Deirdre Hyde
Born in England. Fell in love with Central America. Only leaves for emergencies.
In a Nutshell
Deirdre Hyde has been working continuously for the past 35 years to produce artwork that hangs in important collections internationally. Most recently Hyde created a 130m long mural for Frank Gehry's Biomuseo in Panama City.
Her work is included in private and public collections worldwide such as: British Royal Family, Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic Society, and Canning House in London (the UK’s leading forum for informed comment, contacts and debate on Latin American politics, economy and business).
Training and Inspiration
Hyde trained as a fine artist at Reading University in the 1970s, 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. From her twenties on she was inspired by the adventurous tradition of Maria Sibylla Merian, Emilio Spann, Frederick Catherwood, Margaret Mee and Marianne North and she dedicated her talents to the interpretation of nature.
Conservation of the Natural World
As an interpretation consultant for WWF, IUCN and Conservation International she worked throughout the Americas Europe and Africa. While much of her energy went towards this work she also produced of an impressive body of work that has been displayed in museums and reproduced in publications from Norway to Brazil, and tirelessly continued her practise as a fine artist.
Informed by World Travels
Since 2008 Hyde has produced an expansive new body of work based on images captured on her world travels. Light and the elements always provide the emotional charge to these large format acrylic canvases. Her contemporary mix of wry, eclectic images encompasses everything from classical sculpture to urban street life in a nuanced poetic vision that transforms the mundane to the magical.
Architectural Elements
As in the Greek sculptures to which she repeatedly refers in her paintings, 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.
Born in 1953, Somerset, England
SOLO SHOWS
2018 Sep HIDDEN GARDEN GALLERY, LIBERIA, COSTA RICA, New Art
2018 Mar-April ESTACIÓN BIOLÓGICA LAS CRUCES / WILSON BOTANICAL GARDEN, COSTA RICA, Artist In Residence
2017 May CENTRO DE PATRIMONIO, SAN JOSÉ, COSTA RICA, Transiciones
2017 EMAI, SANTA ANA, COSTA RICA, Santaniando
2016 HIDDEN GARDEN GALLERY, LIBERIA, COSTA RICA, Luz Pacifica
2012 MUSEO DE ARTE COSTARRICENSE, SAN JOSÉ, COSTA RICA, Integración
2008 CANNING HOUSE, LONDON, Isla Insólita
2008 TEATRO NACIONAL, SAN JOSÉ, COSTA RICA
2004 MUSEO NACIONAL, SAN JOSÉ, COSTA RICA
1996 BRITISH INSTITUTE, LONDON
1990 TEATRO NACIONAL, SAN JOSÉ, COSTA RICA
1990 BRITISH INSTITUTE, LONDON
1987 BRITISH INSTITUTE, LONDON
1982 TEATRO NACIONAL, SAN JOSÉ, COSTA RICA
SELECTED GROUP SHOWS
2018 Nov CINE MAGALY, COSTA RICA Activación Cultural #5 De Película with Florencia Urbina
2018 Jul CINE MAGALY, COSTA RICA Activación Cultural #4 with Florencia Urbina
2017 Dec HOTEL CONDOVAC LA COSTA, COSTA RICA, Expo Arte
2017 Jun VILLA SAN IGNACIO, SAN JOSÉ, COSTA RICA Activación Cultural #3 Animismo with Florencia Urbina
2016 Nov MADDOX GALLERY, LONDON, Art On A Postcard
2016 Sep-Nov VERDEZA, ESCAZU, COSTA RICA, Activación Cultural #2 La Floresta with Florencia Urbina
2000 ROME
1999 ALPHA HOUSE GALLERY, UK
1993 MUSEO DE ARTE COSTARRICENSE, COSTA RICA
1992 JACOPO CARPIO GALLERY, COSTA RICA
1988 MUSEO NACIONAL, SAN JOSÉ, COSTA RICA
1988 MASAYA NATIONAL PARK, NICARAGUA
SELECTED PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
HRH Duke of Edinburgh, UK
Margarita Penón, San José, Costa Rica
David Carr, Gainesville, USA
Gerald Leiberman, New York, USA
Lyle Prescott, New York, USA
Dr D. Janzen, University of Pennsylvania, USA
Dr Gordon Frankie, University of California, Berkeley, USA
Dr John Fa, University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
Gideon Van Melle, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Fernando Gallese, Lima, Peru
Dr Barreta, São Paulo, Brazil
William Anson, Australia
Emanuela Garoti, Tuscany, Italy
Sandro Brant, Milan, Italy
David Duddenhoffer, Lima, Peru
Brent & Jimena Beckley, Salt Lake City, USA
Dr Franco Tassi, Rome and Tuscany, Italy
Dr Sally Weale, London, UK
Chris Willie & Dianne Jukowsky, Oregon, USA
Dr Stephan Harding, Devon, UK
John & Hilda Denham, London, UK
Alexander Kennedy, Bogotá, Colombia
Mauricio Mendiola & Laura Gurdian, Costa Rica
Georgina Butler, London, UK
John & Naomi Froy, London, UK
Colette Dueso, Paris, France
Jeffrey & Lauren Rothstein, Costa Rica
Dr Manuel Madrid, Valencia, Spain
Anthony Cicalese, Costa Rica
SELECTED PERMANENT PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Ayuntamiento de Alcala de Henares, Spain
Pizarro Museum Trujillo, Cáceres, Spain
Centro Parchi, Rome, Italy
Various Permanant Collections in Abruzzo, Italy
University of Camerino, Italy
Gerald Durrell, Jersey Zoo, UK
UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico
Canning House, London, UK
Fundación Neotropica, San José, Costa Rica
Fundación Amigos de la Isla del Coco, San José, Costa Rica
Museo Calderon Guardia, San Jose, Costa Rica
National Geographic Society, Washington DC, USA
Schumacher College, Dartington Trust, UK
Dorset Centre for Rural Skills, Blandford Forum, UK
Frank Gehrys Biomuseo, Panamá City, Panama
Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, USA