Hugh Lane Gallery unveiled its first collaboration with artist Asbestos this week – a large mural on O’ Connell Street paying tribute to those who lost their lives as a result of COVID.
The mural is made up of over 5000 burnt matches, each one individually painted. Hugh Lane said of the piece:
“Each match represents the life of a person who has passed away in Ireland during the Covid pandemic, each extinguished at a different stage of existence”.
The matches were painted over a ten day period and the mural reads “pass freely from one level of existence to another”, a quote from The Secret Block for a Secret Person in Ireland by Joseph Beuy.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQtCxoMIJDw/
Asbestos has been sharing the process of creating the mural on his instagram, and he’s also been encouraging anyone who lost a loved one to covid to contact him if they’d like to share a thought or memory.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQdQxQkn2Sc/
Some of the memories have been shared on his feed, with consent, and they’re extremely moving.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQepUYlH9UJ/
The mural is a five minute walk from Hugh Lane Gallery and part of their upcoming exhibition ‘From Secret Block to ROSC’ by Joseph Beuys, which opens 14 July 2021.
Header image via Instagram/Hugh Lane Gallery
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