Rita Duffy (b.1959)
Dreams
Oil on board, each 30.5 x 30.5cm (12 x 12)
Signed (3)

Provenance: The Eamonn Mallie Collection

'Dreams' - three heads of children by Rita Duffy were the...

Rita Duffy (b.1959)
Dreams
Oil on board, each 30.5 x 30.5cm (12 x 12)
Signed (3)

Provenance: The Eamonn Mallie Collection

'Dreams' - three heads of children by Rita Duffy were the launching pad for a major outdoor installation of forty heads of children - mostly from Belfast but not entirely with other heads sourced in other parts of Ireland.

 

Duffy, born in Stranmillis in South Belfast has emerged as one of the most formidable ground-breaking artists of her era. She lives today with one foot in the North and one in the South on the Fermanagh/ Cavan border. Essentially a figurative artist Duffy has not shied away from tackling political subjects such as 'lookout towers' in South Armagh or the portrayal of images of the Troubles like her portrait of Father Edward Daly agitating his white bloodstained handkerchief on Bloody Sunday in Derry.

Duffy's heads of some forty children found a home on the face of a large commercial building at Lanyon Quay in Belfast. The works are all executed on forty aluminium panels seen by hundreds of thousands of drivers passing closely to Belfast's Waterfront Hall and the Laganside Courts in Oxford Street in Belfast. Rita informed me in the preparation of this exposition of these three oil studies for the series 'Dreams' that a lawyer friend of hers made a very poignant observation about the appointment of the 'Dreams Series.' He said "it is an interesting location because the images of the children have ended up at eye level with the courtrooms which deal with family law. It is a very cautionary visionary note for couples savaging each other in divorce proceedings to remember there are children involved."

Theses heads are deliberately framed the same to underscore the symmetry in God's creatures devoid of distinction. What is fascinating about these paintings is the fact that the artist has turned each head looking away from us. Who knows the artist's mind or reason for their creations?

Eamonn Mallie

 

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