George Bolster (b. 1972, Cork, Ireland)
Lives and works in New York, NY
Education
1999 MA F.A., Film and Video, Central Saint Martins, London, UK
1997 BA F.A. Painting, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, UK (Hons)
Solo Exhibitions
2020 NADA Miami, Ulterior Gallery, NY
Tearing at the Fabric of Your Reality, Ulterior Gallery, New York, NY
You Are Made of Stardust, Solstice Arts Centre, Navan, Co. Meath, Ireland
New Viewings, Barbara Thumm Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2019 Tatooine: Sci-Fi Becoming Reality, Sirius Arts Centre, Co. Cork, Oreland
2018 Towards a Universal Sublime, Galeria HIT, Bratislava, Slovakia
2016 Archive for an Unmade Narrative, CPI/21st St. Projects, New York, NY
2015 Amazement Insulates Us All/Memento Vivere, The Lab Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
2014 Un/natural History, La Nuit Blanche, Commissioned Installation, Toronto, Canada
Self Erosion, TB Projects, Provincetown, MA
2013 Future Imperfect (part 3), Monster Truck Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
2010 Sociodesic, Galway Arts Centre, Galway City, Ireland
2009 High on Christ, Chung King Project, Los Angeles, CA
2008 Chiesa Dei Miracoli, Triskel Arts Centre, Cork City, Ireland
United in Suffering, Belltable Arts Centre, Limerick, Ireland
2006 Overcome by Heavenly Music, Ballina Arts Centre, Mayo, Ireland
2005 Eye of the Needle, Pallas Heights Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
Group Exhibitions
2020 Rauchenberg Residency: Explorations & Experimentations, Captiva Civic Center, Captiva, FL
2019 Traveling to the End, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, Gwacheon-si, Korea
Music + Maker, Solstice Arts Centre, Navan, Co. Meath, Ireland
Dynasty, PS122 New York, NY
2018 Elsewhere, Ulterior Gallery, NY
In the Future, Collyer Bristow Gallery, London, UK
Seven Senses, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York, NY
2017 We Need to Talk..., Petzel, New York, NY
CF, The Research Pavillion, Venice, Italy
2016 Making Contact, NUMU, New Museum, Los Gatos, CA, USA
Et si on s’était trompé?, FE McWilliam Gallery, Down, Northern Ireland
Traveling to, Leitrim Sculpture Center, Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim; Wexford Art Center, Co, Wexford; West Cork Arts Center, Co. Cork, Ireland
Kenosis in the Supervoid, Station Independent, New York, NY
2015 SEACHANGE Tulca, Festival of Visual Arts, Galway City, Ireland
Et si on s’était trompé?, Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris, France
Red/Orange Fruit (Traveling Film program), Oklahoma Contemporary, Oklahoma City, OK; MARFA Contemporary, Marfa, TX
2014 Seconds, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Out to Sea, South St. Seaport, Festival, New York, NY
Irish Art Does Not Exist, Station Independent, New York, NY
Anomie: Fractured Art Norms, Dowd Gallery, SUNY Cortland, Cortland, NY
2012 Other Drawings, Ormston House, Limerick, Ireland
2011 Drawing Biennial, Drawing Room, London, UK
2010 These Days: Elegies for Modern Times, MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA
Bizarre Bazaar, Pallas Contemporary Projects, Dublin, Ireland
2009 Drawing Biennial, The Drawing Room, London, UK
These Days: Elegies for Modern Times, Mass MoCA, North Adams, MA
Malibu Contemporary Art Fair, Los Angeles, CA
2008 Darkness Visible, Galway Arts Centre, Ireland; Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick, Ireland; and Belltable Gallery, Limerick, Ireland
2007 Urban Gothic, Café Gallery Projects at Dilston Grove, London, UK
LA in New York Art Fair, Chung King Projects, New York, NY
Drawing 07, The Drawing Room, London, UK
