Irish Arts Review

Brian Maguire: Hidden IslandsAuthor(s): Barbara DawsonSource: Irish Arts Review (2002-), Vol. 25, No. 1 (Spring, 2008), pp. 64-65Published by: Irish Arts ReviewStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20493271 .

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EXH IBITION;

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Hidden Islands~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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rian Maguire's concerns are continually addressed through a practice that is always changing. His work

goes round in a circle and as it goes round it gathers

momentum; everything that rises eventually con

verging. His evolution is not defined by adopting a new practice

- it is a constant that has shifted to a new level in this com

pelling, emphatic and compassionate suite of paintings. Maguire

brings into view what is hidden and forgotten.

Frequently in his career this has included bodies of work borne

out of his experiences and involvement in specific projects with

people often teetering on the perimeters of social structures; 'Bayview 2002' is the result of Maguire working with the inmates

of a women's prison at Bayview in Chelsea, New York; his public

art project 'Citizen' with the patients in OPZ Geel (Openbaar

Psychiatrisch Zorgcentrum, Belgium) which has just been com pleted; 'Portraits of Day Room' a collaborative project with the

patients of Gransha Hospital Derry, the Orchard Gallery and the

Area Mental Health Unit and 'Casa da Cultura' his exhibition as

Ireland's representative at the XXIV Bienal de Sao Paulo in 1998,

part of which resulted from his working for three months with the

young pupils of Vila Prudente situated in the favelas of Sao Paulo.

Last year, in his capacity as Professor of Fine Art at the National

College of Art and Design, he brought his graduates and under

graduates to the New World Social Forum in Nairobi to witness

the abject poverty in which over two million Kenyans live in the

outskirts of the city. Like Philip Guston, through an economy of

imagery he tells the whole story of a vast bleak cosmopolitan cen tre which threatens rather than protects. The explicitness of the situation unfolds without the use of narrative. Brian Maguire delivers the message without the boredom of means. The subject is prevalent, constant and immediate. Human dignity prevails over and above the conflict, be it injustice or aesthetic concerns.

The picture of Patrice Lumumba before being shot is one of the most famous press images to come from Africa in the 1960s.

After his assassination, just ten weeks after becoming the first democratically elected leader of the newly independent

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Reubi of Cogo thi imag aperdwrdieu

ocai ste was agi shttre ten years lae in Chl, whe

a'ssassiae. Maur's potrit of thotr asobsdn a, nesppe pograp is bot rous an cocrnd hiXee

pern out from a fac supne onavvdrdbcgon (Fg2.Hsdahisie poplar son In thUS alosn bChitMor'Tegodotrlie wit bulltsihs eys.' AeIca Rune real th teeiso image ofTmyr mt winnl h 20 mere at the Meian Olmienn 98

1ii

breaking the world record. It is based on what is believed to be

the sixth most remembered television picture of the 20th cen

tury. In a symbolic gesture of support for the Olympic Project for Human Rights, Smith removed his shoes and raised his fist

on the winners' podium. Such a performance piece cost him

dearly. Maguire's ability to manipulate these popular images into wholly independent aesthetic experiences is what makes

these paintings hugely significant.

Hidden Island - Guest Worker (Fig 3) portrays the hardships endured by immigrant guest workers. This tragic figure has no

voice, no sex and no recourse to family life. The whole unre

solved question surrounding these workers is raised through this one image. The scales of justice are turned on their head, as this man sitting on a weighing scale is valued solely in terms

of his weight in labour.

Whilst the subject matter is tough and the questions raised

uncomfortable, in this new work we experience a celebration of

the transcendent and aesthetic nature of his painting through colour and surface. He remains true to his expressionist back

ground and the images are wielded into pulsating dynamic

painting. The churned up red earth in Nairobi 28/1/107 (Fig 5) mounts up on the surface in sensuous circular brushstrokes; such

a riot of colour screams of the havoc wreaked on the dwellers by this illegal clearance of their settlement. In Nairobi 28/2/07, the

empathy and compassion with which the remaining occupant is

revealed underneath all the upheaval is underpinned by the

contained delicacy of the composition.

Thnsdo' em ocane u b rngn tenint hsl sujet the ar nete ednrpwres ra aur

forepoitical contingencyad. loads thsem on thet isbeideve tof huan

ituy. The ar celebrtonigstr of lvs;uepharti or hlmpasionatoecan sensHumal pRigtraas, of thrmoe humne istence. anasdhsfs

BearBARA DaWSONires Dbirector tof DublnCityGalaer thes Houghlane.age

Bra aur,Hidden Islands Notuest fromrteWr oni the poortry thern Gallr,dubin,

21oMrhed 1 Aprsilo00.n l sronimage the AtstCoreyhe Kerers in Galledtrou.

1 Brian Maguire in

his studio 2007

2 BRIAN MAGUIRE

Dr Allende 2007

acrylic on canvas

190 x 144cm

3 Hidden Island Guest Worker 2007 acrylic on canvas

193 x 140cm

4 Patrice Lumumba 2007 acrylic on canvas 60 x 60cm

5 Nairobi 28/1/07 2007 acrylic on canvas

210 x 180cm

SPRING 2008 IRISH ARTS REVIEW | 65

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