Bio
Mary Dwyer
About The Artist
Mary Dwyer is a contemporary painter who lives and works in Connecticut. Her studio is in the historic American fabrics Building in Bridgeport where Cluny lace was once made. Her work has been exhibited at numerous museums and galleries in metropolitan New York including ODETTA Gallery, Smack Mellon, and Tiger Strikes Asteroid. In Connecticut at The New Britain Museum of American Art, Melanie Carr Gallery, The Institute Library, Artspace New Haven, and in a design show honoring Frank Lloyd Wright in London, England. She is a recipient of the Connecticut Artist fellowship Grant. Several of her paintings are in the permanent collection of The New Britain Museum of American Art.
Statement of Practice
Mary Dwyer’s work is based in history drawing and narration. The inspiration for this work revolves around current and historic events, a love of political cartoons and an interest in people that have inspired social change. An integral part of this practice is research. Spurred by an innate curiosity, she creates political and personal paintings with the general community in mind. The sizes of her paintings are medium to small, leading the viewer to move in closer for an intimate connection with the subject. Mary is interested in the themes of free press, dangerous work, everyday jobs and daydreaming at work. Currently Mary’s work has centered on her concern for the global threat to free press and the dangers journalists face in their career. Her new series of paintings ‘Last Day of Work’, features journalists that have been targeted and killed in direct relation to their job. This series of paintings are meant to inform the viewer and invite conversation. The source for The Last Day of Work paintings is the Committee to Protect Journalists data bank.
Awards
Born
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Solo Exhibitions
2004 Benedict Arnold, Druggist & Bookseller, Artspace, New Haven, Conn.
2002 NEW/NOW, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Conn
.
Patriot’s Weekend, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Conn
2000 George Washington & His Best Friends, Gallery 13, Danbury, Conn.
Fourth of July, Bergdorf Goodman Window Display, 5th Avenue, New
York, NY
Selected Group Exhibitions
2020 Bound up Together, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY
Catenations, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Brooklyn, NY
Turner’s Patent Yellow, ODETTA Gallery, New York, NY
2018 Shelf Life, History, Biography & Fame, Institute Library, New Haven, Conn.
In Grace We Trust Installation, Ely Center for Contemporary Art, New Haven, Conn
CT Contemporary, Silvermine Galleries, New Canaan, Conn
2017 Cool + Collected, Melanie Carr Gallery, Essex Connecticut
Nasty Women Show, The Institute Library, New Haven, Connecticut
2016 Votes for Women Installation, CWOS New Haven Armory
2015 Appropriation & Inspiration, New Britain Museum of American Art
2014 “Becoming…” ODETTA Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
2010 Women Artists @ New Britain Museum, New Britain Museum of American Art
Figurative Distance, Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism Gallery, Hartford
2009 FRANK, Exhibition Inspired by the Designs of Frank Lloyd Wright, Clarke & Reilly,
London, UK.
2006 Don’t Know Much About History, Artspace, New Haven, Conn.
2005 American Folk Art: Traditional and Spontaneous, New Britain Museum of American Art
2002 The Brewster Project, Brewster, New York
1999 L.T.D, Margaret Bodell Gallery, New York, New York
1998 Conviviality & Confetti: Holiday Imagery and Art, Noyes Museum of Art Gallery, N.J
1994 About Face, Real Art ways, Hartford, Connecticut
1993 American Gothic, Art in General, New York, New York
1992 Alien Art, Caged Angel Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts
1991 Somber, Pump House Gallery, Hartford, Connecticut
Grants
2008 Artist Fellowship Grant, Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism
Bibliography & Publications
Art New England Magazine Studio Visit, Jacquelyn Gleisner, March/April 2020
Women Artists @ New Britain Museum, Sherry Buckberrough, Nancy Noble, January 2011
New American Paintings, Open Studio Press, Wellesley, Massachusetts, February, 1998
Art In General, Manual 1992 and 1993, Copyright: Art in General, New York, New York, 1992
Press & Reviews
Nancy Elsamanoudi "Water of Life" Arcade Project, Oct 10, 2020
https://www.arcadeprojectzine.com/features/water-of-life
​
Katherine Gleason "On the Centennial of Women's Voting Rights, Suffragette Style Still Makes a Statement" 1st Dibs, Aug 10, 2020
https://www.1stdibs.com/blogs/the-study/suffragette-style/
​
Brian Slattery “Institute Library Gets 15 Minutes of Fame, New Haven Independent Oct 3,2018
Lucy Gellman “In Shelf Life Biographies Break Free” New Haven Arts Paper Oct 19,2018
Susan Dunne “Melanie Carr Gallery, Earth& Fire Gallery in Essex”, Hartford Courant, Oct.16,2017
Katie Killary, “Our Absolute Favorite Bushwick Art Shows Bushwick Daily, Jan.2, 2015
James Kalm, “Drifting Around Bushwick and the Lower East Side, Rough Cuts, Dec.16, 2015
Ben Genocchio, “Show Gives Art History Meaning” New York Times, Dec. 31st, 2006
Judy Birke, “ArtSpace Provocative Goes Beyond Any Textbook” New Haven Register, Dec.2006
Judy Birke, “The Familiar is Re-examined, Renewed in Disparate Shows” New Haven Register, Aug. 15th, 2004
Eleanor Charles, “Benedict Arnold” New York Times, (The Guide) Aug. 15th, 2004
L.P. Streitfeld, “The Brewster Project Wires the Zeitgeist” The Stamford Advocate, 7/2002
Diana Bellettieri, “Art Has its Day in Brewster” The Journal News, July 28th, 2002
D. Dominic Lombardi, “Washington: Not the Icon, Sometimes Even a Bit Giddy” The New York Times, March 5th, 2000
Jude Long Schwendenwien, “Lage and Dwyer, Somber” Hartford Courant, November 10th, 1991
Collections
New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut
Flat File
Melanie Carr Gallery
Education
BFA The Hartford Art School, University of Hartford, West Hartford, Connecticut
