Curated by Aisling Prior 

2022 marks 21 years of the Golden Fleece Award, an independent, private award established at the bequest of Helen Lillias Mitchell (1915-2000).

The Golden Fleece Award is the largest prize open to both artists and makers in Ireland. Its mission, enacted in accordance with the wishes of its founder, is to provide resources for practising contemporary visual artists and makers to innovate and develop their artistic vision.

This hugely eclectic and diverse exhibition will present work from past award recipients. It will provide a unique insight into contemporary making and visual arts over the last 20 years. Work by over 45 artists and makers working in digital art, jewellery, painting, fashion, furniture, ceramics, basketry, photography and textiles will be exhibited.

Exhibiting artists: Bassam Al-Sabah, Aideen Barry, Emma Bourke, Ursula Burke, Margaret Corcoran, Garvan de Bruir, Lorna Donlon, David Eager-Maher, Isobel Egan, Laura Fitzgerald, Liam Flynn, Sara Flynn, Paul Hallahan, Stevan Hartung, Joe Hogan, Bob Johnston, Rachel Joynt, Dragana Jurišić, Claire Kerr, Gillian Lawler, Eoin Mac Lochlainn, Colin Martin, Helen McAllister, Maria McKinney, Cecilia Moore, Fiona Mulholland, Ailbhe Ní Bhriain, Eily O’Connell, Nuala O’Donovan, Sinéad O’Dwyer, Bridget O’Gorman, David O’Kane, Mark O’Kelly, Geraldine O’Neill, David Quinn, Annemaire Reinhold, Cara Thorpe, Jennifer Trouton, Kathy Tynan, Marcel Vidal, Gwen Wilkinson.

UPDATE: The Golden Fleece Award Trustees are delighted to announce the 2022 Golden Fleece Award winners: Michelle Malone, Locky Morris and Laura Quinn. 

Michelle Malone’s practice seeks to give material voice to working-class histories from the perspective of lived experience. Her multi-disciplinary installations comprise sculpture, image-making, oral histories, audio and text based on her experience growing up in a variety of social housing systems in inner-city Dublin. By bringing together materials, objects, images, and stories in an installation context her work creates a space for discussion and reflection on working-class histories.

Locky Morris’ work reflects on the complexities and intricacies of his immediate environment across photography, found objects, installation, text, sound and video. He began posting daily ‘in the moment’ photography and short-looped video pieces on Instagram five years ago, and much of the work relating to this ongoing project arises from reveries during his ‘walking and working’ wanderings or while simply going about the business of living.

Laura Quinn makes modular glass forms that encourage close human engagement and challenge the perceived restraints of the medium. Her recent body of work, Tacit Dimensions, comprises sculptural and functional blown and lampworked glass pieces that, through visual and tacit information, suggest how they were made. Her works are often composed of hundreds of individually hand-made glass components combined with digital technologies like water-jet cutting, laser cutting and 3D printing to create moveable, durable frameworks.

Shortlisted artists for the 2022 Golden Fleece Award:

Cathy Burke (ceramics), Chloë Dowds (ceramics), Genevieve Howard (art jewellery / sculptural objects), Laura Quinn (glass), Lauren Gault (sculpture / installation), Locky Morris (photography / film), Margaret O’Brien (installation / mixed media), Michelle Malone (installation / image-making / sound / text), Rajinder Singh (performance / video / installation), and Róisín Pierce (textiles / fashion).