By supporting artists who push at the boundaries of form and convention, The Douglas Hyde Gallery of Contemporary Art aims to provoke new ideas. Through risk taking and experimentation, audiences are engaged through exhibitions, artist projects, artist talks, events, screenings and publications.

Visitors to The Douglas Hyde Gallery of Contemporary Art will encounter two very different exhibition spaces. Gallery 1, designed by Paul Koralek of ABK architects, is a much admired example of late 1970s Brutalist architecture, juxtaposing heavy, angular concrete structures with massive voids. The high walls and large, open floor area create a dramatic and challenging space for the display of artworks. In contrast, the award winning Gallery 2, designed by McCullough Mulvin architects and opened in 2001, provides a more intimate and meditative environment.

Co-founded by the Arts Council and Trinity College Dublin, The Douglas Hyde Gallery of Contemporary Art opened to the public in March 1978 as the first publicly funded space dedicated to contemporary art and the first university gallery in Ireland. Throughout its history, the gallery has presented pivotal exhibitions by Irish artists including Sam Keogh, Kathy Prendergast and Eva Rothschild. The gallery has also brought artists of significant international standing to Ireland for the first time, including Marlene Dumas, Gabriel Kuri and Alice Neel. Art plays a central role in shaping the world we live in and galleries are an essential public space in a progressive society.

Standing at the meeting point between the city of Dublin and the leading research university in Ireland, Trinity College Dublin, The Douglas Hyde Gallery of Contemporary Art values excellence, experimentation and diversity; knowing that art deepens our understanding of ourselves and gives us new ways of thinking and of seeing the world.