Vicky Smith

Biography

Vicky Smith is an Irish painter from Galway City on the West Coast of Ireland. Her work explores autobiography, personal and inherited history, motherhood, cultural and social experiences of being a woman, family, memory and the psychological impact of the domestic space through the medium of paint, intimate and documentary in style. A recipient of numerous awards, Smith was awarded the Creative Arts Practitioner Bursary Award from Galway City Council in 2025. She has received the Arts Agility Award from the Arts Council of Ireland in 2023 and 2021. In 2025 Smith was awarded a two week international artist residency at Interface Inagh in Connemara by Galway City Council. Her work is held in public and private collections across Ireland, the United kingdom and the United Arab Emirates. Smith is a registered teacher of Art, Craft & Design with the Teaching Council of Ireland, Department of Education and Skills since 2002.

Recent solo exhibitions include Am Chlann, Engage Art Studios Gallery (Galway, 2025), Stocaí ó Saoirse, Engage Art Studios Gallery (Galway, 2023), The Cold Bark Against My Back at Engage Art Studios Gallery (Galway, 2022) and the Olivier Cornet Gallery (Dublin, 2022), A Final Soar into Orbit, Linenhall Arts Centre (Mayo, 2015), House of Blindness, PS2 and Paragon Studios (Belfast, 2014), Mega Bubble Space Burbs at Galway Arts Centre (2013). Recent group shows include OXO, Outset Gallery Xmas Open, a group exhibition featuring 130 artworks, (Galway, 2025), Ode to Giants, Dublin Gallery Weekend and Out of Lines, Bloomsday Summer Show, Olivier Cornet Gallery (Dublin, 2025), Cairde Visual at the Hamilton Gallery (Sligo, 2025), 126 Artist-run Gallery 20 Year Anniversary Exhibition (Galway, 2025), 46th Clifden Arts Festival (Clifden, Galway 2024), Galway International Arts Festival with artists Cecilia Bullo and Brigid Mulligan, curated by Simon Fennessy Corcoran (Galway, 2023), Galway International Arts Festival, Engage Art Studios Gallery, Members Show (Galway, 2022).  

Smith completed the Turps Correspondence Course for painters with Turps Art School, London (2025 and 2024). She competed her BA in Fine Art in 1998 and a Higher Diploma for Art and Design Teachers at Crawford College of Art and Design and University College Cork, Cork in 1999, her MA in Arts Administration and Cultural Policy at Goldsmiths College, the University of London in 2004, her Diploma in the History of European and Irish Painting at Trinity College, University of Dublin in 2007 and her MA in Visual Culture, Art in Contemporary World, at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin in 2011. 

Recently, Smith was the interim Studio Managing Director of Engage Art Studios and is currently the Education Co-ordinator in Engage and founder of the Gailearaí Ealaíne na bPáistí, The Children's Gallery of Art(Galway) and FET Tutor in Fine Art Drawing Techniques at Galway Technical Institute. 

Smith is a member of The AGA artist collective with the Olivier Cornet Gallery. Her practice is supported by the Arts Council of Ireland and Galway City Council. 

Artist statement

Vicky Smith’s painting of domestic scenes encapsulate moments of motherhood, of intimacy and the everyday informed by memories of her childhood. Her autobiographical paintings of family speak to the experience of tenderness and relationships. Smith’s recent paintings collate a number of personal scenes from memory and family photographs. The re-enactments and staged photos add visual depth and an inventive exploration of the medium of paint. Patterned wall paper, duvets, dressing gowns and baby-gro’s are personal and full of inherited histories, the artist’s own childhood and her experience as a mother with a young daughter. The paintings possess a documentary quality that is loaded with personal meaning.
Education         

2024-2025 TURPS Correspondence Course, online mentoring programme Turps Art School, London ( UK).
2023-2024 TURPS Correspondence Course, online mentoring programme Turps Art School, London (UK).
2010-2011 MA Art in the Contemporary World, with honours, National College of Art & Design Dublin, IRL.
2006-2007 Diploma in the History of European Painting & Irish Art history, with honours, Trinity College, The
University of Dublin, IRL.
2003-2004 MA Arts Administration and Cultural Policy with honours, Goldsmiths College, University College of
London, UK.
1998-1999 Higher Diploma for Art and Design Teachers with distinction Crawford College of Art & Design &
Cork Institute of Technology, IRL (with distinction)TCR No. 174109.
1997-1998 BA Honours Degree in Fine Art, Printmaking (with distinction) Crawford College of Art & Design &
Cork Institute of Technology, IRL.
1994-1997 National Diploma in Painting (with distinction) Crawford College of Art & Design, Cork, IRL.
Solo exhibitions

2026

Gairdín Rós | Rose Garden, Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin (IRL)

 

2025 

Am Chlann, Engage Art Studios Gallery, Culture Night Galway, (IRL)


2023

Stocaí ó Saoirse, A Woman in a Landscape, Artist Residency, Engage Art Studios Gallery, Summer

Weekly Showcase, Galway, (IRL)


2022

The Cold Bark Against My Back, Engage Art Studios Gallery, Summer Weekly Showcase, Galway

The Cold Bark Against My Back , Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin (IRL)


2015

A Final Soar into Orbit, The Linenhall Arts Centre, Mayo (IRL)


2014

House of Blindness, PS2 & Paragon Studios, Belfast (IRL/UK)


2013

Mega Bubble Space Burbs, Galway Arts Centre, Galway (IRL)


2011

Perambulatory Rhetoric’s, Vicky Smith & Lisa Sweeney, The Niland Gallery, Galway (IRL)

Selected Group Exhibitions

2026

God, Kinch, if you and I could only work together..., Bloomsday / Summer group show, Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin


2025

Memorandum, winter group show, Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin.

