While in Dublin, culture night was taking place; museums and various artistic venues were open to the public for free late into the evening. I was thrilled to find out that the Dublin City Gallery happened to be home to Francis Bacon’s studio, as found after his death. I felt connected to the chaos of his brilliance. Bacon’s understanding of human suffering is so visceral and honest in his art. The screaming mouths of his famous ‘Three Studies of Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion’ comes to my mind when I want to capture the sorrow that has no eyes, no ears, no voice. They scream but nothing is coming out. Their pain cannot be captured in sound. It is best observed as the excruciating build up before release.
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Francis Bacon-Untitled (Kneeling Figure-Back View)
Man distorted. Constant but stagnant. To be still, look up, the way out would become clear. But he pushes, struggles. Animal-like in his desperation to survive. How he must be suffocating, heart palpating, knees and hands bloody as they work to push past this barrier, this corner that closes in with no exit. When will the light burn out? For surely then he will go mad. Who is this voyeur who finds pleasure in another man’s torture? Do we not all create our own hells?
Filed under: Ireland Tagged: art, francis bacon, travel
