Since she began exhibiting in the late-1980s, Elizabeth Magill has developed a highly idiosyncratic approach to painting and printmaking. She is celebrated for her evocative landscapes, which capture atmospheric conditions with great sensitivity: the luminosity of daybreak, or the cool glow of moonlight. The scenes appear to be sited on the edge of urbanity – roofs, streetlamps or telephone wires can occasionally be sighted in the background, but human figures are rare. Instead, clusters of trees dominate Magill’s compositional arrangements, and only through their branches can hedges, hills and radiant skies be glimpsed. At times, Magill’s paintings are layered with visionary elements, and the artist suffuses her work with memory and experience of place, prioritising the expression of her inner reality over accurate representation. She often incorporates photographic materials and processes into her work, starting off with a photographic image on the canvas before applying and scraping away layers of paint until she achieves the desired mood.
Recent solo exhibitions include: Headland, Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick, (2017); travelling to Ulster Museum, Belfast, (2018); Royal Hiberniain Academy, Dublin (2018) and New Art Gallery, Walsall, UK, (2019); Green Light Wanes, Towner Gallery & Museum, Eastbourne, UK, (2011) & Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, (2010); Arborescence, Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, Ireland (2006); BALTIC, Milton Keynes Gallery, UK; Gateshead, Glynn Vivian Gallery, Swansea, (both 2005) and Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, Dublin, (2003). Recent group exhibitions include: last day of May, Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, with Stephen McKenna & Merlin James, (2019); Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, (2019); Legacies: JMW Turner and Contemporary Art Practice, New Art Gallery, UK, (2017); RUA Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast, Northern Ireland, (2017&2016) and Into the Light: The Arts Council – 60 Years Supporting the Arts, Crawford Art Gallery, Cork.
Magill's work is represented in many public and private collections worldwide including those of The Irish Museum of Modern Art; The Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin; The Arts Council of England; The Arts Council of Northern Ireland; Ulster Museum, Belfast; Southampton City Art Gallery; The British Council and the National Gallery of Australia. She was awarded The Royal Academy Sunny Dupree Award in 2011.