Debi OHehir

Current Collection

Debi O'Hehir was born in England and grew up in Kinvara, Co. Galway. She studied painting at Galway College of Art, graduating in 1988. While living in England she became interested in sculpture and began showing her work with London's Northcote Gallery. Debi returned to Ireland in 2001 to work at the Leitrim Sculpture Centre. Her work is exhibited at the Northcote Gallery as well as galleries in Ireland.

Her work is held in numerous collections in Ireland and throughout Europe, including a collection in The Arts Council, Dublin.

Through the archetypal and mythic figure, which is the horse, she exploits the transformational potential of the work to help her move from shadows and sadness through vulnerability and fragility to the repossession of the "fleeting, light-hearted and whimsical side of the spirit".

She worked for intensive periods each year at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, whose generous support is of unending value to so many artists and also at her own studio in Leitrim. With animals and music as her primary muses, she also credits, Giacometti, Susan Rothenburg, Deborah Butterfield, Marino Marini and most importantly, Marlene Dumas, for providing visual inspiration.

Debi O'Hehir 1962 - 2015

2013 - Galway Arts Festival

2013 - Saatchi Gallery London, Strarta Art Fair. Northcote Gallery

2013 - AAF London. Northcote Gallery

2013 - CAC, Cambridge. Northcote Gallery

2012 - Echoes of Hooves & Freefall. Northcote Gallery Chelsea

2009 - Solo exhibition. Norman Villa Gallery, Galway

2008 - 'Awake and Dreaming Horses', Northcote Gallery Chelsea
2008 - 'Horses' Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris
2007 - 'Quiet Space', The Northcote Gallery, Kings Rd, London
2006 - 'Horse Stories', The Northcote Gallery, Kings Rd, London
2006 - Chelsea Arts Club, solo show, London
2006 -'Always Horses Coming', The Norman Villa Gallery, Galway
2005 - Gallery Artists Summer Show, Northcote Gallery, London
2005 - Norrman Villa, Galway

2004 - Boyle Open, Roscommon
2004 - Sculpture, Gormleys Fine Art, Omagh
2004 - 'Aeontas', Sligo
2003 - 'Blink', Linenhall artists at Castlebar General Hospital
2002 - 'Chimera', Three Artists, The Linenhall, Castlebar
2001 - 'Chimera', Three Artists, The Garterlane, Waterford
1997 - 'Her Father Rode a Horse', The Northcote Gallery, London
1996 - 'Horses and Histories 11', The Northcote Gallery, London
1995 - ' Equine', The Fairfax Gallery, Tunbridge Wells
1995 - A Secret Horse in Ireland & Other Voices, Galway Arts Centre
1995 - A Secret Horse in Ireland & Other Voices, Northcote Gallery, London
1994 - 'Irish Artists in London', The London Irish Centre
1993 -Horses and Histories, The Northcote Gallery, London
1992 -Opening show, The Northcote Gallery, London
1991- Western Artists, Galway Arts Festival
1990 - Works on paper, Galway Arts Centre
1989 - Wallflowers, Galway Arts Centre
1988 - E.V.A., Limerick