Where has Gearóid Arthur Hayes been? As he himself would jest, ‘Rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.’ In recent years, his attention has been diverted to PhD research at Trinity College Dublin on the Irish artist Walter Frederick Osborne, an exploration that has deepened Hayes’s understanding of Irish visual culture and historical portraiture. While this scholarly pursuit demanded focus, it curtailed rather than concluded his studio practice, and he is now set to return to the fray with a solo exhibition at the Gorry Gallery, Dublin in 2026, a highly anticipated event for collectors and admirers of contemporary Irish painting.
To the uninitiated, Hayes (b. 1980), a product of Clongowes Wood College, moved to Florence in 2003 to study fine art at the Accademia Italiana, but soon secured a place at the prestigious atelier of Charles H. Cecil, where he received rigorous classical training in portraiture and figurative art. This foundation was further strengthened by periods at Sarum Studios in Salisbury under Nicholas Beer, allowing him to refine both technique and observation. By the autumn of 2008, Hayes returned to Ireland to establish his professional portrait practice, quickly earning recognition for his ability to combine classical methodology with contemporary insight.
For his work in portraiture, Hayes has received the Adams Award at the Royal Hibernian Academy (2011) and was shortlisted for the AIB Portrait Prize at the National Gallery of Ireland (2024) for his compelling depiction of Johannesburg-based photographer Kwena Chokoe. While commissioned portraits remain central to his practice, Hayes has recently revisited themes from his childhood fascination with the horse, a subject that reinvigorates his oeuvre and will feature prominently in his forthcoming Gorry Gallery exhibition.
Through this balance of academic rigour, technical mastery, and thematic exploration, Gearóid Arthur Hayes continues to contribute significantly to contemporary Irish art, blending scholarship and practice in a uniquely personal voice.
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