Zoë Murdoch ARUA
Curriculum Vitae
Zoë Murdoch is an award-winning artist based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, currently working from Lawrence Street Workshops. In 2012, she was made an Associate Academician of the Royal Ulster Academy and was elevated to Academician in 2019.
She is represented by The Fenderesky Gallery in Belfast and has worked as an Outreach Artist for the Golden Thread Gallery. From 2001 to 2018, Zoë was a member of QSS Studios, where she served on the Gallery Subcommittee and as Secretary of the Board of Directors for three years.
Deeply rooted in Belfast’s art scene, Murdoch’s work and contributions continue to leave a lasting impression.
Awards
2014
Travel Award, Arts Council of Northern Ireland
Travel Award, The British Council
2010
Robinson McIlwaine Architects “OriginalVision” Award
2009
Individual Artist Award, Arts Council of Northern Ireland
2007
Robinson McIlwaine Architects “Original Vision” Award
Solo Exhibitions
2016
Wormwood, Fenderesky Gallery, Belfast
2015
Abridged 0-13: Mara, Verbal Arts Centre, Derry~Londonderry
2011
Fenderesky Gallery, Belfast
2010
Requiem for Fiction, QSS Gallery, Belfast
2003
I Am Not Who I Used To Be I Remember Me, QSS Gallery, Belfast
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024
The Tower, The Moon, The Gun. Abridged (online)
Royal Ulster Academy, 143rd Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast
2023
Royal Ulster Academy, 142nd Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast
2022
Royal Ulster Academy, 141st Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast
Eva Gore-Booth, Irish Embassy, Beijing, China
2021
We Told You The World Was Sick, Abridged (online)
Drawing the Unknown, Fenderesky Gallery, Belfast
2020
This Woman’s Work, Lawrence Street Workshops, Belfast
Royal Ulster Academy, 139th Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast
Eva Gore-Booth, Museum of Literature Ireland, Dublin.
2019
Royal Ulster Academy, 138th Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast
A Contemporary Irish Art Exhibition,Hamilton Gallery, Sligo
A Contemporary Irish Art Exhibition, Embassy of Ireland, Berlin
St Brigid’s Day, 12 Star Gallery, Europe House, London
Buildings Are Like Birds, Fenderesky Gallery, Belfast
2018
A Brand New Darkness, Galway Arts Centre, Galway
Artifice 9, Lawrence Street Workshops, Belfast
Royal Ulster Academy, 137th Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast
Still, PS², Belfast
2017
Art In A Box, Hamilton Gallery, Sligo
Royal Ulster Academy, 136th Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast
Unafraid Yellow, QSS Gallery, Belfast
On The Front, Verbal Arts Centre, Derry~Londonderry
2016
Royal Ulster Academy, 135th Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast
Raw, Catalyst Arts, Belfast
2015
Royal Ulster Academy, 134th Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast
Still Bunker, St Martin's Church, Belfast
Metamorphosis, Belfast Photo Festival, QSS Gallery, Belfast
When The Wind Blows, Millennium Court Arts Centre, Portadown
Abridged 0-42: Another Shade of You, Verbal Arts Centre, Derry~Londonderry
2014
An Absolutely Distinct Still-Life, Fenderesky Gallery, Belfast
Royal Ulster Academy 133rd Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast
Arafudo Art Annual, Tsuchiyu Onsen, Fukushima
Look and See, Füle Culture Centre, Hungary
Palimpsest, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast
Бабочка, Ards Art Centre, Newtownards (three person exhibition)
Method and Material, Gordon Gallery, Derry~Londonderry
337, QSS at Bedford Street Gallery, Belfast
Бабочка, Higher Bridges Gallery, Enniskillen (three person exhibition)
2013
Distributed Through Time and Space, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast (three person exhibition)
On the Other Side of Les Fleurs Du Mal, Fenderesky Gallery, Belfast
Precious Cargo, London Street Gallery, Derry~Londonderry
Royal Ulster Academy 132nd Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast
Moments of Inception, QSS Gallery, Belfast
All Aboard, Boat Shed Gallery, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast
Score, Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar
2012
Proper Nouns and Adjectives, Fenderesky Gallery, Belfast
Royal Ulster Academy 131st Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast (Invited Artist)
Arts Council Exhibition, Alley Arts Centre, Strabane
experiMENTAL,Catalyst Arts, Belfast
Sunshine &Precipitation / De la pluie & du beau temps, La Station, Nice
The Living Skull, Fenderesky Gallery, Belfast
2011
'Contemporary Art in Northern Ireland' The Great Hall, Parliament Buildings, Belfast
Hope is the Thing With Feathers, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast.
Royal Ulster Academy 130th Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast.
The Surreal In Irish Art, Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda.
