Michael Hales

Born in Maidenhead, UK, Michael Hales is a visual artist currently based in Emly, Co. Tipperary. His work explores the tension between permanence and impermanence through painting, drawing and print, with a particular focus on decay, memory and layered time.

Michael studied Fine Art at Margaret Street, Birmingham School of Art and Design in the early 1990s and is currently completing an MA by Research at LSAD (TUS). He began his career as a carpenter and architectural technician, and this background in structure, material and design continues to inform his artistic practice.

Working across media including encaustic, oil, graphite and photo transfer, Michael’s work engages with fragility and erosion in both built and natural environments. He draws frequent inspiration from Athassel Priory, one of Ireland’s largest medieval ruins, using its crumbling forms and temporal traces as starting points for abstraction and material experimentation.

Michael exhibits widely in Ireland and beyond. He is a member of the Dublin Painting and Sketching Club and his work has been shown at the Royal Ulster Academy, the Oireachtas, and numerous independent and municipal galleries. His solo exhibitions include Retro (Warren Gallery, 2023), Fragmented Mind (Kenmare Butter Market, 2021), and Horizons! (South Tipperary Arts Centre, 2019).

His work is held in private collections across Ireland, the UK, Europe, the US and South Africa, and he is currently represented by The Russell Gallery, 1608 Gallery, Mill Cove Gallery, Be Framed and Cahir Arts.