1965 
Born in Belfast, Ireland

Studied at University of Ulster (Foundation), West Surrey College of Art and Design (BA Hons) and the University of Wales (PhD)

1997 
Received Irish Museum of Modern Art/Glen Dimplex Artists Award

1998 
BMW AutoWerke Commission, Munich

1999 
Received Ville de Paris Artist Award

2000 
Art in Context Commission, Dublin

2001
Awarded a personal chair by the University of Wales, Newport

2002
Commisioned by the Imperial War Museum to work in Afghanistan

2003
Represented Wales at the Venice Biennale

2005
Major survey exhibition at FotoMuseum, Antwerp

Exhibitions:


2015
Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, UK
The Model, Sligo, Ireland

2014
Making News: Things Left Unsaid, Mois de la Photo, OFF 2014/Centre Culturel Irlandais

2009
Planète Parr, Jeu De Paume, Paris
Ulsan International Photo Festival - South Korea 
Conflicting Account - Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda, Ireland
Then & Now: Evolving Art Practices, Lewis Glucksman Gallery, Cork
British Council Collection at the Whitechapel Gallery, London
The Troubles, Art and the Archive in Northern Ireland, OBG Belfast
The Sublime Image of Destruction Brighton Biennale - De La Warr Pavilion. With: Adam Broomberg and Simon Norfolk
Anxious Landscapes: Paul Seawright 1988-2008 GTG Belfast 
Conflicting Account ? Paul Seawright New Works MCAC, N.Ireland 
Field Notes: FotoMuseum Antwerp exhibition at Soltice Art Centre Navan 

2008
10,000 to 50: Contemporary Art from the Members of Business to Arts Irish Museum of Modern Art
Etudes Irlandaises Sala Kubo-Kutxa San Sebastian Co-curated by the Irish Museum of Modern art 
Atlante Italiano 007 L'Ospitale Museum, Reggio Emilia. Exhibition at the Third edition of Fotografia Europea, Reggio Emilia Italy
Different Dimension, The 2nd Novosibirsk International Festival of Contemporary Photography: Novosibirsk State Art Gallery Russia and Metenkov Photographic Museum Ekaterinburg Russia

2007
Atlante 007: MAXXI Rome, with Massimo Vitali, John Davies, Walter Neidermeyer et al
How We Are: Photographing Britain, Tate Britain, London 
Field Notes, National Media Museum, Bradford 
Invisible Cities, Ffotogallery, Cardiff 


2006
Invisible Cities, Sies + Hoke Gallery, Dusselldorf
Naughton Gallery, Queens University Belfast 
Invisible Cities, Kerlin Gallery Dublin 

2005
Foto Museum Antwerp ? Field Notes
Seoul Photo Triennale, The Seoul Museum of Art, Korea
Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, Invisible Cities
Blue Sky Portland - Hidden
Motor City
 ? Museum der Bildenden Kunste, Leipzig
The Wonderful Fund Collection - Le Musee de Marrakech, Morocco
Four Now ? Lewis Gluksman Gallery, University of Cork, Ireland

2004
Centre de la Photographique Ile de France, Paris
Hidden Sies-Hoke Dusseldorf
National Centre of Photography Thessiloniki Greece (Photosynkria)
Hidden, Rena Bransten San Francisco
Further, Glynn Vivian Swansea
Further, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff

2003
Further, Wales at The 50th Venice Bienalle
Hidden, Irish Museum of Modern Art
L'Espace Vox, Mois de la Photo Montreal
Le Printemps de Septembre, Toulouse
Imperial War Museum, London
Chapter, Cardiff
Oriel Mostyn, Llandudno
Aberystwyth Arts Centre and Gallery
MKG, Milton Keynes Gallery
Re-Imagining Ireland: Irish Art Today, University of Virginia Art Museum
Recherche: Galerie du Jour Agnes b, Paris

2002
The Unblinking Eye, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin
GewaltBilder - Gewalt in der Gegenwartskunst Museum Bellerive, Zurich
The Gap Show - Critical Art from Great Britain Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund Germany 
Foundation Marangoni, Florence Italy
Inside Open - Napoli, Italy

2001
Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin
Hasselblad Centre, Kunst Museum, Gothenburg, Sweden
Angles Gallery, LA International Bienalle
Galerie du Jour, Agnes b Paris
Irish Art Now: From the Poetic to the Political Chicago Cultural Centre, Irish Museum of Modern Art
New Directions, Winston Wachter Fine Art, Seattle, with Candida Hofer, Vik Muniz and Shirin Neshat 
A470 Oriel Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno, Wales and Chapter, Cardiff 
Werner Mantz Prize, Centrum Beeldende Kunst, Maastricht, Netherlands
Depicting Absence/Implying Presence San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art California, inc James Casebere, Sophie Calle, Candida Hofer, 
On the Margins, Barbara Krakow Gallery Boston, with Michael Ashkin & Jan Henle. 
50 Years of Irish Art, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin

2000 
Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb
Grieder Von Puttkamer, Berlin 
Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago
Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco 
Bonakdar Jancou Gallery, New York 
Photo.doc, Forum Box, Helsinki, Finland 
Maureen Paley/Interim Art, London 
Centro de Fotografia, University of Salamanca, Spain 
Auto Werke, Deichtorhallen - Hamburg. Group show with Gillian Wearing, Wolfgang Tillmans, Sharon Lockhart, Thomas Struth 
British Art Show 5; (Travelling show) Venues include: Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh; Southampton City Art Gallery; Ffotogallery Cardiff, Ikon Birmingham 
0044, Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast and Crawford, Municipal Art Gallery, Cork 
Irish Art Now: From the Poetic to the Political, McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College; Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada; Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago
Foto Biennale, Netherlands Foto Institute, Rotterdam
Lautlose Gegenwart, Bielefelder Kunstverein

1999
0044, PS1, New York, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo
Engaging Tradition, Hotbath Gallery, Bath
Surveying The Landscape, Lombard/Freid Fine Arts, New York
Fragments of Document & Memory, Tokyo Photo Bienalle, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography
Contemporary Art, Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast
Concern for the Document, Vox, Le Mois de la Photo, Montreal, Canada
Silent Presence, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Baden-BadenGermany 
Contemporary Art, Arts Council of Ireland Collection, Limerick City Art Gallery 
Under Exposed, Public Art Project, Stockholm
Revealing Views; Images from Ireland, Royal Festival Hall, London 
Declinations of Boundaries, Two Person Show, Galerie Lichtblick, Cologne

1998
Kerlin Gallery, Dublin 
Angles Gallery, Santa Monica 
Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago 
Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco 
Galerie du Jour/Agnes b, Paris 
Troubled, Photography and Video from Northern Ireland, The Light Factory, and Contemporary Art Museum, Raleigh, North Carolina 
Europe in Decay, 3 Person at Light Hall, Kuopio and Helsinki Cathedral 
Sightings - New Photographic Art, ICA, London 
Le Printemps, Cahor, France - Two Person Exhibition with Martin Parr. 
Photos Leurres, French Institute, Prague (Nan Goldin, Lewis Baltz, Sophie Ristelheuber)

1997
Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, Oregon
Le Lieu, l'Orient, France 
FranÁoise Knabe Gallery, Frankfurt 
Lie of the Land touring exhibition - Gallery of Photography, Dublin, Centre Nationale de la Photographie, Paris, Copenhagen, Salamanca, Athens

1996
Inside Out, Galerie du Jour/Agnes B. Paris - 3 Person with Richard Billingham & Tom Wood
L'Imaginaire Irlandais, Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris 
Ceasefire, Wolverhampton Museum and Art Gallery
Ffotogallery, Cardiff
Houston Fotofest 

1995
Paul Seawright, Inside Information, The Photographers' Gallery, London 
Paul Seawright, Inside Information, Gallery of Photography, Dublin

1994 
Paul Seawright, Sectarian Murder, Cornerhouse, Manchester

1993 
Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, Oregon 
The United Nations General Assembly Building, New York 
Documentary Dilemmas, British Council touring Europe, South America, India, Ireland4 
Arts Council Gallery, Belfast 
The Old Museum, Belfast

1992 
The International Center of Photography, New York 
Impressions Gallery, York
History of the Photographic Image, Rencontres Intls de la Photographie, Arles
Recent Acquisitions, Ulster Museum, Belfast 
Through the Lens, Arts Council of Northern Ireland touring exhibition (USA)
The Gallery of Photography, Dublin

1991 
Paul Seawright, The Orange Order, The Photographers' Gallery, London 
Shocks to the System, Arts Council of Great Britain, Royal Festival Hall, London, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham 

1989
Gallery Vapauden Aukion, Helsinki, Finland 
Mikkelin Valokuvakeskus, Mikkeli

 

Selected Collections:

The Art Institute of Chicago
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The Tate, London 
Museum of Contemporary Art, Strasbourg
Museum of Contemporary Art, Leipzig
Government Art Collection, London
Contemporary Art society, London 
The Imperial War Museum, London 
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff 
Portland Art Museum, Oregon 
Waterford RTC 
University of Cork/Glucksman 
Simmons and Simmons, London 
ACC Bank, Dublin 
AIB Collection Dublin 
Deutsche Bank Frankfurt 
Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum 
Vereins-und Westbank, Hamburg 
BMW, Munich 
Collection Agnes b, Paris 
The Art Gallery of Ontario, Canada 
The International Center of Photography, New York 
The Arts Council of Ireland 
The Arts Council of Great Britain 
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland 
The British Council 
Southeast Museum of Photography, Florida 
The Ulster Museum, Belfast 
Royal Hospitals, Belfast 
Crawford Art Gallery, Cork 
The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin 
Buhl Collection, New York 
Fonds National d'Art Contemporain, Paris