Kildare artist Mary Ronayne brings her distinctive vision to New York show

Kildare artist Mary Ronayne will return to New York this September for The Armory Show 2026, where she will present a selection of works, with a particular focus on her evolving Wallpaper series.

Her previous presentation at The Armory Show was inspired by the rivers, flora and fauna of Ireland, while this new body of work turns to the cultural history of wallpaper and interior decoration. Taking place at the Javits Center from September 24 to 27, The Armory Show is a cornerstone of New York’s cultural landscape, bringing together leading international galleries and artists from across the contemporary and modern art worlds.

At the heart of Ronayne’s 2026 presentation is her Wallpaper series — an investigation into the long and often overlooked history of interior wall decoration across diverse cultures.

Wallpaper, in Ronayne’s hands, becomes much more than a decorative surface. It becomes a record of human aspiration, taste, status, fashion and cultural exchange. By looking at the patterns, motifs and visual languages that have adorned interiors across different periods and societies, Ronayne explores how people have used decoration to construct environments and, in turn, construct identities.

Rather than treating her source material as straightforward historical documentation, Ronayne transforms it through her characteristic combination of humour, art-historical reference, visual excess and playful disruption. Familiar decorative traditions are reimagined through a contemporary lens, creating works that are at once seductive, humorous and subtly subversive.

The Wallpaper series continues Ronayne’s fascination with the relationship between the past and the present. Her work frequently draws from an eclectic visual archive encompassing classical art, historical literature, cinema, theatre, opera and popular culture.

Ronayne’s approach is rooted in an instinct to take apparently familiar subjects and make viewers look at them differently.

Her paintings combine enamel and domestic paints, producing the distinctive tension between glossy, vitreous surfaces and more restrained matte textures for which her work has become recognised. The enamel allows Ronayne to create the almost liquid, candy-like quality that runs through her practice, while the contrast of surfaces gives her compositions a tactile and highly contemporary presence.

The resulting works occupy an intriguing space between painting, historical quotation and visual theatre.

Comedy and wit sit alongside art-historical and cultural references, while moments of absurdity introduce an undercurrent of satire.

In the Wallpaper works, this sensibility is directed towards one of the most ubiquitous elements of our domestic environments: the decorated wall. What might initially appear ornamental becomes a portal into questions of class, culture, migration, taste, aspiration and belonging. Patterns travel. Styles are borrowed and transformed. Decorative traditions move between countries and cultures. What begins as an aesthetic choice can become a statement about who we are — or who we would like to be.

Originally from County Carlow, Ronayne now lives and works in County Kildare. She studied Fine Art at TU Dublin, History of Art in Cardiff and completed an MA in Art in the Contemporary World at NCAD in Dublin.

Her work has developed an international following through exhibitions and art fairs across Europe, Asia and the United States. Her relationship with HOFA Gallery has included solo presentations such as Fool’s Paradise, Garden of Eden and Utopian Portraits, alongside numerous group exhibitions and international art-fair presentations.

Her participation at The Armory Show continues this trajectory, placing an Irish artistic voice within one of the most important meeting points for the international art world.

For Ronayne, New York is particularly appropriate territory for a body of work concerned with the movement of ideas, styles and cultures. The city itself is a constantly changing archive of interiors, architecture, migration and visual influence — a place where decorative traditions from around the world coexist, collide and evolve.

The Armory Show has been a cornerstone of New York’s cultural landscape since 1994, named in honour of the historic 1913 Armory Show exhibition in New York city. The 2026 edition brings together international galleries across its Galleries, Solo, Presents, Focus, Platform and Not-for-Profit sections.

Mary Ronayne’s presentation offers New York audiences an opportunity to encounter a distinctive contemporary Irish practice — one in which history is never quite as serious as it first appears, and decoration becomes a way of asking much bigger questions about how we live, remember and represent ourselves.

Her paintings juxtapose references drawn from classical art, literature, cinema, theatre and popular culture, often introducing elements of satire and allegory.

Her distinctive technique combines enamel and domestic paints on wood and other supports, creating a characteristic contrast between glossy, vitreous surfaces and matte textures. The resulting paintings are visually exuberant while carrying a deeper engagement with time, identity, culture and the human experience.