Guerilla artist hangs nude Cowen paintings
Monday, 23 March 2009
Who snuck nude paintings of Taoiseach Brian Cowen into two of Dublin's most prestigious museums?
That is the mystery surrounding what could be an act of artistic expression or civil disobedience.
An anonymous donor hung this painting (right) in the gallery of the Royal Hibernian Academy aside the regular collection. When a visitor asked staff about the new nude, it was removed.
'We certainly can't condone work coming in this way,' said Rebecca Gale of the gallery, barely containing her smile.
She added that their open submission show, which opens in May, is the best route to get work onto the gallery walls.
'We'll be keeping an eye out for work coming in this way from now on,' Ms Gale said of the guerilla tactic.
Another painting of An Taoiseach, this time naked on a toilet, was found at the National Gallery. It hung for 20 minutes before it was spotted, removed and handed over to gardaí.
One woman who saw the nude at the Royal Hibernian Gallery offered to buy it.
'It's reasonably well painted. It's not the worst thing I've ever seen,' conceded James O'Halloran of Adam's Fine Art Auctioneers & Valuers.
But the Royal Hibernian cannot sell it because it does not own it.
However, if the painter gets in touch with the gallery, they may just have a buyer - and a lot of questions from the gardaí.
Audio & Video
Nine News: Nude Cowen paintings appear in two galleries
Story from RTÉ News:
http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0323/cowennude.html
