New exhibition explores the impact of the Northern Irish conflict as a creative stimulus
Opens St Patrick’s Day, 17 March - Admission Free
An art exhibition opening at the National Army Museum on St Patrick’s Day explores the creative impact that urban conflict can have on an artist’s imagination.
Ralph Lillford visited Northern Ireland in the 1970s and found the experience and imagery of urban conflict creatively stimulating. His resolve ‘not to be deflected from confronting the sharp edge of human experience’ involved him in a number of startling experiences - being chased and stoned on the Creggan Estate, and being detained by armed men in balaclavas.
The artist visited Northern Ireland a number of times between April 1971 and 1976, and his determination to make a stand for the right of artists to interpret their surroundings as they see fit led him into trouble both with paramilitary organisations and the British Army. In the eyes of Jenny Spencer-Smith, Head of Fine & Decorative Art at the National Army Museum, it is because so much of Lillford’s work is based on his street drawings that the paintings are filled with the sense of rawness and immediacy which lies at the root of their power to provoke thought and stimulate response.
"Ralph Lillford’s work deserves wider recognition, and I’m pleased we’ve had the opportunity to provide a platform for it," said Ms Spencer-Smith. "He takes a very vigorous approach to painting – his practice is to paint on any available piece of board, preferring hard surfaces to canvas which allows for other, more dynamic techniques such as sgraffito and rubbing with a wire brush, or incorporating collage materials. His keen eye for the curious and personal have resulted in a series of individual, sometimes symbolic, illustrations of life in Northern Ireland in the seventies – for the people who lived there and the soldiers who served there."
Painting the Troubles opens to the public at 10.00am on Friday 17 March. Admission is free. It is suitable for ages 7+ but includes some explicit content.
About the Artist
Lillford completed his National Service as a sergeant with the Royal Army Educational Corps and as an instructor with 21 Supply Platoon Royal Army Service Corps, while stationed in the Middle East from July 1952 to 1954. Following his demobilization, he took up a scholarship at the Royal College of Art, then embarked on a career which combined teaching with an active practice as a professional artist. He was later awarded a doctorate for his study of William Hogarth’s engravings illustrating Samuel Butler’s satirical poem Hudibras. He also determined a method for dating undocumented Hogarth prints and helped to catalogue the collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Now resident in Australia, Ralph Lillford continues to paint professionally, having retired from his post as Principal Lecturer at Richmond, the American International University in London, in 1997. Since completing a large, complex mural for a church in Queensland, he has worked on a number of projects, including a 15-foot square bas relief in aluminium of the Australian Light Horse for the veteran’s organization, the Returned & Services League, in Coff’s Harbour, New South Wales. In common with artists such as Rex Whistler and Ronald Searle, his graphic virtuosity and unfailing sense of humour combine to produce inspired caricatures of everyday life, drawn for the amusement of his friends. Dr Lillford was also the National Army Museum’s Artist-in-Residence during the week of The Big Draw in 2002.