Gail Ritchie Biography
Born Newtownards, Co. Down, Northern Ireland, 1966. Previously a member of Backwater Artists Group Cork before relocating to Belfast and joining Queen Street Studios , in 2003. Has exhibited extensively throughout Ireland and increasingly internationally . In 2004 she co- founded Green Dog Arts with Ima Pico and organised exhibitions of Northern Irish art in Mexico (2004), Valencia (2005) New York (2006) and Tokyo (2007).
In 2007, she was selected for the Smithsonian exhibition of new Northern Irish Art (Resolutions) at the Katzen Center for Arts Washington DC. In March 2012 she exhibited work as part of Irish Wave III in Beijing, and in May at the APT Gallery London in the City and the City exhibition, as part of the Cultural Olympiad. She has received awards from Arts Council Ireland Ireland, Arts Council Northern Ireland, Cultural Relations Committee and the British Council.
In 2009 she was Artist in Residence at the Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris. In 2010 she took part in ‘s.Low’ international multidisciplinary project in Berlin and was resident artist at Rooftop Studios, Prinzlauerberg. In 2013 she was Artist in Residence in the History Department of the National Museum of Northern Ireland (Ulster Museum). During 2014/15 Ritchie worked between Belfast and Munich as part of extended visual art research into memory and how both states and individuals remember the past. In September 2015 she exhibited work in New York at the WhiteBox Gallery as part of the Intimate Transgressions project which later travelled to the InterArt Gallery in Beijing and Hangzhou Public Library, China in 2016.
In March 2016 Gail was co curator of Irish Wave projects in Beijing and Shanghai and in April 2016 she was an invited speaker at the Irish Cultural Centre in Paris with author Lia Mills. She curated a group exhibition on the theme of conflict ( shown at Platform Arts Belfast in November 2017) and took part in the B#War Festival in Treviso, Italy in March 2019. Gail has recently presented this new work at conferences in Newcastle, London, Edinburgh and Leeds. In October 2019, she undertook a short residency at the British Institute of Archaeology in Ankara, Turkey. In 2022, Gail completed her practice based PhD in International Relations at Queen's University Belfast and exhibited the visual research, The im/material monument, at the Naughton Gallery. The image above shows Gail beside the triptych 'For those who are no-one's exhalation' , Naughton Gallery, June 2022. The exhibition was shown again at QSS Gallery and Studios Belfast to mark the anniversary of the signing of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.
Born Newtownards, Co. Down, Northern Ireland, 1966. Previously a member of Backwater Artists Group Cork before relocating to Belfast and joining Queen Street Studios , in 2003. Has exhibited extensively throughout Ireland and increasingly internationally . In 2004 she co- founded Green Dog Arts with Ima Pico and organised exhibitions of Northern Irish art in Mexico (2004), Valencia (2005) New York (2006) and Tokyo (2007).
In 2007, she was selected for the Smithsonian exhibition of new Northern Irish Art (Resolutions) at the Katzen Center for Arts Washington DC. In March 2012 she exhibited work as part of Irish Wave III in Beijing, and in May at the APT Gallery London in the City and the City exhibition, as part of the Cultural Olympiad. She has received awards from Arts Council Ireland Ireland, Arts Council Northern Ireland, Cultural Relations Committee and the British Council.
In 2009 she was Artist in Residence at the Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris. In 2010 she took part in ‘s.Low’ international multidisciplinary project in Berlin and was resident artist at Rooftop Studios, Prinzlauerberg. In 2013 she was Artist in Residence in the History Department of the National Museum of Northern Ireland (Ulster Museum). During 2014/15 Ritchie worked between Belfast and Munich as part of extended visual art research into memory and how both states and individuals remember the past. In September 2015 she exhibited work in New York at the WhiteBox Gallery as part of the Intimate Transgressions project which later travelled to the InterArt Gallery in Beijing and Hangzhou Public Library, China in 2016.
In March 2016 Gail was co curator of Irish Wave projects in Beijing and Shanghai and in April 2016 she was an invited speaker at the Irish Cultural Centre in Paris with author Lia Mills. She curated a group exhibition on the theme of conflict ( shown at Platform Arts Belfast in November 2017) and took part in the B#War Festival in Treviso, Italy in March 2019. Gail has recently presented this new work at conferences in Newcastle, London, Edinburgh and Leeds. In October 2019, she undertook a short residency at the British Institute of Archaeology in Ankara, Turkey. In 2022, Gail completed her practice based PhD in International Relations at Queen's University Belfast and exhibited the visual research, The im/material monument, at the Naughton Gallery. The image above shows Gail beside the triptych 'For those who are no-one's exhalation' , Naughton Gallery, June 2022. The exhibition was shown again at QSS Gallery and Studios Belfast to mark the anniversary of the signing of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.