Mike Fitzharris

Born in Limerick in 1952. He studied at the Limerick School of Art where he received an Art Teacher’s Certificate (hons) in 1973 and undertook post-graduate studies at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Berlin, Germany between 1973 & 1976. For many years he taught Art in secondary schools in Kerry and Dublin. He now lives and works in Dublin and for part of the year in Malaga, Spain. In 2007 he was invited by the Lavit Gallery, Cork to select an exhibition of Limerick Painters in their annual ‘Select’ series of exhibitions.

He has held many solo shows in Ireland, in Dublin at the Riverrun Gallery (1990), the Oriel Gallery (1991), the Pantheon Gallery (1993), Hillsboro Fine Art (1998/2000/2002), the Ashford Gallery (2002), the Dublin Port Centre (2003), the Jorgenson Gallery (2004), and Gallery Zozimus (2010). Outside of Dublin he has also held solo shows at the Belltable Arts Centre, Limerick (1984), the Wexford Arts Centre (1996), the Vangard Gallery, Cork (2004), and at the Mullan Gallery, Belfast, N. Ireland (2005,) and the Green Acres Gallery, Wexford (2010). In 1992 he held a solo exhibition at Galerie Alexandre, Paris, FRANCE.

He has had two-person shows with: Mary P. O’Connor, Elizabeth LeJeune, Samuel Walsh, Bob Quinn, and Aidan Bradley.

He has exhibited in open and invited group exhibitions held in Ireland. In particular he has been a regular exhibitor at the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin since 1985 and was an invited artist in 2007, 2009 & 2013; and has shown work regularly at An Oireachtas Art Exhibition, Dublin; Claremorris Open Exhibition, Co. Mayo; Íontas Small Works Exhibition, Sligo; the Limerick EV+A; the Royal Ulster Academy, Belfast; SADE, Cork; CASe, Cork; Éigse Open Exhibition, Carlow; the Boyle Arts Festival, Co. Roscommon; and ‘Gateway to Art’, Dublin Airport. In 2006 he exhibited in Cork’s Lavit Gallery in ‘James English RHA Selects’ and in 2010 in ‘Michael Quane Selects’ at the same venue. In 2008 he exhibited at the McBride Gallery, Killarney, Co Kerry in ‘Charles Harper Selects’. He was included in the Éigse: 30 Year Retrospective Exhibition at VISUAL, Carlow in 2010.His work was shown in Cork’s Lavit Gallery exhibition ‘A View from the Chair’, in 2011. He was also selected by the same gallery in 2013 for their ‘The Lavit-50 Years On’, exhibition and showed work at ‘2/3’ at the Doswell Gallery, Co Cork, one of a series of three summer group shows. He has represented Ireland at exhibitions in Wales, Belgium, Canada, France, Slovenia, N. Ireland, Taiwan, and England

He has received many national awards and grants including two Artflight Awards from the Arts Council (1992/1995), an Arts Council Award (1996), the Taylor de Vere Award at the RHA (1990), the John J. Duggan & Co. Award and the Dolmen-Remax Award at Éigse’s Open Exhibition (1997/2003); and an award at the Royal Ulster Academy (1999).

Fitzharris’s work is represented in Irish public collections including Athlone Institute of Technology, Teacher’s Union of Ireland, Dublin; Allied Irish Banks, Dublin; Central Bank, Dublin; Office of Public Works, Dublin; Guinness Mahon Bankers, County Museum, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary; Dublin Port and Docks Authority, Sea Link Ferries, Dublin Dental School & Hospital, Department of Finance & Commerce, Dublin; the John Hunt Collection, Beauchamp Solicitors, Dublin; Mason Hayes & Curran Solicitors, Dublin; Mary Immaculate College of Education, Limerick; and the Gallery Press, Co. Meath, and internationally with Stena Line, SWEDEN; Isis Equity Partners, London, ENGLAND and the Department of Civil Service Art Collection, N. IRELAND.

His painting ‘Leaving Port’ is reproduced on the cover of David Wheatley’s book of poetry ‘A Nest on the Waves’ published by Gallery Press in 2010.