Brian Bourke
, Irish, b.1936
Title
Sweeney EnchainedDate1988
MediumMixed media on paper
Dimensions
Image: 104 × 69 cm
112 × 76 cm
Signedlower right: Brian Bourke 1988
Credit LinePurchased, 2022
Object numberNGI.2022.46
DescriptionThese large-scale mixed media works demonstrate the importance of drawing in Brian Bourke’s practice as an artist. His expressive use of media including coloured pencil, graphite, watercolour and gouache gives these narrative images a dramatic energy and vitality. They are inspired by the old Irish legend of Suibhne Mac Colmáin, an Irish chieftain who opposed the coming of Christianity and was cursed by St Ronan: ‘He shall roam Ireland, mad and bare. He shall find death on the point of a spear.’ According to legend, Sweeney went mad in battle and spent the rest of his days leaping frantically from place to place without comfort or end. Bourke was inspired to explore Sweeney as a subject after reading Seamus Heaney’s 1983 translation of the medieval Irish epic poem ‘Buile Suibhne’ or ‘Sweeney Astray’. A group of twelve works from the series was exhibited at Rosc ’88.Inscriptionlower left: Sweeney Enchained
ProvenancePurchased through Taylor Galleries, Dublin; Purchased, 2022Exhibition HistoryRosc ’88, Guinness Hop Store, St James’s Gate, Dublin 8
Infinite Jest, Taylor Gallery, Dublin, 19 May 2022 - 11 June 2022