Biography

David Magee (b. 1963) is an Irish lens-based visual artist whose work is rooted in stillness, attentiveness, and duration. Born and raised in Cork, Ireland, he studied Fine Art at Crawford Municipal School of Art and later at the Glasgow School of Art.

A deep affinity with the Natural World has been central to Magee’s life since childhood. Early experiences of landscape and ecology instilled a lasting sensitivity to the rhythms and vulnerabilities of the environment - an awareness that remains quietly embedded within the work, informing its tone, restraint, and sense of attention.

His work has been recognised Globally, with awards including the Paris Photography Prize (PX3), the Lucie Awards (New York), the Fine Art Photography Awards, London (FAPA), and the Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA). Magee has published four monographs, including Outside (2017), an award-winning twenty- five-year retrospective released to international acclaim.

Shaped by years of travel, his practice has increasingly returned to the Irish landscape, and in particular to the Atlantic coastline - a place of elemental forces and expansive horizons, where sea, memory, and belonging converge, remaining both home and en- during subject throughout his work.

Working predominantly in series, Magee’s work explores thresholds - between land and sea, light and shadow, presence and absence - inviting quiet, contemplative engagement. His work has been exhibited internationally and is held in both private and municipal collections.

He lives and works between West Cork and London.

Artist’s Statement

“My work is inspired by Nature...

For over 40 years, I have been creating pictures Outside, in the landscape. I work alone, primarily before dawn and in the darker hours. My visual language is one of intimacy and emotion, shaped by the transcendence and humbling magni- tude of Nature.

My works are not by definition landscapes, more my creative observations and interpretations of the Natural World - it’s spiritual and physical energy, it’s majesty and it’s essential mystery. They bear witness to my wanderings and to an ongoing, personal dialogue with Nature. Each work is as a result of many hours walking, climbing, exploring and connecting with the elemental.

Through them, I aim to create evocative places of rest and contemplation, that engage the viewer with the experience of being Outside, immersed in the elements. In isolation and communion with the landscape. Primarily non-representational, my work is less about actual place and more intended to explore the phenomena of inner experience: the subtle space between the external landscape and an inner state of being.

Ultimately, I hope the work resonates on an emotional level - offering an experience that is felt as much as observed.”