Share

Caroline McCarthy , Irish, b.1971

Title

Together Forever

Date2019

MediumAcrylic ink and gouache on paper

Dimensions

Image: 48 × 72 cm

56 × 76 cm

Credit LinePurchased, 2024

Object numberNGI.2024.10

DescriptionThis meticulously rendered painting is part of Caroline Mc Carthy’s ‘straw’ series of ink and gouache paintings. These beautiful images of ordinary objects are skilfully rendered. They comment in a subtle way on contemporary life and social issues such as waste. The title ‘Together Forever’ could allude to the fact that plastic straws take 200 years to decompose. At the same time, the title reflects the fact that they appear at celebratory occasions with family and friends – birthdays, trips to fast food outlets, even cocktail parties. This painting formed part of an installation Where I end and you Begin at Galerie Gisela Clement, Bonn, in 2019. Like much of McCarthy’s art, it looks at the throw-away culture of mass production, where ‘every kind of experience, fantasy or sense of one’s place in the world is pre-determined through some form of packaging’.
ProvenanceThe artist; Purchased, 2024Exhibition HistoryWhere I End and you Begin, Galerie Gisela Clement, Bonn, Germany, 2019