Portrait of Northern Ireland:

neither an elegy nor a manifesto

This exhibition demonstrated the quality and integrity of fine art practice in Northern Ireland over the past 100 years. It did not aim to be definitive but was rather a survey of the breadth and depth of artists’ responses to the geographical, social and political landscape.

Taking its subtitle from curator John Hewitt’s poem Neither an Elegy nor a Manifesto, the exhibition was neither a lament for nor a celebration of Northern Ireland. Instead, it showed how the artists who were born or have worked in this part of the world have responded to the particular and universal experience of the people who live here.

Whilst the evolution and persistence of artistic themes is not linear, the works in the exhibition gave a sense of the development of fine art practice since the 1920s.

This major exhibition featured over 100 artists who have changed the way we see ourselves and the landscape around us. From Paul Henry and William Scott to Turner Prize nominees, the exhibition also showcased the work of graduates from Belfast School of Art.

Curated by Shan McAnena, the Portrait of Northern Ireland Exhibition was a collaboration between the Northern Ireland Office, the Government Art Collection, Arts Council NI, leading galleries and collectors as part of the wider cultural programme of the Northern Ireland Centenary.

The exhibition was held at the Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast from 12 October to 4 November 21.

Please visit the website ourstoryinthemaking.com to find out more about Northern Ireland Office Centenary events and programmes. 

The Work

A Sense of Place

With the partition of Ireland, artists, along with most people, faced a world of economic and political uncertainty. Many artists needed to pursue second careers as designers for industry whilst continuing the tradition of painting the landscape.  The newly formed Northern Ireland government began using these images to promote the region to tourists and industry.   During the economic depression of the 1930s, poet John Hewitt encouraged the formation of the Ulster Unit - an artists’ collective inspired by Unit One in England and the Bauhaus in Germany.  Its members, including Colin Middleton, John Luke, George MacCann and Romeo C Toogood went on to establish significant national or international reputations. Another member, Kathleen Bridle, became an influential teacher and mentor to artists including William Scott and TP Flanagan.

A New Tradition

Surrounded by nature and rural communities, artists in Northern Ireland such as Colin Middleton, TP Flanagan and Basil Blackshaw continued breaking the traditions of landscape painting, using non-naturalistic colours or applying paint that emphasised their brushwork. The incorporation of mythological and poetic elements emphasises the Northern Ireland landscape as a place layered with history and meaning.  For some artists, the increasing industrialisation of life and the resulting social inequality became an important subject. They developed new ways to document the dramatic changes they witnessed all around them. When painting people, Neil Shawcross, Colin Davidson, Mark Shields and Gareth Reid represent the character and psychology of their subjects as well as their relationship to them. Their interest in the subjective and emotional, coupled with their desire to break with the traditions of the past, has led these artists to make innovations that have radically altered how we think of portraiture.

Encounters with Modernism

Isolated on the Western fringes of Europe, it took time for the influence of early 20th Century European developments in art to reach these shores. Contrasting with the traditional Irish School of painting, the development of modernism began soon after the formation of Northern Ireland as artists sought a new alignment with the experience and values of modern life. Certain underlying principles that define modernist art are: a rejection of a realistic depiction of subjects; innovation and experimentation with form with a tendency to abstraction; and an emphasis on materials, techniques and processes.  The main exponents of surrealism here were Colin Middleton and Nevill Johnson, whilst abstract still-life painter William Scott became one of the most international of all post-war Northern Irish artists. 

Chronicling Conflict 

Over the past century, artists in Northern Ireland have responded to their own direct experience of political conflict and protest, as well as to anecdote and media coverage. The role of the artist is not to create an impartial document but to provide an individual perspective and provoke dialogue, reminding the viewer of the fragility of peace. In their 1959 work, self-taught artist E Rutherford shows the shadow of violence on a gable wall, echoed in the work of John Keane made during his time as a war artist in the 1980s. FE McWilliam’s sculpture is part of a series created in response to the 1972 bombing of the Abercorn Tea-Rooms in Belfast, whilst Victor Sloan uses a photograph as the starting point for his work.   More recent artists such as Joy Gerrard tackle international political protests such as the Black Lives Matter rallies. Her depiction of massed demonstrators echoes the abstracted swirl of marchers in Joe McWilliams’ work. 

Confronting the Contemporary

Many artists practicing in Northern Ireland today stress the thought processes and methods of production as the value of the work. Although they may use established techniques such as painting, modelling and photography, it is concept rather than representation that underpins their work. Conceptual art can be almost anything. This is because, unlike a painter or sculptor who will think about how best they can express their idea using paint or sculptural materials respectively, a conceptual artist uses whatever materials and whatever form is most appropriate to putting their idea across.  Although there is no one style or form, from the late 1960s certain trends emerged with artists using text, installation, video and performance, and many artists continue to make conceptual art in Northern Ireland today.

Emerging Artists

Recent graduates from the Belfast School of Art continue to redefine the fine art tradition in Northern Ireland. Using a range of media, they respond to the landscape, the people, the things that we do and have done as well as who we are and want to be. They work in painting, photography, mixed media, and digital and although the work can be representational and politically current, it is often conceptual. Personal and collective memory, history and mythology continue to be subjects for exploration along with representations of urban, rural, and domestic life. For many younger artists the expression of identity focuses on individual narratives concerning gender, sexuality, and body image, as well as the universal experiences of social injustice, marginalisation and the environment.