Irish painter Brian Maguire studied at Dun Laoghaire School of Art and the National College of Art and Design. Maguire’s expressionist paintings address issues of social injustice and malfunction. He has worked with marginalised groups in institutions in Ireland, Poland and the US. Maguire represented Ireland at the São Paolo Biennale in 1998. He was appointed Professor of the Fine Art Faculty of the National College of Art and Design in 2000 and is an elected member of Aosdána.

Maguire has shown extensively in Europe and the US, also participating in shows in Korea, China and Japan. Recent solo exhibitions include Over Our Heads the Hollow Seas Closed Up, Kerlin Gallery, Dublin (2016), J’accuse, The Void, Derry (2015–2016); Fergus McCaffrey, New York (2015); X Espacio de Arte, Mexico City (2013); European Parliament, Brussels (2012) and Cultuurcentrum de Werft, Geel, Belgium (2012). In 2000, a major retrospective toured from Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane to Crawford Art Gallery, Cork and the Contemporary Art Museum, Houston.

Group exhibitions and biennales include IMMA – Irish Museum of Modern Art; WIELS, Brussels; VISUAL, Carlow; Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane; RAM Foundation, Rotterdam; National Gallery of Contemporary Art, Korea; Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Japan; Dublin Contemporary (2011); the Beijing Biennale (2008) and the 24th Sâo Paolo Bienal (1998).

Maguire’s work is held in numerous public and private collections including the Museum of Fine Art Houston, USA; IMMA; Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane; Trinity College Dublin; Alvar Aalto Museum, Finland; Gemeentemuseum, Den Hague, Netherlands; Wolverhampton Art Gallery, UK; and Crawford Art Gallery, Cork.