Cian McLoughlin (b.1973) Didi and Gogo Diptych, oil...

Cian McLoughlin (b.1973)

Didi and Gogo

Diptych, oil on canvas, 188 x 180cm
Signed

Provenance: The Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin.

April 2006 marked the centenary of Samuel Beckett's birth. In honour of this occasion, the Beckett Centenary Festival Committee, in association with the Gate Theatre and the Department of Arts, Tourism and Sport, launched an exhibition of works by Cian McLoughlin. Showcased at the OPW, these pieces explored Beckett's three main plays - 'End Game', 'Krapp's Last Tape' and 'Waiting for Godot'. In order to prepare for this, McLoughlin spent three years talking to, studying and painting the actors who had become synonymous with Beckett's masterpieces, producing large scale portraits that strove to display not the actor, but the character which they embodied.

Although not part of the original Beckett Series, the current works draw wholly on the experience that McLoughlin gained during this process. Commissioned by the Shelbourne Hotel in 2007, these diptychs capture the tragic couplings of Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo) and Pozzo and Lucky from 'Waiting for Godot'. Encroaching as spectres from the fog, the faces of Barry McGovern, Johnny Murphy, Alan Stanford and Stephen Brennan are transformed. Their usual expressions are replaced by a haunted, uneasy look, causing us to examine the uncomfortable undercurrent of Becket's most famous work: our own existence. Throughout the play, the characters struggle to complete basic tasks, such as putting on shoes, and amble in a state of confusion and forgetfulness. It would seem that only Didi recalls the events of the previous day, but even so he clings to physical objects as proof, as if he too thinks that, perhaps, their place in the world isn't as concrete as it appears. Such reminders are gratefully accepted by Gogo, who is presented to us as the more vulnerable of the pair; 'We always find something, eh Didi, to give us the impression we exist?'

In 'Waiting for Godot', Beckett's characters are presented to us as pairs. Dominating the play are Vladimir and Estragon and these are complemented by Pozzo and Lucky. By forming two diptychs, McLoughlin has artfully mirrored Beckett's creation. Each half of the diptych can survive on its own accord, however, it is by pairing the canvases that the work is completed. 'Waiting for Godot' sees Gogo and Didi arguing and Gogo despairing, asking to end the wait. Yet, the pair do not separate. Similarly, Pozzo talks of selling Lucky but Act II sees them firmly side by side. It seems that each would rather stay together in a misery that they know than face an alternative. In one of the darker moments of the play, Didi and Gogo discuss hanging themselves from a tree. Ultimately, it is not the fear of death that holds them back, but rather the fear that one might live and be required to continue alone.

By accepting the challenge of his Beckett paintings, Cian McLoughlin was forced to depict the intangible. Each piece became a study in human emotion, his brush strokes carefully gliding through a myriad of thoughts, concerns and fears. In an interview with Fumo Gallery, McLoughlin remarked on a quote by Robert Frost, 'a poem is like ice on a stove - riding on its own melting'. Here, it is clear to see that McLoughlin implemented this philosophy. With each glance, the paint slips forwards, the images tumbling to engulf the viewer in a wave of feeling.