OXO, Outset Gallery Xmas Open, a group exhibition featuring 130 artworks (Galway)

Ode to Giants, CAGA Dublin Gallery Weekend group show, Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin (IRL)

Cairde Visual Arts Festival, The Hamilton Gallery, Sligo (IRL)

Out of Lines, Bloomsday Summer Group Show, Olivier Cornet Gallery (IRL)

126 Artist-run Gallery, 20 Year Anniversary Exhibition, Galway (IRL)


2024

Contrasts, Winter group show at The Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin (IRL)

Reflections, a commemoration of the Irish women of 1923, Galway City Museum (IRL)

Spectrum; An Exploration The 47th Clifden Arts Festival, Clifden, Connemara, Co. Galway (IRL)

Pink is my colour, Bloomsday/summer group show at The Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin (IRL)


2023

We Float, The 46th Clifden Arts Festival, Clifden, Connemara, Co. Galway (IRL)

1515, a group show of small works at The Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin (IRL)

INFINITE POSSIBILITIES by Ceilia Bullo, Brigid Mulligan and Vicky Smith, Galway International Arts Festival’ 23, curated by Simon Fennessy Corcoran, Engage Art Studios, Galway (IRL)

My Favourite ArtWork at The Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin (IRL)


2022

2012-2022, a decade of exhibitions, Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin(IRL)

The Cold Bark Against My Back, Engage Art Studios Gallery, Summer Weekly Showcase, Galway(IRL)

Engage Members Show Galway International Arts Festival, Engage Art Studios Gallery, Galway (IRL)

Outrageous, Obscene and Offensive, Bloomsday/summer group show, Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin (IRL)


2021

Memento, Looking back, Looking forward, winter group show, Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin (IRL)

PLUID, The Cowshed Gallery, Farmleigh House & Estate, Dublin (IRL)

On Paper, winter group show, Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin (IRL)


2020

Resurfacing, Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin, (IRL)

The Morphing Feminine, Bloomsday summer group show, Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin (IRL)

Drawing On Don Quixote, Wexford National Opera, Wexford (IRL) & VUE Art fair, RHA & Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin (IRL)

Benchmark, Linenhall Arts Centre, Mayo (IRL)


2019

Hiatus 126 Artist-run gallery, Galway (IRL)

Permission, Just Art It Gallery & Cúirt Writer’s International Festival, Galway (IRL)


2018

Fragmented Shore, Just Art It Gallery & Cúirt International Writers festival, Galway (IRL)

Somewhere between perception and reality, VUE Contemporary Art Fair at RHA Dublin with Olivier Cornet Gallery (IRL)

Narrating Self, Translating the Other, Galway Arts Centre, Galway (IRL)


2017
2° C, group show on climate change, Olivier Cornet Gallery, & VUE Art Fair at RHA Dublin (IRL)

Material Conditions, Platform Arts, Belfast (IRL/UK)

Nasty Women, Pallas/Project Studios, Dublin (IRL)

The Meeting, Olivier Cornet Galley, Dublin & Laois Arthouse & Library, Stradbally, Co. laois (IRL)

Impressions, Galway International Arts festival &Centre for Creative Arts & Media, GMIT, Galway (IRL)

Incognito, Solomon Gallery, Dublin, (IRL)


2016

HouseWork, Wife, Woman, An Taibdhearc Irish Language Theatre, Galway (IRL)

Impressions Galway International Art Festival, CCAM, GMIT, Galway (IRL) AGA Collective, Olivier Cornet Gallery. Dublin (IRL)


2014

Little Kingdoms, Catalyst Arts, Belfast (IRL/UK)


2013

Engage Members Show 126 artist-run Gallery, Galway (IRL)

Winter Open Rua Red Gallery Dublin, (IRL)

Pace, Clifden Arts Festival, Co. Galway (IRL)

Too Many Dinner Parties, The Shed Gallery, Galway (IRL) & PS2 & Paragon Studios Studios, Belfast (IRL)

Drawing on the Back of an Envelope. Linenhall Arts Centre, Mayo (IRL)


2012

Under-the-Counter (UTCP) Public Art Artist Collective & the Niland Gallery, Galway (IRL)

Chemist at your Service, Brigit’s Gardens, Co. Galway (IRL)

#008000,The Shed Gallery, Galway (IRL)

Latency, Linenhall Arts Centre, Mayo (IRL)


2011

A Public Mosaic, 126 Artist-run Gallery & NCAD, Dublin (IRL)

