Shane McGowan - Where is Everybody?

Wednesday 21 August - Sunday 9 September 2024

Click here for artwork by Shane McGowan

What is a memory and where is it kept? Why does something that seems defined, solid and unclouded from a distance become so diffuse and intangible as we try to hold it and speak its name? With these images, fragments of old family photos of loved ones now departed, Shane McGowan wanted to explore the infallibility of memory, and the impact upon it of grief, loss, and, of course, the passage of time. He wanted to show that memories of lives past are like gossamer and however much we would like to, it’s impossible to step back in time and be a reliable historian.

For this series of drawings, McGowan has used soft pastels, oil pastels, coloured pencils, crayons, acrylic and whatever else is lying around his studio. He works on textured thick paper, making a concerted effort to be looser and less defined in his mark making.