In 2019, those passing by Northumberland Street in Belfast had their daily route significantly altered. There were no new buildings, no freshly installed mall – instead, a seemingly unsuspecting wall on the street was now home to a mural. Political in both scope and intent, the mural featured Arlene Foster (the then leader of the Democratic Unionist Part) alongside Michelle O’Neill (the then vice-president of Sinn Féin), and in the middle was none other than Theresa May, who was just a few short months away from resigning as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. These three talking heads were reimagined in the shape and form of playful cartoon characters, ranging from Pink and the Brain, Elmyra Duff, and Tiny Toons.
The saving grace of public art is that it defies the individualist mythos of the artist. The mural was likewise a collective endeavor, painted by artists including Paul Doran (whose work has recently been exhibited the Zari Gallery) and muralist Mark Ervine. Reinforcing the democratized nature of street art, Doran and Ervine allowed for other artistic inspiration to find its way on the wall. A thirteen-year-old girl who created the original design also played a part in bringing the concept to life on the grand scale.
Doran was raised in Belfast, making a name for himself in the art world when he studied Fine Arts at Liverpool Hope University. The Merseyside city allowed him to hone his craft – the same excellent craft that we proudly exhibit at our gallery and cultural hub in London’s Fitzrovia. Despite his time in Liverpool (where he also completed a Masters in Creative Practice in 2015), Doran is still inspired by the place where he spent the first 18 years of his life. “Belfast always comes into it one way or another, visible or not”, he explains. “You are who you are.”
Ervine is said to have painted his first mural at the age of six, a medium that has stuck with him in his practice today. He uses murals to highlight issues that are not discussed in mainstream media, which are instead used to inform the community about their history, culture and social issues – issues that young people are faced with as they are growing up in working class communities. “It’s about pricking people’s curiosity”. Ervine has worked extensively with fellow muralist Danny Devenny; the two of them won a silver award at the Belfast Council Youth and Community Awards in March 2009.
As well as prompting a fruitful collaboration between Doran and Ervine, the mural marked an important political tension in the atmosphere. Given that the mural was painted in 2019, Paul and Ervine were tapping into the angst that was riding through the country due to the likes of Brexit and the Conservative Party’s confidence-and-supply deal with the DUP. Generally speaking, it’s in the nature of a mural to forge a public expression from a collective imagination. We think back to Berlin artist Dmitri Vrubel who made art-history with their mural ‘My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love (aka. Fraternal Kiss)’, painted in 1990, depicting soviet politicians Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker in a socialist kiss.
Every era calls for a unique mural to compose and re-express the turmoil of the present moment. This meditation rings true for Doran and Ervine’s Belfast mural – pointed, playful, it stands out as a wildly imaginative critique. Doran is noted as an artist of the moment, an artist who hopes to instil hope through his paintings. And we certainly hope to see more.
