In the Lyric Feature this Sunday at 6 pm, Daragh Dukes presents A Portrait of the Artist as a Radio Documentary, an audio portrait of a portrait painter, James Hanley, as told through the eyes of sitters, fellow artists, buyers, family and friends, this is a story of being creative, connecting and making a life in the uncertain world of the arts.
Daragh Dukes who devised and edited the documentary shares some thoughts:
I remember being brought for a meal by my parents after I did my Leaving Cert and conversation went to what I might like to do with myself from here on, or at the very least, next. I said that I would like somehow to make my way in life through music-making. I fully expected to be humoured briefly before being pointed in a "more sensible" direction, but I heard my parents say, "fine". This frightened the life out of me. What kind of life can someone who wants to be an artist expect to have? Only one thing is certain about the choice to become an artist or to work in the arts, and this is that your working life will be full of uncertainty.
The world of art is constantly splintering, an inward and outward flow of ideas and approaches, away from and into new technologies, dizzying to even the most plugged-in. We search endlessly for new and more abstract or precise ways to express our imaginations, and our lives and experiences. Such is life and so it should be. But traditional methods remain meaningful and malleable enough for many, practitioners and audiences both, despite technology's omnipresence.
The death of painting in particular has been a long time coming. The line given to Paul Delaroche, "from today, painting is dead", on seeing the early Daguerreotype photographs around 1939 has been repeated ad nauseum with the arrival of each new iteration of image-making technology. But in making this documentary I have found that painting is not merely alive but in rude health. In fact Ireland’s visual arts community continue to practice painting, sculpture, print-making etc, the practice of which provides them with lives full of connections and stories and meaning.
Making an audio portrait of a portrait artist appealed to me first because of the obvious dilemma it posed. A painting can be many things but almost none of them audible. The challenge was to represent this visual world in a way that was sonically rich. I found that moving perspectives and points of view to try and mimic some of the visual tricks used in painting could be a useful ploy. I hope this translates to the listener.
The real gift to me in this effort at sonic portraiture was of course to have James Hanley as the sitter. A talented storyteller in life and work with an abundance of experiences to draw upon, he is an exuberant and generous subject. He’s also in great demand as a portrait painter, as a board member, an elected member of Aosdána, an active Academician at the RHA and an engaged participant in Dublin’s cultural life.
What informs how someone looks at the world? How do we see ourselves versus how other people see us? How do we appear to other people? And how does someone whose career is based on capturing a likeness look at himself, and the network of nature and nurture, art and influence of which he is part?
This programme captures some of his own perspective on his life and work, as well as the viewpoints of people he has painted, worked and studied with, many who have become friends. As James says, there is no one art world, there are many, many art worlds… but perhaps as an artist you make your own art world with the art that you make.
A Portrait of an Artist as a Radio Documentary, presented by Daragh Dukes, is the Lyric Feature on Sunday 31st December at 6 pm on RTÉ lyric fm.
Listen to more from the Lyric Feature here.