Paul Seawright is an artist

Artist

An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...

 born in Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

, in 1965. He currently lives in Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

 and is Professor of Photography

Photography

Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...

 at the University of Ulster

University of Ulster

The University of Ulster is a multi-campus, co-educational university located in Northern Ireland. It is the largest single university in Ireland, discounting the federal National University of Ireland...

 in Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

.

Life and work

He is best known for his early work from his home city of Belfast, particularly the series Sectarian Murder,1988. In this series, he photographed the sites of sectarian murders around Belfast, and paired the images with newspaper reports from the period. By removing reference to the victim's religion, he depoliticised the violence, focusing on the extensive civilian losses in the Northern Irish troubles

The Troubles

The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...

 (more than two thirds of deaths between 1969 and the ceasefires of 1994 were civilian). He was also the first editor of the Belfast based photography magazine Source

Source (photography magazine)

Source is a quarterly photography magazine published in Belfast. It is distributed throughout the UK, Ireland and internationally. It is the longest running photographic review in the UK since the closing of in 2001 and is comparable to other international photography titles such as Aperture in...

.

More recently, he has made photographs in post-war Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

 (Hidden) and urban Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 (Invisible Cities). In 2002, he travelled to Afghanistan, having been commissioned by the Imperial War Museum

Imperial War Museum

Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, to respond to the attacks of Sept 11th and the subsequent war against the Taliban. His photographs of minefields and battle sites have been exhibited internationally and are in numerous public collections.

Paul Seawright is Professor of Photography at the University of Ulster

University of Ulster

The University of Ulster is a multi-campus, co-educational university located in Northern Ireland. It is the largest single university in Ireland, discounting the federal National University of Ireland...

, and was formerly Dean of Newport School of Art, Media and Design at the University of Wales, Newport

University of Wales, Newport

The University of Wales, Newport is a university based in Newport, South Wales. The university has two campuses; Caerleon on the northern outskirts of the city and a £35 million campus on the banks of the River Usk in Newport city centre opened in 2011...

, United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. He was awarded a personal chair by the University of Wales in 2001, and is a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts

Royal Society of Arts

The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce is a British multi-disciplinary institution, based in London. The name Royal Society of Arts is frequently used for brevity...

. In 2005, the FotoMuseum Antwerp exhibited a major survey exhibition of his work with accompanying catalogue Field Notes.

Paul is a Council member of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland

Arts Council of Northern Ireland

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is the lead development agency for the arts in Northern Ireland....

http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/governance/the_council.htm

Education

Foundation Art - University of Ulster, Belfast
BA (Hons) Photography Film and Video - West Surrey College of Art & Design (Tutors Paul Graham and Martin Parr)
PhD University of Wales

Publications

• Invisible Cities, Paul Seawright, Works from Africa, Ffotogallery 2007 http://www.ffotogallery.org/ff-publications/Paul%20seawright.htm
• Paul Seawright Field Notes, Fotomuseum Antwerp,2005 http://www.schaden.com/book/SeaPaueFie04291.html
• Landscape of War, Centre d’art la Panera Spain, 2004
• Gestes, Le Printemps de Septembre Toulouse, Actes Sud, 2003
• Maintenant: Now, Vincent Levois, Le Mois de la Photo, 2003
• Re-Imagining Ireland: Irish Art Today, University of Virginia Art Museum, J Hartz.
• Further: Artists from Wales at the Venice Bienniale, Merrell, 2003
• Hidden, Paul Seawright, Imperial War museum/ bangorMuseum of Modern Art, 2003
• Profiles: Paul Seawright by Fintan O’Toole, BBC4, 30 minute documentary, 2003
• Afghanistan:Ashes to dust BBC Radio Wales, BBC World Service 30 min documentary, 2002
• The Gap Show - Critical Art from Great Britain, Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund Germany
• The Forest, Paul Seawright, Hasselblad Centre, Museum of Fine Art Gotenberg, Sweden, 2001
• The Map, Paul Seawright, Catalogue/Public Art Project SDCC (22,000 distributed)
• British Art Show 5, Catalogue, 2000
• Paul Seawright, Monograph, Centre of Photography, Salamanca, Spain, 2000
• Tokyo Photo Bienniale Catalogue, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography 1999
• Irish Art Now, From the Poetic to the Political, Merrell Holberton Publishers,1999
• Constructing Identity, (The Missing)', Netherlands Foto Museum, Rotterdam 1997
• Residential, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, 1997
• L'Imaginaire Irlandais, Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris, 1996
• Inside Information, Paul Seawright, Photographers Gallery, London, 1995
• Nervous Landscapes, Southeast Museum of Photography, Florida, 1994
• Documentary Dilemmas, The British Council, London, 1993
• The Orange Order, Paul Seawright, The Arts Council of Northern Ireland, 1993
• Shocks to the System, The Arts Council of Great Britain, London, 1993
• Valokuvataide Arkitaide, Helsinki, 1989
• Death, Cambridge Darkroom Gallery / Kettles Yard, 1988