Cead Invited, 411 Gallery, Shanghai, China
2006 Flip, Chung King Projects, Los Angeles, CA (curated by The Drawing Room, UK)
Urban Gothic, Quartair, The Hague, Netherlands
I.D. Check, Robert Smith Lab Gallery, New York, NY (curated by Matt Garrison)
Everything Must Go, VTO Gallery, London, UK (curated by Jari Lager)
Multiplicity, Market House Gallery, Monaghan, Ireland
2005 Passing Through, Glucksman Gallery, Cork, Irelan (curated by Patrick T Murphy)
Claremorris Open 2005, Mayo, Ireland (selected by Andrea Schlieker)
E+VA, Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick, Ireland (curated by Dan Cameron, Prospect 1)
Past and Present, Greyfriars Municipal Gallery, Waterford, Ireland
Drawing 200, The Drawing Room, London, UK
Damaged Collateral, Context Gallery, Derry, Northern Ireland
Multiplicity, Context Gallery, Derry, Northern Ireland; Roscommon Arts Centre, Roscommon, Ireland
Bling Bling Ka-ching, Pickled Art Centre, Beijing, China
2004 Multiplicity, Fota House Museum, Cork City, Ireland
Abra Cadaver, Here Arts Centre, New York, NY
2003 Brewster Project, Brewster, New York, NY
Certain Conditions, The Waterfront Gallery, Belfast, Northern Ireland
2002 No Sleep ‘til Hammersmith, Central Space, London, UK
2001 Record Collection, VTO Gallery, London, UK
The International 3 Gallery, Manchester, UK
Forde Espace D‚art Contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland
2000 Exit, Chisenhale Gallery, London, UK
1998 Motherlode, City Racing, London, UK
Residencies and Awards
2019 The Centre Culturel Irlandais Residency, Paris, France
2017–18 SHIFT Residency at The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York, NY
2017 Alumni Residency Award, Rauschenberg Foundation, New York, NY
2015 Artist in Residence, SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA. Researching at NASA Ames, CA (2016–18)
2013/14 Rauschenberg Foundation Residency Award, Captiva, FL
2012 Fire Station International Artist’s Residency, Dublin, Ireland
2010 Visual Arts Bursary Award, The Arts Council of Ireland, Ireland
2009 Commission Award, MassMoCA, North Adams, MA
Culture Ireland, Ireland
2008 Grants for Artists, The Arts Council of England, UK
1995–96 Erasmus Student Award, Hochschule Der Kunst, Berlin, Germany
Publications
2018 Towards A Universal Sublime (Book) Essay by Sara Reisman, interview with Denise Markonish
2016 Enclave Review, Memento Vivere: Amazement Insulates Us All by Rebecca O’Dwyer
The Irish Times, Memento Vivere: Amazement Insulates Us All works by
Damian Doyle and George Bolster. Review by Aidan Dunne.
2015 What If We Got It Wrong, Catalogue by Katherine Waugh and Nora Hickey Sichilli Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris, FR.
2014 Abridged 0_34, Art Magazine
2013 Firestation 20 Years, Book
2011 Creative Ireland: The Visual Arts, Book by Sean Kissing (IMMA) and Noel Kelly (VAI)
2010 Sociodesic, Galway Arts Centre, Galway City, Ireland
2009 These Days: Elegies for Modern Times, Mass MoCA
2008 Chiesa Dei Miracoli, Triskel Arts Centre, Cork, Ireland
2007 Pallas Heights 2003 – 2007
Urban Gothic, Arts Council of England
Seconds, Online Publication, University of Leicester
2005 Passing Through, Glucksman Gallery, Cork, Ireland
COE 2005, Claremorris, Ireland
EV+A 2005, Catalogue for EV+A, Limerick City, Ireland (Dan Cameron)
2004 Multiplicity, Fota House and Gardens, Cork ISBN 0-9548290-0-X
2003 Certain Conditions, Waterfront Gallery, Belfast
2002 Space Cooks, Space Studios, London, UK
Publications
2021 Tearing at the Fabric of Your Reality (Book), Irish Arts Centre. HIrmer; Austria (forthcoming)
2018 Towards A Universal Sublime (Book) Hit Gallery, essay by Sara Reisman, interview with Denise Markonish
