Deirdre Hyde

Deirdre Hyde (born 1953, Somerset, England) is a British artist.^[1] She started her studies in Sherborne in 1963 and graduated with BA Honors in 1970. In 1975 she graduated in Fine Arts from University of Reading and in 1977 she obtained her Certificate of Education for the UK.

Biography

Deirdre Hyde has been working continuously for the past thirty five years. Her work is also included in collections such as that of the Duke of Edinburgh, the Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic Society, and Canning House as well as private and public collections worldwide.

She has created a 130 meter long mural for Frank Gehry’s Biomuseo in Panama.

Hyde trained as a fine artist at Reading University in the 70s, taught by Terry Frost, John Hoyland, Martin Froy and David Hockney. Her main influences were the then unfashionable figurative painters Ray Atkins, Frank Auerbach and John Wonnacott.

In her twenties she was inspired by the adventurous tradition of Maria Sibylla Merian, Emilio Spann, Frederick Catherwood, Margaret Mee and Marianne North. She spent time chronicling the threatened nature of Central America.

Her work from this time has been reproduced in museums and publications throughout Europe and the Americas from Norway to Brazil.

Since 2008 Hyde has produced an new body of work based on images from her travels. Light and the elements provide the emotional charge to these large format acrylic canvases. Her images encompass everything from classical sculpture to urban street life, transforming the mundane.

Hyde repeatedly refers to Greek sculptures. People are portrayed suspended in a moment of awakening, caught in either air or water in the off balanced flow revealed by modern vision. A hint of the ominous often encroaches on the ecstatic moment, adding a sinister undertow to the most celebratory image.

Work and Experience

Work Life

1979-2000 for parks Services in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, and Belize (WWF), Guatemala (IUCN), El Salvador (USAID), Brazil and Mexico (Smithsonian Institution), Guyana (Conservation International) Cape Verde and Spain. Illustration work has appeared in publications worldwide, notably for National Geographic Society, Rainforest Alliance and Scholastic Publishers. 1997-2001 worked as artist in residence at Abruzzo National Park in Italy

Group Shows

• Rome 2000
• Alpha House Gallery UK 1999
• Museum Juan Santa Maria, Costa Rica 1994
• Museo de Arte Costarricense 1993
• Jacobo Carpio Gallery, Costa Rica 1992
• Museo Nacional, San Jose 1988
• Masaya National Park, Nicaragua 1988

Solo Shows

• Canning House, London 2008
• National Theatre Costa Rica 1982, 2008
• Museo Nacional Costa Rica 1989,2004
• British Institute San Jose 1987,1990 1996

Public Permanent Collections

• Ayutamento de Alcala de Henares, Spain
• Pizarro Museum Trujillo, Spain
• Centro Parchi, Rome
• Various Permanent Collections in Abruzzo, Italy
• University of Camerino, Italy
• Gerald Gurrell, Jersey Zoo, UK
• UNAM, Mexico
• Canning House, London
• Fundacion Neotropica, Costa Rica
• Fundacion Amigo de las Isla del Coco, Costa Rica
• Museo Calderon Guardia, San Jose Costa Rica
• National Geographic Society, Washington DC, USA
• Schmacher College, Dartington Trust, UK
• Dorset Center for Rural Crafts, UK
• Frank Gehry's Biomuseo, Panama

References