The Surreal in Irish Art, F.E McWilliam Gallery, Banbridge
Dry Grass and Shadows, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast
Divine Creation, Catalyst Arts, Belfast
2010
Wish you were here: postcard from an unknown artist, The Naughton Gallery, Queen's University, Belfast
Royal Ulster Academy 129th Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast
2009
Royal Ulster Academy 128th Annual Exhibition, former Northern Bank Building, Belfast
Selected works from Allotments show at Catalyst Arts, Belfast - G126, Galway
Illustrate This..., University of Ulster, School of Art and Design, Belfast
2008
Wish you were here: postcard from an unknown artist, The Naughton Gallery, Queen's University, Belfast
Royal Ulster Academy 127th Annual Exhibition, Former Drawing Offices of Harland and Wolff Shipyard, Belfast
Allotments,Catalyst Arts, Belfast
2007
Royal Ulster Academy 126 th Annual Exhibition, Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast
Iontas, Sligo Art Gallery, Sligo
Heal, Naughton Gallery, Queen’s University, Belfast
Hidden, The Safehouse Gallery, Belfast (2 Person exhibition)
2006
Royal Ulster Academy 125th Annual Exhibition, Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast
40 ART, Mixed Media Gallery, Pennsylvania
The Hedge Art Space on tour, Space Gallery, Conway Mill, Belfast
2005
6x6 for Ireland, 411 Gallery, China
Body Mind Spirit, Naughton Gallery, Queen’s University, Belfast
Royal Ulster Academy 124th Annual Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast
2004
Britney's Smears, Catalyst Arts, Belfast
Revealing Objects, Naughton Gallery, Queen’s University, Belfast
6x6 for Ireland, 411 Gallery, China
Love, Arndean Gallery, London
2003
Objectified, QSS Gallery, Belfast
Revealing Objects, Naughton Gallery, Queen’s University, Belfast
6x6 for Ireland, 411 Gallery, China
2002
Christmas Show, Lead White Gallery, Dublin
Recent Works, QSS Group Show, Cork Institute of Technology, Cork
New Beginnings, Higher Bridges Gallery, Enniskillen
‘Culture?’, QSS Gallery, Belfast
Reactions, Exit Art, New York
From Ritual to Romance, Catalyst Arts, Belfast
Publications
2024
Abridged 0-101: Rebecca
2023
Abridged 0-1816
2022
Abridged 0-92: The Violet Hour
Abridged 0 - 87: Not At Home
2020
Abridged 0 – 60: Echo
2019
Abridged 0 - 58: Kassandra
2018
Abridged 0 – 52: Contagion
2017
Abridged 0 – 51: Wormwood
Abridged 0-49 Babel
2016
Abridged 0-48 Mercury Red
2015
Abridged 0-43 Lethe
2014
Abridged 0-13 Mara (solo artist)
2013
Abridged 0 – 25 In Blue
Abridged 0 – 25 Once A Railroad
2012
Abridged 0 – 25 Silence
2010
The Return of the Women Who Never Left, in association with The GoldenThread Gallery, Belfast
Solus Ipse (Self published project)
2009
Abridged 0 – 18 Absence
Public Art Projects & Outreach Exhibitions
2014
'It's All About Us!' in association with NBIN and the Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast
2013
Billboard, as part of the 'It's All About Us!' project in association with NBIN and the Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast
INSTALL, Pollen Gallery, Belfast
2012
Bouncing Off The Walls, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast
2010
The Return of the Women Who Never Left, Zoë Murdoch & YEHA teenagers, Golden Thread Gallery
Two Billboards, as part of the Draw Down the Walls project, in association with The Golden Thread Gallery
2009
Eurocultured, Street Art Festival, Belfast
Trans09, group mural, as part of Belfast City Carnival
Residencies
2014
Ernö Tolvaly Foundation Artist Colony, Füle, Hungary
Collections
Department of Foreign Affairs
Arts Council of Northern Ireland
The Jamshid Mirfenderesky Collection
Botanic Inns LTD, Belfast
Various private collection
Reviews
Aidan Dunne. The Irish Times. https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art-and-design/anxious-strained-uneasy-art-for-a-world-falling-into-old-ways-1.3613834 04/09/2018
Susanna Galbraith, Honest Ulsterman. https://www.humag.co/article/1860/photo-album-of-the-end-of-the-world Feb 2018
Fenderesky Gallery. http://slavkasverakova.wordpress.com. 13/01/17
Jenny Cathcart. 'Arts Council Crafts' http://www.culturenorthernireland.org. 22/08/14
Jenny Cathcart. 'бабочка' http://www.culturenorthernireland.org. 09/04/2014.
On the Other Side of Les Fleurs Du Mal. http://slavkasverakova.wordpress.com. 21/12/13
'Distributed Through Space and Time'. http://slavkasverakova.wordpress.com. 12/12/13.
'Precursor'. http://slavkasverakova.wordpress.co. 16/08/13
Contemporary Art In Northern Ireland, Aesthetica Magazine, 30/12/11.
Liz Baird. ‘Strange, complex and utterly compelling’. Belfast Telegraph 03/06/11.
Riann Coulter. ‘Landscapes of the Mind’. Irish Arts Review. Spring 2011.
‘Paranormal Activities at Queen Street Studios’. www.belfastgalleries.com.26/10/10.
Luke Ryan. ‘A Landscape of the Mind’. The Irish News. 27/01/2007.