Bono, The Edge and Adam Clayton were among the guests at the world premiere of a new documentary film about Irish artist Guggi in Dublin on Thursday night.
Director Jim Sheridan, singer Gavin Friday and Dublin City Councillor Mannix Flynn also attended the Dublin International Film Festival event at the Light House Cinema in Smithfield.
Directed by Irish filmmaker and photographer Ian Thuillier and co-produced by Gabriella Janni, Guggi is described as "an intimate and deeply personal portrait" of Derek "Guggi" Rowen.
Thuillier is known for his award-winning documentary work, including Ghost Blues: The Rory Gallagher Story and his RTÉ Arts Lives portrait Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Gavin Friday.
He followed Guggi over multiple years with unprecedented access to his home life, studio, and creative process.
The synopsis of the new film reads, "Rising from the anarchic post-punk energy of Dublin's late-1970s Virgin Prunes, Guggi left performance behind to successfully follow his spiritual artistic calling where he developing a distinctive language centred on vessels - bowls, jugs and other everyday containers - which recur as both motif and metaphor in his paintings and sculptures.
"Through vérité filmmaking, interviews and visual poetry, Guggi captures the tension between chaos and order that defines his work".
The documentary features contributions from Guggi’s lifelong friends, including Bono and Gavin Friday, who share memories of their shared upbringing in Dublin, "shaped by religion, poverty and creative rebellion".
