LEGENDARY Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick, famous for creating the world-renowned image of Che Guevara and numerous works of Irish heroes, mythological and modern, was on the Falls Road for a talk with Gerry Adams about his life work.
The event, held in Áras Uí Chonghaile – the James Connolly Visitor Centre, was thoroughly packed out as Jim went through a life which has seen him become known as one of Ireland’s most famous and iconic artists.
He enraptured the crowd by telling of the time he met Che Guevara as a teenager whilst working in a bar in Co Clare. The legendary revolutionary’s aeroplane had been grounded due to fog at Shannon airport and he had come into the bar where Jim worked for a drink where he was served Irish whiskey and water.
Jim said he was amazed at Che’s extensive knowledge of Irish history, particularly the War of Independence, and the famous comandante told the young artist he had learned everything about Ireland on his grandmother’s knee, having Irish heritage through an ancestor Patrick Lynch who came to Argentina from Galway.
Jim further talked about how he had signed over the rights for his famous image of the revolutionary to the Cuban people in 2013 and purposely left the image copyright free so anyone could use the image which was once ranked as number six in the greatest images in the world, just behind the Mona Lisa.
Speaking with Gerry Adams he went on to explain his own background and a boyhood bout of tuberculosis which started him reading Irish mythology which features heavily in some of his most striking work. Gerry Adams remarked how Jim had brought Irish mythology to life and how his artwork was a great source of inspiration and comfort for the the people of Belfast during the conflict with murals featuring his images of gods and goddesses such as Nuada, The Morrígan and heroes such as Cú Chulainn.
Republican ex-prisoners in the audience also remarked how Jim’s artwork had been an inspiration to them when they were in Long Kesh and Gerry Adams brought in some artwork made on a tile from Long Kesh painted by a prisoner in Long Kesh in the style of Jim’s work.
The Dublin artist next showed examples of work he had done of seminal Irish musicians such as Phil Lynott, Sinéad O’Connor and Rory Gallagher and told numerous stories about each of them. Jim lamented that he wished Phil Lynott, who had been a close friend, was still alive to see the image being used in a much publicised anti-racist campaign which celebrated the lives of Black Irish people.
IN GOOD COMPANY: Jim Fitzpatrick with William Blair, Museums NI, and Tom Hartley
On his latest projects, Jim and Gerry talked about his work illustrating the heroes of 1916 in the ongoing campaign to save Dublin’s Moore Street from developers and vulture landlords who are seeking to tear down the street where the men and women of 1916 made their last stand. He also spoke of an ongoing project to bring to life other heroes from Irish history such as those from the United Irishmen era including Henry Joy and Mary Ann McCracken and Wolfe Tone and other figures such as abolitionist Frederick Douglass who visited Ireland in 1845 and Saint Oliver Plunkett.
A further project he is working on are pieces about famous Irish women and Jim said he was proud to do work which exalted Irish women, from the mythological goddesses such as The Morrígan, Ériu and Boann to modern historical Irish women such as Mary Ann McCracken, Countess Markiewicz and Elizabeth O’Farrell.
The evening concluded with some questions and answers, with Gerry Adams asking Jim about the role of the artist in society to which Jim replied it had always been his belief to try and unite people through art and how art was the oldest form of human expression.