Spectrum of Activity The Black Mariah & Triskel Arts Centre, Cork (IRL)

Fragmentary Sites ‘in-flux’ Occupy Space, Limerick (IRL)


Awards & Residencies

2025
City Council Creative Bursary Award
Interface Inagh two week Artist Residency, Connemara, Ireland

2023
Agility Award Round 1 The Arts Council of Ireland

2022
Individual Arts Bursary Galway City Council, IRL

2021
Agility Award Round 1 The Arts Council of Ireland

2017
Individual Arts Bursary Galway City Council, IRL
Galway County Council Artist in School Scheme. Tynagh National School, Loughrea, Co. Galway, IRL

2016
Galway County Council Artist in School Scheme. Tierneevin National School, Gort, Co. Galway, IRL

2014
Individual Arts Bursary Award, Galway City Council, IRL

2012
Visual Arts Residency at Galway Arts Centre selected by Maeve Mulrennan, Galway, IRL
Winner of the adjudicator prize selected by K ate Howard, Brigit's Garden's exhibition, Galway, IRL

2011 Individual Arts Bursary Award, Galway City Council, IRL

1999 
H.Dip Student of the Year Award, Crawford College of Art&Design, IRL
BA Honours Degree Fine Art Student of the year, Crawford College of Art & Design, IRL

1998
Barry Malone Award, Diploma in painting, Crawford College of Art &Design, IRL

Publications

See and Be Seen: Summer Exhibitions by Penny McCormick, The Gloss July, 2023.
My Favourite Artwork Fine Arts What’s On Guide, Business Post, July 2023.
The Best Exhibitions Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin by Penny McCormick, The Gloss, February 2023.
Escape the January Blues with some Turner time, Elizabeth Bird Thistle, Review of 2012-2022, Olivier Cornet Gallery, Hone & Design, The Irish times, Saturday January 7, 2023.
Sunday Long Read, Review, Ciarán Drohan, Trinity News, Vicky Smith's Complex Portrayal of Womanhood, 27 March 2022.
What Lies Beneath & On Show Two to View, Niall MacMonagle, Sunday Independent, Art, 13 March 2022.
Artistic Licence, Vicky Smith by Penny McCormick, The Gloss Magazine, Culture&Books, March, 2022.
I Know, But only Just, Solas Nua & Winter Papers Vol.6. The Pandora Myth Winter papers Vol.6 by ClaireLouise Bennett and Ruby Wallis, 2021.
Bóthar na Trá, a visual & narrative walking tour of Salthill, Galway Engage Art Studio members', Galway, 2020.
Poetry Review publication 124, edited by Eavan Boland & the AGA Collective, Olivier Cornet Gallery, 2017.
The Meeting, Paula Clarke, an essay in response to The Meeting, Olivier Cornet Gallery, August, 2017.
Spectrum of Activity a review by Adrian Duncan, Paper Visual Arts Journal 2011.
The best art exhibitions running across the country, Aidan Dunne, The Irish Times, 5th January 2019.
Critics Choice Drawing On Don Quixote, Aidan Dunne, The Irish Times, The Ticket, 18 January 2020.
From the Studio Of, A studio visit & interview with artist Vicky Smith by Ailve McCormack August 2011.
The Best Art Shows, The Meeting, Olivier Cornet Gallery, Gemma Tipton, The Irish Times, August 2017.

Catalogues

'Nasty Women’ exhibition catalogue Pallas projects/Studios August, Dublin 2017.
‘Mega Bubble Space Burbs’ publication of Smith’s work for her solo exhibition at Galway Arts Centre featuring
an essay by short fiction & essay writer Claire-Louise Bennett, Galway, IRL 2013.
‘Too Many Dinner Parties’ exhibition catalogue featuring Smith’s work Markers of Modeller’s and Turners.
‘Fragmentary Sites’ A publication by Vicky Smith psycho-geography photographic walk in Galway 2012.
‘Feach’- Look, Consider, Examine, Contemporary Visual Arts Centre design plan 2010.
‘The Emperor's New Clothes’, Tales Magazine; selected image for Vol 1, Issue 1, 2003.
‘Discerning Eye’, sponsored by ING Bank, Pall Mall Galleries, The Mall, London, UK 2003.
‘Fresh Art Fair’ Catalogue 18-20 July 2003/2004 with an essay by Lucy McNeill Event Director.
‘Iontas 2000’, Sligo Art Gallery Eleventh National small works art exhibition and travel award.
‘Untitled’ Fine Art Degree Show Catalogue, Crawford College of Art, Craft & Design, 1999.


Interviews

The Artist's Well presents The Cold Bark Against My Back, an exhibition discussion by Vicky Smith with Alan Keane
Saturday 5th March 2022 – S2, Ep16.
Galway Print Studio Exhibition at the Connacht Tribune Printworks with Irish Sky TV 2016.
Arena RTE Radio 1 Arts & Culture with Sean Rocks, radio review of Sonia Shiel’s exhibition, Man with a
Fabulous Tale, Galway Arts Centre, (2012).