Michael Cullen was born in Kilcool, Co. Wicklow in 1946. He studied art at the Central School of Art and Design, London in 1969 and the National College of Art and Design, Dublin from 1970 to 1973 before moving abroad for several years. He died in July 2020.
Cullen's work has an underlying autobiographical aspect that sees him referring both himself and his work to such masters as Velasquez and Picasso. With his multicoloured carnival palette, Cullen's paintings and prints reveal the influence of time spent in Mexico, Arizona, Spain, Texas and Morocco that adds a festive air to proceedings.
The profusion of bright, clean colour is emphasised by accents of brilliant white, and his paintings often include imagery of cowboys, still lives, bullfighters and infantas, all of which are rendered in a luscious impasto that lends his work an almost sculptural feel.
The recipient of numerous major awards and bursaries, Michel Cullen is a member of both Aosdána and the Royal Hibernian Academy. Cullen has shown his work extensively throughout Ireland, with solo exhibitions at the Fenderesky Gallery, Belfast; Cavanacor Gallery, Donegal; Vangard Gallery, Cork; and Triskel Arts Centre, Cork; as well as Temple Bar Gallery + Studios and Project Arts Centre, Dublin. Recent shows at Taylor Galleries include Tí na nÓg (2018) and Paintings from Sierra de las Nieves, Málaga (2011). Cullen's work features in private collections throughout the country and is also represented in the public collections of the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Dundee Contemporary Arts Society, Scotland, among others.