West Cork native Mac Cárthaigh receives emerging artist award from County Council

Cork County Council has announced this year’s recipient of the Emerging Visual Artist Award.

Maitiú Mac Cárthaigh has been recognised as the 2025 awardee, receiving a €3,000 bursary and a solo exhibition at Cork County Council’s LHQ Gallery in 2026.

Mac Cárthaigh was chosen for the award based on their works in expanded print-media, sculpture, video, and sound.

The award will enable them to further explore their material research, which focuses on bioplastics handmade with agar and gelatine, alongside materials found in co-ops such as polywire, baler twine, silage plastic wrap, and artificial insemination gloves.

Their solo exhibition will include an installation with a video projected onto a screen made of agar bioplastics, a sound piece narrating the fictional life of a young gay farmer, and family photographs printed with earth pigments, among other elements.

Mac Cárthaigh said that they aim to present work which asks viewers to consider what a queer individual’s experience may be like working within the agri-sector.

“Growing up queer in West Cork has become the central focus of my artistic practice,” they said. 

“As an interdisciplinary practitioner, my work explores the sexual politics of agricultural Ireland.

“Too often queer identity is presented as synonymous with the urban and metropolitan.

“I challenge these assumptions through my practice.”

The Mayor of County Cork Mary Linehan Foley said she is looking forward to visiting Mac Cárthaigh’s exhibition next year.

“We are delighted to support Maitiú at the start of their career,” said Ms Linehan Foley. 

“They demonstrate ambition and a clear focus in the work they are making, with a fresh perspective on rural life.

“We look forward to seeing the outcomes of this award at LHQ Gallery next year.”

The LHQ Gallery programme, based in the county library on Carrigrohane Road, is supported by the Arts Council of Ireland.