Yvonne McGuinness (born 12 October 1972)[1] is an Irish visual artist whose creations cover films, performances, installation art and sound works. She is known for immersive and site-specific art projects, and her works often explore the interaction between the audience and the space.
McGuinness was born in Dublin, Ireland, and now based in Monkstown, Dublin, She obtained a master's degree from the Royal College of Art in London.[2] Her works have been exhibited in Ireland and the UK, covering various media such as video installations and prints.
A 2004 biography stated, "Recent works have been preoccupied with notions of portrayal of the self and with deception, dealing with the sublimated desire for self-expression of the artist and the tension between revelation and concealment."[3]
She has made several short films: This is between us (2011), Charlie's Place (2012) [4], Procession (2012).[5], You Can't Feel What You Feel (2017) [6], Holding ground where the wood lands[7]
Early education
Yvonne McGuinness was born on 12 October 1972 in Dublin, Ireland. She was born and raised in an urban environment, rich in culture and intellectually stimulating, and developed an early taste for the arts, especially visual storytelling. Her family background also contributed to the development of her artistic sensibilities as her uncle John McGuinness is a well-known Fianna Fáil politician. While it may have had something to do with her heightened sensitivity to themes of identity, place, and community later to feature in her work, the involvement of the former college may have played a role in this.[8]
McGuinness sought out formal education in the arts, graduating with a Master of Arts degree from the very reputable Royal College of Art (RCA) in London. While at RCA, she developed her artistic approach and tried out a variety of media including film, performance art, sculpture, textile work. In addition, she had also begun to explore site specific installations where the interaction between space, identity and time became a persistent theme with her work.[9]
When she was young in her career, McGuinness was actively involved in exhibitions around Ireland as well as all the way through the UK, gaining a reputation for her ability to integrate diverse artistic disciplines.
Through her own personal experiences McGuinness builds her work to study memory alongside perception and place.[9] Fundamentally her multidisciplinary practice follows a distinct characteristic where she enables audience-space interactions which shape her distinctive artistic methodology.
Artistic career and style
Apart from sculpture, textile work, and public interventions, various disciplines of film and performance art pervade Yvonne McGuinness's artistic career. For example, she is known especially for this work around space, time and community, using immersive methods to engage.[10]
Her works are frequently site-responsive and temporary works considering the theme of belonging and identity. Her projects often reinterpret public spaces, intending to compel audiences to view their surroundings in a new fashion. Her everyday experience-based installations often relabel everyday experience to build surreal moments where time and space appear different.[9]
This approach is evident in installations such as "The Central Field" (2008),[11] a collaboration with artist Rhona Byrne, which combined sound, movement, and visual elements to create what art critic Declan Long described as "a temporally complex experience that resists easy categorization" (Byrne and McGuinness).
Notable works and filmography
Through her professional career, McGuinness has developed work across short films, video installations, and public interventions. McGuinness works with various multimedia platforms through her practice to produce experiential narratives that grow visual presentation possibilities.
Cassland (London) was one of her early notable showcases when View from the Sitting Room (2004).[12] was an instance of the complicated relation between private and public spaces[12] However, it was a step into experimenting with immersive, site-specific experiences that were most significant for her.
Among her most well-known short films are:
This is Between Us (2011) – A film exploring intimacy and the complexities of personal relationships through a blend of scripted and unscripted moments.[13]
Charlie's Place (2012) – A film that examines notions of belonging and displacement, using fragmented storytelling techniques.
Procession (2012) – A project that combines movement, sound, and visual abstraction to create an evocative exploration of time and memory.[13]
In addition to film making, Yvonne McGuinness has become a notable name in large public art installations, such as the immersing and pressing thought provoking boundaries. At View from the Sitting Room (2004) in London,[14] an exhibition in which she showed an interactive installation blurring the distinction between public and private spaces, one of her good works was exhibited. She invited audiences to interact with her work in unconventional ways as a way of re-evaluating spatial linkage and personal buffer.[12]
Reconstructing the live performances documentation into gallery installations is a defining part of McGuinness' artistic practice. It gives her the opportunity to translate ephemeral public interventions into a more permanent artistic record and document its essence outside of the original context of its place. Both video and sound, sculptural element, is integrating into spaces to reconstruct live performance into calcified layered immersive space that audience could interact with her themes of identity, place, and temporality. She is an Irish artist moving the boundaries between contemporary transience and fixed vision.[10]
Influence and legacy
McGuinness' influence on contemporary art goes far further than her filmic and installation work, as her innovative use of public space and interactive performance has already had a considerable effect on the practice of new artists in Ireland and internationally. She explores the themes of identity, belonging and spatial transformation and she has developed a body of work which speaks to many in the field of contemporary visual arts.[15]
It is especially evidenced by the role that Irish artists have played in experimenting with the idea of place within their work in the contemporary period. She has inspired many of the emerging artists, such as Rhona Byrne to take their experimental approach further, in how she integrated film with performance for a highly immersive experience. Through the integration of several different art mediums, she has shown artists ways to use space, movement and sound to express the more esoteric understanding of identity and community.
McGuinness has gone beyond her direct impact on visual artists to comment on wider thoughts about the part that urban and rural spaces play in art.[10] Her projects frequently question audiences to reconsider their environments, the evolution of the city and landscape. She creates through site specific installations and public interventions dialogue about the experience and the transformation of spaces over time.[16]
The public often associates McGuinness with her actor husband Cillian Murphy, but her artwork proves its worth in modern art circles independently.[17] Art critics recognize McGuinness because of her involvement with spatial art practices and because she investigates themes about identity through her work. Her interdisciplinary method receives praise because it crosses media boundaries to establish immersive experiences which make audiences question their spatial connections to communities".[17]
Personal life
McGuinness married actor Cillian Murphy in 2004 many years after their late 1990s introduction. They have two sons, born in 2005 and 2007.[18] McGuinness keeps her private life secluded from public attention.
McGuinness emphasized artistic independence to Art Monthly in a 2024 interview when she stated, "My work operates within its own framework to investigate spatial constructs together with community projects across multiple platforms".[19] McGuinness has maintained her art practice in Ireland by developing constructs and video installations for specific sites.
During the acceptance speech at the 2024 Academy Awards, Cillian Murphy expressed his appreciation for McGuinness.[20] The public recognition from McGuinness through this media appearance earned her limited media visibility but her artistic practice stayed at the centre of her professional work.
McGuinness splits her days between creating art and caring for her family while residing in Ireland.[15] Through multiple exhibitions staged across Europe she has continued to investigate themes about place alongside identity and community bonds.[21]
123McGuinness, Yvonne. "About - Yvonne McGuinness - Irish Visual Artist." Yvonne McGuinness, 9 October 2016.p.3.Accessed 27 March 2025. https://yvonnemcguinness.com/about/
123McGuinness, Yvonne. "Yvonne McGuinness - Irish Artist Working with Place, Time and Community." Yvonne McGuinness, 7 September 2023.Accessed 27 March 2025.http://yvonnemcguinness.com/
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