GLEN Road artist Patrick Hickey is set to launch his latest exhibition at the Cúlturlann on Thursday 16 June.
The exhibition will showcase some of the works produced as part of his PhD at Ulster University and will be on display until 14 August, forming part of the Belfast Pride and Féile an Phobail festivals.
Speaking ahead of the launch, he told the Andersonstown News: “My research focuses on queer identity in Irish art while looking at how artists use coding within their works to hint at their sexuality.
“One of the artists that I have been focusing on is Gerard Dillon who is also from West Belfast. Some consider him to be a repressed homosexual, others would say he was a well adjusted homosexual and his works are considered to have a queer reading.
“I have always been inspired by the likes of European art history which takes the female nude and sexualises it and flipping that on its head as a queer male artist by putting the male nude onto the canvas. This has allowed me to create works on a bigger scale.”
Patrick discussed how post partition, the vision of Ireland was told through visual means with artists commissioned to paint the west coast of Ireland with their works then used globally as an advert for Ireland.
“My exhibition in the Cúlturlann will explore queer identity and queer masculinity within that historical context,” he said.
“Over the years I have always been inspired by mythology and while a lot of artists tend to focus on Greek and Roman mythology, I have based my work on Irish mythology. I have taken inspiration from the mythical island of Hy-Brasil which is said to be on the west coast of Ireland.
“In terms of the landscapes in my paintings, I take photos in the likes of Donegal or the Bog Meadows or Falls Park then merge aspects of each to create a landscape that is familiar to people but entirely fictional.”
When it comes to the people within the images Patrick, who teaches life drawing said that he bases his characters on images that he finds on the internet and social media.
For Patrick, he feels that while society as a whole is becoming more liberal and accepting towards the LGBTQ+ community, he still has reservations about putting his artwork on public display.
“I still have apprehensions about displaying my work publicly. When you see stuff on social media such as Jolene Bunting criticising a drag queen for attending a Jubilee event and you see the comments that stuff like that attracts that is when you see the hatred coming through for LGBTQ+ people.
“I feel like I sometimes get into a false sense of security but when you look at the murders of Aidan Moffatt and Michael Snee in Sligo then you realise that we do need these queer safe spaces.
“Through my art, I feel that this island is a safe space for the characters within my paintings where people can be their authentic selves.”
Patrick’s exhibition will launch at Cúlturlann McAdam Ó Fiaich at 7pm on Thursday 16 June.
