Cruellest cut of all as sculptor pokes fun at political class
Monday November 09 2009
Sculptures of Bertie Ahern at the Mahon Tribunal and HSE boss Brendan Drumm wielding a guillotine form part of two new exhibitions casting a wry look at Irish society.
One piece depicts Mary Harney tucked up in a hospital bed above an elderly patient on the floor, while another portrays a pair of semi-naked pensioners stripped by cutbacks.
The carefully crafted ceramic caricatures on sale at a Dublin gallery were designed by artist Brigit Beemster to reflect her frustration with the country's leaders.
The Sligo sculptor said the political class was failing the least well-off in this country.
The exhibition at Gallery Zozimus on Francis Street, entitled 'Frolitics and Econocomics', comprises 19 pieces depicting the demise of the economy.
One, selling for €790, shows an elderly man and woman stripped to their underwear representing the suffering of the elderly through cutbacks and pension losses.
Envelopes
A sculpture of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern with brown envelopes poking out of his pockets in front of Judge Alan Mahon has an asking price of €895, while another sculpture, going for €1,600, features several cabinet ministers sitting in rubbish bins with banana skins lying on the ground.
- COLM KELPIE
Irish Independent