Collections

• The Art Institute of Chicago.
• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
• The Tate
  Tate
  -Places:*Tate, Georgia, a town in the United States*Tate County, Mississippi, a county in the United States*Táté, the Hungarian name for Totoi village, Sântimbru Commune, Alba County, Romania*Tate, Filipino word for States...
  
  , London
• Museum of Contemporary Art, Strasbourg.
• Museum of Contemporary Art, Leipzig.
• Government Art Collection, London.
• Contemporary Art society, London
• The Imperial War Museum, London
• National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
• Portland Art Museum, Oregon
• Waterford RTC
• University of Cork/Glucksman
• Simmons and Simmons, London
• ACC Bank, Dublin
• AIB Collection Dublin
• Deutsche Bank Frankfurt
• Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum
• Vereins-und Westbank, Hamburg
• BMW, Munich
• Collection Agnes b, Paris
• The Art Gallery of Ontario, Canada
• The International Center of Photography, New York
• The Arts Council of Ireland
• The Arts Council of Great Britain
• The Arts Council of Northern Ireland
• The British Council
• Southeast Museum of Photography, Florida
• The Ulster Museum, Belfast
• Royal Hospitals, Belfast
• Crawford Art Gallery, Cork
• The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin
• Buhl Collection, New York
• Fonds National d’Art Contemporain, Paris

Selected exhibitions

• Anxious Landscape, Golden Thread Gallery
  Golden Thread Gallery
  The Golden Thread Gallery claims to be Northern Ireland’s leading international contemporary art space, rooted in the local. The gallery offers residents and visitors to Belfast a programme of contemporary art exhibitions and participatory events...
  
  , Belfast, 2008
• How We Are: Photographing Britain, Tate Britain, London 2007 http://213.121.208.204/britain/exhibitions/howweare/
• Field Notes, National Media Museum, Bradford 2007 http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/exhibition/PaulSeawright/index.asp
• Invisible Cities, Ffotogallery, Cardiff 2007
• Invisible Cities, Sies + Hoke Gallery, Dusselldorf, 2006
• Naughton Gallery, Queens University Belfast 2006]http://www.naughtongallery.org/naughtongallery.php?page=58&exhibition=45&PHPSESSID=4390b194cf334200775c5c9676036b61
• Invisible Cities, Kerlin Gallery Dublin 2006
• Foto Museum Antwerp – Field Notes, 2005
• Seoul Photo Triennale, The Seoul Museum of Art, Korea, 2005
• Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, Invisible Cities, 2005
• Blue Sky Portland - Hidden, 2005
• Motor City – Museum der Bildenden Kunste, Leipzig, 2005
• The Wonderful Fund Collection - Le Musee de Marrakech, Morocco, 2005
• Four Now – Lewis Gluksman Gallery, University of Cork, Ireland, 2005
• Centre de la Photographique Ile de France, Paris,2004
• Hidden Sies-Hoke Düsseldorf, 2004
• National Centre of Photography Thessiloniki Greece (Photosynkria), 2004
• Hidden, Rena Bransten San Francisco, 2004
• Further, Glynn Vivian Swansea, 2004
• Further, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, 2004
• Further, Wales at The 50th Venice Bienalle, 2003 http://www.wai.org.uk/index.cfm?UUID=7F8C82C0-0F12-42A0-9A237DC2304528F9
• Hidden, Irish Museum of Modern Art, 2003 http://www.imma.ie/en/page_19488.htm
• L’Espace Vox, Mois de la Photo Montreal, 2003
• Le Printemps de Septembre, Toulouse, 2003
• Imperial War Museum, London, 2003
• Chapter, Cardiff, 2003
• Oriel Mostyn, Llandudno, 2003
• Aberystwyth Arts Centre and Gallery, 2003
• MKG, Milton Keynes Gallery, 2003
• Re-Imagining Ireland: Irish Art Today, University of Virginia Art Museum, 2003
• Recherche: Galerie du Jour Agnes b, Paris, 2003
• The Unblinking Eye, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, 2002
• GewaltBilder - Gewalt in der Gegenwartskunst Museum Bellerive
  Museum of Design Zürich
  The Museum of Design, Zurich is a museum for industrial design, visual communication, architecture, and craft in Zurich, Switzerland.- Overview :...
  
