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Teaching in London in the late 1950s, Dillon moved away from his West-of-Ireland scenes
and began experimenting with abstraction and a variety of mediums – sand, collage and
‘found objects’. Three of Dillon’s brothers died in quick succession between 1962 and 1966.
From 1965 onwards, the figure of a clown and later a Pierrot became regular motifs in his
work. He adopted the masked Pierrot as his alter ego in his paintings and collages to enable
him to express his anxieties and fears about his mortality. Dillon’s health became an issue in
1967 and May 1969, when he was hospitalized as a result of cardiac problems. When he was
persuaded to return to Dublin in 1968, he became preoccupied with projects and tended not
to join Campbell and Armstrong on nights out at Molloy’s pub. During the 1960s, Dillon
exhibited in Paris, Rome, New York and Washington.
fig.158: Gerard Dillon
fig.159: Gerard Dillon
fig.160: Gerard Dillon
fig.161: Gerard Dillon and George Campbell