In The Future (Catalog), by Rosalind Davis for Collier Bristow Gallery, UK
2016 An Image of Ireland, Imago Mundi - Luciano Benetton Collection (book) edited by Sean Kissane and Ciara Gibbons
2015 What If We Got It Wrong (Catalogue), by Katherine Waugh and Nora Hickey Sichilli
Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris, FR
2014 Abridged 0_34, Art Magazine
2013 Firestation 20 Years, (Book)
2011 Creative Ireland: The Visual Arts (Book), by Seán Kissane (IMMA) and Noel Kelly (VAI)
2010 Sociodesic (Catalog), Galway Arts Centre, Galway City, Ireland
2009 These Days: Elegies for Modern Times (Catalog), Mass MoCA
2008 Chiesa Dei Miracoli (Catalog), by Denise Markonish, Triskel Arts Centre, Cork, Ireland
2007 Pallas Heights 2003 – 2007 (Book), edited by Brian Duggan & Mark Cullen
Urban Gothic, (Catalog), essay by Charles Darwent, Dilston Road/Cafe Gallery Projects
/Seconds, Online Publication, University of Leicester
2005 Passing Through, (Catalog) by Patrick Murphy, Glucksman Gallery, Cork, Ireland
COE 2005, (Catalog) by Andrea Schlieker, Claremorris, Ireland
EV+A 2005, (Book) for EV+A, Limerick City, Ireland (Dan Cameron)
2004 Multiplicity, (Catalog) essay by Koan Jeff Baysa, Fota House and Gardens, Cork, IE
2003 Certain Conditions, (Catalog) Waterfront Gallery, Belfast, NI
2002 Space Cooks, (Book), by Stephen Hepworth, Space Studios, London, UK
Bibliography
Balfour, Brad. “Artist George Bolser’s Interstellar Yet Pastoral Paintings Are Beyond Space and Time,” The Irish Examiner, January 20, 2021.
Krasner, Bob.“Lower East Side Galleries Feature Artists Who Use Photography as Springboard to Wild Creations,” The Villager, am NY, November 24, 2020.
Culture File, Radio Show with Luke Clancy for RTE, 2020.
Dunne, Aidan. “The Week’s Best Art Exhibitions: Lowering the Ceiling, Heightening the View,” The Irish Times, February 8, 2020.
Goodman, Jonathan. “Elsewhere, at Ulterior Gallery,” Arte Fuse, January 10, 2019.
Lee, Pamela. “Environmental Outlook, Irish Galleries At Basel,” Visual Artit’s News Sheet, Issue 4: July-August 2019. P.15.
Music + Maker: The Journal of Music. March 14, 2019.
O’Dwyer, Rebecca. “George Bolster & Damian Doyle: Amazement Insulates Us All: Memento Vivere,” Enclave Review 14, Summer 2016. pp.6-7.
Dunne, Aidan. “Memento Vivere: Amazement Insulates Us All works by Damian Doyle and George Bolster,” The Irish Times, January 5, 2016.
Dunne, Aiden. Review: Other Drawings, The Irish Times, 2012.
Dunne, Aiden. Review: Sociodesic, Galway Arts Centre Visual Arts Ireland Newsheet/ Interview on Artist’s Experience at Mass MoCA, The Irish Times, 2010.
Smee, Sebastian. “Art Review: Mournful Reflections: Offbeat Views on Problems of Our Time,” Boston Blobe, April 18, 2009.
Dunne, Aidan. Review: Chiesa Dei Miracoli, The Irish Times, 2008.
Shariatmadari, David. Contemporary Magazine, Drawing Issue no.83, 2006.
Lo, Melissa. Review: Flip at Chung King Project, LA Weekly, July 24, 2006.
Gleeson, Regina. Circa Magazine 116, Summer, 2006.
Sverakova, Slavka. Circa Magazine 115, Spring, 2006.
Dunne, Aiden. Irish Times, September 11, 2005.
Dennis, Linda. NYARTS Magazine International Edition, Vol 8 no.6-8, Art.ie Magazine, Northern Ireland Arts Council, March, 2003. Front cover.
Sumpter, Helen. “Evening Standard,“ Hot Tickets Magazine, 2002.
Bateman, Michael, “Sunday Review: Space Cooks,” Independent, 2002.
Dawson, Mike. “Fauxlife,” Flux Magazine, June-July, 2001.
Kensing, Cloe. “Fauxlife” Going Out Section, Evening Standard, 2001.
Caplan, Nina. Metro newspaper. June 28, 2001.
Collections
Blake Byrne Collection
David Sylvian, UK
OPW Collection (Office of Public Works), Irish Government Collection