'Making Cents: Life Below the Bottom Rung' Solo Exhibition of Paintings

dublin | arts and media | other press Sunday September 26, 2010 20:46 by Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin caoimhghin at yahoo dot com 087-8309001

This exhibition will be opened by journalist and broadcaster Vincent Browne, 6.30pm, Thursday 7th October 2010

Ionad an Phiarsaigh––THE PEARSE CENTRE,
The Ireland Institute, 27 Pearse St, Dublin 2

01 – 764 4644 * [email protected]

‘Making Cents’ is a new series of oil paintings examining the daily existence of people making a living in the worst working conditions in the global economy.

Hommage à Haiti

The globalisation of the world economy has allowed for extremes of exploitation of workers in poor countries. This exploitation is ‘hidden’ behind advertising and aesthetically designed products. Looking at the people behind the products reminds us that our lifestyle has its negative side too.

During the exhibition opening, a blog database of Realist and Social Realist art from around the world will also be launched. To date, the database covers art depicting ordinary people by 350 historical and contemporary artists from 140 countries around the world. These paintings can be viewed country by country on Caoimhghin’s blog at http://gaelart.blogspot.com/

Artist’s statement:
“While reading the International Herald Tribune I came across an article entitled ‘Deal near for global pact on ship recycling’ (15 May 2009). The article notes that ‘[t]he dismantling of ships, so that their steel and other materials can be sold as scrap, is often done on or near beaches in poor countries, notably India and Bangladesh. Both nations have pledged to improve working conditions and environmental practices. But labor advocates contend that the process still kills and maims many workers each year and results in the contamination of shorelines with asbestos, oily waste, toxic paint and other dangerous materials.’ It struck me that it is rare to see images of people in such working conditions depicted in paintings.

Following Sartre’s dictum that ‘to reveal is to change’ I decided to make a painting that would in a sense ‘reveal’ this type of work to those like myself who had never come across it before. Like many bad situations they continue without change for a long time because of a lack of awareness of their existence by many who often benefit directly or indirectly from them. I then looked at other situations where people worked in very bad and sometimes even horrific working conditions which became the basis for the other paintings in the exhibition.”

Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin studied at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin where he obtained a BA (Hons) degree in Fine Art. He subsequently undertook post-graduate study in the interdisciplinary field of Cultural Studies in Dublin City University obtaining a Masters degree in Communications and Cultural Studies. Caoimhghin is an Irish speaker and holds a PhD in Language and Politics, which is published under the title Language from Below: The Irish Language, Ideology and Power in 20th-Century Ireland. He currently works as a part-time lecturer on aesthetics and the history of Irish art for Boston University in Dublin while doing research on a database of Realist and Social Realist art from around the world. These paintings can be viewed country by country on his blog at http://gaelart.blogspot.com. His own art-work consists of drawings and paintings and features cityscapes of Dublin, images based on Irish history and other work with social/political themes which can be viewed at http://gaelart.net/