Tom Molloy (B. 1964 Ireland) received his MA in Fine Art from The National College of Art & Design in Dublin in 1992. A survey exhibition of his work was held at the Limerick City Gallery of Art in 2005, his exhibitions include Rubicon Gallery Dublin; Lora Reynolds Gallery, Texas, USA (solo 2007); Galerie Guy Bärtschi Geneva, Switzerland (upcoming solo 2008) and numerous group exhibitions in Europe and America. He has an upcoming exhibition at Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art in Ridgefield, USA in 2009 and his work is included in the permanent collection of The Irish Museum of Modern Art, as well as private collections in Europe and America.

Tom Molloy makes art about current events. He directly addresses contemporary geopolitical conditions in drawings, photographs, paper sculptures, and similarly “minor” mediums such as printed fabric or embroidery. Like so much of the news, his work revolves around the United States of America, its actions, and their effects in, and on, the world. And, like so much of the unfolding situation around the globe, especially, perhaps, where America is concerned, Molloy’s work operates according to the logic of symbols. This obsession in Molloy’s art with American symbols and Americas place in the world is particularly remarkable considering the fact that the artist is not American. He is Irish, living and working far from the events that his work engages, in a remote and rural part of County Clare, the westernmost edge of the westernmost edge of Europe. Yet news of the world penetrates even to that isolated spot, and Molloy receives his via television, newspapers, the internet, and word of mouth, just like the rest of us. That the art he creates revolves around America speaks not only of America’s hegemony in the cultural, economic, political, and military spheres, but also of America’s dominance in the realm of the imagination, even of those whom we might think should be insulated by location and nationality.

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