On Friday the 3rd of September, ‘Vae Victis’ opened in The Ground Floor Gallery at The Complex. The new series of Celtic paintings by Rónán Ó Raghallaigh was met with an enthusiastic reception, and we were delighted to welcome the public to our gallery. We’d like to thank everyone who joined us, and Jameson for very appropriately sponsoring drinks!
With ‘Vae Victis’, Rónán stated that “Dere has been no attempt by meself to be impartial or to represent Irishness as a whole, or to be consistent: de stories were chosen simply because dey’ve stuck with me since I was a young lad or I’ve been drawn to dem in recent years. Dey are a response to me own experience as a postcolonial subject.”
Rónán’s work makes use of the surreal, the symbolic and ritual. It is an act of decolonisation and is it's own form of Celtic revivalism in the 21st century, informed by postcolonial theory. On Bealtaine 2021, Rónán held a family ceremony where he was re-baptised as a druid with the Irish version of his name.
‘Vae Victis’ will run until Thursday the 9th of September, and opens daily from 10AM – 5PM. Booking is not necessary, and masks are essential.