Cork 2005’s exclusion of sculptor’s legacy condemned

“RISIBLE” is how artist Colm Murphy describes the exclusion of his late father, the sculptor, Seamus Murphy’s legacy from the Cork 2005 European Capital of Culture programme.

This year is the 30th anniversary of the death of Seamus Murphy, a man who played a pivotal role in the cultural life of the city and indeed the country.

“Neither my father nor my (maternal) grandfather (the sculptor, Joseph Higgins) would have come up for discussion among the 2005 people. Myself and Orla (his sister, a writer) had to instigate something for these men. My father’s book Stone Mad is being republished this month by Collins Press. My father was born in 1907 and to commemorate his centenary, there’s going to be an exhibition in Cork City Museum in 2007. This coming autumn, there’s going to be a retrospective of my grandfather’s work in the museum. That’s thanks to Stella Cherry from the museum and my family.

“It beggars belief that a man of the stature of my father is not being given any credence by the Capital of Culture. I’m sore that his work is being ignored from an official perspective,” Mr Murphy said.

A third generation working artist, whose exhibition of paintings opens in Cork City on Thursday, Mr Murphy said that surviving as an artist is tough.

“I’m not in Aosdana. I sell my paintings to make a living. Lots of people are in the same boat. My father worked very hard at his craft and got very little. He didn’t have a bob when he died and very little when he was alive.

“My mother worked part-time as an art teacher so things were tough. These days, the arts administrators have their cheques coming in every month.

“The climate has changed since my father’s day. But I’m very happy to be in a position to put on an exhibition, my first in five years,” Mr Murphy said. Entitled Sticks and Stones, Colm’s exhibition of paintings depict nature with landscapes of West Cork as well as its flora and fauna. He lived in Kilcrohane for 15 years and is interested in how the landscape has changed over the years. “There are references in the exhibition to man’s influence on the environment.”

Sticks and Stones will be opened by Theo Dorgan at Gallery 44, MacCurtain Street on Thursday and runs until May 7.