GENIEVE FIGGIS
b. 1972, IrelandThrough her theatrical paintings, Irish artist Genieve Figgis references lavish, aristocratic and Rococo images from art history, adding a touch of satire, escapism and rebelliousness. Her semi-abstract figurative style questions romanticised ideals of wealth, power and luxury.
Early Years
Genieve Figgis was born in Dublin in 1972. She has said that her early interactions with art came through the Catholic Church: the colours of communion dresses and the clothes the priests wore. She also remembers her father being very creative, making furniture and clocks—“the whole energy in the house of making and creating and putting on”. Figgis married her childhood sweetheart and raised two children during her twenties, not enrolling in art school until she was 30. She graduated with a BA in fine art from the Gorey School of Art, Wexford, in 2006, later attending the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, where she completed her BA in 2007 and MFA in 2012. When Figgis started sharing her paintings on social media including Instagram, her work was seen by American artist Richard Prince, who not only bought some of her work but also introduced her to Almine Rech, the gallerist who has represented her since 2015.
Genieve Figgis: Artworks
Mining European art history for reference and inspiration, Genieve Figgis’ artworks revisit themes of aristocratic life, leisure and luxury. But while she paints grand houses, bucolic landscapes and upper-class pastimes (piano-playing, horse-riding, social gatherings), her images have a darker, more subversive undertone. Her figures are missing bits of their faces, or become ghostly, sometimes merging into the bright colours and abstract-esque backgrounds. In this distorted world, Figgis is offering a critique of established norms of power and wealth in Western art.
- 2013’s Lady with a Bird was the original artwork purchased by Richard Prince. The lady in question is ethereal, without shadow, almost fading into the background like a cartoon ghost. Like the Cheshire Cat, it feels as though her sinister grin, created by white daubs of paint, will remain long after she has disappeared into the background.
- Figgis has said that The Swing (After Fragonard) (2014) takes her back to a favourite period in French history. She ups the contrast on Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s 18th-century work while also seemingly placing the central swinging figure behind a blurry screen.
- When Manet revealed Olympia to the world in 1865, audiences were scandalised by the unfamiliar depiction of a non-passive female subject. Figgis’ Olympia (After Édouard Manet) (2018) warps Manet’s subject into a veiny, yellow-toothed figure, perhaps also making a point about how society stares at women.
- The eyes, mouths and clothes of Victorian People (2020) pop out of the canvas, yet simultaneously blur into one another. Figgis’s bold colours and demonstrative brushwork evoke glamour underpinned by a sense of suffocation.
Genieve Figgis: Select Exhibitions
Select Solo Exhibitions
- Drama club, Almine Rech Monaco (2026)
- Independence Day, Harper’s Books, East Hampton (2025)
- Unearthly Pursuits, Almine Rech Venice, Palazzo Cavanis (2024)
- Drama Party, M Woods Museum, Beijing (2023)
- The Pursuit of Happiness, Almine Rech, Paris (2023)
- Immortal Reflection, Almine Rech, New York City (2021)
- Imaginary Friends, Almine Rech, London (2020)
- Floating World, Almine Rech, Shanghai (2019)
- High Society, Baldwin Gallery, Aspen (2019)
- L’Almanach Biennale, Consortium Museum, Dijon (2018)
- Wish you were here, Almine Rech, Paris (2018)
- What we do in the shadows, Almine Rech, Brussels (2017)
- All the Light We Cannot See, Almine Rech, London (2015)
- Good Morning, Midnight, Half Gallery, New York City (2014)
- Yes, Captain, Harper’s Books, East Hampton, (2014)
- Any place but here, Transition Gallery, London (2014)
- Fictitious Possibilities, Talbot Gallery, Dublin (2013)
- Historical Histories, Studio 9, Wexford (2012)
Select Group Exhibitions
- Songs to the Siren, The Model, Sligo (2026)
- Panorama Europa, The Glucksman, Cork (2026)
- Looking at Horizons, Almine Rech, Monaco (2025)
- All Flowers in time Bend Towards the Sun, Dublin Castle (2025)
- Collection Exhibition, Consortium Museum, Dijon (2024)
- Masquerade, Make-up and Ensor, MoMu, Antwerp (2024)
- Visages, Almine Rech, New York City (2024) (and touring)
- The Echo of Picasso, Museo Picasso Málaga (2023)
- Celebrating Picasso Today: Infinite Modernism, Almine Rech, London (2023)
- Feeling of Light, Almine Rech, Brussels (2023)
- Swallowing Geography, Glebe House and Gallery, Donegal (2022)
- Dark Light: Realism in the Age of Post-Truths, Aishti Foundation, Beirut (2022)
- Genieve Figgis, Wes Lang and Matthieu Ronsse at Haras National du Pin, Le Pin-au-Haras (2021)
- Salon de Peinture, Almine Rech, New York City (2021)
- Un Hiver à Paris, Almine Rech, Paris (2021)
- Female objectivity, Castello di Villanterio, Pavia (2021)
- Desire: A Revision, from the 20th Century to the Digital Age, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2020)
- Painting Someone, Almine Rech, Shanghai (2020)
- Lineup, Almine Rech, New York City (2019)
- Fetching Blemish, Invisible Exports, New York City (2015)
- I heart paint, Angell Gallery, Toronto (2014)
- The Royal Hibernian Academy 184th Annual exhibition, Dublin (2014)
- Carny, Flood Gallery, Dublin (2014)
- Masques, Transition Gallery, London (2014) 2013
- Atomic, Transition Gallery, London (2013)
- Threadneedle Art Prize Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London (2013)
- The Royal Hibernian Academy 183rd Annual exhibition, Dublin (2013)
- NCAD MFA Graduate Exhibition, Steambox, Dublin (2012)
Further Reading
- Artist profile page at Almine Rech
- Genieve Figgis’ Instagram 2022 interview from Juxtapoz
- Biography at Calder Contemporary
- 2022 Interview in Juxtapoz
Genieve Figgis FAQs
Has Genieve Figgis designed fashion?
No, but her work has both inspired and been part of designer runway shows. The sugary colours and floating shapes of Marc Jacobs’ S/S 2019 collection were inspired by Figgis’ Pink Sky (2015). Later, Simone Rocha invited Figgis to collaborate on her S/S 2025 catwalk show, using Olympia (2018) as a starting point and wrapping its central character around a long-sleeved tee. She also printed Lady with a Bird (2013) on a bodysuit.
What’s the connection between Genieve Figgis and Bridgerton?
Bridgerton costume designer Ellen Mirojnick has said that when she was initially thinking about the wardrobe for the show, “...the first thing that came to mind was: ‘I have to go back and look at Genieve’s paintings.” And there was the show right in front of me.” Mirojnick saw the Bridgerton colour palette in Figgis’ work and admired the way the artist created the scenarios in her paintings.
What materials and techniques does Genieve Figgis use?
Painting purely from imagination (rather than a sketch) and laying her canvas flat, Figgis makes her artwork by pouring and dribbling acrylic paint, allowing gravity and the flow of the liquid to shape the images and figures she realises. She also uses brushes to work with her vibrant, glossy colour palette. “It’s a difficult, messy process with no guarantees,” she has said. “I like that.”
Who are Genieve Figgis’ influences?
Figgis has said: “I love Old Master paintings and I use my work to visit them. I will probably never own one, so I just like to make my own version.” Old Masters are a clear influence on Genieve Figgis, including Diego Velázquez, Francisco Goya, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, and François Boucher. She has also been inspired by James Ensor and, of course, Édouard Manet. In the postmodern era, she also admires Elizabeth Peyton, Cecily Brown and Dana Schutz.
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