ADAM'S IMPORTANT IRISH ART 24th September 2025

88 57 ROWAN GILLESPIE (B.1953) Love Alloy and Perspex, 68cm (h) (26½’’) Signed and numbered 1/5 € 12,000 - 18,000 Rowan explores the use of the Perspex screen in his work to act as physical and visual divider between his figures. It heightens the emotional tenor of the work, symbolising the barriers that often come between people and the pain of separa- tion. A similar arrangement can be seen in his work Dilemma (Kohn, Rowan Gillespie Looking for Orion , The O’Brien Press, Dublin, p.23 (illustrated)) in which a female figure frozen in a moment of shock, her arms extended upwards, is cut in the middle by the sheet of Perspex. This work entitled Love , depicts a male and female figure standing on either side of the Perspex. Their stance and gestures are dramatic, legs planted wide apart, arms extended, and their hands pressed firmly to the wall between them. They are squar- ing off against one another, expressions on their faces set. The tension between them is palpable, and Rowan has remarked of the work that it was “One of the first pieces I made after getting married in 1976, when I realised that it wasn’t so easy. All the best intentions, but so often a barrier of misunderstanding separated us.” The positioning of the two figures creates interesting viewpoints as the female figure angles her body towards the screen pressing her stomach against it. Viewed from the side the bodies of the figures form an elegant silhouette, and as the light filters through the screen, reflected off the alloy, it creates dramatic shadows. Niamh Corcoran, August 2025 We acknowledge the assistance of the artist in cataloguing this work. Artworks from the Ib Jorgensen Collection