  , Zürich, 2002
• The Gap Show - Critical Art from Great Britain Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund Germany
• Foundation Marangoni, Florence Italy, 2002
• Inside Open - Napoli, Italy, 2002
• Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, 2001
• Hasselblad Centre, Kunst Museum, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2001
• Angles Gallery, LA International Bienalle, 2001
• Galerie du Jour, Agnes b Paris, 2001
• Irish Art Now: From the Poetic to the Political Chicago Cultural Centre, Irish Museum of Modern Art, 2001
• New Directions, Winston Wachter Fine Art, Seattle, with Candida Hofer, Vik Muniz and Shirin Neshat, 2001
• A470 Oriel Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno, Wales and Chapter, Cardiff, 2001
• Werner Mantz Prize, Centrum Beeldende Kunst, Maastricht, Netherlands, 2001
• Depicting Absence/Implying Presence San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art California, inc James Casebere, Sophie Calle, Candida Hofer, 2001
• On the Margins, Barbara Krakow Gallery Boston, with Michael Ashkin
  Michael Ashkin
  Michael Ashkin is an American artist who makes sculptures, videos, photographs and installations depicting marginalized, desolate landscapes. He is best known for his use of miniature scale and modest materials....
  
   & Jan Henle.
• 50 Years of Irish Art, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, 2001
• Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb
  Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb
  The Museum of Contemporary Art is a contemporary art museum located on Dubrovnik Avenue in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the biggest and most modern museum in the country....
  
