Mary Down
Fellowship: May 1995 – May 1998 Attimore Barn
Artform: Printing/Painting
For several years I have made work informed by research into family history. Most historic evidence I found focused on the achievements, status, education and possessions of my male ancestors.
The Lives of their wives daughters were largely unmarked. Much of my work has been a way of exploring the silences and invisible spaces occupied by these women and making loving memorials to their fleeting presence. The reputation of birth and death influenced my recent work, especially after time spent in an HIV/Aids community in South Africa.
Education:
1993 BA (hons) Fine Art 1st class honours University of Hertfordshire
1982 B S C (hons) Sociology 2:1 University of Hertfordshire (then Hatfield Polytechnic)
Awards:
1998 First Prize, Artist Open, Margaret Harvey Gallery, Herts
1997 Prize 1,000 words Horsham Arts Centre
1994 Shortlisted, Space studio award. Fresh Art, London
Media Profile (selected):
1999 Pockets, Purses & Secret Places. Text: Neeta Zin Hughes
1995 Art Review Degrees of Importance
1994 The Independent the taste of things to come Iain Gale
Exhibitions (selected):
2005 Insiders: art and the box various venues:
Swanson Gallery, Thurso, Canterbury Museum & Art Gallery
2004 Open exhibition: Margaret Harvey Gallery, Herts
Landscapes of Memory The Salt Gallery, Cornwall
Mergings National Gallery of the Cayman Islands
2003 Insiders: Box Art Oriel 31. Davies Memorial Gallery, Newton Powys, Wales
2001 Storage & Retrieval University of Hertfordshire (with Reg Butler, Alan Davie, Peter Howson, Bruce Mclean & Ben Nicholson)
Artworks Ernst & Young, London
Taking Placethe Place, Letchworth, Herts
2000 OYO Knebworth Exhibition Centre
1999 10 into 2000 Boxfield Gallery, Stevenage, Herts
Pockets, purses & secret places Margaret Harvey Gallery, Herts
Shadows AXIS Leeds University (online)
1998 The Words the Thing Stroud House Gallery, Glos
Parish Maps Bovingdon
Artists St.Albans Museum of St. Albans
Other:
1996/97 Organised and curated exhibition for Highfield Oval Arts Festival