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FACES OF RATHMINES – An artistic tribute to an invisible front line

January 11, 2022

‘Faces of Rathmines’, runs from 17th January 2022 and will see a promenade exhibition being mounted in the windows of various businesses in the Rathmines area of Dublin.

Hyperrealist artist, David Munro is mounting a promenade exhibition in Rathmines. The pencil  portraits are of people who work or trade in the area and who continued to work despite the health risks posed by covid. His aim is to engender a sense of appreciation for the efforts these, and other individuals, made to keep our lives as ordinary as possible in spite of the pandemic. The rise in mental health issues as a direct result of covid is very real and that is why the exhibition will support A Lust For Life – an Irish mental health charity co-founded by Bressie with an emphasis on youth mental health.

Munro set about creating a series of portraits depicting people who he refers to as his ‘invisible front line’. These are the people who he has encountered on a regular basis throughout the pandemic; ordinary men and women who maintained the sense of community in Rathmines despite unknown risks to their own safety.

Unable to display the portraits in a regular exhibition setting due to current restrictions, Munro notes how he hopes ‘people will have fun walking around Rathmines and discovering the portraits in the 12 host shop windows.’

Partner organisation, A Lust For Life is leading the Irish wellbeing movement. The Multi-award winning Irish mental health charity uses content, campaigns and events to facilitate young people to be effective guardians of their own mind – and to be the leaders that drive our society towards a better future. The A Lust For Life Schools Programme, aimed at 3rd to 6th class children, has reached 480 schools and 21,500 pupils to date. However, it is the charity’s aim, to reach every pupil in Ireland by 2024. The programme is exceptionally timely considering what the last two years have been like for young people.

David Munro is a Scot who has made Dublin his home for many years. He is primarily a professional musician and composer –  also the Music Director of US, TV act Celtic Thunder.  Like so many other musicians, he was effectively unable to perform as the music industry came to a standstill in 2021. However,  the lockdown provided the perfect opportunity to focus more on his other work as an artist. The product of this is his series of works Faces of Rathmines, which he hopes will contribute to furthering a sense of appreciation for others in the community and make people think more about their own ‘invisible frontline’.

For more information on the exhibition see: www.davidmunromusic.com/exhibition

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