POWERFUL ART EXHITION INSPIRED BY FATEFUL SUMMER OF 1998
Powerful art exhibition inspired by fateful summer of 1998
by Claire Anthony
AN art exhibition inspired by the Omagh atrocity was opened at an intimate launch in the town on Monday night.
Actor Gerard McSorley was among guests who gathered for the first viewing of the exhibition, entitled 'The Summer of '98', by award-winning Castlereagh artist, Ray Duncan.
Comprising 13 paintings in all, the exhibit is a powerful collection of images, inspired by press photographs and video stills capturing the events of the fateful summer of 1998.
Among these are stylised paintings of the house where, on the eve of July 12, 1998, the three Quinn children were murdered in an arson attack on their Ballymoney home, and images which are all too familiar to the people of Omagh, including some depicting the frantic scenes in Market Street immediately after the explosion in August of the same year.
Viewing the paintings, one is immediately struck by their power. Capturing the sense of eerie detachment and shock, the images are both startling and beautiful - incredible, given their subject matter.
Commenting on the exhibition, chairman of Omagh Support and Self Help Group, Mr Michael Gallagher, said: "I think it's a very important exhibition to come to Omagh. This man put considerable effort into creating these paintings, and inevitably, they have come to Omagh. It's also important that the Victims' Group was at the forefront of bringing it to the town.
"We live with the paintings on these walls every day of our lives. We will never forget those people who have supported us over the past six years, and it is important to bring people in the community together here - it's our way of saying we haven't forgotten.
"The 15th of August and the 12th of July in the Omagh and Ballymoney communities are very significant dates, and that wasn't lost on Ray. It would be my hope now to keep the collection together, or at least some of it, in the new Omagh arts centre," he added.
The artist himself, Mr Ray Duncan, said he was very pleased with the response to the exhibition. He said: "It's interesting to see it being viewed by people who were very close to the actual events, and that, in a strange sense, is a privilege for me. I'm pleased that nobody has said it's bad, they seem happy for the paintings to be here on display. It gives me a sense that I have an opportunity to help the support group, by increasing awareness and keeping the focus - something which is difficult for them.
Special guest
Speaking at the opening, special guest and star of the 'Omagh' film, Gerard McSorley, said: "It's wonderful to be back home again and wonderful to be invited here tonight. To hear Ray talk about the exhibition, and the humanity with which he speaks, is fantastic.
"I would love to say something on some level about the artistic response to the horrors and tragedies of 1998, and that is that there is a wonderful redemptiveness in the response of art to such horrors.
"In terms of the Omagh movie, I hope you are aware that that little 'love song' is having a huge effect internationally. It is having the most profound human impact of the people who see it, and it is playing to packed cinemas everywhere.
"The more of this kind of thing we do, the more we get together and remember it in this way, can only be to the good of the healing process," he said.
'The Summer of '98' will be on display in the gallery at the Tourist Information Centre until Friday, November 26. All paintings are for sale and the profit from any sale will be donated by the artist to Omagh Support and Self Help Group.
by Claire Anthony
AN art exhibition inspired by the Omagh atrocity was opened at an intimate launch in the town on Monday night.
Actor Gerard McSorley was among guests who gathered for the first viewing of the exhibition, entitled 'The Summer of '98', by award-winning Castlereagh artist, Ray Duncan.
Comprising 13 paintings in all, the exhibit is a powerful collection of images, inspired by press photographs and video stills capturing the events of the fateful summer of 1998.
Among these are stylised paintings of the house where, on the eve of July 12, 1998, the three Quinn children were murdered in an arson attack on their Ballymoney home, and images which are all too familiar to the people of Omagh, including some depicting the frantic scenes in Market Street immediately after the explosion in August of the same year.
Viewing the paintings, one is immediately struck by their power. Capturing the sense of eerie detachment and shock, the images are both startling and beautiful - incredible, given their subject matter.
Commenting on the exhibition, chairman of Omagh Support and Self Help Group, Mr Michael Gallagher, said: "I think it's a very important exhibition to come to Omagh. This man put considerable effort into creating these paintings, and inevitably, they have come to Omagh. It's also important that the Victims' Group was at the forefront of bringing it to the town.
"We live with the paintings on these walls every day of our lives. We will never forget those people who have supported us over the past six years, and it is important to bring people in the community together here - it's our way of saying we haven't forgotten.
"The 15th of August and the 12th of July in the Omagh and Ballymoney communities are very significant dates, and that wasn't lost on Ray. It would be my hope now to keep the collection together, or at least some of it, in the new Omagh arts centre," he added.
The artist himself, Mr Ray Duncan, said he was very pleased with the response to the exhibition. He said: "It's interesting to see it being viewed by people who were very close to the actual events, and that, in a strange sense, is a privilege for me. I'm pleased that nobody has said it's bad, they seem happy for the paintings to be here on display. It gives me a sense that I have an opportunity to help the support group, by increasing awareness and keeping the focus - something which is difficult for them.
Special guest
Speaking at the opening, special guest and star of the 'Omagh' film, Gerard McSorley, said: "It's wonderful to be back home again and wonderful to be invited here tonight. To hear Ray talk about the exhibition, and the humanity with which he speaks, is fantastic.
"I would love to say something on some level about the artistic response to the horrors and tragedies of 1998, and that is that there is a wonderful redemptiveness in the response of art to such horrors.
"In terms of the Omagh movie, I hope you are aware that that little 'love song' is having a huge effect internationally. It is having the most profound human impact of the people who see it, and it is playing to packed cinemas everywhere.
"The more of this kind of thing we do, the more we get together and remember it in this way, can only be to the good of the healing process," he said.
'The Summer of '98' will be on display in the gallery at the Tourist Information Centre until Friday, November 26. All paintings are for sale and the profit from any sale will be donated by the artist to Omagh Support and Self Help Group.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/1770
Published Date: 18-Nov-04
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