Brian Maguire's assertion about thefalse appearance of human rights protections

In the heart of Dublin, the Hugh Lane Gallery is currently hosting Brian Maguire's thought-provoking exhibition, "La Grande Illusion." This exhibition, extended to the 18th of May, is a poignant display of the artist's work, which serves as a rallying call to build a better future.

Maguire's art is not about aesthetics but a powerful declaration of the illusion of human rights. His paintings, depicting human tragedies, particularly focus on the marginalized and often ignored in society.

One of the standout pieces in the exhibition is Over Our Heads the Hollow Oceans Closed Up, a beachscape that carries an ominous tone. Another is Police Graduation (Juárez), which features a Nazi salute, serving as a warning of modern fascist tendencies.

Maguire's approach in his series Remains is to look for a single image that tells the whole story. This is evident in his painting series, which focuses on the loss of migrants, specifically those who have perished while migrating from Mexico to the US, depicted on the parched desert sands of Arizona.

The destruction of the Amazon, a pressing global concern, is depicted in Maguire's paintings. Burning Amazon (2023) shows soot, charred trunks, and blood-red fire, while Clearcut Amazon (2023) depicts the destruction as a huge gash scarred across the landscape. The destruction, as portrayed by Maguire, is primarily caused by illegal loggers.

The exhibition also includes a painting related to the Syrian civil war, which depicts the loss of life in grey, burst-open, broken buildings with paint turning to rivulets of colorless blood in the lower part. The Syrian city of Aleppo, known for its rich history, is now primarily associated with the destruction and misery of the Syrian Civil War.

Maguire's artistic journey has taken him to Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, where he has depicted the truth about the human rights situation in these countries. His work actively engages with communities affected in South Sudan, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples in the USA, Arizona, Mexico, Brazil, Syria, and more.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is depicted in Maguire's exhibition, serving as a commitment by leaders to respect and enforce human rights. However, the exhibition does contain content that may be difficult to view due to its depiction of human tragedies.

A sculpture named Figlio Velato by the Italian artist Jago is also part of the exhibition. It was created to help remember the tragic death of the two-year-old Syrian refugee, Alan Kurdi, who washed up on shore on 21 December 2015.

The destruction of the Amazon, the plight of migrants, the Syrian Civil War, and human rights abuses in various parts of the world - these are just some of the issues that Brian Maguire's "La Grande Illusion" exhibition addresses. It is a powerful and thought-provoking exhibition that serves as a reminder of the challenges we face in building a better world.