THE title to Stephen Lawlor’s exhibition at Bourn Vincent Gallery, ‘Spiritus Mundi’, comes from Yeat’s poem ‘The Second Coming’. He says Spiritus Mundi (spirit of the world) is a reference to imagery from the collective human memory.
From the artist, we hear that his show “is a subtle exploration of the iconography of western painting and its subliminal position within that memory”.
Lawlor’s paintings at the UCH gallery in UL are accompanied by projected images of the some of the source material, allowing the viewer a better understanding of their origins.
“Yeats’ poem strangely reflects the current global political situation where the collective human spirit watches frozen as the centre collapses. There is an abundance of terms such as ‘Blood dimmed tide, innocence drowned, passionate intensity and anarchy’.
“The darkly foreboding end makes us wonder what deep pool the poet looked into to pull forth the question:- ‘And what rough beast, it’s hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?’“
Spiritus Mundi continues into January 5.