  , 2000
• Grieder Von Puttkamer, Berlin, 2000
• Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago, 2000
• Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, 2000
• Bonakdar Jancou Gallery, New York, 2000
• Photo.doc, Forum Box, Helsinki, Finland, 2000
• Maureen Paley/Interim Art, London, 2000
• Centro de Fotografia, University of Salamanca, Spain, 2000
• Auto Werke, Deichtorhallen - Hamburg. Group show with Gillian Wearing, Wolfgang Tillmans, Sharon Lockhart, Thomas Struth, 2000
• British Art Show 5; (Travelling show) Venues include: Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh; Southampton City Art Gallery ; Ffotogallery Cardiff, Ikon Birmingham, 2000
• 0044, Ormeau Baths Gallery , Belfast and Crawford, Municipal Art Gallery, Cork
• Irish Art Now: From the Poetic to the Political, McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College; Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada; Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, 2000/01
• Foto Biennale, Netherlands Foto Institute, Rotterdam, 2000
• Lautlose Gegenwart, Bielefelder Kunstverein, 2000
• 0044, PS1, New York, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1999
• Engaging Tradition, Hotbath Gallery, Bath, 1999
• Surveying The Landscape, Lombard/Freid Fine Arts, New York, 1999
• Fragments of Document & Memory, Tokyo Photo Bienalle, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, 1999
• Contemporary Art, Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast, 1999
• Concern for the Document, Vox, Le Mois de la Photo, Montreal, Canada, 1999
• Silent Presence, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Baden-BadenGermany
• Contemporary Art, Arts Council of Ireland Collection, Limerick City Art Gallery
• Under Exposed, Public Art Project, Stockholm.
• Revealing Views; Images from Ireland, Royal Festival Hall, London, 1999
• Declinations of Boundaries, Two Person Show, Galerie Lichtblick, Cologne, 1999
• Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, 1998
• Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, 1998
• Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago, 1998
• Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, 1998
• Galerie du Jour/Agnes b, Paris, 1998
• Troubled, Photography and Video from Northern Ireland, The Light Factory, and Contemporary Art Museum, Raleigh, North Carolina, 1998
• Europe in Decay, 3 Person at Light Hall, Kuopio and Helsinki Cathedral, 1998
• Sightings - New Photographic Art, ICA, London, 1998
• Le Printemps, Cahor, France - Two Person Exhibition with Martin Parr.
• Photos Leurres, French Institute, Prague (Nan Goldin, Lewis Baltz, Sophie Ristelheuber), 1998
• Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, Oregon, 1997
• Le Lieu, l'Orient, France, 1997
• Françoise Knabe Gallery, Frankfurt,1997
• Lie of the Land touring exhibition - Gallery of Photography, Dublin, Centre Nationale de la Photographie, Paris, Copenhagen, Salamanca, Athens.
• Inside Out, Galerie du Jour/Agnes B. Paris - 3 Person with Richard Billingham & Tom Wood, 19996
• L'Imaginaire Irlandais, Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris, 1996
• Ceasefire, Wolverhampton Museum and Art Gallery 1995
• Ffotogallery, Cardiff, 1996
• Houston Fotofest, 1996
• Paul Seawright, Inside Information, The Photographers' Gallery, London, 1995
• Paul Seawright, Inside InformationGallery of Photography, Dublin, 1995
• Paul seawright, Sectarian Murder, Cornerhouse, Manchester, 1994
• Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, Oregon, 1993
• The United Nations General Assembly Building, New York, 1993
• Documentary Dilemmas, British Council touring Europe, South America, India, Ireland, 1993/4
• Arts Council Gallery, Belfast,1993
• The Old Museum, Belfast, 1993
• The International Center of Photography, New York, 1992
• Impressions Gallery, York, 1992
• History of the Photographic Image, Rencontres Intls de la Photographie, Arles,1992
• Recent Acquisitions, Ulster Museum, Belfast, 1992
• Through the Lens, Arts Council of Northern Ireland touring exhibition (USA)1992/3
• The Gallery of Photography, Dublin, 1992
• Paul Seawright, The Orange Order, The Photographers' Gallery, London, 1991
• Shocks to the System, Arts Council of Great Britain, Royal Festival Hall, London, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, 1991
• Gallery Vapauden Aukion, Helsinki, Finland, 1989
• Mikkelin Valokuvakeskus, Mikkeli, Finland, 1989

External links

• Paul Seawright official web site
• Sies + Höke Galerie, Düsseldorf: Paul Seawright, biography, bibliography, works
• Paul Seawright at the Kerlin Gallery
• Irish Museum of Modern Art http://www.modernart.ie/en/page_19243.htm
• Wales at the 50th Bienalle of Art http://www.walesvenicebiennale.org/site/paul_seawright.html
• Rena Bransten Gallery http://www.renabranstengallery.com/seawright.html
• Tanya Bonakdar Gallery http://www.tanyabonakdargallery.com/artist.php?art_name=Paul%20Seawright
• Photography Now http://www.photography-now.com/artists/K08197.html
• University of Ulster, School of Art & Design http://www.arts.ulster.ac.uk/artdesign/
• Newport School of Art, Media and Design http://amd.newport.ac.uk/