A new portrait of the late Oscar-winning actress Brenda Fricker has been unveiled by Irish portrait artist Shane Gillen, who has described her as “the quiet hero of The Liberties”.
Ms Fricker, who starred in films such as My Life Foot and The Field, died last week aged 81.
Speaking to RTÉ, Mr Gillen said he was inspired to draw the actress following her passing because she represented Irish “soft power” and had done so much for Irish culture and film over her career.
Mr Gillen, who recently relocated to Lisbon, has made a short film of himself drawing the portrait in the Church of St Paul’s in the Portuguese city, featuring Ms Fricker reciting poet’s Majella Kelly’s work Voice, which is about Ireland’s Mother and Baby Homes, accompanied with music by Myles O’Reilly, Fred Again, Anúna, and composer Michael Glynn.
The Sligo-born artist, who is the creative director of marketing company Circulate, works exclusively with pen and pencil and has previously drawn portraits of Matt Damon, former President of Ireland Michael D Higgins, Catherine Corless, and U2 front man Bono.
He was also commissioned to draw Van Morrison to mark the singer’s 75th birthday in 2021.
“When Ireland adopted Matt Damon during the pandemic, I did a portrait of him and ended up getting invited out to Dalkey with my wife to meet him,” Mr Gillen said.
“Matt’s personal trainer, who is also called Matt, was with him when he was marooned in Ireland while making the Ridley Scott movie The Last Duel, and I got a random text from Matt the trainer inviting me out so I went to Dalkey to meet Matt Damon and we had a coffee and talked about everything.”
Shane Gillen working on his portrait of Brenda Fricker in the Church of St Paul in Lisbon
The portrait was signed by the actor and went on to be raffled and raised €20,000 for Irish charity Pieta.
In 2023, Mr Gillen created The Architects of Agreement, featuring 30 portraits of politicians, civil rights activists, and community leaders who played a pivotal role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland, including Bertie Ahern, Bill Clinton and Tony Blair.
The whole series was later bought by the Clinton Foundation.
Mr Gillen came to prominence as an artist when his ‘Pandemic Portraits’ series of works went viral during lockdown.
Speaking to RTÉ in 2020, he said he had not done any drawing since he left school but the Covid restrictions gave him the opportunity to rekindle his love of art.
His portrait of Aisling Murphy, the 23‑year‑old primary school teacher who was murdered in Tullamore in 2022, raised €125,000 for Women’s Aid, while his drawing of George Floyd, who was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis in 2020, has featured in Black Lives Matter protests.
“The drawing is free to use after people make a donation to the George Floyd Foundation,” Mr Gillen said.
“I have since seen it on placards on TV at Black Lives Matter protests, and it is amazing to see my work being used across the world like that.”