It’s the world we’re living in…

Did you know how they decide on the date for Easter?  You probably did but I’ll tell you anyway.  It’s the first Sunday after the full moon after the Equinox – and last week was the Equinox.  This week, on the Monday just gone, the moon was full so… ipso facto – Easter Sunday is next Sunday.

Oh, if only everything was so simple.

Here’s a quote for you from Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations:  “Peace is needed today more than ever.  War and conflict are unleashing devastation, poverty and hunger, and driving tens of millions of people from their homes…”

Well yes, absolutely – but what can we do about it?  I go on the marches, as do many of you, and it feels good that there are so many people who care – but, as an artist, what can I do?

I’ve discussed this with others, poets, painters, sculptors and such, and one thing is clear, we feel the responsibility weighing heavily on our shoulders…

But I want to tell you about a new group show at the Olivier Cornet Gallery.  It’s entitled: “What do we want?” and it is our response to the increasingly dangerous geo-political situation in the world today.  There are 4 artists involved:  Jill Gibbon, Tom Molloy, Gail Ritchie and myself.

The image at the top is a piece from the ‘Doomsday Series’ by Gail Ritchie in Belfast.  She was responding to the most recent prediction by the Doomsday Clock that humanity is now less than 90 seconds from midnight (where midnight is the nuclear apocalypse).  The other images on this post are some of my new work for the show.

Yes, it is serious stuff.  This is the world we’re living in.

Frances Black, Member of Seanad Éireann

My best bit of news, however, is that Frances Black, singer and member of Seanad Éireann will be opening the show – on Tuesday, the 9th of April, 2024.  Hopefully you can be there too.

https://www.oliviercornetgallery.com/

Details of Gail Ritchie’s artwork:

Above:  ‘Seconds to midnight’, watercolour on paper with clock mechanism, 2024.      Below: ‘Time Left’, watercolour and ink on watercolour paper, 2024.