Rita Duffy, Trinity Long Room Hub Artist in Residence
Rita Duffy is an artist in residence at the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Institute. Born in Belfast, Rita was awarded a B.A. from the Art & Design Centre and an M.A. in Fine Art at the University of Ulster. She was elected to Aosdana in 2017. She is one of Northern Ireland's groundbreaking artists who began her work concentrating primarily on the figurative/narrative tradition. Her art is often autobiographical, including themes and images of Irish identity, history and politics. Rita Duffy’s work has grown and evolved but remains intensely personal with overtones of the surreal.
Anatomy of Hope, 2021
Rita Duffy
Dedicated to the late great Art O’Bríain.
Artwork by Rita Duffy.
Original Music by Rory Pierce
Animators; Méabh Gilheany, Rhea Hanlon, and Cassie Galloway
Rita Duffy: Portrait of an Artist
BBC documentary
Rita Duffy is one of Northern Ireland’s best known visual artists with an instantly recognisable style which can be seen in her many paintings. Over four decades, her work has explored the world around her and has dealt with difficult subject matter such as the Troubles, the political situation in Northern Ireland and the role of women in our society. Now, her new work, Anatomy of Hope, looks at the current Covid-19 pandemic.
Throughout, Rita has avoided some of the self-regarding tendencies of the art world and tried to engage with her audience in as direct a way as possible, often by going out into communities and involving ordinary people in her projects.
This documentary tells the story of her life and work through an interview with the artist herself, as well as archive of her at work dating back to the mid-1980s. It traces a timeline from Rita’s childhood in Belfast to the present day by reviewing key pieces of her output, which include early works such as her Siege paintings, which depict a divided society, to her Drawing the Blinds portraits at the Divis Flats in Belfast, and her proposal to tow an iceberg to Belfast to explore the legacy of the Troubles.
Full episode available on the BBC player to UK residence (Not available In ROI )
