuire, Edinburgh
2013 Scottish Society of Artists, RSA, Edinburgh
2010 Crawford Municipal Gallery, Cork
NewbloodArt, London
2007 ‘Bona Fide’ Patriothall Gallery Edinburgh, with Lynn Ahrens, Vakho Bugadze, Mikheil Gogrichiani, Mikheil Shengelia, Caroline Walker
2005 Embassy Gallery Edinburgh
Arc Gallery, Chicago, U.S.A.
2004 Compass Gallery Glasgow
Fairs
2023 Plural Contemporary Art Fair, Galerie Youn, Montreal, Canada
2022 Art Toronto fair – Galerie Youn, Montreal, Canada
Foirepapier Papier Contemporary Art Fair – Galerie Youn, Montreal, Canada
2021 Papier Art Fair @foirepapier – Galerie Youn, Montreal, Canada
2019 Papier Art Fair @foirepapier, Galerie Youn, Montreal
2004 London Art Fair (Compass Gallery)
Bibliography
Public Collection
Crawford Municipal Art Gallery, Cork, Rep. of Ireland
AWARDS
S.S.A. Prize Winner 2000
Arts Council of Ireland Cultural Relations, Irish department of Foreign Affairs
RESIDENCIES
International Art Symposiium, Lithuania
Centre d’Art i Natura, Farrera, Catalunya, Spain
Address
10 rue des jardins, 57000 Metz, France
Hours
Wednesday-Saturday 11.00am-6.00pm
Contact us
+33 3 87 68 52 40