Art Review -
"Episodes from the Passion"
[Says Hughie O'Donoghue, painter of "Episodes from the Passion":]
"The chance involvement with my father's experience inspired my commitment to it. I couldn't resist the pull of the letters from him, a young man in his twenties when I didn't know him. My son then was also in his twenties. It was a complete document for one person, my mother, very truthful, not self-conscious, a Holy Grail of the heart.
"It opened up unknown aspects of my father, and of myself, a kind of portraiture that is part of my approach to making art, putting stress on what is subconscious or natural and coming out of the subconscious, rather than directly trying to inject specific meaning into my work; actually meaning accrues to works. In a sense, it is always beyond your grasp in the control of your paintings."
With the letters was a postcard from Rome. It showed a sculpture of Marysas bound to a tree, awaiting the punishment the satyr endured for his temerity in challenging the god Apollo to a musical contest.
"When I saw the 'Genius of Venice' Exhibition in London in 1982 I was spellbound by a magnificent late Titian, 'The Flaying of Marysas'...Painted when Titian was almost ninety it had a very confrontational presentation of the figure. When I saw it, although the subject-matter was mythological, its resemblance to a Crucifixion struck me. Sculptures of Marysas were often used as models for Crucifixion: the cruelty seemed similar.
"It is the big subject; it hovers over the whole tradition of Western painting. It disappeared in art with the decline of patronage by the Church, but there was still a desire to deal with the crucial issues, those human emotions thrown up by it, betrayal, self-doubt, love, sacrifice; it provides the whole range of human psychology and experience. People may say that because you paint the subject you must be very religious. That's not the issue. The issue is one of probing".
The encounter with these great works is a compelling spiritual experience, whatever the faith of the viewer. The artist has dredged his paint for all it could yield of poignancy. The contorted body writhes in agony, its form half-submerged in the colour that creates it, overwhelmed by the pitiless moment. The aspect of grief conveyed by the work is almost indescribable.
[The artist's] patron, American Craig Baker, has decided that the Irish people are worthy to receive "Episodes from the Passion" as a gift, provided (and here's the rub) a suitable home can be arranged for them where they will remain on permanent exhibition. They are currently in the care of the Commissioners of Public Works and a prestigious committee is working on the project.
Kate Robinson is an Art Curator.
35 Lr Leeson St
Dublin 2
Ireland
Tel:
+353 1 676 6785
Fax:
+353 1 676 2984
Email:
studies@jesuit.ie