Artist Biography

Born in Dublin in 1953, Frieda Meaney now lives and works in Cork City. Primarily described as a painter, strongly influenced by the archaeological and geological markings of the landscape, she began to use the medium of printmaking from the early nineties.

Travel plays a big part in the influences in her work and many of her 'map-prints' were created from drawings made during flights over Ireland and mainland Europe. Much of the artist’s present work is drawn from her time spent through residencies in Northern Spain in 2006 and 2007. Recently, she has begun to explore the ancient symbolism of the bull and specifically the rituals that are still re-enacted in the bullring, which delve into concepts of death and regeneration, sacrifice and survival.

She has been the recipient of many awards and bursaries in recent years and the resulting residencies have inspired many works. Her work has been exhibited widely, both nationally and internationally.


The Butterfly Bull: The title is from Goya’s work in Album G/57 “They fly and fly. Fiesta in the air. The Butterfly Bull.” It is a sketch of a black bull, caught in mid-leap, with what seems to be a bouquet of faces and butterflies flowering from his back’.

Frieda Meaney