Bernard Irwin, British, born in Malaya in 1953, grew up in England and Germany. In 1981 he returned to England following studies in the Netherlands. He worked in Bristol, painting and making sculpture and ceramics until moving to Cornwall in 1996 where he now paints.
Selected solo exhibitions
| 2020 | 'Let's Build a Boat and Sail Away', Upper Gallery, Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, Cornwall. |
| 2019 | 'If I were A Blackbird I'd Whistle and Sing', Heseltine Gallery, Truro. |
| 2010 | The Courtyard Centre for the arts, Hereford. |
| 2005 | New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham. |
| 2004 | Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh. |
| 2002 | Dundee Contemporary Art. |
| 2001 | City of Aberdeen Art Gallery. |
| 2001 | Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh. |
| 1996 | Contemporary Ceramics, London. |
| 1994 | Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh. |
| 1991 | Moving Pictures, a South West Art Association touring exhibition. |
| 1983 | Bath University. |
| 1982 | LYC Gallery, Cumbria. |
Selected exhibitions
| 2023 | Linden Hall studio, Deal, Kent. Winter Group Show. |
| 2021 | Circle Contemporary, Cornwall. 'Pleasure-Go-Round' - Bernard Irwin & Simon Gaiger.
The Rosewood Festival and the Yew Tree Gallery, Cornwall. 'The Trees are Singing/Treelines - a collaboration with composer Fintan O'Hare. |
| 2018 | Heseltine Gallery, Truro, Cornwall. 'Kober'. |
| 2017 | Tremenheere Sculpture Garden, Cornwall. 'Borders'. |
| 2016 | Falmouth Art Gallery, Cornwall. 'Press Gang'. |
| 2015 | The Penwith Gallery, St. Ives, Cornwall. 'NSA 293'. |
| Salt House Gallery, St.Ives, Cornwall. | |
| 2014 | Heseltine Gallery, Truro, Cornwall. 'A Moment of Flux'. |
| 2013 | Bucca Gallery, Newlyn, Cornwall. 'Drawing & Works on Paper.' |
| Bucca Gallery, Newlyn, Cornwall. 'Palladium'. | |
| Millennium Gallery, Cornwall. 'Drawing the Line'. | |
| 2012 | The Exchange, Penzance, Cornwall. 'Five by Five'. |
| 2011 | The Exchange, Penzance, Cornwall. 'PRINT!'. |
| Belgrave Gallery, St. Ives, Cornwall. 'Summer Waves'. | |
| Mariners Gallery, St. Ives, Cornwall. 'Uncharted Landscapes'. | |
| 2009 | Exchange, Penzance, Cornwall. 'Double Vision - 9 collaborative projects' - Armoured Piñata a collaboration with Howard Silverman. |
| 'A Cornish Perspective' - RWA, Bristol. Co-curated with Denny Long and Jesse Leroy Smith. | |
| 2008 | Hilton Young Gallery, Penzance, Cornwall. 'Drawing the Line'. |
| 2007 | Newly Art Gallery, Cornwall. 'Lineage'. |
| 2005 | Belgrave Gallery, St. Ives, Cornwall. |
| The Craft Centre and Design Gallery, City Art Gallery, Leeds. | |
| Thompsons - The City Gallery, London. | |
| Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall. 'Bernard Irwin, Rachel Kantaris and Louise McClary'. | |
| Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall. 'Critics Choice' - selected by John Russel Taylor, art critic for The Times. | |
| 2003 | Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall. 'Critics Choice' - selected by Joan Bakewell, broadcaster and writer. |
Curatorial
| 2011 | 'PRINT!' - with Jesse Leroy Smith for the Exchange, Penzance, Cornwall. A major exhibition surveying printmaking in Cornwall from 1900 to the present. |
| 2009 | ' A Cornish Perspective' - RWA, Bristol. Co-curated with Denny Long and Jesse Leroy Smith |
| 2007 | 'Lineage' - with Marion Taylor for the Newlyn art Gallery. Cornwall. |
Projects, commissions & residencies
| 2017 | 'Picturing the Mines - works from the studio' Paintings from the studios of Bernard Irwin and Jesse Leroy Smith inspired and influenced by a year looking and moving through the mining landscapes of Devon and Cornwall. |
| 2016 | 'Picturing the Mines' - a suite of ten copper plate etchings. Commissioned by the Cornish & West Devon Mining World Heritage Site. With Jesse Leroy Smith. |
| 2014 | 'Travelogue Kernow' Printmaking & events in five towns across Cornwall. With Jesse Leroy Smith. |
| 2004 | Thomas town Pottery Skills Seminar, Kilkenny, Ireland. Demonstrator and exhibitor. |
| 1997 | Weston College Mosaic. Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. An 80sq.m ceramic installation. |
Awards/grants
| 2017 | Arts Council England FEAST |
| 2014 | FEAST |
| 1995 | South West Arts Training Bursary |
| 1992 | Crafts Council Award |
| 1989 | South West Arts Award |
Collections
| University of Warwick |
| City of Aberdeen |
| Falmouth Art Gallery |
| Private collections |